“Hæc immatura a me jam frustra leguntur o y.”[66]
Having fully convinced himself by nearly three months’ observations that Venus and Mars exhibited phases similar to those of the moon, he made it known in two letters of 30th December[67] to Father Clavius, at Rome, and to his former distinguished pupil Benedetto Castelli, abbot of the congregation of Monte Cassino, in Brescia; and in a letter of 1st January, 1611, he sent the following solution of the anagram to Julian de’ Medici:—
“Cynthiæ figuras æmulatur mater amorum.”
In this letter he draws the important conclusions, first that none of the planets shine by their own light, and secondly “that necessarily Venus and Mercury revolve round the sun; a circumstance which was surmised of the other planets by Pythagoras, Copernicus, Kepler, and their followers, but which could not be proved by ocular demonstration, as it could now in the case of Venus and Mercury. Kepler and the other Copernicans may now be proud to have judged and philosophised correctly, and it may well excite disgust that they were regarded by the generality of men of book learning as having little understanding and as not much better than fools.”[68]
At this time Galileo was also eagerly occupied with a phenomenon which was to be a further confirmation of the Copernican view of the universe, the spots on the sun. By attentively observing their motions on the sun’s disk he afterwards discovered the sun’s motion on its own axis, a fatal blow to the Ptolemaic system. Although to science it may be quite indifferent whether Galileo, or Fabricius, or the Jesuit father Scheiner first espied the spots on the sun (for they all lay claim to the discovery), for us it has its importance, because the bitter contention between Galileo and Scheiner on the subject materially contributed to set the stone rolling which, in its fall, was no less disastrous to the moral greatness of Galileo than to the erudition of Rome.
In consideration of the intense interest excited by Galileo’s “epoch-making” discoveries, the Roman curia, which still held it to be one of its most important duties to guard mankind as much as possible from precocious knowledge, was of course eager to learn more about them, and above all, of the conclusions which the discoverer drew from them. It must also have appeared of great importance to Galileo to acquaint the Roman savans and dignitaries of the Church with his scientific achievements, for the authority and influence then exercised by them over the free progress of science made their opinions of the utmost moment to him. They must, if possible, be first made to see the premises with their own eyes, that they might afterwards be able to comprehend and assent to the conclusions. Galileo clearly saw this, as appears from a letter of 15th January, 1611, to Vinta[69] (who was then with the court at Pisa), in which he urgently begs permission for a visit to the papal residence. The request was not only immediately granted, but the court placed a litter at his disposal, undertook to defray all his expenses, and directed the Tuscan ambassador at Rome to prepare quarters for him at the embassy and to entertain him during the whole of his stay.[70] Meanwhile, however, Galileo was attacked by an illness which delayed his journey for nearly two months. On 22nd March he received a cordial letter of introduction[71] from Michel Angelo the younger to Cardinal Barberini, afterwards Urban VIII., and on the next day he set out provided with his most convincing arguments, namely several excellent telescopes.
He was received with the greatest honour. His triumphs were really extraordinary, so great that they were sure to secure for him numerous personal enemies in addition to the opponents of his doctrines. He exhibited the oft discussed appearances to cardinals and learned men through the telescope, and, whenever he could, dispelled their doubts by the incontrovertible evidence of their own eyes. People could not refuse to believe this, and Galileo’s success in the papal city was complete. Of still greater importance, however, was the opinion given on 24th April by four scientific authorities of the Roman College, on the character “of the new astronomical discoveries of an excellent astronomer,” at the request of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. This commission, consisting of the learned fathers Clavius, Griemberger, Malcotio, and Lembo, confirmed what they had long denied and ridiculed, convinced by the evidence of their own senses of the truth of the facts maintained by Galileo.[72] By this opinion of the papal experts his discoveries received, to a certain extent, the sanction of the Church, and became acknowledged truths. The care with which the mention of Galileo’s name is avoided both in the request and the opinion is remarkable.
Attentions of all sorts were heaped upon the astronomer. Pope Paul V. granted him a long audience and graciously assured him of his unalterable good will, which however did not remain quite unaltered in the sequel. The highest dignitaries of the Church testified their admiration; the Accadémia dei Lincei (of the Lynxes), founded six years before by Prince Cesi, made the renowned guest a member; when he took his departure at the beginning of June he left behind him in the metropolis of catholicism as many sincere friends and admirers as envious foes, the fate of all really great men.
A letter from Cardinal del Monte of 31st May, 1611, to Cosmo II., best shows how successful Galileo’s visit to Rome was. He writes with real enthusiasm:—
“Galileo has during his stay at Rome given great satisfaction, and I think he must have felt it no less himself, for he had the opportunity of showing his discoveries so well that to all clever and learned men in this city they seemed no less true and well founded than astonishing. Were we still living under the ancient republic of Rome, I verily believe there would have been a column on the Capitol erected in his honour. It appeared to me to be my duty to accompany his return with this letter, and to bear witness to your Highness of the above, as I feel assured that it will be agreeable to you, since your Highness entertains such gracious good will towards your subjects, and to distinguished men like Galileo.”[73]