[349] Op. ix. p. 338.
[350] See Galileo’s letters to G. Bocchineri of 5th and 12th, and to Cioli of 12th and 19th March. (Op. vii. pp. 24-28.)
[351] Op. ix. pp. 438, 439.
[352] Vat. MS. fol. 413 vo. 419 ro.
[353] We have before stated that Copernicus did not at all consider his doctrine a hypothesis, but was convinced of its actual truth. It was Osiander’s politic introduction which had given rise to the error which was then generally held.
[354] Prof. Berti has first published this interesting letter in full in his “Copernico e le vicende Sistema Copernicano in Italia,” pp. 121-125.
[355] Vat. MS. fol. 423 ro.
[356] No explanation is to be found anywhere of this mysterious notification. The protocols of the trial show that none took place before the Inquisitor. These “particulars,” therefore, as they are not mentioned again in the course of the trial, and play no part in it, may have been chiefly of a private nature.
[357] These are the precise words of this ominous passage in the annotation of 26th February, 1616, which appear to have been considered absolutely decisive by the Inquisitor.
[358] Op. vii. p. 29. The rest of the letter is about family affairs.