gram in the ear of a cardinal's secretary, with a full knowledge that it would be immediately repeated to his master.

[2d Ed.] [Throughout the course of the proceedings against him, Galileo was treated with great courtesy and indulgence. He was condemned to a formal imprisonment and a very light discipline. "Te damnamus ad formalem carcerem hujus S. Officii ad tempus arbitrio nostro limitandum; et titulo pœnitentiæ salutaris præcipimus ut tribus annis futuris recites semil in hebdomadâ septem psalmos penitentiales." But this confinement was reduced to his being placed under some slight restrictions, first at the house of Nicolini, the ambassador of his own sovereign, and afterwards at the country seat of Archbishop Piccolomini, one of his own warmest friends.

It has sometimes been asserted or insinuated that Galileo was subjected to bodily torture. An argument has been drawn from the expressions used in his sentence: "Cum vero nobis videretur non esse a te integram veritatem pronunciatam circa tuam intentionem; judicavimus necesse esse venire ad rigorosum examen tui, in quo respondisti catholicè." It has been argued by M. Libri (Hist. des Sciences Mathématiques en Italie, vol. iv. p. 259), and M. Quinet (L’Ultramontanisme, iv. Leçon, p. 104), that the rigorosum examen necessarily implies bodily torture, notwithstanding that no such thing is mentioned by Galileo and his contemporaries, and notwithstanding the consideration with which he was treated in all other respects: but M. Biot more justly remarks (Biogr. Univ. Art. Galileo), that such a procedure is

incredible.

To the opinion of M. Biot, we may add that of Delambre, who rejects the notion of Galileo's having been put to the torture, as inconsistent with the general conduct of the authorities towards him, and as irreconcilable with the accounts of the trial given by Galileo himself, and by a servant of his, who never quitted him for an instant. He adds also, that it is inconsistent with the words of his sentence, "ne tuus iste gravis et perniciosus error ac transgressio remaneat omnino impunitus;" for the error would have been already very far from impunity, if Galileo had been previously subjected to the rack. He adds, very reasonably, "il ne faut noircir personne sans preuve, pas même l'Inquisition ;"we must not calumniate even the Inquisition.]

The ecclesiastical authorities having once declared the doctrine of the earth's motion to be contrary to Scripture and heretical, long adhered in form to this declaration, and did not allow the Copernican system to be taught in any other way than as an "hypothesis." The

Padua edition of Galileo's works, published in 1744, contains the Dialogue which now, the editors say, "Esce finalmente a pubblico libero. uso colle debite licenze," is now at last freely published with the requisite license; but they add, "quanto alla Quistione principale del moto della terra, anche noi ci conformiamo alla ritrazione et protesta dell' Autore, dichiarando nella piu solenne forma, che non può, nè dee ammetersi se non come pura Ipotesi Mathematice, che serve a spiegare piu agevolamento certi fenomeni;" "neither can nor ought to be admitted except as a convenient hypothesis." And in the edition of Newton's Principia, published in 1760, by Le Sueur and Jacquier, of the Order of Minims, the editors prefix to the Third Book their Declaratio, that though Newton assumes the hypothesis of the motion of the earth, and therefore they had used similar language, they were, in doing this, assuming a character which did not belong to them. alienam coacti sumus gerere personam." They add, "Cæterum latis a summis Pontificibus contra telluris motum Decretis, nos obsequi profitemur."

"Hinc

By thus making decrees against a doctrine which in the course of time was established as an indisputable scientific truth, the See of Rome was guilty of an unwise and unfortunate stretch of ecclesiastical authority. But though we do not hesitate to pronounce such a judgment on this case, we may add that there is a question of no small real difficulty, which the progress of science often brings into notice, as it did then. The Revelation on which our religion is founded, seems to declare, or to take for granted, opinions on points on which Science also gives her decision; and we then come to this dilemma,-that doctrines, established by a scientific use of reason, may seem to contradict the declarations of Revelation, according to our view of its meaning; and yet, that we cannot, in consistency with our religious views, make reason a judge of the truth of revealed doctrines. In the case of Astronomy, on which Galileo was called in question, the general sense of cultivated and sober-minded men has long ago drawn that distinction between religious and physical tenets, which is necessary to resolve this dilemma. On this point, it is reasonably held, that the phrases which are employed in Scripture respecting astronomical facts, are not to be made use of to guide our scientific opinions; they may be supposed to answer their end if they fall in with common notions, and are thus effectually subservient to the moral and religious import of Revelation. But the establishment of this distinction was not accomplished without long and distressing controversies. Nor, if we wish to

include all cases in which the same dilemma may again come into play, is it easy to lay down an adequate canon for the purpose. For we can hardly foresee, beforehand, what part of the past history of the universe may eventually be found to come within the domain of science; or what bearing the tenets, which science establishes, may have upon our view of the providential and revealed government of the world. But without attempting here to generalize on this subject, there are two reflections which may be worth our notice they are supported by what took place in reference to Astronomy on the occasion of which we are speaking; and may, at other periods, be applicable to other sciences.

