im, and a sentence against
him and his books was fulminated by the Cardinals, prohibiting the "sale
and vending of the latter, and condemning him to the formal prison of
the Holy Office for a period determined at their pleasure." The sentence
of the Inquisition was in part couched in these words--"We pronounce,
judge, and declare, that you, the said Gallileo, by reason of these
things, which have been detailed in the course of this investigation,
and which, as above, you have confessed, have rendered yourself
vehemently suspected by this Holy Office, of heresy; that is to say,
that you believe and hold the false doctrine, and contrary to the Holy
and Divine Scriptures, namely, that the sun is the center of the world,
and that it does not _move_ from east to west, and that the earth does
_move_, and is not the center of the world; also, that an opinion _can
be held_ and _supported_ as _probable_, _after it has been_ declared,
and finally decreed contrary to the Holy Scriptures"--by the Holy See!!
"From which," they continue, "it is _our_ pleasure that you be absolved,
provided that, first, with a _sincere_ heart, and _unfeigned faith_, in
our presence, you _abjure_, _curse_, and _detest_ the said errors and
heresies, and every other error and heresy contrary to the Catholic and
Apostolic Church of Rome, in the form now shown to you."

After suffering under this anathema some time, Gallileo, by the advice
of his friends, consented to make a public abjuration of his former
heresies on the laws of motion. Kneeling before the "Most Eminent and
Most Reverend Lords Cardinals, General Inquisitors of the universal
Christian republic, against _heretical depravity_, having before his
eyes the Holy Gospels," he swears that he always "_believed_, and now
_believes_, and with the help of God, _will in future believe_, every
article which the Holy Catholic Church of Rome holds, teaches, and
preaches"--that he does altogether "abandon the false opinion which
maintains that the 'sun is the center of the world, and that the earth
is _not_ the center and _movable_,' that with a sincere heart and
unfeigned faith, he abjures, curses, and detests the said errors and
heresies, and every other error and sect contrary to the said Holy
Church, and that he will never more in future, say or assert any thing
verbally, or in writing, which may give rise to similar suspicion." As
he arose from his knees, it is said, he whispered to a friend standing