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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 .V^i^ -C3984 AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTOEY Of ailLEO AND THE ROMAN iNOOIIilTION A LECTURE DEUVEKKD BEFORE THE CATHOLIC YOUNG MEN'S LITEEAEY INSTITUTE, f OH l¥Ei]»NESDAY EYEIVIIVO^ APltlL ll, i§60, Bt THE HON. DANIEL BRENAN. Fablierfatd by thtl Cominittee fof the behefit df thiB C^ Y. M; L. Institute; CHAHLOTTfiTOWN, P. E. L PRINTED AT THE EXAMINER OFFICE; 1860. ^"^« V. To Messrs, Walker, Eoche, Gahan, and the Members of the Committee of the 0. Y. M. L. Institute. Gentlemen, — At the time I consented to Land you over, for publica- tion, the Manuscript of the Lecture on " Galileo and the Roman Inquisition," it was with the full intention of revising and correcting it ere it went to the press : but I regret that my health or leisure since did not enable me to do so. I need not remind you that the selection of matter for an hour's entertainmet at an Institution like yours is a much more simple task than to prepare the same for a Pamphlet, fit to appear before the public in thl: m'ogressive age. It is, therefore, with no small share of reluctance that I have to give it up in its original very imperfect condition — sensible as I am that its imperfections will be more prominent on its appearance in print than in its present state. It is scarcely necessary for me to say that I lay no claim to its composition, such as it is, as I have only collected the written testimony of others from the scanty materials within my reach. But I feel strong in the moral consciousness, that in the several extracts cited from the authorities named, I have — to the best of my humble abilities, as far as I am capable of judging — given the same correctly, and with no other view than the elu- cidation and establishment of the truth of the matters under consideration. And with this declaration ends all that shall be said of its merits, by, Gentlemen, Your most obt. humble servt., DANIEL BRBNAN. Charlottetown, April 28, 18G0. GALILIO AND THE ROMAN INOUISITION. TiiERK arc few subjects upon which more has been written, and perhaps less understood, than the story of Galileo and his far famed persecution. Whether from, prejudice or the ignorance of those who copied from, prejudiced writers, it is a sad reality that too many have been led astray in their statements respecting the treat- ment of this celebrated man at Kome. Some assert that ho was imprisoned five years— others that his eyes were put out — some, that he was imprisoned for one year— some others, that he was confined in the dungeons of the Inqui- sition ! !— while we have in our own days Sir David Brewster— in the article entitled "Astronomy"— in his edition of the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, bearing testimony at one moment to Galileo's " confinement for a year," and the next, confessing that in saying so, he 1ms been led astray " by the misstatements of many distinguished writers" who had gone before. StiU these are errors of minor importance, which are- fast disappearing before the increasing light of liistory. It is in their relation to the general questions of Religion and Science, and the mutual bearings of these upon one another, that the misstatements of writers will be found to, be most general and of most importance. A belief is sought to be induced, that the so-called per-, secution of Galileo is l)ut one fact among many, indicative of the same temper — that the spirit it betrays has ever been an habitual feeling in the Church, manifesting itself more or less, but ever regarding the doctrines and conclu- sions of science with an eye of jealousy and mistrust—, that the quiescence of the earth in particulan was once a dogma of the faith— that it was precisely for his scientific inculcation of the opposite truth that the distinguished man under consideration was prosecuted and persecuted — - that the Inquisition condemned aud proscribed the Coper- ^ GALILEO AND THE niean V.ews-nna that l^e MuisiUon^^^^^^^^^^^ '^^z'trt 'T^ btbffl':; the ch^oh ., :h 3 a^a what is uot to be regardoa as heresy^ "such are the P«f T '™%'rorEn«Urwr" er' on thi« subject. Some W^'^.^' .u.^^h too few in number- degree, vvh.lo8ome «^^"- '^„"^°p,ejudicea conclusiuus. may be partially free '™" ™»°""" ^f the former, without but nevertheless copy f'?" """f^f .oriirlnal documents taking the trouble t. e^a-^X*;^: h m etts. There to enable them »» J.f^f .^ 'al^ducalional impressions ^"'^'"'rCS Truant that incapacitates him of many an tng ii>h i . ^.^^^^ ^^ ,„„t„y ^ from looking at this and mm, ^^,^^ their true point "^J^-^^^^^^J Oermany, where the standard ot 'he rroitsiai . .;„ j^ facts, irres- the principal W^l»"»»V^'""SLtrh^° whether or not pective of vulgar prejudice withouUann^ ^^^^^^^.^ Lh facts militate again t o' appear to a ^^^ Church. And as ^^^^ »;;" J''; X„t the prejudice of remarks, find it >"='^''^*'V Jr L^. „iiuaed, I must first some of the writers to ^l^o-n I ^we^t"^^ • ^j^..^^.^^,, beg your attention for a few — |,^J,3t,„t „i„,s have of the difficul.es which the youi l .^^^.^^ Tf '':^7^^:tX^'^^^''^- the mind in maturer years. .jars. ^ i> T?„n.lnna Is anti-CiithoUc by pro- ' That the Literature of England an ^^^_^^_^^^_ ^ scription. and anti-CathoUc^^^^^^ requires a proof here. '-'^'"\,., f^om pages 101 to tbe common school books otfc,ngland P^=^ ^^ 168, inol»?^^«'/^:;e :« Somet, the absurd creed of :: ^s:t^^^«^ «^ro?Sini:r '«£-. -fanftSinV'aorarofr^^^^^^ ^»AveiaEntinck;s^Mlin.^^^^^^^^^^ it UOMAN LVQUiaiTION. 7 ••Ono who opposes Christ- -tho Popo." In Pinnock's Catechism of En^'lish history for the use of Schools, in answer to " What is meant by the Reformation ?" it is stated: "By the Reformation is meant the refoi.jiino- ,- *' tho Christian Religion from tho errors of Popery " answer to the question, " What was the Gunpowder Plot V It 13 sated : '« A scheme of the Roman Catholics to blow "up both Houses of Parliament, when the King, Princes "Lords and Commons should be assembled, 5th Isov ' !u \:'^:J J^^^ ^"^^^^^ ^" ^" pages 222-3 it is stuto.'l, that '• the Roman Catholic religion is the only one tolera- ted throughout tho I'ope's dominions— the Pope's sons are called his nephews, and the custom of enriching them is called Nepotism" ! ! And in "Goldsmith's Geography for the use of Schools and young persons," we are gravelj told, '« that the complexion of Irish females of the lower • ' order resembles the colour of smoked ham' ' / / Why this is worse than the character Tasso gave of our forefathers, when ho called them "irsuti," "hairy-men." Now, surely it would bo a libel on tho great bulk of tho educated Protestants of the present day to suppose that they believe such trash as I have cited, (and space allows me to cite only very few ;) and yet, straiig. to say, they permit such absurd and notorious falsehoods to disgrace tho books from which information is sought to be impressed on the tender minds of their children, uhich cannot have any useful tendency in after life, unless, indeed, it be considered useful to fill their minds with false notions about their Catholic neighbours. But it is not in such humble authors only, as I have just designated, that wo hnd reckless prejudiced ignorance, or a wilful desire to misrepresent anything relating to the Catholic Church or Its dignitaries. Cicero compared the field of classic litera- ture to "a place of relaxation where all bitterness was lorgotten, but it is to be regretted that such is not the case in our days. Some years ago an edition of Livy, with English notes, was published in Dublin by a Mr. PrenderviUo, a scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the preface or life of Livy the editor contrived— aUliouffh he acknowledged it was not pertinent to the subiect— to introduce the old exploded charge against Pope Gregory 8 GALILEO AND THE the Great of having burned t ■> Palatine Libxary at Rome, fancying, I suppose, that the work would be more pa,la- table to the taste of most of his patrons by having " a fling at the Pope." Hesrys: — '• When the Empire was dismembered, aud the Cbair of the Pontiff seated in the place of the thvone of tha Cifesars, the tolerant and sobef spirit of the Gospel was for a time forgotten and the dark and sullen genius of superstition, that is eve. deaf to the voice of reason, and shrinks . with horror from the light of knowledge, ruled the world. Then a false and mistaken zeal for religion completed the devastation of unlettered barbarism. The Monks of that period were foremost m tkar crusade aeainst Literature— though afterwards it must be confessed it owed obliga- tions to some of them. And Pope Gregory the Great, one of that order, that he may at one fell swoop abolish all heathen recollections and heathen learning, ia a pious fur> -set fire to the Palatine Library, the great arsenal of all the learning of antiquity, and burnt it to ashes. It is said Livy was the chief object of his holy animoaity."