In the first place, the meaning which any generation puts upon the phrases of Scripture, depends, more than is at first sight supposed, upon the received philosophy of the time. Hence, while men imagine that they are contending for Revelation, they are, in fact, contending for their own interpretation of Revelation, unconsciously adapted to what they believe to be rationally probable. And the new interpretation, which the new philosophy requires, and which appears to the older school to be a fatal violence done to the authority of religion, is accepted by their successors without the dangerous results which were apprehended. When the language of Scripture, invested with its new meaning, has become familiar to men, it is found that the ideas which it calls up, are quite as reconcilable as the former ones were, with the soundest religious views. And the world then looks back with surprise at the error of those who thought that the essence of Revelation was involved in their own arbitrary version of some collateral circumstance. At the present day we can hardly conceive how reasonable men should have imagined that religious reflections on the stability of the earth, and the beauty and use of the luminaries which revolve round it, would be interfered with by its being acknowledged that this rest and motion are apparent only.

In the next place, we may observe that those who thus adhere tenaciously to the traditionary or arbitrary mode of understanding Scriptural expressions of physical events, are always strongly condemned by succeeding generations. They are looked upon with contempt by the world at large, who cannot enter into the obsolete difficulties with which they encumbered themselves; and with pity by the more considerate and serious, who know how much sagacity and rightmindedness are requisite for the conduct of philosophers and religious men on such occasions; but who know also how weak and vain is the attempt

to get rid of the difficulty by merely denouncing the new tenets as inconsistent with religious belief, and by visiting the promulgators of them with severity such as the state of opinions and institutions may allow. The prosecutors of Galileo are still up to the scorn and aversion of mankind: although, as we have seen, they did not act till it seemed that their position compelled them to do so, and then proceeded with all the gentleness and moderation which were compatible with judicial forms.

Sect. 5.-The Heliocentric Theory confirmed on Physical considerations. (Prelude to Kepler's Astronomical Discoveries.)

By physical views, I mean, as I have already said, those which depend on the causes of the motions of matter, as, for instance, the consideration of the nature and laws of the force by which bodies fall downwards. Such considerations were necessarily and immediately brought under notice by the examination of the Copernican theory; but the loose and inaccurate notions which prevailed respecting the nature and laws of force, prevented, for some time, all distinct reasoning on this subject, and gave truth little advantage over error. The formation of a new Science, the Science of Motion and its Causes, was requisite, before the heliocentric system could have justice done it with regard to this part of the subject.

This discussion was at first carried on, as was to be expected, in terms of the received, that is, the Aristotelian doctrines. Thus, Copernicus says that terrestrial things appear to be at rest when they have a motion according to nature, that is, a circular motion; and ascend or descend when they have, in addition to this, a rectilinear motion by which they endeaver to get into their own place. But his disciples soon began to question the Aristotelian dogmas, and to seek for sounder views by the use of their own reason. "The great argument against this system," says Mæstlin, "is that heavy bodies are said to move to the centre of the universe, and light bodies from the centre. But I would ask, where do we get this experience of heavy and light bodies and how is our knowledge on these subjects extended so far that we can reason with certainty concerning the centre of the whole universe? Is not the only residence and home of all the things which are heavy and light to us, the earth and the air which surrounds it? and what is the earth and the ambient air, with respect to the immensity of the universe? It is a point, a punctule, or something, if there be any thing, still less. As our light and heavy bodies tend to

the centre of our earth, it is credible that the sun, the moon, and the other lights, have a similar affection, by which they remain round as we see them; but none of these centres is necessarily the centre of the universe."

The most obvious and important physical difficulty attendant upon the supposition of the motion of the earth was thus stated: If the earth move, how is it that a stone, dropped from the top of a high tower, falls exactly at the foot of the tower? since the tower being carried from west to east by the diurnal revolution of the earth, the stone must be left behind to the west of the place from which it was let fall. The proper answer to this was, that the motion which the falling body received from its tendency downwards was compounded with the motion which, before it fell, it had in virtue of the earth's rotation: but this answer could not be clearly made or apprehended, till Galileo and his pupils had established the laws of such Compositions of motion arising from different forces. Rothman, Kepler, and other defenders of the Copernican system, gave their reply somewhat at a venture, when they asserted that the motion of the earth was communicated to bodies at its surface. Still, the facts which indicate and establish this truth are obvious, when the subject is steadily considered; and the Copernicans soon found that they had the superiority of argument on this point as well as others. The attacks upon the Copernican system by Durret, Morin, Riccioli, and the defence of it by Galileo, Lansberg, Gassendi," left on all candid reasoners a clear impression in favor of the system. Morin attempted to stop the motion of the earth, which he called breaking its wings; his Ala Terra Fracta was published in 1643, and answered by Gassendi. And Riccioli, as late as 1653, in his Almagestum Novum, enumerated fifty-seven Copernican arguments, and pretended to refute them all: but such reasonings now made no converts; and by this time the mechanical objections to the motion of the earth were generally seen to be baseless, as we shall relate when we come to speak of the progress of Mechanics as a distinct science. In the mean time, the beauty and simplicity of the heliocentric theory were perpetually winning the admiration even of those who, from one cause or other, refused their assent to it. Thus Riccioli, the last of its considerable opponents, allows its superiority in these respects; and' acknowledges (in 1653) that the Copernican belief appears rather to increase than diminish under the condemnation of the decrees of the Cardinals. He applies to it the lines of Horace:14

18 Del. A. M. vol. i. p. 594.

14 Almag. Nov. p. 102.