CHAPTER XVIII

THE TRIAL
The evil lead given in the fourth century by the fifteen ineffective edicts against heresy in order to weld the Em- pire into unity and protect it against those blind, scarcely conscious centrifugal forces which were apt to fight under the more legible ensigns of religious differences persisted throughout the Middle Ages. But it was not until the Thirteenth Century that an organised Inquisition was first instituted and the Church, holding the keys of heaven and hell at its girdle and conscious of the duty of maintaining its own supremacy and some sort of unity in Europe, acted with free authority and made a systematic attempt to fetter opinion. Its proceedings became secret and mysterious ; the victim disappeared as if the earth had silently swallowed him, and the issue was only apparent when he was restored to the public gaze in a procession of priests and godly men conducting him to the stake. Written accusations were accepted of anyone, and, while the accused might demand a written account of the charges brought against him, the names of the accuser and of witnesses were with-held.^ After a period of greater tolerance, at the instigation of Don Inigo Lopez de Recalde, better known as Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of Jesuits and a man wholly devoted to the service of God, Paul III yielded to the entreaties of Cardinal Carafa and instituted the Roman Inquisition, 2 1st July, 1542, on the improved, severe and
^ Bulls of Innocent IV, Cum Negocium and Licet sicui accepimus.
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searching Spanish model. It is noteworthy that within a few months of this event Copernicus published his sub- versive theory and set afoot the long war between Science and Orthodoxy,^ dedicating his book, with quite unconscious irony, to the Pope.
The Roman Inquisition became more and more active and terrible. On Oct. 21st, 1567, Carnesecchi, who had published no books but had expressed his opinions to friends, was beheaded and his body burned. On July 3rd, 1570, after four years of imprisonment, Antonio Paleario was strangled and his body burned because he sympathised with Protestants beyond the Alps and declared that it was unlawful for the Vicar of Christ to put heretics to death. The Roman In- quisition triumphed throughout Italy, save only in the Republic of Venice, which would not allow it to enter its territory and jealously watched such spiritual encroach- ments of the Ruler of the Papal States, wherein it per- ceived a menace to its own independence. This is probably why Bruno thought himself safe in Venice.
At Venice there sat with the Inquisitors the Patriarch, invariably a patriot, and at least one of three Savii all' eresia, Assessors of the State, who were changed every year and who were under the direction of the Governor, himself usually a just and humane man. While, in the Roman Inquisition, the whole Court and all witnesses and officials were sworn to secrecy, here, the representatives of the State were compelled to reveal the proceedings to the Doge and Senate, and had the power to suspend the pro- ceedings if Venetian laws were not wholly respected or if secret instructions had been received from the Government. The Court could not be opened without the formal sanction of an Assessor being given ; ^ and torture was rarely applied.^
^ De Orbium Ccelestium Revolutionibus,
' Doc. xiii, prcemial. ^ Berti ; Vita di G. B., capitolo xv.
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It is believed that, at that time, the Inquisitors met at the Patriarchal Palace on the opposite side of the Rio di Palazzo to the prison and a little higher up. They sat under the presidency of the Patriarch.
On Tuesday, 26th May, 1592, the Holy Tribunal met to consider the case of Bruno. The judges were-^Laurentio Priuli, the Patriarch, who had been Venetian Ambassador at Paris during Bruno's first visit, ten years before, and who may have heard of or even seen him there ; ^ Ludo- vico Taberna, the ^Apostolic Nuncio, ^the Very Reverend Father Giovanni Gabrielle of Saluzzo, and^Aloysio Fuscari the Assessor. Ciotto, having been sworn, gave evidence which, so far as his direct knowledge of Bruno went, was wholly favourable. But he had heard the prisoner spoken ill of at Frankfurt. That was all he knew or could say con- cerning Giordano ; if he knew more he would tell it. As was customary he was sworn to silence and the Court rose.