--pp. 12 and 13. Ill detailing the work of destruction In the East under the followers of Mahomet, and the burning of the great Library of Alexandria, Mr. Prenderville thus concludes : " So that, so far from enquiring why the works of these great lights of antiauity. those fathers and ornaments of History, Poetry, Science and Philosophy, whose very names are enough to awaken high emotions, have not heemvorteddow?. the stream of time, our wonder should be, that a single fragment had been saved from the universal wreck, made by barba- rians, iotidels, monks and fanatics." Now, here we have a sad specimen of reckless assertion from Mr. Prenderville, without having the candour to pro- duce any a.uthority whatever, it must be presumed, because ha could find none to produce, unless such as v/ould be as doubtful as himself. It can scarcely be supposed that a scholar of T. C. D., with ticcess to the library of that Uni- versity, would have approached his subject without con- sulting the learned researches, of Bayle, of Barbeyrac, of Gibbon, either of whose works would have informed him quite diiferently from what he has stated. If he did read these authorities, he has ivilfulhj m.istated as true what they assert to be false ; and if he did not read them and has given no authority, we may easily conclude that he made the assertion to pander to the bigotry of a certain class of hi3 readers, without caring whether it was true or false, however derogatory to the character of a scholar it WIT. in him to havo done so. It is scarcely possible te find v: ROMAN INQUISITION. 9 uny work written with more virulence than is that of Bayle's against St. Gregory, in which he raked up all the unfounded gossip he could, not only against the actions, but even against the intentions of the'Saint ; and yet when he comes to consider the story of burning the Library in question, he says—vol. 2, page 1385 : — " It is not, certain that Gregory comraandad the noble monuments of the Qr^-ent magnificence oF Rome to be destroyed, in order to prevent tho strangers who visited the City from bestowing more attention on the triumphal arches, &c., than on holy things. The same may be said of having burned an immense number of Pagan Books> particularly those of the historian Livy." And in a note at the foot of the page he adds :— •'I have not met this except in Johannes Sarisleriensis, and therefore do not give much credit to it.'' Barbeyrac, who also wrote in very unmeasured language towards St. Gregory, says in the 17th chapter and page 332 : — " I shall not here advance the charge which has been made against this lontiff, of having burned, through a mistaken zeal, an immense number of pagan works. The accusation is not sufficiently substantiated." Gibbon, of whose infidelity there is no doubt, at page 449, vol. 5, Quarto Edition, in alluding to the report of Pope Gregory having attacked the temples and the statues of the City, and burning the Palatine Library, says :— " But the evidence of his destructive rage is dovltfal and recent. The J empie of Peace, the Theatre of Marcollus, have been demolished ly the slow operation of ages, and a formal proscription would have multiplied the copies of V,-g,i and Livy in the countries which are not subject to the ecclcsia?* dictator."^ * Saint Gn^^ory the Groat died in the year 604, on the 25th January, and as a matter ol course, so great a Saint, a Pope, and a Prince, would soon have found a biographer of the highest order of talent. Accordingly we have two early hves of the Saint by the Deacons John and Paul, and in neither of these, nor in any other history of the time, is there the slightest allusion to tho burning ot the Palatine Library, which, if done, could not be other than a notorious >act ai the time. But the first mention to bo found of it is about OUU years aft-rwards. John of Salisbury, a Priest of Canterburj , and who It appears was somewhat of a wit, kept some kind of a memorandum or Journal ot eccentric occurrences as v-ell as traditional reminisccnes. Amongst the latter was the report of the burning of tho Palatine Library by St. Gregory the Great. After the death of John of Salisbury, in 1194, his S?rH*f? P*P"?,f«" »"to th3 hands of Mezeray, a French historian, who pub.ishedthem in French, under the title of "Vanites dcs Cours." which, in i-^nglish, may be called Wanderinqx or Fol/irs nf the M^imL Further on in 2 Cfiw^t 10 GALILEO AND THE With such proofs of what writers will descend to, from the very lowest to the highest, regardless of all truthful history, for the purpose of maligning the dignitaries and doctrines of the Catholic Church, and poisoning the youth- ful minds of the rising generation, about the "foul idola- tries," " the horrid superstitions," *' the profligacy of prelates," "the fraud and ffiisehood of priests — their hosti- lity to science and literature — the besotted ignorance of the people, &c., &c." — the wonder is not that so many of our Protestant brethren are prejudiced against the Catholics, but that even a respectable few of them rise superior to such early inculcation, to examine and judge for them- selves. These few remarks on the prejudice of English Protes- tant writers may help to account for the motives of those whose works I shall have to bring under notice on the life of Galileo and the Roman Inquisition. Let it not, how- ■ever, be supposed that they are intended to foster any ill will towards our dissenting brethren. It is really hoped it may have an effect directly the reverse, by showing that where they are bigotted, it is more excuseable in consequence of their early instructions, and that where they do rise superior to such teaching, they are the more to be respected and beloved. And there can be very little doubt, if both Protestants and Catholics were to better understand their relative positions, and look at them in a truly Christian spirit, or a purely philosophical point of view, they would " agree to differ" in opinion on religious matters without disturbing the social harmony which should exist in every well regulated community for the mutual advantage of both. In the first place, such writers as I have just referred to, only expose their ignorance of the subject on which they undertake to write, when they attempt to identify the Roman Inquisition with the Catholic Church and its dog- the same work is another tradition repeated, to the effect, that " after the " death of the Emperor Trajan, because he had in his life time bestowed some " favour on St. Gregory, the Saint wept and prayed until it was revealed to " him that Trajan's soul was released from hell, with an injunction, however, " that he should not again intercede for an infidel." These things pasned off as only laughalt^le, until after the reformation, when every means were sought to find fault with the Church. ROiMAN INQUISITION. u mas. From the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles, and endowed them with the gift of tongues, and with strength and courage to execute the commission which they had previously received from our divine Saviour, to "go and teach all nations," until the beginning of the 13th century, there was no such thing as the Inquisition heard of, although few persons will be found to assert that the Church was not well established throughout the then known world up to that period. During that 1200 years of its existence, whenever any new doctrine or heresy, contrary to the ancient canons, was broached, and through the authority of some of the civil powers, causing distractions or disorders amongst the faith- ful, it was the practice of the Church to call a general Council, in order to define the fallacy of the new sect. The third Council of Latteran was held in March, 1179, at which the doctrines of the sect called the " Albigenses" were examined and condemned. The Alb'rrenses became a very powerful sect in the South of Franc'e towards the middle of the twelfth century. They preached the doc- trine of there being *' two Gods and Lords, good and evil, " — that all things good and evil were created by the "devil, or the evil god— that all the teachings of the " Church were false — that marriage was unlawful— that " t|^re was no incarnation of Christ, and no resurrection of " bodies — ^that the souls of men were spirits banished from " heaven for their transgressions." And notwithstanding the abominable absurdity and profanation of such doctrines, yet strange to say, they found followers and sympathisers ; and under the fostering protection of Raymond, Earl of Toulouse, about the year 1209, they raised an army of nearly 100,000 men, and ravaged whole districts of country — banished Bishops and Priests— sacked and razed churches and monasteries, leaving nothing behind them but the deso- late marks of their most atrocious crimes and sacrileges, before any sufficient force could be brought against them. Yet these are the wretches, after being dispersed and scat- tered by the strong arm of the law and regularly CvOnstituted authorities— whom the infidel Hume, (as Cebbet