But Galileo’s envious foes at once consorted with the, at all events, honourable fanatics of the old school, and eagerly seized the opportunity of pursuing their miserable designs “to the glory of God and imperilled religion.” It was in Florence itself, in the palace of the Tuscan Archbishop Marzimedici, who had once studied under Galileo at Pisa, that secret consultations were held, presided over by this prelate, how the inconvenient philosopher and his revolutionary system might best be ruined. They even then went so far as to request a preacher to hurl at Galileo from the pulpit the accusation, more dangerous than any other in the sixteenth century, that he was attacking the Bible with his doctrines. But for this time these pious gentlemen had gone to the wrong man, for the priest, seeing through the foul purpose of the commission, declined it.
Galileo had not the slightest knowledge of the secret conspiracy which was plotting against him, and was first roused from the security into which he had been lulled by the brilliant success of his visit to Rome by a letter from his friend there, Cigoli the painter, of 16th December, 1611.[78] But he did not at first attach to these communications the importance they deserved, and it was not until several months afterwards that he addressed himself to Cardinal Conti, who was very friendly to him, to ask how far the Holy Scriptures did really favour the Aristotelian views of the universe, and whether the Copernican system contradicted them.
Conti answered him in a letter of 7th July, 1612,[79] that the statements of Holy Scripture were rather against the Aristotelian principle of the unchangeableness of the heavens than in favour of it, for all the fathers had held the contrary opinion. But the case was different with the doctrine of the earth’s revolution round the sun, as held by the Pythagoreans, Copernicus and others. This certainly did not seem to agree with Holy Scripture, unless it was assumed that it merely adopted the customary mode of expression. But, added the cardinal, that was a method of interpretation to be employed only in case of the greatest necessity. Diego di Zuñiga had indeed explained in this way, conformably with the Copernican opinions, the passage in which Joshua commanded the sun to stand still; but the explanation was not generally admitted.
Father Lorini also, professor of ecclesiastical history at Florence, afterwards a ringleader of the base intrigues against Galileo and an informant against him, wrote to him 5th November, 1612,[80] to deny a report that he had publicly preached against Galileo. He only confessed to having given it as his opinion, in a conversation about the two systems, that the View of this Ipernic, or whatever his name might be, appeared to be contrary to Holy Scripture. Galileo wrote in a letter of 5th January, 1613,[81] to Prince Cesi: “The good man is so well acquainted with the author of these doctrines that he calls him Ipernic. You can see how and by whom poor philosophy suffers.” It appears also from the same letter that Galileo was now well aware of the intrigues being carried on against him in Florence, for he says among other things: “I thank you and all my dear friends very much for your anxiety for my protection against the malice which is constantly seeking to pick quarrels even here, and the more so since the enemy is so near at hand; but as they are but few in number, and their ‘league,’ as they call it among themselves, is but of limited extent, I laugh at it.”
CHAPTER IV.
ASTRONOMY AND THEOLOGY.
Treatise on Floating Bodies.—Controversy with Scheiner about the Solar Spots.—Favourable reception of Galileo’s work on the subject at Rome.—Discussion with the Grand Duchess Christine.—The Bible brought into the controversy.—Ill-fated Letter to Castelli.—Caccini’s Sermon against Galileo.—Lorini denounces the Letter to the Holy Office.—Archbishop Bonciani’s attempts to get the original Letter.—“Opinion” of the Inquisition on it.—Caccini summoned to give evidence.—Absurd accusations.—Testimony of Ximenes and Attavanti in Galileo’s favour.
While the storm which was to burst over Galileo’s head was thus slowly gathering, he was making important progress in the departments of physics and mechanics.
His treatise on the motion of floating bodies led to very important results.[82] In it he again took the field against the Peripatetic philosophers, and refuted the assertion of Aristotle that the floating or partial immersion of bodies in water depended chiefly on their form, for by his approved method of studying the open book of nature he clearly showed the error of that opinion. In this work Galileo laid the foundations of hydrostatics as mostly held to this day. The old school rose up once more to refute him, as a matter of course; but their polemics cut a pitiful figure, for the champions of antiquated wisdom had in their impotence mostly to content themselves with wretched sophisms as opposed to Galileo’s hard facts, and as a last resort to insist on the authority of Aristotle.