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the last Index he may be sought under either Christian or Sirname, but will not be found.
The same is the fact with the third person named as in the same predicament — Foscarini. His name is found up to the Index of Pius VII. There he stands — Foscarini Paolo Antonio. Lettera sopra l'opinione de' Pittagorici, e del Copernico della mobilità della Terra, e stabilità del Sole. Decr. 5 Martii, 1616. This item has likewise taken its unceremonious flight.[1]
Thus, have the three prisoners in the pope's literary gaol, the carcer ecclesiæ, very analogous to the purgatory which his Church created, most unexpectedly and quietly, obtained from the consideration or policy of the reigning pontiff, Gregory XVI., a happy release from their protracted incarceration. His holiness at last found that he detained them only to plague himself; and, like Pharaoh, he thrust them out in haste; and certainly, with as little noise and parade as possible.
These three illustrious prisoners, had they returned to life in 1835, the year of their
- ↑ If the Dublin Reviewer had any acquaintance with the proscribing Indexes of his own Church, one might admire the dovelike simplicity which dictated the sentence — "Why, then, it may be asked, was Galileo, and Galileo alone, silenced?" — P.97.