called him), pronounced to be " the most innocent and inoffensive *' of mankind." It was after the dispersion of the AIM- 12 GALILEO AND THE genses, when they scattered through diiFerent parts of Europe, and particularly in Italy, that the Roman Govern- ment became alarmed for the tranquility of the state, and fearing that, if allowed to propagate their doctrines where- cver they settled, a similar civil war might be engendered, the same as that only just suppressed at the price of so much blood — the Inquisition was instituted at Rome. It was a sort of half Ecclesiastical, half Civil Police establish- ment, *' for the punishment and prevention of every attempt " to disturb the religious tranquility of the people." The constitution of the Inquisition is far from being uniform, varying according to the wisdom or caprice of the politi- cians who adopted it in the different places where it was established. It is said to be very cruel in Spain^ — more mild and sparing of human life in Rome, and has been adopted only in few countries. But its adoption or rejection never had any thing to do with the doctrine or belief of the Catholic Church. Indeed, some of the most vigorous attacks ever made on the constitution of the Inquisition have been made by Catholic writers, amongst whom may be mentioned the names of Floury and Bercastel, whose strong attachments to the Catholic faith admit of no doubt. So much, then, fur the so-called infallibility of the Ro- man Inquisition, and its bearing on the infallibility of the dogmas of tho Church. It is the officers of the Ii||[ui- sition only, and not the Pope, who sign any decree or censure for any transgression of its rules or the laws by which it acts ; and whether these officers be cardinals or laymen, or both, whether right or wrong, it cannot compromise the Pope, or any part of the Catholic doctrine. But even sup- posing that any decision of the Inquisition required the Pope's sanction and signature ere it could be carried into execution, such signature or sanction would be only given according to the Civil Law of the state, which only re- quired his signature as te?nporal or civil ruler, the same as the Queen of Spain or the Queen of England would sign any document which the law required, ere it could be legally enforced, without affecting in the slightest degree the religion of either state. And the civil law of Rome — even though such law be administered by a clergyman — is jio more binding on tho conscience of Catholics through- c ROMAN INQUISITION. 13 out any other part of the world, than is the administratiou of the hiw in China on the conscience of Queen Victoria or the Emperor of Russia. The canon law of the universal Church is the only law which extends to Catholics in all parts of the world ; and it is with respect to the adminis- tration of the canon law alone (and not the civil law), that Catholics ever believed the Pope and his councils to be in- fallible. And when our divine Saviour said to his apostles, *' Go teach all nations whatsoever I command you," he did not mention Astronomy or Philosophy. This distinc- tion between the canon law and the civil or law of the land is too often overlooked or not understood by English writers, because their church has been created by the civil law, and governed by it ; and when any difficulty arises amongst the church dignitaries, an appeal is always made to the civil power, such as the late celebrated " Gorham case," in which Lord John Russell set the Bishop's autho- rity at defiance, and appointed a Bishop himself, whereas the Universal Catholic Church always held to the divine or canon law delivered by Christ to the apostles, and by them to their successors, from one generation to another, to the present day ; and when any serious differences of opinion arise amongst the church authorities, particularly in inter- preting Scripture, it has been settled by the decrees of a general Council, which must be always called by the Pope, and presided over by him, or a Legate appointed by him[ to make it legal. There is, however, no difficulty to refer to dates and unquestionable authorities, to show that the identical doctrine for which Galileo was said to be con- demned in Rome, was publicly taught there for nearly a century before, by and with the sanction, and under the patronage, of the dignitaries of the Church. The first account of the Heliocentric doctrine, which I believe there is to be found in the annals of the sciences, is that of Nicholas, the Cusan, at Rome. He was called the Cusan from the »ame of the little town in the northern mountains of the kingdom of Naples, which had the honor of his birth and early education. He afterwards studied in Rome and read his course of theoi- ^ - under Cardinal Giuliano Ccsarini. Although quite a stranger, and with- out friends in the "Eternal City," he was not afraid to 14 GALILEO AND THE proclaim his views in opposition to the peripatetic dogma- tism — the startling proposition that •' the earth moves — the sun is at resty" and answered the objections from the senses by contending, that the illusory impression arises from the same cause which makes one in a ship in motion fancy the objects on shore to be receding from him. He not only proclaimed his views as best he could, verbally, but com- mitted them to writing, and dedicated the same to his former preceptor in canon law, the Cardinal Cesarini, be- fore named, who, by way of rewarding his talents, obtained for him the Archdeaconcy of Liego. And afterwards at the Council of Basil, in the year 1431, he (the Cusan) presented to that august and learned assembly of Church- men a treatise upon the disorders which had crept into the Calendar, and a proposal for its reformation. Here, then, we have Archdeacon Nicholas the Cusan, befere that cele- brated Council, composed of Cardinals, Prelates and Doc- tors of the Church, declaring his views of the new theory of the motion of the earth ; and yet so far from any attempt being made to silence him or forbid his doctrine, that the enlightened Pope Nicholas V. raised him to the dignity of Cardinal, and appointed him to the Bishopric of Brixen. And dui'idg the remaining years of his life he was honored by the four succeeding Pontiffs for his wisdom and inte- grity, and entrusted by them with the most important affairs of the Government in the capacity of Legate to seve- ral parts, until his death in 1464. Surely this does not look like a punishment from the Court of Rome on the man of science. And, moreover, the works or writings left behind by Cardinal Nicholas, the Cusan, were soon taken up and printed under the patronage of Cardinal Amboise. The next who took up the subject was Leonardo da Vincij who, though a young man when Cusa died, after- wards became so celebrated for his learning, having written a treatise on the Fall of Bodies and the Earth's Motion. Shortly afterwards we have Copernicus — a young adven- turer from Poland — who, after he acquired the best Mathe- matical education he could obtain at the University of Cracow, made his way to Bologna, the capital of one of the states of the Church, where he became an assistant teacher of Mathematics to Dominick Marie Fcrrara, and ROMAN INQUISITION. 15 where he remained until about the year 1600, when he was invited to Rome by Pope Paul the Third, who gave him a Professorship in his own University, where ho gave public lectures on Astronomy and Philosophy and the Revo- lution of the Earth, to large audiences— as many as 200O on some occasions, according to Jacqnier's History of Philosophical Institutes. Now, most of the historians of the time think it was after Copernicus went to Rome that he acquired a knowledge of the earth's motion. The ac- complished Italian historian Tiraboschi thinks he got the information from his own preceptor and friend Novara ; but Thomas CorneUo says, that the prevalent opinion was', that the papers of Jerome of Talavia, " who gave a good deal of thought to that subject," fell into the hands of Copernicus, and were the immediate cause of concentrating his great mind and attention on that subject : and Cornelio is supported in that opinion by another writer, named Bar- bieri. And Salfi, his continuator, as well as Ginghene, think it certain that it was after Copernicus's arrival in Rome that he took up the subject for investigation. The Bishop of Varmie, Copernicus's uncle, having provided a situation for him in his own diocese, he left Rome and dedi- cated as much spare time as he could to the preparation of his work " On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs." In the meantime we find Celio Calcagnini, the friend and com- panion of Cardinal Hyppolite D'Este, after a tour in Germany and the neighbouring countries, in the year 1518, setting up publicly to prove "Quod Caelum stet, terra autem moveatur," in consequence of which he was taken into favour by two successive Pontiffs, the great patrons of learning, CIsment the VII. and Paul the III., who, in token of their estimation