It did not reassemble until Friday, the 29th, and was composed of the same members as before. Brictanus, the Flemish bookseller, an older man than Ciotto by twelve years (he was 37), knew nothing at all of Bruno's views except hearsay. After adjournment for the mid-day meal, Bruno was brought in. He had lain three days in his cell. The Clerk of the Court describes him as of ordinary height, chestnut-coloured beard, and looking his age, about 40. Ciotto had described him as little, slenderly-built, with a black beard. We know from Eglin and Alsted that he accompanied his earnest and rapid speech with lively gestures ; he had the changing expression of a Southern Italian. Admonished to tell the truth before cross-examination, he burst out, " I shall tell the truth. Often have I been threatened with the Holy Office and I deemed it a joke ; so I am quite ready to furnish an account of myself." Then, in answer to questions, he commenced that story of his life and wanderings which has
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been incorporated in these chapters, until " the hour was late, when he was sent back to his place with the usual warning." 1
The Inquisitor required Mocenigo to furnish more matter : he must write down " with extreme carefulness all that Bruno had said against our Catholic faith." The document is a subtle commingling of truth with its distortion. Dated the same day of Bruno's first examination, it affirms that Bruno had pronounced the priesthood degenerate from Apostolic practice, " manifesting violence and not love towards heretics. The world could not remain in ignorance and without a good religion. Truly the Catholic religion was more acceptable to him than others ; but all needed much reform. Soon the world would take its own reform on itself, for it could not continue so corrupt. He hoped much from the King of Navarre, and therefore he was anxious to publish his works and get credit ; for himself would lead that coming time. He would not always be poor, but would enjoy the goods of others. There is greater ignorance than ever was afore- time, since men now teach what they do not understand, namely that God is a Trinity, which is impossible and blasphemous against the Majesty of God. When I told him to be silent and hasten on with what he had to do for me, because I was a Catholic and he a Lutheran, and I could not abide him, he replied, ' Oh, you will see what your faith will do for you,' and, laughing, ' await the Judgment, when the dead shall arise you will get the reward of your righteousness.' And on another occasion, he said, 'This Republic has a reputation for great wisdom ; it should deal with the monastic revenues in the French manner; there the nobles enjoy the monastic revenues and the friars live on broth. The friars of to-day are all asses, and to let them enjoy so much wealth is a great sin." (This stroke ^ Doc. vii.
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was certain to tell.) " Also he told me that ladies pleased him well ; but he had not yet reached Solomon's number ; the Church sinned in making a wickedness of that which was of great service in Nature, and which, in his view, was highly meritorious." *
Next day, Saturday 30th May, Bruno was again fetched from prison. The Apostolic Nuncio was represented by his vicar, Dom Livio Passero.^ Bruno, having been sworn to tell the truth, continued the concise, matter of faqt and straightforward story of his life, making a natural mistake here and there about the length of time he stayed at this or that place. Parenthetically, he observes that he does not endorse all the works he has written — a statement which he repeats later on, adding : " I have uttered myself and handled matters too philosophically, wrongly, not sufficiently after the manner of a good Christian, and, in particular, I have taught and maintained in some of these works philosophical doctrines concerning what, according to the Christian faith, should be attributed to the power, wisdom and goodness of God; founding my doctrine on sensible experience and reason and not on faith." He goes on to say, probably in reply to a question : " This is a general observation ; for details, I will look up my writings ; for I cannot now recollect any particular passages or teaching; but I will reply to questions as they shall come back to me.'' ^ We gather, then, that he was allowed to refer to the seized books. After a lengthy sitting, he was given the customary serious warning and taken back to his cell.
Next day the officers of the Inquisition obtained a deposi- tion from Fra Domenico which confirmed Bruno's statements about their conversation together. The Court sat again on the 2nd June, another State Assessor, one Sebastian
* Doc. via.
^ Cigogna ; Iscrizioni Venete, iv, p. 417. = Doc. ix.
