FOOTNOTES:
[233] Sis oppido meminens quod olim Martia Hortensio, Terentia Tullio, Calpurnia Plinio, Pudentilla Apuleio, Rusticana Symmacho legentibus meditantibusque candelas and candelabra tenuerunt. Lib. II, Epist. 10.
[234] "Verum hoc—seu gratitudini seu ineptiæ ascribendum—non sileo, me quantulucunque conspicis, per illam esse, nec unquam ad hoc, si quid est nominis aut gloriæ fuisse venturum, nisi virtutum tenuissman sementem, quasi pectore in hoc natura locaverat, nobilissimis his affectibus coluisset." Francisci Petrarchæ, Colloquiorum Liber quem Secretum Suum Inscripsit, pp. 105-106, Berne, 1603.
In his canzone beginning with the words Perchè la vita e breve, Petrarch declares to his inspirer—
"Thus if in me is nurst
Any good fruit, from you the seed came first;
To you, if such appear, the praise is due,
Barren myself till fertilized by you."
[235] The Life of St. Francis of Assisi, by Paul Sabatier, p. 166, New York, 1894.
[236] Ibid., p. 167.
[237] Ibid., p. 307.
[238] The Women of the Renaissance, p. 394, New York, 1901.
[239] Women of Florence, by Isodoro del Lungo, p. xxvii, London, 1907.
[240] This passage from the dedication is so important that I reproduce the Latin original: "Omnino vitam, aut, si quid mihi carius est, vobis autem debeo, tibi autem, o diva Melusinis, omne presertim Mathematicis studium, ad quod me excitavit tum tuus in earn amor, tum summa artis illius, quam tenes, peritia, immo vero nunquam satis admiranda in tuo tamque regii et nobilis generis sexu Encyclopædia." François Viète, Inventeur de l'Algèbre Moderne, p. 20, par Frederic Ritter, Paris, 1895.
[241] "E nell' amore della figlia il grande astronomo trovò non soltanto un conforto a suoi affanni, ma anche una guida benefica alla quale sembrò egli abandonarsi con cieca tenerezza figliale." La Storia del Feminismo, p. 509, by G. L. Arrighi, Florence, 1911.
[242] Galileo Galilei e Suor Celeste, by Antonio Favaro, p. 256 et seq., Florence, 1891.
[243] An English writer, discussing this subject, pertinently observes: "For, after all, is it not the personal incidents and commonplaces of life that gather interest as the centuries roll on, while its more pretentious events often drop into mere literary lumber? How much more interesting Dr. Johnson's incidental admission, 'I have a strong inclination, Sir, to do nothing to-day,' is to us now than many of his more formal utterances. And, in reality, is it the personal element alone that is in the long run perennial? The wise may prate as they will about the importance of maintaining the continuity of history and of handing on the torch of science. The world cares for none of these things; they interest only some few political economists and laborious men. What does the crowd and poor little Tom Jones and his nestful, for instance, care about the fact that Cheops was—at any rate by courteous tradition—a mighty man of valor of such an era and land? But little Tom Jones and the rest of us would become mightily interested in this misty monster of many traditions, could we learn in some magical way all he thought, hated and loved in his inmost heart of hearts." The National Review, p. 461, June, 1889.
[244] The Duke of Peiresc, in a letter to Gassendi, regarding Galileo, refers to certain letters—très belles epistres—of the great philosopher, "à une sienne fille religieuse sur le sujet mesme des matières traictèes en son dernier livre." This shows that Sister Celeste was kept fully informed by her father respecting the nature and contents of his various works while he was preparing them for the press. It implies, likewise, that she was not only interested in them in a general way, but that she was able to read them intelligently and appreciate them as well.
How fondly Galileo treasured the letters written him by this daughter of predilection is made known to us by Sister Celeste herself, when she tells him in one of her letters "Resto confusa sentendo ch'ella conservi le mie lettere, e dubito che il grande affeto que mi porta gliele dimonstri piu compita di quello che sono." Op. cit., p. 317.