of him, attached him to the Papal Court, as Proto Notary Apostolic. And we are further informed by the Italian historians, Marini and Salfi, that in the year 1533 (10 years before Copernicus's ** Be Revolutionistus") Pope Clement VII. presented a volume on the Revolution of the Earth to John Albert Widman- stadt, a German, who came to Rome at the Pope's request, to deliver lectures on Astronomy in the Vatican Gardens, and who afterwards became Private Secretary to his Holi- ness. The book is still preserved in the Royal Library of 10 OALILEO AND THE Munich ; anJ in tho fly leaf is written, in the handwritini^ of Widmanstadt, that, " the book was presented to him bi/ " the Pope, in testimony of the gratijicotwn which his Holi- " ness derived from his lectures." We arc not informed whether or not the Pope himself was the author of the book ; but the circumstance is suflicient to show, that the Pope had no objection to havinp; the science propagated both in public and private. Pope Paul III. ascended tho throne in tho year 15oG. He is described by the historians Ariosto, Fracastoro, and Calcagnini as one of the first philosophers of the age, and the most distinguished for his patronage of the sciences. Shortly after this, Copernicus, who had been long prepar- ing his work on the new theory— in his retreat on tho banks of the Vistula in Poland— appealed to the Pope, not only against the scriptural attacks made on him by some of the inferior ecclesiastics and others ; but also for the means of getting the work printed, and concludes his letter with those words: ''What I have done in this " matter, I submit 'princijmlly to your Holiness, and then to " the judgment of all learned Mathematicians r Nor was his appeal in vain. Tho successor of St. Peter lent tho high protection of his name to Copernicus, and Cardinal Scomberg charged himself with the expense of the publica- tion as the work progressed- for at that time printing could not be done so cheap or so fast as at present ; and although Cardinal Scomberg died ere the work was finished, another Churchman, in the person of Gissio, Disbop of Culm, in Bohemia, advanced the " needfuV to bring tho publication to a successful issue, bearing on its front tho sanction of tho head of the Catholic world, in the vear 1543. ^ Now, I fear many of my hearers have already enquired of themselves, what has all this to do do with Galileo ? I answer, it is a part of th^ proof which is offered against the calumnies heaped on the Catholic Church and its dig- nitaries, and shows conclusively that, instead of the autho- rities of the Church being opposed to the cultivation of science, they gave it the greatest encouragement possible, even eighty or one hundred years before Galileo was heard of. But independent of the foregoing, I can adduce un- noMAN iNQtnarnojf. 17 qu:.'8tionable proof that Galileo was never condemned for his iciencey but prohibited from connecting theology with it About the year 1828 an Englishmon named Drinkwnter —(a very popular name for the Sons of Temperance,) pub- lished a life of Galileo, which is identical with that con- tamed in the Library of Useful Knowledge, which has been pronounced n work of considerable merit as to its literary research, but quite below par in its veracity where the Catholic Church or its dignitaries are concerned Ihere may bo a reasonable allowance made for a writer while he quotes another writer, even though of doubtful authenticity ; but when a writer quotes in only a garbled way from an author of high repute, and then forces a false construction or meaning on it, to suit his own prejudiced views, it IS unpardonable, and renders him unworthy of credence m any thing, without a strict investigation. The accomplished Italian historian Tiraboschi, before named !%u-\°'^"^''''' ""^ *^^ condemnation of Galileo, said! lUis too rigorous censure had proceeded solely from the Inquisition of Eome, and that amongst the most zealous Catholics not one had ever attributed to that tribunal the ;' privileges of infallibility." This text Mr. Drinkwater, ^1 tt' 1/,\^^^P^^^ «f the Life of Galileo, in the Library of Useful Knowledge, has described as " an attempt to draw a somewhat subtle distinction between the Bulls of 'the Popes and the Inquisitorial decrees sanctioned and' approved by him," although there is not ona word in the Italiaus remarks concerning Bulls of the Popes. Mr. Drinkwater further describes Tiraboschi as regarding it '* as a special mark of grace, that the head of the Church was not perm,itted to compromise his infallible character bv ^ Jormally condemning the opinions of Capernicus," Silthousih m this case neither is one word in the original regarding the head of the Church, or his infallible character, or his condemning the opinions of Copernicus ! After thus mis- representing the Italian, Mr. Drinkwater's next effort is ; to disprove him, which he attempts by producing some antiquHted Bull of Sixtus V., establishing ^^ a censorship- ojthe press, under the title of the Congregation of the ^■^Index^md directing that after the members of the Con- gregation shall have duly examined each work, and made 18 OALILIO AND TDI " their report thereon to the reigning Pontiff, they nhnW •'proceed b' , and with hia authority to condemn the same." Such is the proof which Mr. Drinkwater brings forward to prove the belief of Catholics in the infallibility of the Jn» quisitioHy although the Congregation of the Index has about as much to do with the Inquisition as it has with *• the man in the moon," or as much as either has with infallibilit\j. Sixtus V. ascended the throne in 1585, more than 200 years after the establishment of the Inquisition, as has been already shewn. This is the great error whioh most English Protestant wrters full into — that of niir>tiirA )ina««.r in. romait tifqm^fttjf. ^t gemMBi #ai l« adrti«««d witb difiotthy «rheo thty deptirt nrom the tfotnadn opinion of the Fathers.'* And OQ the 15th April, the same year, Bishop Dini ftgain wrote to his friend, and aays : — " BellarnBine remarked to me, that there wsb no qaestion about Galileo. M his case was dismissed, and that by pur!*aing the oourse mentioned— that of speaking as a Mathematiciun— he would be put to no trouble." Venturi quotes Nelli for this. Now, the circumstance of quashing the prosecutioti for want of the original letter, upon which, or the copy of which, the complaint was laid, shows that the Inquisitors had no desire to move in the matter at all, because if they had, they might easily call on Castelli, to whom the letter was written, to either produce the letter, or prove if the copy presented by Lorini was a correct one. All this time Galileo was not as much as cited before the Inquisitors, nor annoyed in any way by them. Prince Cesi, that ornament and patron of science, wrote to his friend in Florence, dated 7th March, 1615, in u^hieh he stated that " the preceptor of Popes, the tnlented Jesuit *' Torqurtto de Cuppis, is delivering lectures in the Roman *' College (Bellarmine's own), in support of the Copernican ** doctrine ;" while in Sapienza — the Pope's own Univer- sity—another Jesuit is stated' by the historian Nelli to be *' delivering lectures on the same subject." So much for the far-famed hostility of the Jesuits to the new science ! Another Jesuit of the name of Grassi, who wrote a work caled the '* Astronomical Balance," and who has been said to have entertained a jealousy against his rival in science (Galileo) in 1624, some time after Bellarmine's death, stated that he found among the papers of the deceased, ia Bellarmine's own handwriting, his views on Galileo's work in these words : *» When a demonstration shall be found to ** establish the earth's motion, it will be proper to interpret " the Scriptures otherwise than they have hitherto been, " in these passages where mention is made of the stabilKy of the earth and of the movement " of the heavens." This passage is to be found in Guiducci's Letters of 6th and 13th September, 1624, and cited by Vetituri and Nelli. Bartoli, another Jesuit and contemporary of Bellarmine, and also bis biographer, asserts that papers remained in his hands 34 6ALILE0 AND THB in Bellarmine's handwriting, which showed that the Cardinal never aoubted the truth op Galileo's doctrine ; but only- the prudence of his manner of propounding it through the Scriptures. Now, it must be borne in mind, that up to this period there was no demonstrative proof of the earth's motion given by Galileo or any one else, unless that of the flux and re- flux of the tides offered by Galileo, who considered that the very climax of conviction, and stated that «' this arg-ument *' m particular enters with an extraordinary force and vio-our *' into men's ears." He dedicated the whole of the fourth day of the dialoghi to the development of this argument and concludes by scoffing at the simplicity of Kenler' - particularly after his (Galileo's) satisfactory explanation ot the phenomena, that he should lend his ear and assent ''to such occult properties, as the moon's influence on the " tides, and other like puerilities^ This ought to satisfv any thinking mind, not only of the propriety, but the ne- Uesstty of the Church not allowing such a frail hypothesis as It was at that time to be mixed up with the Scriptural proofs ; and it shows also even Galileo's own shallow depth of knowledge on the subject, when he considered it onlv puenhtym Kepler to think that the moon had any effect on the tides ! ^ In order to arrive at a correct view of the state of the sciences at that period, I am compelled to quote a passage from the accomplished Delambre, before men^ tioned. In reviewing his own work, written some years. DBIOrG* DG S3.VS !