"Interrogate. An si ostenderet sibi dictus liber paratus sit illum recognoscere tanquam suum?
"Respondit. Spero di si che mi sara monstrato il libro lo riconoscero.
"Et sibi ostenso uno ex libris Florentiae impressis, anno 1632, cujus titulus est Dialogo di Galileo-Galilei linceo, in quo agitur de duobus sistematibus mundi, et per ipsum bene viso et inspecto, dixit: lo conosco questo libro benissimo, et e uno di quelli stampati in Fiorenza, et lo conosco come mio e da me composto.
"Interrogatus. An pariter recognoscat omnia et singula in dicto libro contenta tanquam sua?
"Respondit. Io conosco questo libro mostratomi, ch'è uno di quelli stampati in Fiorenza e tutto quello che in esso si contiene lo riconosco come composto da me."
"E Pur Si Muove!"
The temptation of the dramatic effect of this phrase has been too strong for writers who should have known better than to give it currency. In the declamation of a school exhibition, we are not surprised to find it; but from a serious historian it comes with a bad grace. M. Ponsard has, of course, preserved it in his drama.
It is simply fable, and like the "Up, Guards, and at them!" of Lord Wellington, "un de ces mots de circonstance inventés après coup." [Footnote 144]
[Footnote 144: "One of those impromptus composed at leisure.">[
"Unstable, timorous, equivocating, and supple," says Philarète Chasles, "he never had the heart to exclaim, 'E pur si muove!'" He never exhibited that heroical resistance which has been attributed to him.
The penitential shirt or sack is also fabulous, notwithstanding even so distinguished a man as Cousin speaks of Galileo as "forcé d'abjurer á genoux, en chemise, son plus beau titre de gloire." [Footnote 145]
[Footnote 145: "Forced to abjure on his knees, and clad in a shirt, his noblest title to greatness.">[
Value Of The Decree.
A few words—and but few are needed—as to the common assertion that the Catholic Church, claiming infallibility in matters of faith, decided the doctrine of the earth's immobility to be a truth affirmed in the Scriptures. Granting the decree of the Inquisition in the case of Galileo to have been all that is claimed against it, it was, after all, nothing but a decree of the Inquisition; no more, no less.