New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-10-08

| ahont FORTY wears. There they were read
bv many learned men, and Napoleon /
ordered them to be printed; but for some
reason the publication was never made
Rome made repeated requests to the gov
/ eminent of Charles \. tor their restoration
but without any result, and when Louis
Philippe succeeded to the throne she re-
newed her solicitations with such peril.
| nacity that she at last obtained posse ssiOn
of them. 1t was natural that she should
| desire to hide in her most secret places
papers 60 damaging to her reputation for
common sense as theec are. Plus TX
after their restoration, kept them in his
own hands tor several years, and then con
| signed them to the secret archives OF the
Vatican, where they still remain. After
two centuries of controversy and laboricus
| re serches q correct notion of the facts was
still wanting, and this publication is the
| first authentic account ever published OF
those celebrated trials. The original docn-
ments are contained in a book VITA a faded
| green cover, and are the records of the TWO
| trials, seventeen years apart, to which
Calico was subjected. In proof of their
| authenticity they agree with the letters OF
Calico, with all the facts of his life, with
| documents which have been discovered in
other places, and especially with copies
made in the register Of the Holy Office at
Rome. But Professor Berti finds in them
neither the adjuration OF Gallleo nor the
| sentence of condemnation, and he thinks
| that these must be either still in the dis
ordered archives of the Inquisition, or that
| they have been taken to other cOu1 tries.
| In 1910 seventy-seven volumes were taken
or stolen from the libraries of Rome the
greater part Of them from that OF the In
| QUESTION. These were purchased by the
Duke OF Manchester, and then resold to the
Rev. Mr.. Gibbings. who, after studying
them, sold them again to Trinity College,
Dublin.
Calico, after the publication of mis- first
book, the "NupziO SidereO," in 16l0, came
to Rome, as he desired to have for his
studies the sanction Of the priests, and
especially of the COllegiO Romano. He was
then forty seven years old. full OF vigOr,
with q noble face, fine person, elegant
manners and clear method of expressing
his thoughts. His recent discovery of the
telescope and the satellites OF Jupiter made
his society sought for by most learned and
eminent men Of the period. Contemporary
writer's speak with admiration of the
sumptuous dinner given bin by Frederick
Cesi, the youthful president of the Academy
of the Lncei, a society founded at that
time, which still exists. After the dinner
at Cesi's villa on Mount Janiculum, Cali.
leo pointed the telescope toward San
Giovanni in Laterano, and the company
was able to read at three miles distances
the inscription on its porticO. He then
showed the satellites of Jupiter and other
celestial objects, and allowed them to ex-
anime the instrument and the construction
of it's lenses. These discoveries were go
much talked 6 that they at last attracted
the attention of the Inquisition, and espe-
cially of Cardinal Bellarmino. The in-
auisitors said that the doctrines of Calico
and the COpernican system contradicted
L. - -,
until the end of Galileo's life these ignorant
and bigoted priests continued to prosecute
him. His studies were interrupted, his
writings confscated Or not allowed to be
printed and he himself was brought twice
before the Inqulsitiop. the second time
being threatened with torture, at the age of
seventy Yeas.
After visit to Rome, whe re he hoped to
have received the sanction of the CollegiO
Romano, he retired to the beautiful solitude
of BellOsguardo at Florence, where he con-
tinoed his studies. But the secret myr-
midons OF the Inquisitio2 once aroused
were not so easily quoted. One brother of
Santa Maria NOvella, at Florence preached
against the doctrine of the movement of the
earth. on the ground that it contradicted
the Biblical account of Joshuas stopping
the going down Of the sun. In answer to
this Calico wrote clear and fOrcible letter
Interpretation OF the Scriptures He de-
moustrated not only the Importance, but
the necessity, OF giving the first place not
to the mere words of Scripture. which are
often not understood, but to the Obserya-
tons and demonstrations of science. The
letter contains al the principles of modern
criticism, expressed with a clearHess and
force to which nothing oeuld now be added.
The result of the first trial of the great
of in L1
was forbidden to write or speak further of
the doctrine of the movement of the earth.
Cardinal Bellarmino sent for him, akd at
his palace, in the presence OF several Domi-
nician monks, adnonished him to abandon
the condemned opinion, and forbade him
to hold it, to teach or to defend it. You
will phiiosophize no more; you will reason
no more on the movement of the earth and
the constitution of the world" Never was
arbitrary command more absolute, and
calls the sentence "impious
words" Calico promised to obey, but the
sources of his intellectual life were closed,
and for seventeen years he suffered from
the effects of this barbarous decree. At |
the end of that period he was again brought |
before the Inquisition. Unable longer to |
abstain from telling the truths which tor
mented him SO long as they were known to
himself alone, he began again to publish |
the results of his studies, and again at |
.racted the attention of the bigOts, who
prosecuted in him science itself. Pope /
Urban WILL, of the Barbernini family, was
chief prosecutor il this second trial. 1t |
was the theologian who did not wish the
,rimacy taken from the earth, and who
cared that it's equalization with other
worlds would occasion the destruction of
aljgion,
Calico was threatened with torture, and
h dn1a fN~ IL
10 no record is found Of the actual torment, |
md as the chief inquisitor was friendly to
1alileO, who was then old and infrm, the
Iuthor thinks that it was not really in
licted. The famous saying of Calico, az
'ur 81 muOre," which he is said to have i'm
nediately uttered after the torture, re.
mains, therefore, unauthenticated. The
Whole tenor of his life. however, responds
o that idea, as, though he seemed to yield
o the DEGREES Of the Inquisition, it was i'm
'ossible for his great intellect to deny his
Expressing his convictions.
A petition, headed by tie author Pietro
'orsa, has lately been presented to the
ministry, praying that on the anniversary
t the condemnation of Calico, which oc.
urred two centuries and half ago, the
all of the Convent of the Minerva, where
took place, should be dedicated to his
lemory; that statue Of the great philosO-
her shall be placed there, and collection
.ade of all objects, such as manuscripts,
ooks and Instruments, that are connected
18th his memory. For the present. Low.
yer, this will not be dSne, as it is not con-
enlent for RE ministry to vacate that
pom, which is occupied by its Offices. A
rural tablet will be placed, by permission
f the French government, in the Villa
Ta6ici IN tho p;ncian Hill where Calico |
as a guest during his visits to Rome.
The Weight of Sin.