-~— JLfrr^'' then prosecuted with the most Bcrupulous exactness have failed to bring to light any other Astronomy than that of theGreeb Th« only things to be net with, from the most remote antiquity to fpoch of Copernicu. are theideag of Ilipparchus and Ptolemy. ArabianTPers an/ Tartars, Indians Chinese. Europeans, it, is all one Every wherfTDd ai al t,a,es, the earth is motionless in the centre of the planetary mve^euts All appearances were sufficiently accounted for-all observed nhenTmena were calculated in this system, by the aid of certain hypothesLwUhou' t^lhlTT 'Tl° '^'l''''^'' °°°"^^'"S ^0 inspire the lightest mist';! mthecorrectnessof the fundamental idea." ' s '^""'u'siruBS To this universal acquiescence in the immobilitv of the earth, even the Pythagorean doctrine formed nc exception, not only because confined to the school in which it had its birth, but also because it owed its on>in. not to any r«a-„e4 ROMAN INQUISITION. t6 Or Consistent view, but to the spirit of disputation that prevailed in the ancient schools, and which infallibly caused whatever opinion was held in any one, its oppositej for that sole reason, should be maintained in the next.- Thus the Copernican idea, though broached in the ancient schools, was broached only to be rejected ; so that when taken up in modern times, it was " a paradox." And such, says Mr. Whewell, " it appeared in the hands of Cardinal " Cusa, though it w«s undoubted that that illustrious writer •' was serious in proposing it." The idea, then, was nev^ — unheard of— opposed to all preconceived notions Oil the subject— opposed to the senses — opposed to the obvious and literal meaning of the divine Word, and to its popular in- terpretation,— in a word paradoxical, and one for which the author had to draw wholly on his own resources. "And what solid reason, (Delambre asks), "could induce the atioienia to disbelieve the evidences ol" their senses ? Yes, and even deStpite the im- mense progress which Astronomj has subsequently made, have the moderns themselves been able to allege any one direct proof of the diurnal motion of the earth, previous to the voyage of Recher to Cayenne, (in Sbuth America), when he was obliged to shorten his pendulum ? Have they been able to discover one positive demdnstration to the point, to prove the ftdnaal revo- lution of the earth, before Roomur measured the velocity of light, afid Rradiy had observed and calculated the phenomena of aberration ? Previous to these discoveries, and to that of universal gravitation, (made many a long year after Galileo's death), were not the most decided Copernicans reduced to mere probabilities ?— were they not obliged to confine themselves to preaching up the simplicity of the Copernican "system, a6 compared with the absurd complexity of that of Ptolemy ?" So much then for the first assumption of Galileo, that his system was demonstrated. The historian, M. Bergier, slated that " Galileo was not prosecuted for being a good astronomer but a bad theologian." This Mr. Drinkwater attempts to controvert, by quoting a part of a letter written by Galileo to the Grand Duchess Christina; although Nelii, Montucla, Delambre, and in our days, Biot, all give the same letter as "one in which *' Galileo undertook to prove theologically and by reasons " drawn from the Fathers, that the terms of Scripture might " be reconciled with his new doctrine on the constitution of *Uhe universe." For this Drinkwater endeavours to ex- cuse Galileo, by saying it was the indecent attacks of the Dominican Friar Cacciai that drove him to it in self=defeRce,- 26 OALILEO AND THK But we have already seen that both the letters to Castilli, (upon which the first complaint was made against him to the Inquisition), and to the Grand Duchess, were written before this so-called attack ; but even were it not so, it proves that the question was an open one, as so many of the superior clergy were favourable to the science, although some of the inferior ones were opposed to it ; whereas, if once sentence were passed by the Church there would have been no more difference of opinion amongst the clergy on tho subject.* On the 23rd March of the same year (1615) Galileo wrote an argumentative letter, enforcing his views as to the Scrip- tural agreement with his favourite doctrine, to his friend Bishop Dini, expressly urging him to submit it to the perusal " of Bellarmine and the Jesuits, as being those who "knew most about such things." In Dini's reply, dated 2nd May, 1615, he says :— » It appears to our friend the Prince Cesi, that I should not present your letter to TakT personage, because he and others in authority might be irri- tated on a point already gained : which is, that you can write as a Mathe- matician, and by way of hypothesis, as they will have it that Coperuicus did ; and this, though not conceded by his followers, is nevertheless sufficient that others should obtain the same result — that of being left at hberty, provided only, as has been said, people do not invade the sanctuary." The whole of this letter is given in Venturi's History. But unfortunately all those friendly, though significant hints from his best friends would not satisfy Galileo. He proceeded with the elaboration of the last and most for- *In the second volume of Hallani's Literature of Europe, published at New York, 1856, in a note at foot of page 249, he says :— " Mr. Drinkwater seems to be mistaken in supposing that Galileo did not endeavour to prove his system compatible with Scripture. In a letter to Christina, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, tho author (BrenniO of the life in Fabroni's work, tells us he argued very elaborately lor that purpose. In ea videlioit epistola philosophus noster ita disserit, ut nihil etiam ab ho- minibus, qui omnem in sacrarum literarum studio consumpsissent aetiam aut subtillius aut verius aut etiam accuratius explicatum expectari potuerit, p. 118. It seems, in fact, to have been this over desire to prove his theory orthodox which incensed the Church against it. See an extraordinary ar- ticle on this subject in the 8th No. of the Dublin Review (1838.) Many will tolerate propositions inconsistent with orthodoxy, when they are not brought into immediate juxtaposition with it." BOMAN IMQUISITIOS. ST »hank God and your SeTel nT^nL ^'"'"2 '« come hither, whence I •"ission," &c. &o. H'ghness, who granted me the necessary per- to his mend ^iJl'':^^^^^^^ :^^ 'y ^^"1- Cardinais. who manage these affSn LJ ^Jyf '^''' Eminenc^ the ner, with the assurunfe ha they had fe t n?-f ^'^''' ^1 ^^"^'^g '"^°- no lesa my own candour inrlL; 5 'u' '^.''^''^ ^'^'^ *•'«''• own hands, iniquitous purposerofTy pet uS^^^^ .'^' f^'^'''^ "^^'8"^^^ "-"i I might return home at a^nfrme?'' ''''*' '' *" "' ^ '"^ '''^^'^^^^ ardour of sninfLVi 'T'''' ^^^^^^«'« impetuosity and -ol':T85ttagel9Ts^^^^^^ of Christianity), published at Balti- wa^c^oTdemS' r, tt Corrt'^tJ .^^P^r^P'^^^^'-^ ^^ ««"'«>. truth. Galileo wa« arraigned W. TT-t *° ^" ""^'"'^ unfounded in Astronoa.er. but la b d So. an'' S' ^"''"""^^ ^* ^°'"°' '^^^ «« ''^ that the earih revolved roundX^ '. ^r ""l' "'"'"'•'^' °°*f<^' teaching opinion was contailTin tl"e u Mp 1 obstinately declaring that hif authorities should nublish V J •''.P'"t'.'°'^'°« *'^** **»« ecclesiastical fact, of the case 1 Ln frltlTJ. *" tp-'^^'^'- .^'•'^' «"«^^ ^^'^ ^^e Nicolini. bo,h d;eiple?rnd rends of Gain ^'""TJ^^'^^'^ ^^^ '^^ Marqui. distinguished Astronomer him elf L mIZ^'^v'"' '^'n^'"'''' °^ '^' partial Protestant writer, has present^^^^^^^^ ^*"; ^^ G«°«>^». »« i"" dissertatinn. trhJnh „f,^„.l" • ,f ^s^nted all this evidence in a len^thir "' ■■"■ "^P'"^"" '" '^0 Mercure de France, July 17th, 17847' 28 dALlLBO AND TUB his opinion is in accordance with Scripture, (m which lio was warmly supported by Cardinal Orsini, at least in pressing the affair too hastily before the Court), and brought forth his everlasting argument of the flux and reflux of the tides. It has been already seen by the suppression ot the complaint of Lorini, that either the Court or t^e Inquisi- tion had no desire to meddle in the matter at all, it^ let, alone ; but Cardinal Orsini so pressed the case of his triend Galileo befoi'e the Court, to the exclusion of other business, that the Pope at last declared that - he would send the whole M aff^iir before the Inquisition, and let it be condemned. The particulars of this statement is contained m a Despatch dated 4th March, 1616, from the Florentine Ambassador, Guicciardini, at the Court of Rome, and quoted m the works of Bergicr and Bercastel However, through the influence of Cardinals Bellarmine, Barberini, and Cajetan, it was only declared ^' that it appeared to be contrary to the « sacred Scripturer Such is the account given by Iran- piscQ Buonamici de Prato, who assisted Galileo in the cause, On the 8th February, 1853, Cardinal Wiseman delivered a lecture on •' Science." before tho Literary Institute at Leeds, in Yorkshire. England. After speaking of Galileo and his treatment at Rome, his Eminence said .