were very unwilling to admit before the world that after all a "popish priest" could teach them the noblest of the sciences. As England borrowed her new ideas of religion from Germany, so she also borrowed her new ideas of astronomy from the same country. This will account, at least in part, for the opposition which even the learned, as we shall presently see, gave the new system. It could not long be opposed, however; but as mathematician after mathematician, and university after university, felt constrained to accept it, their acceptance was accompanied, in nine cases out of ten, with some pretension calculated to diminish the glory of its discoverer. But historians and biographers soon found that by pursuing this course they injured themselves; accordingly, it was resolved, nearly half a century after the death of Copernicus, that in future his sacerdotal character should be kept in the background as much as possible. This had the desired effect to an incredible extent, and it serves to explain how it is that in most French, Italian, and Spanish histories the great astronomer is spoken of as Father Copernicus; whereas he is spoken of in all English works simply as Nicholas Copernicus; or if the fact of his being a priest is referred to at all, the allusion is generally accompanied with some remark which is in accordance with the theory that the teachings of Popery are incompatible with the development of science. Thus it is that we meet very intelligent Roman Catholics as well as Protestants, who have no idea of the fact that the modern founder of the great system of the universe now universally accepted, was a poor country priest, who, ardently as he loved the sublime science of the heavens, never permitted it to interfere in the least with his duties to his parishioners. These general remarks may suggest to the reader who is not entirely familiar with the labours of Copernicus, that it may not be uninteresting to accompany us in the sketch we are about to give of the life and works of the illustrious founder of the heliocentric system. Be this as it may, we can assure those who do accompany us, that if we err in g our estimate it will not be from any prejudice or we are conscious; nor shall we err from any unwilling formin which ness to search for the facts wherever they are to be found. But first, it is proper that we should give a brief outline of the early life of the great astronomer. Nicholas Copernicus* was born at Thorn, in Poland, February 12, 1473. Much has been written on the subject of his ancestry; some maintaining that he descended from a noble family, while others have contended that his father had been a serf. It is not of much importance which is the true story; but the dispute is now settled. Some family documents recently discovered prove beyond question that the mother of the astronomer was Barbel Wasselrode, the eldest sister of the Bishop of Ermeland, and that his father was a surgeon and the son of a respectable citizen of Cracow. The parents of Copernicus were, however, poor; but his uncle, the bishop, took care to secure him a first-class education. Some wonderful stories are told about his precocions intelligence and wisdom. All we are informed on this point by the respectable historians of the time, is, that he made excellent proficiency at a neighboring academy, that he completed his classical studies at the college of Thorn, and entered the university of Cracow at the age of eighteen. We may remark, in passing, that the works of Copernicus show that his classical studies were not merely nominal, for the former are written in good Latin, and many of the author's notes are in Greek; they also prove that Copernicus was familiarly acquainted with all the great thinkers of Greece and Rome whose writings were extant in his time. It is not strange, then, to find the future discoverer studying philosophy and medicine at the university in his eighteenth year; and that in due time he obtains his diploma as Doctor. His uncle did not content himself with merely placing him in the best university in Poland; he secured for him the tuition of Albert Brudenski, a professor who had already a European fame as a mathematician. The lessons of this professor inspired him with a passion for the sciences. At the same time he devoted much attention to perspective; this prompted him to learn painting, in which, some of his biographers tell us, he excelled. * Vernacular Kopernik. The bishop was much gratified with the progress he made, but believing that he only wanted opportunities to make still greater progress, he sent him to Italy, in order that he might have the benefit of the universities of Padua and Bologna, which ranked then amongst the first in Europe. In each of these institutions his name is recorded as a Pole. How well he availed himself of the advantages offered by them, is sufficiently proved by the fact that two years after his leaving home (1499), he was engaged at Rome as professor of mathematics, where he had students from almost every country in Europe. If his object had been fame, he had now the most favourable opportunities of obtaining it; indeed, he had already become famous as a mathematician throughout Italy; and all the universities vied with each other in conferring honours upon him. While at Bologna the hypothesis of Dominicus Maria, on the variability of the axis of the globe, gave him the idea of the motion of the earth. While at the same university (1497), Copernicus observed the occultation