Year: 1871

The chief sunshine of the latter part
CT Galileo's life was his eldest daugh-
ter, the nun Maria Celeste. The
Church had indeed taken from the
world rare pearl when she appropriat-
ed to herself the astronomers child.
Beneath that nuns vail was hidden a
wondrous wealth of wit, and heart, and
sterling good sense. The nuns wrap
ped up in the narrow egotism but too
common in cloisters, only gussed dim
ly at these treasures; her father alone
knew the full worth of them. On him
was lavisbed all the love which should
by right have been shared among hus-
band and children and familiar friends.
1t was useless for the abbess to tell
Maria Celeste she ought to give herself
entirely to heaven; her mind was very
much upon earth, for her thoughts
were always with her father She pray
ed for him when she ought to have
been praying for the Pope and the car
dinals. She kept for him the most
dainty of the sweetmeats she made, in
stead of selling them for the convent
purse. She stitched his shirts when
she should have been embroiderisg
altar-cloths. She copied for him his
manuscripts when she should have
been reading the lives of the saints.
In consequence of the Franciscan VOW
of poverty, the poor nuns at Arcetri
often knew what it was to lack good
meal and to shiver for want of fire.
The constitution of Maria Celeste was
weakly and could bear but i'll such a
life. She constantly suffered in her
head from what would, we believe, in
the medical light of the present. day,
have been called neuralgia Galileo
was always providing her with little
comforts to make her life more beara-
Bile; and, indeed, his charity to the
whole convent quite realized the hopes
conceived by the abbess when she first
admitted his daughter. We like to
fancy the kindly Iiberal-handed old
astronomer in the covent parlor, with
all the sisters chattering round him and
preferring their simple requests.


When he was hard upon seventy,
Galileo published volume of "Dia-
logues," in which he maintained the
truth of the new system of astronomy,
and proved the fallacy of the old. His
friends had warned him against the
dangerous step. He, however, persist
ed, and the moment the book was out
the Jesuits pouncedup it. They had
long hated Galileo. They had long
been waiting to be able to make out a
strong case against him. He was, in
their opinion, just the sort of man to
be feared and hunted down.


The Pope at that time was Urban
VIII Hitherto he had been well dispos-
ed to Calico The Jesuits, however,
managed to poison the Pontff s mind
by telling him that the solemn fool of
the Catalogues" was meant for His
Holiness himself His vanity being
thus called up into arms, Urban was as
violent as the Jesuits against the as
tronomer. The circulation of the book
was stopped, and Galileo was cited to
appear at Rome before the Inquisitlon
on charge of heresy.


After that day he was never the Cali
leo of former times. Hewas, however,
cheered by the noisy sympathy of his
many pupils, and soothed by the softer
tones of woman. His daughter wrote
him words of Christian resignation.
Caterina Nicolini, the wife of the Flor
entine Ambassador at Rome, took him
into her own house, and thought it no
disgrace to her noble blood to wait upon
and tend him. Maria Tedaldi, the
most vivacious dame in viYacious Flor
ence, tr1umphantly established the
supremacy of the female tongue over
even Popes and cardinals by declaring
that Calico had been always right,
and would be right to the end.


At length he was allowed to return to
Florence, but argus eyes of the In
QUESTION watched him till he was in
his grave. His daughters weak health
had given way under the anxiety she
had suffered for him. The sweet girl
lived to kiss him once again, and then
went away to the angels of her convent
dreams. The lonely old man wept her
bitterly; but the law of perpetual
motion, which rules genius as well as
planets, made him go on working. He
was still busy with his pen and in his
observatory. Three or four years be-
fore his death he was quite blind; as
great anafiiction for Calico the astron-
omer as deafness was for Hayden the
musician. His last days were bright
ened by visits from the grand ducal
family, and by the devotion of Viyiani,
his favorite pupil, who took his un-
worthy sons place. At length, in 1912,
the soul of the great astronomer as
cended to its in truth native stars
The ArOOsU