Galileo. 
74 
made those splendid discoveries of which we have al- 
ready given a full account in our History of Astrono- 
MY, a, ii. p. 597, and p. 612, 613. 
It was during these observations that he was invited 
to Florence, where he enjoyed the fullest leisure to pur- 
sue them with diligence, and to carry on a correspon- 
dence with the principal philosophers of Germany, re- 
specting the discoveries which he had made, and the 
great truth of the earth’s motion, which they tended to 
establish. Galileo had scarcely enjoyed four years of 
tranquillity at Florence, when the fame of hisdiscoveries, 
and his sentiments peepeusue the stability of the sun, 
reached the ears of the holy inquisition. Formal com- 
plaints were laid before that vigilant body; and Galileo 
was summoned to appear at Rome, in 1615, to answer 
for the heretical doctrines which he had taught. He 
was accused of maintaining the motion of the earth, and 
the stability of the sun ; of teaching the same doctrine 
to several of his disciples ; of carrying on a correspon- 
dence on the subject with several German mathemati- 
cians; and of having published it, and attempted to recon- 
cile it to Scripture in his epistles to Marc Velser, in 1612. 
A meeting of the inquisition was held on the 25th of Fe- 
bruary 1616, and they decreed that Galileo should be en- 
joined by Cardinal Bellarmine, to renounce the doctrines 
which he taught, and to promise neither to teach, nor 
defend, nor publish them; and that, if he refused to 
acquiesce in this sentence, he should be thrown into 
prison. * On the following day, the 26th of Febru- 
ary, Galileo appeared before Cardinal Bellarmine ; and 
having declared that he would abandon the doctrine 
of the earth’s motion, and would neither defend it 
nor teach it, either in his conversation or in his wri- 
tings, he was dismissed from the inquisition. The 
mildness of this sentence was no doubt owing to the 
interposition of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and other 
persons of great rank and influence at the papal court, 
who took a warm interest in the fate of Galileo. The in- 
uisition, however, was not satisfied with this abjuration. 
hey issued a decree, declaring the new opinions to be 
heretical and contrary to scripture, and prohibited the 
sale of every book in which they should be taught. 
Galileo returned to Florence, and prosecuted his stu- 
dies with his usual ardour and success. The opinions 
which he had disavowed, acquired additional strength 
GALILEO. PAS 
from every new discovery. He resolved, therefore, to Gilileo. 
publish them to the world, but in such an ind ect man- 
ner as to prevent, if possible, any interference on the 
part of the inquisition. He oir | poo at. 
Florence, in 1632, his great work, entitled, Dialogo di 
Galileo Galilei delle duo massime Sisleme del Monde, To- ° 
"Temaico e Copernicano. The subject of the Ptolemaic 
and Copernican. pres is here discussed by three 
speakers, Sagredo, Salviatus, and Simplicius, a Peripate- 
tic philosopher, who defends the Ptolemaic system with 
much ingenuity against the overwhelming arguments) 
of the other speakers. t me's 
The church of Rome again took alarm at the publica. ° 
tion of this work, and Galileo was a second time summons 
ed to appear before the holy inquisition in the year 1633. ° 
Although he had now entered the 70th year of his age, 
yet he was compelled to repair to Rome ; and upon his’ 
arrival in that city, he was confined to the apartments of 
the fiscal of the inquisitorial tribunal. “ By the inter. 
cession of the Grand Duke, however, he was permitted 
to reside in the house of his ambassador during the 
trial, which lasted about two months. At the end of 
this period he was brought up to receive the sentence’ 
of the court, which was signed by seven cardinals. 
