“And whereas it has also come to the knowledge of the said Congregation, that the Pythagorean doctrine—which is false and altogether opposed to Holy Scripture—of the motion of the earth, and the quiescence of the sun, which is also taught by Nicholas Copernicus in De Revolutionibus orbium Cœlestium, and by Diego di Zuñiga in (his book on) Job, is now being spread abroad and accepted by many—as may be seen from a certain letter of a Carmelite Father, entitled, Letter of the Rev. Father Paolo Antonio Foscarini, Carmelite, on the opinion of the Pythagoreans and of Copernicus concerning the motion of the earth, and the stability of the sun, and the new Pythagorean system of the world, at Naples, printed by Lazzaro Scorriggio, 1615: wherein the said father attempts to show that the aforesaid doctrine of the quiescence of the sun in the centre of the world, and of the earth’s motion, is consonant with truth and is not opposed to Holy Scripture. Therefore, in order that this opinion may not insinuate itself any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth, the Holy Congregation has decreed that the said Nicholas Copernicus, De Revolutionibus orbium, and Diego di Zuñiga, on Job, be suspended until they be corrected; but that the book of the Carmelite Father, Paolo Antonio Foscarini, be altogether prohibited and condemned, and that all other works likewise, in which the same is taught, be prohibited, as by this present decree it prohibits, condemns, and suspends them all respectively. In witness whereof the present decree has been signed and sealed with the hands and with the seal of the most eminent and Reverend Lord Cardinal of St. Cecilia, Bishop of Albano, on the 5th day of March, 1616.”[144]
In this decree, as is strikingly pointed out by Emil Wohlwill, a distinction is drawn between two classes of writings: those which advocate the positive truth of the Copernican system—which are absolutely interdicted and condemned; and those to which, by some modifications, a hypothetical character can be given—these are to be suspended until the needful corrections have been made. This indicated the precise attitude which the Church thought to take with regard to the Copernican system. As a mere working hypothesis it was not dangerous to the Roman Catholic religion; but as irrefragable truth it shook its very foundations. They were, therefore, determined at Rome that it should not make way as truth—it was to be tabooed, banished, and if possible stifled; but as a mathematical hypothesis, the use of which was obvious even to the Romish savans, it might be allowed to stand. The cardinal’s admonition and the decree are in logical agreement with this intention. Galileo was to “renounce” the opinions of Copernicus, that is he was not to maintain them as established fact; as a hypothesis, like the rest of the world he might retain them. But according to the document of 26th February, entire silence was enjoined upon Galileo upon the subject of the double motion of the earth, for in the injunction neither to hold, teach, or defend it in any way (quovis modo), the hypothetical treatment was obviously included.
Perhaps it may be said that they wanted to get rid of the most distinguished and therefore most dangerous defender of the Copernican system, who by his telescopic discoveries had made the controversy a burning question of the day. But this conjecture does not stand the test of close investigation, for Galileo’s work on the solar spots, which was based upon the sun’s being stationary, was not placed upon the index of forbidden or suspicious books. And in all the proceedings of the curia against him at that period, the friendly feeling for him personally, of powerful patrons in the Church, is obvious, and it makes any specially rigorous action against him very improbable. We have also other indications that this categoric prohibition to Galileo had not then been, de facto, issued.