[245] Op. cit., p. 404.
[246] In the dedication of his Principles of Philosophy he addresses his young friend and pupil in the following words: "Je puis dire avec verité que je ne jamais rencontré que le seul esprit de votre altesse auquel l'un et l'autre"—metaphysics and mathematics—"fût également facile; ce qui fait quo j'ai une très juste raison de l'estimer incomparable."
[247] Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, by William Buckland, p. xxxvi, London, 1858.
[248] Pasteur, by Mr. and Mrs. Percy Frankland, p. 26 et seq., London, 1898. A French writer referring to this happy discovery expresses himself as follows: "Quand Pasteur trouva le vaccin de charbon, il remonta triomphant de son laboratoire et les larmes lui vinrent aux yeux en embrassant sa femme et sa fille auxquelles annoncait sa victoire." Revue Encyclopédique, p. 20, Jan. 15, 1895.
[249] Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel, London, 1879, pp. vi and vii, by Mrs. John Herschel. Cf. Chap. IV of this Vol.
[250] The Subjection of Women, pp. 98, 99, London, 1909.
The idea herein expressed is beautifully accentuated in the touching dedication to the author's work On Liberty, which reads as follows:
"To the beloved and deplored memory of her who was the inspirer, and in part the author, of all that is best in my writings—the friend and wife whose exalted sense of truth and right was my strongest incitement, and whose approbation was my chief reward—I dedicate this volume. Like all that I have written for many years, it belongs as much to her as to me; but the work as it stands has had, in a very insufficient degree, the inestimable advantage of her revision, some of the most important portions having been reserved for a more careful re-examination, which they are now never destined to receive. Were I but capable of interpreting to the world one-half the great thoughts and noble feelings which are buried in her grave, I should be the medium of a greater benefit to it than is ever likely to arise from anything I can write, unprompted and unassisted by her all but unrivalled wisdom."
The chivalrous sentiments expressed in this generous tribute by one of the deepest thinkers of his time, to the memory of his noble and gifted life-companion, extravagant as they may seem, are but echoes of similar sentiments often voiced before by the world's greatest leaders of thought and science.
[251] Memoir of Sir William Hamilton, by John Veitch, p. 136 et seq., Edinburgh, 1869.
It is frequently said that women, unlike men, are indifferent to fame. This may be true so far as they are personally concerned; but it is certainly not true of them in regard to their husbands, or the men for whom they have a genuine affection. This is abundantly proved by the lives of Mme. Huber, Mme. Pasteur, Caroline Herschel and Lady Hamilton, not to name others who have been mentioned in the foregoing pages. After Sir William Hamilton, at the age of fifty-six, had been stricken by hemiplegia on the right side, as the result of over-work, his faithful wife became for twelve years eyes, hands and even mind for him. She read and consulted books for him, and helped him to prepare his lectures and the works which have given him such celebrity. "Everything that was sent to the press and all the courses of lectures were written by her, either to dictation or from copy." And when we remember that the lectures and books were of the most abstruse character and that Lady Hamilton was associated with her husband in his recondite work throughout his long and brilliant career, we must confess that her conduct was not only heroic to a degree, but also that the fame of the one she loved was to her a matter of the deepest concern.
[252] "Induction is, indeed, a mighty weapon laid up in the armory of the human mind, and by its aid great deeds have been accomplished and noble conquests have been won. But in that armory there is another weapon, I will not say of stronger make, but certainly of keener edge; and, if that weapon had been oftener used during the present and preceding century, our knowledge would be far more advanced than it actually is. If the imagination had been more cultivated, if there had been a closer union between the spirit of poetry and the spirit of science, natural philosophy would have made greater progress, because natural philosophers would have taken a higher and more successful aim, and would have enlisted on their side a wider range of human sympathies." Buckle: The Influence of Women on the Progress of Knowledge.
[253] The Subjection of Women, ut sup., p. 87.
[254] Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley, by his son Leonard Huxley, Vol. I, p. 324, New York, 1900.
[255] Ibid., p. 39, Vol. II, p. 458.