This sentence, which is one of the most remarkable» 
documents which the reavg of superstition can at. 
sent, begins by ace e former heresies of Gali- 
leo, and reminding him of the gentle punishment which 
had been inflicted. It accuses him of having obtained. 
dishonourably a license for, printing his at Flo- 
rence, and ordains that he shall, in the most solemn 
manner, abjure the Copernican system, as contrary to. 
the scriptures ; and bind himself by oath never to main- 
tain or support it, either in his conversation or his wri- 
tings. In order that this great heresy should not pass 
altogether without punishment, the court also ordained 
that the sale of his Dialogues thould be prohibited by 
a public edict ; that he should be detained in the prison 
of the inquisition ; and that he should for three years 
recite once in the week the seven penitentiary psalms, 
the court reserving to itself the power of modifying or 
removing this sentence. : 
The abjuration of Galileo, a copy of which we have 
given below, { was signed on the 22d June 1633, and: 
exhibits a mortifying picture of human imbecility. If 
* On the authority of many distinguished writers, we have stated, in our history of ASTRONOMY, that Galileo was thrown into solitary. 
confinement. This, however, is a mistake, as there is abundance of evidence to prove that he was merely threatened with confinement, if 
he should refuse to acquiesce in the sentence of the inquisition. 
+ Sagredo, a learned Venetian, and Salviatus, a learned Florentine, were two of Galileo’s intimate friends, but were both dead when . 
he published his Dialogues. They had often discussed the same subject with Galileo at’ Venice, and their names were introduced a6 a 
mark of respect to their memory, 
$ ‘+ Ego Galileus Galilai filius quondam Vincentii Galilei Florentinus atatis mee annorum’70 constitutus personaliter in judicio, et genu- 
fiexus coram vobis Eminentissimus et Reverendissimus Dominis Cardinalibus universe Christiane Reipublice contra hereticam pravitatem 
generalibus inquisitoribus, habens ante oculos meos Sacrosancta Evangelia, quz tango propriis manibus, juro me semper credidisse et nunc 
credere, et Deo adjuvante in posterum crediturum omne id, quod tenet, pradicat et docet S. Catholica et Apostolica Romana Ecclesia. Sed 
quia ab hoc.S. Officio, eo quod postquam mihi cum precepto fuerat ab eodem juridici injunctum, ut) omnino desererem falsam , 
qua tenet solem esse centrum ac moveri, nec m tenere, defendere aut docere quovis modo vel scripto i im : 
A ietainam repugnantem esse Sacre Scripture : Scripsi et typis mandavi librum in quo 
postquam mihi notificatum fuerat predictam 
opinionem, 
falsam doctrinam et 
doctrinam jam damnatam tracto et adduco rationes cum magna efficacia in favorem ipsius, non afferendo ullam solutionem ; idcirco judica- 
tus sum veh 
centrum ac moveri. 
rp deh 
i, videlicet quod tenuerim et crediderim, solem esse centrum mundi et immobilem, et terram Ron esse « 
“* {deirce volens ego eximere a mentibus Eminentiarum Vestrarum et cujuscunque Christigni Catholici vehementem hance suspicionem ade. 
versum me jure conceptam, corde sincero et fide non ficta abjuro, maledico, et detestor supra dictos errores et hereses, et generaliter quem- . 
cunque alium errorem et sectam contrariam supradicte S. Ecclesie, et juro me in 
nunquam amplius dicturum, aut asserturum voce 
aut scripto quidquam, propter quod possit haberi de me similis suspicio ; sed si cognovero aliquem hereticum aut suspectum de heresi, 
aenuntiaturum illum huic S, Officio aut Inquisitori et.ordinario loci, in quo fuero. Juro insuper ae promitto me impleturum et obseryattt; 
rum integre omnes peenitentias que mihi imposite sunt, aut imponentur ab hoc $. Officio. Quod si contingat me aliquibus ex dictis meis 
promissionibus, protestationibus, 
bus et aliis constitutionibus gener: 
et Sancta ipsius Evangelia, que tango propriis manibus. 
et juramentis (quod Deus avertat) contrarie, subjieio me omnibus poenis ac suppliciis, quae a Sacris Canoni- 
alibus et particularibus contra hujusmodi delinquentes statuta et promulgata fuerant ; sicme Deus adjuyet 
«« Ego Galileus Galilei supradictus abjuravi, juravi, promisi et me obligavi ut supra et in horam fidem mea propria Imanu  subscripsi 
presenti chirographo me abjurationis, et-recitavi de verbo ad verbum Roma in Conventu Minerva hac die 22 Junii anni 1633, : 
*« Ego Galileus Gablei abjurayi ut-supra manu propria,” 
Me 
