t removal of the obstructions which surround it.

The boldness--may we not say the recklessness--with which Galileo
insisted upon making proselytes of his enemies, served but to alienate
them from the truth. Errors thus assailed speedily entrench themselves
in general feelings, and become embalmed in the virulence of the
passions. The various classes of his opponents marshalled themselves for
their mutual defence. The Aristotelian professors, the temporising
Jesuits, the political churchmen, and that timid but respectable body
who at all times dread innovation, whether it be in religion or in
science, entered into an alliance against the philosophical tyrant who
threatened them with the penalties of knowledge.

The party of Galileo, though weak in numbers, was not without power and
influence. He had trained around him a devoted band, who idolised his
genius and cherished his doctrines. His pupils had been appointed to
several of the principal professorships in Italy. The enemies of
religion were on this occasion united with the Christian philosopher;
and there were, even in these days, many princes and nobles who had felt
the inconvenience of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and who secretly
abetted Galileo in his crusade against established errors.

Although these two parties had been long dreading each others power, and
reconnoitring each others position, yet we cannot exactly determine
which of them hoisted the first signal for war. The church party,
particularly its highest dignitaries, were certainly disposed to rest on
the defensive. Flanked on one side by the logic of the schools, and on
the other by the popular interpretation of Scripture, and backed by the
strong arm of the civil power, they were not disposed to interfere with
the prosecution of science, however much they may have dreaded its
influence. The philosophers, on the contrary, united the zeal of
innovators with that firmness of purpose which truth alone can inspire.
Victorious in every contest, they were flushed with success, and they
panted for a struggle in which they knew they must triumph.

In this state of warlike preparation Galileo addressed a letter, in
1613, to his friend and pupil, the Abbe Castelli, the object of which
was to prove that the Scriptures were not intended to teach us science
and philosophy. Hence he inferred, that the language employed in the
sacred volume in reference to such subjects should be interpreted only
in its common