adorned by a bronze statue of our
philosopher--for there he was born. His father was a merchant, and in
the municipal records his father's name appears as a freeman admitted to
the franchise in 1462. In 1472 or 1473 a son was added to the family,
and the parents had a horoscope taken of the child, who appeared at
thirty-eight minutes past four on January 19, 1472, according to some;
at forty-eight minutes past four in the afternoon of February 19, 1473,
according to others; the exact instant of the nativity being an
important point in astrological calculations, which, in those days,
inspired in fathers and mothers the deepest concern. At all events,
Copernicus was deemed to have entered the world under a lucky planet,
and it was augured that he would turn out a man of distinguished talent.
About ten years before Martin Luther studied at Mansfield, and then at
Eisenach, and rambled about the quaint streets, singing Christmas carols
in the town where he was born, Nicholas Copernicus passed through a
similar course of education. He did so under some old-fashioned
pedagogue, who no more dreamed of the scientific fame of his pupil than
did Trebonius of the approaching celebrity of young Master Martin.
Copernicus would there learn to read, to write, to construe Latin, and
to commit to memory hymns, prayers, and catechisms. Whether as a lad he
studied Greek is uncertain; but, as his parents seem to have been
wealthy, he would enjoy greater advantages than his still more
illustrious contemporary; hence at an early period he was sent to
Cracow, where he studied philosophy, mathematics, and medicine.
Mathematics formed his favorite pursuit, and by the thorough acquisition
of its principles and modes of reasoning he laid the basis of his
subsequent eminence. But he took a degree as doctor of medicine; and
according to the comprehensive methods of culture which obtained in
those days, he paid attention to painting, and made some proficiency as
an artist. Scholars were at that period accustomed to travel, and
Copernicus proceeded from Cracow to Bologna; and in that city of feudal
palaces and towers he would find a school of painting to cultivate his
artistic taste, as well as a university where he could study astronomy.
There he entered upon divers calculations connected with the position of
the earth and the plan of the heavenly bodies. Then proceeding to Rome,
he became there a mathematical professor, and won vast renown. Soon
afte