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Barbadico, giving the requisite permission and watching the case. Bruno furnished a complete list of his works, and drew the attention of his judges to the fact that, as their titles and contents should prove, they were purely philosophical. We see that he still believed that "judicious theologians " would recognise the validity of the claim of the intellect to free and independent enquiry, "provided it does not dispute divine authority but submits to it."^ Putting into practice his demand for " philosophic freedom," he set forth his deepest convictions with manly sincerity, spirit and pluck. " I have ever expounded philosophically and according to the principles of Nature and by its hght; not chiefly considering what must be held according to Faith ; and I believe that nothing can be found by which I can be judged rather to animadvert on religion than to uphold philosophy ; although I may have set forth much impious matter occasioned by my own natural light. . . . Never have I taught anything directly contrary to the Catholic Religion, although I was judged to have done so indirectly at Paris, where, indeed, I was allowed to maintain certain discussions entitled 'A Hundred and Twenty Articles against the Peripatetic School and other commonly ac- cepted Philosophers ' ; and this was printed by permission of the Authorities. I was allowed to expound on natural principles without prejudice to truth in the light of faith, in which way one can read and teach the works of Aristotle and Plato ; for they are indirectly contrary to the faith in the very same manner — much more so, in fact, than the philosophy I propounded and defended, the whole of which is expounded in my last Latin books published at Frankfurt and entitled De Minimo, De Monade and De Immenso, and, in part, De Compositione. In these my object and doctrine may be specifically read, which is, in a word : I hold the » Cjr. Causa, Dial. IV.
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universe to be infinite as result of the infinite divine power ; for I think it unworthy of divine goodness and power to have produced merely one finite world when it was able to bring into being an infinity of worlds.^ Wherefore I have expounded that there is an endless number of individual worlds like our earth. I regard it, with Pythagoras, as a star, and the moon, the planets and the stars are similar to it, the latter being of endless number. All these bodies make an infinity of worlds ; they constitute the infinite whole in infinite space, an infinite universe, that is to say, containing innumerable worlds. So that there is an infinite measure in the universe and an infinite multitude of worlds. But this may be indirectly opposed to truth according to the faith.
" Within this universe I place a universal Providence, whereby everything lives, grows, acts and abides in its perfection. And I understand this in a two-fold way : one, after the fashion of the spirit which is completely present in the whole body and in every part thereof. This I call Nature, the shadow and record of the Divine. The other manner is the inconceivable way in which God, an essence, presence and power, is in all and above all, not as part, not as spirit, but unspeakably.
" Now, I understand all attributes to be one and the same in Deity, and, with theologians and the greatest thinkers, I conceive of three attributes ; power, wisdom and goodness ; or, mind" (intuitive Power), "comprehension and Love. Things are through mind ; they are ordered and are dis- tinct through intellect ; they are in harmonious proportion through universal love, in all and above all. There is nothing that doth not shine in being, any more than any- thing is beautiful without the presence of beauty ; wherefore nothing can exist shorn from the divine presence. But ^ Cfr. Infinito, Proem. Epist.
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distinctions in the Divinity are made by the method of Dis- cursive Thought and are not reahty.
" I understand, with Aristotle, that all which exists depends on the First Cause, so that to call it a creation is not con- tradictory, as St. Thomas explains. Whether understood as external or in time, all is the effect of the first Cause and is not independent."
Bruno next, supporting himself by quotations from Holy Writ and Virgil, endeavours to reconcile the doctrine of the Trinity with his j^ilosophy. That attribute or essential characteristic which the Church calls the Father is Will or Power ; the Son or the Word is the intellect, understanding ; the Holy Spirit is love — the life of the universe, the Soul of the World, " whence issues all that has life. All things, souls and bodies, are immortal as to their substance,^ nor is there any other death than dispersion and re-inte- gration." ^
Asked if he held Father, Son and Spirit to be One in Essence but distinct Persons, he replied that he had doubted in private concerning the distinct personalities of the two latter. Indeed the term Person was declared by St. Augustine to be new in his time. He had doubted the. doctrine from his eighteenth year, but had never denied, or taught or written against it. Asked if he had doubts concerning the First Person, he replied " Never " : he had always held the doctrine of the faithful Christian in that regard. In answer to interrogatories, he said he had doubted and wrestled in spirit concerning the incarnation, but had never doubted that the Son was one in essence
^ He would seem to use the term substance in its Aristotelian, logical sense to express substrate or the ingredient, one knows not what, of concrete being as such, and not in the scholastic sense of the nature of the individual thing.