His letters of this epoch afford the strongest evidence. We cannot expect to find in them precise information about the proceedings of 26th February, as it was contrary to the rules of the Inquisition to make public its secret orders, under the severest penalties; but they contain no trace of the deep depression which would have been caused by the stringent orders of the Holy Office against him personally. On the contrary, he writes on the 6th March (the day following the issue of the decree) to Picchena: “I did not write to you, most revered sir, by the last post, because there was nothing new to report; as they were about to come to a decision about that affair which I have mentioned to you as a purely public one, not affecting my personal interests, or only so far as my enemies very inopportunely want to implicate me in it.” He goes on to say that he alludes to the deliberations of the Holy Office about the book and opinions of Copernicus; and mentions with evident satisfaction, that the purpose of Caccini and his party to have that doctrine denounced as heretical and contrary to the faith had not been attained, for the Holy Office had simply stated that it did not agree with Holy Scripture, and therefore only prohibited the books which maintained, ex professo, that the Copernican doctrine was not contrary to the Bible. Galileo then tells him more particularly what the decree contained, and that the correction of the works of Copernicus and Zuñiga was entrusted to Cardinal Gaetaori. He emphatically states that the alterations will be confined to such passages as aim to prove the agreement of the modern system with Scripture, and “here and there a word, as when Copernicus calls the earth a star.” He adds: “I have, as will be seen from the nature of the case, no interest in the matter, and should not, as I said before, have troubled myself about it, had not my enemies drawn me into it.” He means by this that the prohibition to try and make the doctrine of the double motion square with Scripture was indifferent to him; he would never have concerned himself with theology if he had not been driven to it. He then goes on: “It may be seen from my writings in what spirit I have always acted, and I shall continue to act, so as to shut the mouth of malice, and to show that my conduct in this business has been such that a saint could not have shown more reverence for the Church nor greater zeal.”[145]
In the next letter to Picchena, six days later, Galileo repeats what he has said about the correction of the work of Copernicus, and says emphatically that it is clear that no further restrictions will be imposed. From a reply from Galileo’s faithful friend, Sagredo, to letters unfortunately not extant, it is evident that he had by no means expressed himself as cast down by the issue of the affair. Sagredo writes in the best of spirits: “Now that I have learnt from your valued letters the particulars of the spiteful, devilish attacks on and accusations against you, and the issue of them, which entirely frustrates the purposes of your ignorant and malicious foes, I, and all the friends to whom I have communicated your letters and messages, are quite set at rest.”[146]
It is clear, then, from Galileo’s correspondence, that he took the decree of the Inquisition pretty coolly, and speaks with satisfaction of the trifling alterations to be made in Copernicus’s work. How could the man, who was forbidden to “hold, teach, or defend” the repudiated doctrine “in any way,” write in this style?
A document issued by Cardinal Bellarmine himself, relating to these transactions, is of the utmost importance to the assertion that no such prohibition had ever been issued to Galileo. After the publication of the decree of 5th March he remained three months at Rome. His enemies took advantage of this to spread a false report that he had been obliged formally to recant, and absolutely to abjure his opinion. Galileo seems to have been indignant at this; he pacified his adherents who sent anxious inquiries to their master, and complained bitterly of the unscrupulousness of his enemies, for whom no means of injuring him were too bad. But in order to confute these calumnies and guard himself against them in future, before leaving Rome he begged a certificate from Cardinal Bellarmine to prove the falsity of this perfidious fiction. This dignitary consented, and wrote the following declaration:—
“We, Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, having heard that it is calumniously reported that Signor Galileo Galilei has in our hand abjured, and has also been punished with salutary penance, and being requested to state the truth as to this, declare, that the said Signor Galileo has not abjured, either in our hand, or the hand of any other person here in Rome, or anywhere else, so far as we know, any opinion or doctrine held by him, neither has any salutary penance been imposed upon him; but only the declaration made by the Holy Father and published by the sacred Congregation of the Index, has been intimated to him, wherein it is set forth that the doctrine attributed to Copernicus, that the earth moves round the sun, and that the sun is stationary in the centre of the world, and does not move from east to west, is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and therefore cannot be defended or held. In witness whereof we have written and subscribed these presents with our hand this 26th day of May, 1616.”[147]
Wohlwill has clearly shown the discrepancies between this document and that of 26th February; he has pointed out that even if, as Martin thinks, “the secrets of the Inquisition had to be kept at any price, even at the expense of truth,”[148] it would not have put forth so downright a lie in optima forma as the cardinal’s testimony contained, if the assumed prohibition had really been given to Galileo by the Commissary-General of the Inquisition. This prohibition might easily have been passed over in silence, while the calumnious reports might have been refuted. But the cardinal was not content with that, and stated expressly that Galileo had “only” been personally informed of the decree of the Congregation of the Index about the Copernican system. While this attestation of Bellarmine’s glaringly contradicts the second part of the note of 26th February, it not only entirely accords with the papal ordinance of the 25th, but also with Bellarmine’s report of the proceedings of 26th February in the private sitting of the Congregation of 3rd March. This proves that the cardinal certified nothing more nor less than what had actually taken place. It leads therefore to the following conclusions:—