of Palatium by the moon. Rome (1500), he observed an eclipse of the moon. But fame had evidently no charm for him; and that his uncle was equally indifferent to it, may be inferred from the fact that while the pupils of Copernicus are increasing from day to day, he expresses a wish to return to Cracow (1502), and become a priest; and his wish is readily complied with by the bishop. Even after his return to his native country, he was consulted by the Sacred College at Rome respecting the improvement of the calendar. In less than six months after his removal to For eight years Copernicus discharged the duties of an humble curate. During the same period he prosecuted his mathematical studies with ardour. entitled him to practise as a physician, but he availed himself of it only so far as to prescribe for such of his poor parishioners as wished him to do so, without charging them a penny. After having served eight years as a curate, his uncle made him canon of the chapter of Franenburg. We have abundant testimony that no benefice ever conferred was better deserved than this. That it was not a mere favour for which he was indebted to the partiality of his uncle, is sufficiently proved by the fact that the inhabitants of Thorn, believing that it was not a sufficient reward for the good he had done as a clergyman, elected him to the archdeaconry of the church of St. John. Both offices were barely sufficient to enable him to live comfortably, to relieve the distressed among his parishioners, and to pursue his favourite studies. Strong inducements were held out to him by foreign universities to retire from the ministry and devote himself exclusively to the sciences; he was much pleased with the invitations of his friends, and he replied to them gratefully and courteously, but with a firm resolution never to abandon his parochial charge. There is something truly sublime in the self-denial and fortitude thus evinced by Copernicus. It was literally true of him that he wished to do good by stealth, and blushed to find it fame. Nor was he unacquainted with what was passing in Germany and England at the same time. He read the best of Luther's works; he went to hear the sermons of the ablest of the Reformers; but they produced no effect upon him, except, as he assured his friends, to attach him more and more to the tenets of the old religion. Accordingly, whenever the bishop was absent, Copernicus was entrusted with the government of the diocese ; and so satisfactorily did he perform its duties that, after the death of two successive prelates, he was appointed vicargeneral. In addition to these proofs of confidence in his piety and judgment, he was frequently deputed to the provincial diets, to combat the doctrines of Luther. But even while travelling, he never for a single day neglected the studies which were destined to immortalize him. While others were vilifying each other about dogmas, he devoted his leisure hours to the making of mathematical instruments and the construction of aqueducts; and specimens of his skill in both are to be seen to this day. The aqueduct by which he supplied the mill of Graudenz, near his native village, is in a state of complete preservation; but that with which he supplied the inhabitants of Frauenburg with water exists no longer; nothing is left of it but the tower on the banks of the Paffarge river, the waters of which he raised to the highest point of the town. It is almost superfluous to remark that this tower is an object of great curiosity to travellers; it has been visited by scientific men from all parts of the world, and the interest which it awakens is not a little enhanced by a Latin inscription, rendered almost illegible by the hand of time, combined with the eagerness with which it has been examined by thousands. "Hic patiuntur aquae sursum properare coactae, Ne careat sitiens incola montis ope, Quod natura negat tribuit Copernicus arte, The plain two-story house at Frauenburg in which Copernicus resided for more than a quarter of a century, is still standing, and is annually visited by a large number of travellers. The philosopher used the garret of this house, and the steeple of the cathedral, alternately, as an observatory. The greatest modern conquerors, as well as the most illustrious scientific men, including Wallenstein, Frederick the Great, the Great Condé, Napoleon I., Leibnitz, Kepler, and Galileo, have visited these precious relics of the humble votary of religion and science, who wished no higher honour than the consciousness of doing his duty and contributing all he could, without money and without price, to the physical and intellectual, as well as spiritual improvement of his fellow-man. In the zenith of Napoleon's glory, he visited the grave of CoperIn 1807, the Emperor had the astronomer's tomb, in the church of St. John at Frauenburg, entirely renovated at his own expense, and placed in such a position that it could be seen from all parts of the church. On another occasion, Napoleon visited Thorn, and found that the philosopher's house was occupied by a weaver, who was in possession of a portrait of Copernicus. The Emperor caused himself to be conducted to the house, and offered the weaver a considerable sum for the portrait; but the honest artisan, though nicus. ere the waters, gathered together, are forced upwards, so that the inhabitants een of the mountains may not thirst; what nature has denied, Copernicus bestow by the power of art; let fame proclaim the great work. |