SEQUEL TO COPERNICUS. 405 



Sydney, under the title of Spaccio della Bestia 

 Trionfante, and which is understood to contain a 

 bitter satire of the Catholic religion and the papal 

 government. Montucla conceives that, by his rash- 

 ness in visiting Italy after putting forth such a 

 work, he compelled the government to act against 

 him. Bruno embraced the Copernican opinions at 

 an early period, and connected with them the 

 belief in innumerable worlds besides that which we 

 inhabit ; as also certain metaphysical or theological 

 doctrines, which he called the Nolan Philosophy. 

 In 1591 he published De innumerabilibus Mundis 

 et infigurabili, sen de Universo et Mundis, in 

 which he maintains that each star is a sun, about 

 which revolve planets like our earth; but this opi- 

 nion is mixed up with a large mass of baseless 

 verbal speculations. 



Giordano Bruno is a disciple of Copernicus on 

 whom we may look with peculiar interest, since he 

 probably had a considerable share in introducing 

 the new opinions into England 1 . He visited this 

 country in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and speaks 

 of her and of her councillors in terms of praise, 

 which appear to show that his book was intended 

 for English readers ; though he describes the mob 

 which was usually to be met with in the streets 

 of London, with expressions of great disgust: "Una 

 plebe la quale in essere irrespettevole, incivile. 



1 See Burton's Anat. Mel., Pref. " Some prodigious tenet or 

 paradox of the earth's motion," &c. " Bruno," &c. 



