officials to the Roman will. Galileo now suffered a bitter penalty for his former thankless conduct to the Free State. The grand ducal orders had to be unconditionally obeyed; and as any further delay might entail the worst consequences, Galileo fixed 20th January for his departure.[1]
Before setting out, however, on the 15th of the month, he addressed a long letter to the celebrated jurist and advocate in the parliament of Paris, Elia Diodati (not to be confounded with Johannes Diodati, the translator of the Bible), who corresponded with the most learned men of the time, and took a lively interest in Galileo's studies and fate. Some parts of this letter show how well this strictly theistic, or more properly Roman Catholic savant, knew how to bring the modern astronomy into agreement with Christian philosophy and the Bible, and this from real conviction, for this letter to his friend at Paris was quite private. From this we may conclude that even his celebrated demonstrations to Father Castelli, of 21st December, 1613, and the still more elaborate ones to the grand Duchess Christine, 1615, were the result of honest conviction, and were not, as his enemies maintained, mere dialectic fencing, intended to bring Scripture and the Copernican theory into agreement. We give these interesting passages of the letter as well as those which refer to Galileo's unhappy situation:—
- ↑ It is incomprehensible how many of Galileo's biographers, even Parchappe (p. 216) and H. Martin (p. 120), who had Albèri's work at command, fix the 15th as the date. And yet we have a letter of Galileo's to the Cardinal de Medici of the 15th Jan. (Op. vii. pp. 15,16), asking if he had any commissions, in which he expressly mentions "the 20th instant" as the day of his departure.
- ↑ "Famosi et antiqui problematis de telluris motu vel quiete hactenus optata solutio: ad Em. Card. Richelium Ducem et Franciæ Parem. A. Jo. Bapt. Morino apud Gallos et Bellajocensibus Francopolitano Doct. Med. atque Paris. Mathematum professore. Terra stat in æternum; Sol oridur et occidit. Eccles. Cap. I. Parisiis apud tuctorem juxta Pontem novum 1631, in 40."
- ↑ Liberti Fromondi in Acad. Lovaniensi S. Theolog. Doctoris et Pro-