— '. I cannot enter into the details of this painfully interesting jubjecj, but I will refer you to the fifth volume of the J)ubli7i Review fo: July, 18^8- You will find the whole question investigated there, both of Galileo a treat- S and of the ground If his sentence. Let me ust add a few obs rva- lol. Galileo was 70 years of age before what is callel h,s Pe;^«°«^o" really commenced, that is to say. before he was formally condemned. xNow, during his many preceding years he was not called to account for any of these discoveries which he had made ; but, on the contrary when he went to Rome he showed his discoveries, was highly honored, and Cardinal Bar- berini wrote poems upon him, conceived in most eulogistic strains. Ihe popular assertion that he was imprisoned and cruelly '''^''^: ''{^'^J^.l honorably given up by Dr, Whewell. who contents himself with deny ng the S of the Church to interfere in philosophical questions. Our Protestant w?ls of note have likewise acknowledged the falsehood of the popular opinion. And now. as to the question between him and the Inq";^'t;o"» Galileo taught the system which had been openly taught in Rome by Coper- nicus, and which he would hava been allowed to teach on^if. m an evil hour, he had not chosen to make it a iheologioal question. Wben he came for- ward with that theory which he attempted to prove, but which, it is now agreed, he could not, and did not prove as the exclusively true theory , and insisted that it should be so received as conformable to Scnpture-the mo- pent he began to take theological grounds that tribunal interfered, ua g V ROMAN INQUISITION. 09 and who wrote this account at the time in Rome at his own special request And on the day followingXs dec s oT M^ that ""''' " ' '''''' '' ^^^ mendf Picchena3 that consonance is Sained " ^ '*'°" '' °^ ^'^"^^ ^°'^^« '" ^^ich ^^ Injhe Dublin Review for July, 1838, wo are informed it ;;s 3«:: ht ^to^iToSiierei^ ^'i' '"^^'^^^^-^ ^--^ (of silencing him) they did notTke but nil' t" ^'°'' ^'*.''°" *'^''^*^P one of theifnumber (Bol amine to int mate n h 'T'' . ^^"'"•^''io^ing by all the arts of friendly pelL^ ^"^.^^'}' ^°°'«'°"' «"" doing so, his wounded pride. T^v d d not ni „1 f • . »"«e°««8arily to irritate were as few as Po ible and the Carti r ' '^'u' ^'' ' '^' '^''"««««« to the effect, tba't .hey did"no 'at al vtif l^m"w tl th'etl-' T '"*''r ' left him in the enjoyment of hisow , ooin onl I" • displeasure, but deemed W...^ ^He was i^^ZL^^X^ZZS IZt'^Z of it yet; that when there wa. it wou d be time to nT^^^^^^^ accord.pg to it In fact, the proof on which he maiirre Sd 'a theoftTf the tides, ,8 acknowledged to have been compIetelTfuti e A nd t Z^ observes that no real and satisfactory proof existed nf?»,l; ^^''^.ff '«°<^« years later. What was Galileo doin^ ? Ra l!o • • ?• ^^^^'^, *'" "''"^ make his theory bond to the admitfed view of th« » > I T^ ""^^^^ ^^^° but the truth of Scripture that was nvolved) Tt t no I ^^ '1.°^ ^°«"*' simply for endeavourinc to hrnV -„ .,„ *>»« discoveries for science, but 3d GALILEO AND TUB frUndiy audicooe with the Pontiff, and dismiseed with every demonitrafion of favaur and regard. Such is the plain anvarnished stateuieat of the faoti of this (*2iid) enquiry by the Inquisition into the doctrine and conduct of Galileo ; it loas of his own seeking, against the advice not only of bis de- clared friends, but of somo of his judges ; it arose out jof an attempt on thd phibsophor'e part to give the law in the interpretation of Scripture— was marked by heat and iotemperance on his side, by kindness and good feelinff on that of the Court,— it left him the enjoyment of his opinions, but reduced him, as "a« ecclesiastical precaution," (to use the words of Venturi), to an absolute silence. In doing bo, it warred not with the doctrine, for it left every other teacher to enforce the same views ; nay, scarcely was the ink dry on the paper that recorded this decision, when the Chair of Astro- nomy in the Pope's own University of Bologna, vacant by the death of Magini, was offered to the immortal Keplar : that is, the instruction of the rising generation in heretical Astronomy (bless the mark !) is sought to be placed by Kome itself in the hands of, after Galileo, the most active and, before Galileo and alt* others, the most efficient advocate of Copernioanism in hia day ; not only so, they did not even wait for Keplar to come amongst them to have it taught. We have seen how, in the year before, it was up- held in the Sapienza, and in the Roman Colleges; and now a Theatine Father is occupied in enforcing the truth of the same Copernioan views. Why then, it may be asked, was Galileo, and why Galileo alone, silenced ? The answer is ready— because of his extreme intemperance, which is fully evinced by his whole conduct in the affaiv, and is still farther attested by the Ambassador of his Prince, resident on the spot, and who dared not have misrepresented him to a Court which idolized him. We shall give the extract from that Minister's despatch ; it is dated the 4th March, 1616, the day before the dicision was, pronounced, and expresses with great earnestness the heat of the sage, proof against every expedient to the last. It is as follows, as given by Fabroni:— ' Galileo makes more account of his own opinion than that of his friends ; and the Lord Cardinal del Monte and I. so far as lay in my power, together with mcmy Cardinals of the Holy Ojffke, have tried to persuade him to keep himself quiet, and not to agitate this affair, but if he had a mind to hold his opinion, to hold it in peace, and not to make Buoh efforts to draw over others to his way of thinking. He is heated in his opinions, and displays an extreme passion with but little prudence or strength of mind to know how to govern it. He is heated. He is passionate in this affair, and altogether blinded as to how he ought to act, and will remain 80, as he has hitherto done, bringing himself, and every one else who will be fool enough to seeond his views, or be persuaded by him, into danger. Ho is vehement, obstinate, and passionate, so that it is impossible that any one around him can got out of his hands.' '* Galileo, at the urgent request of the Tuscan Ambassador, waa quietly remanded to Florence by his Court, where he soon returned to his previous calm. Cardinal Barberini, who wrote some verses in honour of the Philosopher, was elected Pope in 1623, under the name or title of Urban VIII., and being 1 Coperniean himself and personal friend^ of Galileo, and being desirous to have himself surrounded I ( a I t a U e t\ n *OMAN INQUJSITJON. -^ C iarini, whose house was GaHW r" '» ^^' Holiness. in Borne iu 1616 an,l ZZ i ° ' """"^ •^''riDg his stav «on of the earth 'and ijtarif T f ^'^""^ "' ">e luo!: Chamberlain; KicardUs Se Master om' Jf """"^ *''"d Ciampole is made SeetZtv Zr ^^ ^""^'^ ^^^^o»: Oratory, the celebrated fiSjiJe ;,"'''? f ""« ^^^""h of Cardinal. AU these ceS-' f -"'^"^ '" *"»« dignity of Galileo and admirera of w' J'''. ^""S P*''^"-"" friends of his iltastrious CnT tLttfZl "'• «' «'| a-^vipo offer peraonally his conffM/^^?f„ Cesi went to Rome to former friend i bro^r S^^ *° '''? '^"""^^^ ""d the Chair of iSt Peter *?'^«r'",*°' «" '''« elevation to Prince Cesi, wrtinlt r»n *^^''^' ^^^^' Castelli and of an intendew whfch C^l »*"" ^"''' '"''''^■"^d Win friend of aalileo-ten«n:dtr'^« T' "^'^-'"^ Holiness said :— "it never »« • ^'"' -^"P^' ""hen his "the Copernican system Idlf T^ ""'?""" *" """-J^"" " cree of 1616 wouCr W ^ '^''^^^ »" "'' «>« de- arrival in the Eternal cTtvIt-""^'^'''' On Galileo's with the greatest co^M ^'^d bv"""™" "^ '"» '""^"ds his Holiness, who bestS a „„ ^- """^ ?°'« «» ^an by «on. Under all thesetvTurablelT'"" ? ''™'«'^ ^"^ ^I manceuvring a„d charaSuo ^n?™'??