464* Mr. Halliwell on the History of the Inductive Sciences, 
of Aristarchus Samius, and affirmeth that the earth not only 
moveth circularly about its own centre, but also may be, yea 
and is, continually out of the precise centre thirty-eight thou- 
sand miles : but because the understanding of that controversy 
depends upon deeper knowledge than in this introduction 
may be uttered conveniently, I will let it pass till some other 
time. 
“ Scholar, Nay, sir, in good faith, I desire not to hear such 
vain phantasies, so far against common reason, and repugnant 
to the consent of all the learned multitude of writers, and 
therefore let it pass for ever and a day longer. 
Master, You are too young to be a good judge in so 
great a matter: it passeth far your learning, and theirs also 
that are much better learned than you, to disprove his sup- 
position by good arguments, and therefore you were best to 
condemn nothing that you do not well understand ; but an- 
other time, as I said, I will so declare his supposition, that 
you shall not only wonder to hear it, but also peradventure be 
as earnest then to credit it, as you are now to condemn it.” 
Who will not regret to learn that such a writer as Robert 
Recorde died in Newgate? the Newton of the sixteenth cen- 
o 
tury perished in a jail ! 
In a communication to the Royal Astronomical Society, the 
Rev. Joseph Hunter was the first who noticed the Ephemeris 
for 1537, by John Feild, “juxta Copernici et Reinholdi 
canones,” in the preface to which he avows his conviction of 
the truth of the Copernican theory. Now there is no precise 
date to Recorde’s “ Castle of Knowledge,” other than the 
year of its publication; and Feild’s preface is dated on the 
calends of June 1556 : there is also prefixed to Feild’s work 
a letter by Dr. John Dee, dated the 3rd of July 1556, in which 
he also avows his belief in the new system. But neither Feild 
nor Dee speak of their concurrence with the Copernican 
theory as anything new, and it is therefore quite impossible 
to say who of these three properly claims the priority. We 
may then safely award to John Dee, John Feild, and Ro- 
bert Recorde, the high distinction of being the first who 
adopted the Copernican system, or as Mr. Hunter would call 
them, the Proto-Copernicans of England. 
We do not find, however, many other early supporters of 
this theory in England. The elder Digges certainly was not, 
although after his death his son professed his belief in it*. 
The edition of the “ Prognostication Everlasting,” published 
* See three papers by rne in the Magazine of Popular Science, vol. iii. 
and iv. 
