s observations.

Tycho had experienced much inconvenience in his residence at Benach,
from his ignorance of the language and customs of the country, as well
as from other causes. He was therefore anxious to transfer his
instruments to Prague; and no sooner were his wishes conveyed to the
Emperor than he gave him leave to send them to the royal gardens and the
adjacent buildings. His family and his larger instruments having now
arrived from Huen, the astronomer with his family and his property were
safely lodged in the royal edifice. Having found that there was no house
in Prague more suited for his purposes than that of his late friend
Curtius, the Emperor purchased it from his widow, and Tycho removed into
it on the 25th February 1601.

CHAPTER IV.

_Tycho resumes his Astronomical Observations--Is attacked with a
Painful Disease--His Sufferings and Death in 1601--His Funeral--His
Temper--His Turn for Satire and Raillery--His Piety--Account of his
Astronomical Discoveries--His Love of Astrology and
Alchymy--Observations on the Character of the Alchymists--Tycho's
Elixir--His Fondness for the Marvellous--His Automata and Invisible
Bells--Account of the Idiot, called Lep, whom he kept as a
Prophet--History of Tycho's Instruments--His great Brass Globe
preserved at Copenhagen--Present state of the Island of Huen._

Although Tycho continued in this new position to observe the planets
with his usual assiduity, yet the recollection of his sufferings, and
the inconveniences and disappointments which he had experienced, began
to prey upon his mind, and to affect his health. Notwithstanding the
continued liberality of the Emperor, and the kindness of his friends and
pupils, he was yet a stranger in a distant land. Misfortune was unable
to subdue that love of country which was one of the most powerful of his
affections; and, though its ingratitude might have broken the chain
which bound him to the land of his nativity, it seems only to have
rivetted it more firmly. His imagination, thus influenced, acquired an
undue predominance over his judgment. He viewed the most trifling
occurrences as supernatural indications; and in those azure moments when
the clouds broke from his mind, and when he displayed his usual wit and
pleasantry, he frequently turned the conversation to the subject of his
latter end.

This state of mind was the forerunner, though probably the effect, of a