^'^' "^'^^ "»»«t His devoted friends, the Master ottf'^'^'^"*'' ^''Pri'ed Ciampole, into an apnrobatt„ f " ^""''^ ^*l»-:e and partiaUy per..Uted tStt^mine ''t "''f '' ''^ "»' wh.h no o^..eoanadmir.hes:::r: ^Z^J^^ in wmoh ;. ^ra^l ^'"^""■^ ^onr Days' m7CZ opinion of L ^^ PTl'""""'" "^ '"^"""='" *« tS cates with „..,„: and ooSt ""ff"* *"" '^ "O™- addres3edfottedi,■> of 1 616, with which it was parS S ; «d the air of deBancJ any tribunal considered TntTtled fr'^ P»^«"« 'hat 32 GALILEO AND THB not spare the first personage in the realm, who was alsa his own most generous benefactor. There can be no doubt but that this wanton attack on Galileo's part hastened the Bubsequent proceedings, to vindicate, as was asserted, the violated order of 1616. This was the ostensible ground of complaint. Certainly hostility to science m general, or to the peculiar doctrine of the earth's motion in particular,, was not among the motives, real or avowed, that brought down the severity with which the delinquent was at last visited. All the springs of action are laid open in the correspondence of the day. In the important despatches of Nicolini, the then resident Ambassador of Florence, at Rome, we have evidence on the one hand of the Pope's taking up the cause, " come propria ;" and on the other, •' That the great difficulty consisted in its beinj; maintained by the Cut- dinals of the Congregation, that in the year 1616 a command M»as l*id upon him (Galileo) not to dispute or argue on this point, (the bearing ot Scrip- ture on the new ecience.) Every thing else seems to be of mraov import- ance, and more easily got rid of." The same point is restated in a second letter of the same date, as well as in those of 2nd May, 18th June, 26th June, and 3rd of July, 1633, and of the 11th September of the previous year — all of which may be seen in Ventari ; and Geo. Francisco Buonamici expressly testifies that the Inquisition "solely examined him upon the license and » ' approbation of the Book. ' ' They demanded of him why he had not informed the Master of the Sacred Palace of the injunction of 1616 1 He replied that he thought it was useless. "There," says Venturi, "in vigorous justice " was his fault." Campanella, in writing to Galileo him- self, ii2nd October, 1632, says that it was the infringement of the injunction of 1616 which brought on the proceedings which terminated so unfavourable in 1633. It has been already shewn that Pope Urban and his Court were rather friendly than otherwise to the science, and regarded it in a theological point of view (apart from the Scriptures), as perfectly harmless. "We have also seen the high tribute which Galileo himself paid to Bellarmine and others of the Jesuit order, although some of the inferior of them have been accused of writing against him, because, as was al- leged, they were jealous that he should have the whole ROMAN IN'QUIMIIO.V. |l "edit of a scienco which (h.y had so long taucht them .elve., and not beca.iao they thought it horfay! stafed f-' ^"^ "'' ""^ ''"''"" '^"''"''' '•''"'■'' "«"'«'). it " Tor hi» soienr-o or h « «) • ' arraigned--but once; and then Dot pertinaciously den anS d ^f '^"PP ^'^'^-^^>f° decMon ho loudly and prosecutxoa of science, been allowed to draw near ite close Ztr~ r'"p"« "" "■"• '■" "''^ '""'^f"! o^orcise of its fatTon ',b It '"^ "' digniturios, any severer vi i- tation thar what may be summed up under the head of honours, Pfns.on, ,, ,^ and every other demon 6trat.on which the liveliest admiration of talents transcend- ilZ:" -71 "™ "^ '"'P'^« ' »"•! ">is, while-as if to impart to >t the relief of eontrast-he was experienc ne from the countries round, and especially his own morencet more or less of petty persecu.ion and vexatious annoyance Ho had taught, published, proclaimed, extended theCnd: anes of human knowledge to the utmost regions of unex- vfnerabir;t'- ". \"!' ^""^'^ '"'"^ "'""^ne hand he with fti t"' »f P'>'l°^»Pt'y that had stood for ages, and Ih ,if }" ?-T'"' »" "^ ™i"^ a substitute of a new onlv uni r ''''^''^'?' construction. All this he.did. noT anlhul „f R "^'"' ^^' '^"""^ ^y «>» countenance and bv the ,„• T'' """L'.''^ "" ^"1 *"""•■ as if intoxicated aL tL r. ''f '^'^ '^^'"^ ^' ■>'''' '" ">e world of science, advetlv "? t ™'""' ^V'^'''^^ °™r every successive. ^LZ7L A ' "?^' ''^ '""■^'' ''^ ">" wantonness of wayward pride, tnrough the restraints of personal respect public order. „d ev.n private gratitude, and levellTll; 34 OALILKO AND THK shafta of his sutire and contempt against the very highest personage in the land— the same being his best benefactor. '• Yet *>ven then " continues the Review, " the tagt was not forgotten in the delinquent, nor the oliiiina of the " High Priest of science" lo«t on the olemency and consideration of his judges. He was treated with a leniency.^ we had almost said a respoct, perfectly without parallel in the onnala of friendly vengeance; and never before or Hinoo has power been seen to relax itH grasp with so litt'o of injury to the victim that had the temeriiy to offend it. Jjaslly, it has been seen that vho persons who thus treated thiH great man, were, in the whole world at that time, the most friendly to solence ; and who looked with the most favourable eye upon the very con- ■elusion for which Diinkwater ami suoh prejudiced writers wouM have it that he BufToreJ. Hut wna not the opinion declared to bo heretical ? No ; and in thinking otherwise, men permit themselvea either wilfully or negli- gently to be deceived by the words, of course, of a legal instrument— the •set phrases of a Court of Justice, without attending to the legal phraseology or public acceptation of these terms, which, more than their grammatical coDStruotion, ever decides their meaning. The words " Heretical," " He- resy," in the sentence of 163.3, are but the " stylus ourise."— the evidence is most decisive : that ot tho Pontiff in whoso name it issued, and of tho person under trial addressing his judges. • No,' says Urban, ' tho Church •has not condemned that system, nor is it to be considered heretical, but only as rash.' And at page 7') of original pieces quoted by Delambre, Galileo himself said it was only condemned ad interim, ' pour le present condamnee," —that is, not to be taught in its absolute form until proved to bo true. But do we not see tho two propositions, the one declaring the immobility of the sun, the other tho motion of the earth, both condemned in the sentenco as respectively heretical and erroneous in faith ? Yes, but that sondem- nation is Folely the work of the qualifiora— inferior officers of the Inquisition —and not of the Inquisition itself, which merely recites this, together with the other facts of the inquiry of 1616. by way of preamble to their sen- tence; whereas tho Inquisition did not at all trouble themselves with con- sidering the truth or falsehood, tho innocence or poison, of the opinion asserted, but only with the question, whether or not the publication of its defence in the ' Dialogues ' was an infringement of their injunction of 161G ? The whole history of the trial proves that the abstract question they left as they found it. Now, there is more than ample evidence to show that it never was pronounced heretical. After Galileo was examined before the Inquisition, some months before final sentence was passed or tho publication of the Dialogues condemned, a K tujr was dispatched by order of the Grand Duke, from Florence to Rome, in exculpation of his Mathematician. It was penned in the name of the Duke's Secretary, Andrea Cioli, but there is no doubt that it was composed by Galileo himself Venturi says, it is • in Galileo's mm handtoriting.' That letter is demonstrative of the point, as well that Galileo was in Florence at that time, as that tho anti-Coper- nican doctrine had never been definitely asserted, since in it Galileo alleges it as a proof, at least of his zeal and well-intentioned interest, that h'e com- posed the Dialogues with a view of affordiug those with whom it rested to decide on a point of doctrine, as he says, involving questions about which they could not ordinarily bo expected to be conversant with the arguments m r t l! I G 1( ROiMAN INQUISITION. 8* , '^'^•^'^J^:::^:::''"'''^ 5? "■" ^"'-^ "»" the torm, horcticul T uV «i Tn '" "" ''.""'"^'^ "'^ ">« Cu,n,,.„,ellu, Ric,,nlCW 1 ,'''■'"'■'''' ''"1"'' U'ban to Conrt of Rome hHd ne Uh^ ' ' ' ^"''"'^'ti"" '""l the whole "ounco „.. ,ioH.rx "irorwa'at"" rT'^'r- "; "'?- is seated ir™ d 'al M ™?»"?", '^^ »° «»• ^W' fact "«t only to theolo-iaus .,,7 ,, i' .1, '""' " '"'" '"'""'n- " h<"4 ? Bocau -i hi . "^ throughout the sentence /•erelical cA Aa.. nothing ZTo {od L'P' '"""'" f /«'■' punishment ofacmZZiT„ ./,?'' "•''""''" ' '**« »<''« to show that this is Sot •,,, il , ", A«-*c,"— and venience „f the occas^o.^ " 'P''""'^"'" "J"!""') for the eon- firmatio,, l...s nly to ^o" ,'lt th^ " n™''," "'^'"? ^'^ ''' ™"- of Nicholas Evmeriok L -^ "Directonum Inquisitorum" ' Galileo .: thCg tr^Zf'll ier%r,^""«- ^.''''' "^^o™ andiis practical 1u, authrX;.' •"«''"'™' '« "s good English Courts on th^iT^ ■' ","'"" '"* ^^itty is in the cliofments."td?lto„rd,"r':hXP|"r"'"^^ "'•'"- not laugh to ridiculo ,„„/■' *"■'' .^-ng'ish jurist would translat'ealltlfriar^s^of ."lfr'',r''" 7^" """■"P' '<> "who ,rith forcfanra-Ls- t 'T''^^'"''''''''^"^''" language the true lUm m^anit ^f^ih"''''''', '" ^T-'' own country ? And «.f if- ^ • . ' '™''''^ '» '"^ Drinkwatei- ha^ fal"eni, o w>h ^"""'"^^ ""^ «'™'- 'h*' Galileo, and c^pred k^i .IL r'?""