LITTLE Galileo was silenced, a long letter of sympathy had 

 JOURNEYS come from his old colleague and occasionally since 

 they had exchanged friendly letters. 

 Galileo thought that Urban was his friend and he knew 

 that Urban, in his heart, believed in the Copernican 

 Theory Jt> ^ 



Galileo emerged from his seclusion and began teach- 

 ing and speaking in Florence. He also fitted up an ob- 

 servatory and invited scholars to make use of his tele- 

 scope jt ^ 



Father Melchior here put forth a general denunciation, 

 aimed especially at Galileo, without mentioning his 

 name, to this effect: "The opinion of the earth's mo- 

 tion is, of all heresies, the most abominable, the most 

 pernicious, the most scandalous : the immovability of 

 the earth is thrice sacred. An argument against the ex- 

 istence of God and the immortality of the soul would 

 be sooner tolerated than the idea that the earth moves." 

 CJIn reply to this fusillade, in 1632, Galileo put forth 

 his book entitled," The Dialogue," which was intended 

 to place the ideas of Copernicus in popular form. 

 Galileo had endeavored to communicate with Urban, 

 but the Pope had chosen to ignore him to consider 

 him as one dead. Galileo misconstrued the silence, 

 thinking it meant that he could do and say what he 

 wished and that there would be no interference. 

 A copy of Galileo's book reaching the Pope, his silence 

 was broken. The book was condemned and all copies 

 found were ordered to be burned by the hangman in 

 the public streets. But the book had met with a wide 

 58 