^ '" ""^ '^^'"'"'» »f ledge." ^ '"'° '*'<' ^'^-'-o'T of Useful Know- 36 GALILEO AND THU I recollect, some tNventy years ago, ^vlllle serving on a Grand Jury in this good City oi' Charlottetown, and after the Jury making a presentment against a certain encroach- ment on Upper Queen-street, the Bill of Indictment was sent up, couched in all the legal technicalities " in such cases made an.l provic^cd;" and although the house was proved to be an eiicraachmcnt on the street to the extent ot fourteen, feet, vet be.'aus-i the indictment, amongst other things, stated' that the said encroachment or nuisance was an interruption to the passage of the said street by Her Majesty's liege subject^ &c., two worthy gentlemen ol the Jury (bota Magistrates, since dea.l), ooiud not reconcile it to their consciences, (one a Catholic, nnd the otner of the Church of En-land), to vote for the Bill, because, as they said, " there was plenty of room for Her Majesty s subjects to pass and repass on the other side of the street, whi e all the other Jurors considered it only the set phrase o too Court, and as there were only thirteen Jurors, the Bill wa^ " not found." i . , - , It was only in that wide, improper and tecmncal sense that the opinion in the sentence of Galileo has been deno- minated a " heresy ;" and the circumstance oilers no more proof that it was held as such in the proper and ordinary sense of the wor.i, than the language of our several English Law Courts affords to show that one man Had been at such a time in " the custody of the Marshal of the Marshalsea, ■ while he never had the honour of seeing the face ot the said Marshal or his Marshalsea. Bat Mr. Drinkwater goes fur- ther still, and wishes to excite a suspicion in the minds of his readers that Galileo was put to torture, because he finds another legal phrase in the document, " rigorous examen thoucrh he had been warned by Brenna, whom he affects to have°read, that it also is but a phrase of course. But not satisfied with that, he— like Prenderville in the ca^se of the Palatine Library, before rei; rred to— has travelled bacK nme centuries before he could find a make»weight for his charge of "superstitious blindness " against Home m the case ol Saint Virgil. This will show that Mr. Drinkwater had more at heart than a truthful history of the life oi Galileo, while it is no small eulogy on that Church, whose career he had to trace hick 900 vean;, to found such a complaint, 1 ROMAN INQUISITION. *7 is fo,- introducing sT Vi ', il ol t - u?'^ "''''''^^ "'"'* life of Galileo oftha .SLl ° '-'^''"' ""'">' '"'» ">« Ho i:;Gt Jb"?;' ""'^^^^ in ,;i'rzsij;[ time " No buf , ^T '"^ "^^'^ P"' "^ Europe at that G^.sen.itdtr.rt ::;:rp;iestl rtSthu?/'T^^^ acknowledge. Ro.e fo,- it.rii.d:;"t1hefcoit"c at? bUed the te„eS':r-« J^l. /rr^/.tT/r'- opposed as ifc was to tho letter of thP S.r.vf !u ^^^ Protestant philosopher of Ms .h J ^^^.^^^^-^^^ g^^^test proved thit if vr.,e 1 m , ^ ' ■^•^'^^^'^ ^^'''»^'^^' "ot only by Alexa, dor Eo ? ' '"f /""^G, bert-written against .iXf iir;; rr„" '** •■" - « - It usually creates quite a merriment amonost the lit^^rati who talce. his fling at tho Church, .rtugl he were" o^tl "r.r""'lirt'"?' " '°. "^ porfectfy unassaiUW: 38 GALILEO ANU THE to include the whole world ; and while he never forgets the lar-f'amed persecution of Galileo, he does not trouble hi* head to look into the horrible laws which, at the time, and long- after Galileo's departare from this world's sta^e, bound unhappy Ireland in the chains of ignorance. The great Edmund Burke called them, ''those modes of inquisition, that " should never be named to ears organized to the chaste sounds " of equity and justice,"— making it felony to be taught at home, and doable felony to be taught abroad * Such writers seem to overlook that, in the sentiments of Galileo, one of the proudest achievements of Copernicus' genius was the reformation of the Calendar, in which he had so large a share, and which made all Europe its debtor ; and yet enlightened England was not enlightened enough to adopt it for nearly two centuries afterwards ; and then had to calli in the aid of the Catholic Bishop Walmssley to make tae regulation. Have we it not on record that the celebrated Descartes was persecuted in Holland for his new science and philosophy, and his work condemned at the University of Utrecht by Voetius, the then Rector 1 Was not the * " The Treaty of Limerick was signed 3d October, 1G91, which miaranteod, bv the faith and honour of the British Crown to the Irish people, the protec- tion of their lives and properties, equally with all other subjects of the United KinEdom, and in particular, the free and unfettered exercise of their Reltffton. "But the next year, 1692, proved to the unfortunate Irish— after their Army of 30,000 hadg one to France, and the rest were disbanded at home- that the solemn treaty was violated, and woree than a ' mockery or a snare . •> I shall cite only, of the sanguinary penal laws enforced agamst the Catholics, from paragraphs which relate to Education: --,,,,•„ " ' If a Catholic kept school, or taught any porsen, Protestant or tatholic, any species of literature or science, such teacher was, lor tlae crime ot teach- ing, punishable by law by banishment; and if he returneafrom banishment ho was subject to be hanged as a felon.' '"If a Catholic, whether a child or adult, attended a school kept by a Catholic, or was privately instructed by a Catholic, such Catholic, although a child in its early infancy, incurred v- forfeiture of all its property, present *"^"" If°a Catholic child, however young, was sent to a foreign country for education, such infant child incurred a similar peualty-that is, a forfeiture to all rgbt to property, present or prospective.' " ' If any person in Ireland made any remittance of money or goods for the maintonanoe of any Irish child, educated in a foreign country, such per- son incurred a Bimilar forfeiture.' . " Not one tittle of the foregoing was relaxed until the memorable year ot 1782 when the " Irish Volunteers" were under arms— just 90 veare ol the darkest ignorance imposed on British subjects : a leetle more barbarous than Galileo's treatment in 1633. "-0'Conn??/'5 Memoir on Ireland, .id edition, chap 5, pp. 12 and 13, Dublin, 1854. 7 i KOMAN INQirismoM, ai* I / famous John Christian Wolffi.._„,„ „r , , men-a man who may be L,I Ik " "'"" """"^'^^ "f structure, if not laid thfl f.,J,t ."" '•'"^«1 the sune,-. day, in the year 723-,f„r'^tT •^.P"'''"^''?''^ "' "- ■ of his honours and emolle^Js ' f k''^? ^ t™e-stripi„d He was not, indeed, persZt,!/;! r"v^'' ^is country ? ^, preached or published^wh ch ner ^^ ^^ '''"^^ *" "eve to preach-for no earthly crime ^h^t^r; 'f ""'" ''"^'J^'l ■night preach it-the noor 1m ''''' '' ™^ Possible he graphic language of tho^record Th" r'.""?^ """'"'' '" the and after torturli," for „„»!'<• ^^^""^ '■"^'"'"O' >" torture - -V, ,,,^,j, uuuge in the '^ 40 tiALlLEU AND THE ROMAN INQUISITION. Uad bul one, nud a Jury of ^^^^^^^^^'^^^ to crush . poor leeblo country curate ! ! ^^ ^ ' ^"f f^ these do not appear ;o be thought of by English ^riteis, vh Ike S.11 great onsluught on ^o..M Gah e . The London Eucyclopsedia, in us art c e an Cxalileo, wJch is nearly identical with that in the Bntannica, with- out giving the name of the author of it, says, that- ' ■ . r^ ,iSo.)r,,\ Tuno 1632. M.S., the Con?re?ation pronounced sentence commuted hiiu to 'h' P/'Xl e^ y eatto " o^a.^on^, a ^ek the Se,e„ henitential Psalms ^'''»,f X™of Ao Medici, at Home, and Bnally „ated b, «>»8'""8,';'" ,'°i ' h'e' I i„it of F orence, ,vl,ere he .pet .he '" '" °r oThi Iv de ti*g I i «lf i» his retreat during eight jears to r pet t g h/t'ele^Iope. ™.il, by eonstant app«o.. ou and the effects of the uight air, he became blind three years before h,s death. I mevely cite this passage for its absurdity. It has besn already shewn that Galileo was not in Rome when sentence ™»ounced against him ; and the writer of the above TruX must have thought that Florence was ,n the Pope s Srlinio^s ' He might as well have said that the Emperor TeTench conld'confine an Englishman to his house m London or Leeds as that the Pope could confine a Tuscan snbiect in any part of that Dukedom. The same ignorance , disDlwed b} those who ttssert that Galileo was ated to Rome No, it was only when he went to Rome and presse, Kublicatioos on the authorities '"- fo^ a de.,^, that they could be taken up, because, even if trf ile^ n^'' »««" an ecclesiastic, and transgressed the laws o Ins Church, i U before his own Metropolitan that he could bo cited, and not beforeTe Inquisition, out of Tuscany, and from under ?ho Government where he lived, and of which he w.as a born subject So much for his " Penance- and hts Confinement. . v^ ERRATA.-In page 13, 22 lines from the top, for the word differences read difference; same page, 23rd line from be- ginning for •' arise " read arose; 24th line from top, for «« has Seen settled " read «' was settled," &c. In page 15, 6th line from the bottom, for " Revolutionistus " read Revolutionibus