' Cfr. De minimo, I, i, v. 4; De immenso, VIII, x; De monade, IV.
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with the First Person, while the Spirit, if indistinct as to essence, was not inferior, since all the attributes of God are also those of Son and Spirit. He had merely quoted the opinions of Arius in his youth at Naples as being those of Arius.
The time had come to adjourn for the mid-day meal and Bruno was taken back to his cell after the invariable warning.
On reassembling the Nuncio was represented by his Vicar, as he had been on May 30th, and the Patriarch by his Vicar. Questioned, Bruno repeated his admission that much objectionable matter might be extracted from his works ; but never had he impugned the Catholic faith. He had always claimed to reason by natural intelligence and not as a theologian.^ He had reasoned philosophically and had merely quoted the heretical opinions of others. He repeated that he had gravely doubted the Word becom- ing flesh. The examination being pushed he said : " To make clearer what I said this morning, I have held and believed that there is a distinct Godhead in the Father, in the Word and in Love, which is the Divine Spirit ; and, in Essence, these three are one ; but I have never been able to grasp the three being really Persons and have doubted it. Augustine says, ' we utter the name of Person with dread when we speak of divine matters, and use it because we are obliged ; ' nor have I found the term applied in the Old or New Testament." As to the Incarnation, he thought the Divine Word was present in the humanity of Christ ; but he could never comprehend the union of the Infinite Real with the finite in the way in which body and soul are one single reality, but had swayed to and fro as to the ineffable manner thereof, and never as to the authority of Scripture which declares the Word was made flesh and is 1 Cp. Causa, Dial. Ill ; Eroici, Dial. I, i.
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SO in the Blessed Sacrament. Pressed he said that, speak- ing theologically, Divinity could not be united with the human except as supporting it {assistentid), but he did not infer that Christianity was not divine.
As to miracles, he held them to be genuine witnesses to the Divinity ; but a yet greater witness was the law of the Gospel. He had always accepted the doctrines of the Church as to transubstantiation,^ and had shown his respect for the Mass by absenting himself therefrom, he being ex- communicate. He had never held the opinions of Pro- testants or sat at their Communion table or discussed anything but pure Philosophy with them, whereby they deemed him to be a man without a religion.
He was asked concerning the statements of Mocenigo that he had denied Christ's divinity and asserted him to have been a malefactor, the author's name being withheld. " I marvel," he exclaimed, " that you should ask such a question. Never did I say or think such a thing about Christ. I believe as Holy Mother Church does concerning him." The document relates how, " as he said this he grew very sorrowful " and, returning to the subject : " I cannot conceive how such things can be imputed to me." He held that Christ was begotten, by the Spirit, of a Virgin-mother : when the contrary should be proved of him, he would submit to any penalty. He believed in the Sacrament of Penitence and the damnation of such as die in mortal sin. He had repeatedly tried to be absolved and accepted by the Church. " I have held and still hold the immortality of souls, which are kinds of existence specially due to sub- stance.^ That is to say, speaking Catholically, the intellec-
1 Cfr. the statement in Cotin's diary, sub Dec. 7th 1586, quoted on p. 185.
"He uses the scholastic term substanhae subsistentiae. Cfr. Doc. xi.
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tual soul does not pass from body to body, but goes to Paradise, Purgatory, or Hell ; but I have thought deeply, as a Philosopher, how, since the soul does not exist without body and does not exist in the body, it may pass from body to body even as matter may pass from mass to mass ; which, if not true, bears a close resemblance to the opinion of Pythagoras." It is obvious that he would claim for the initiated the right to hold theological doctrine in a different sense from that in which the uninitiated take it.
Whereupon the Court puts the sardonic question : " Are you a skilled theologian and acquainted with Catholic decisions ? " Answer : " Not much,'- having pursued philo- sophy, which has been my avocation." Had he poured scorn on theologians ? No ; on the contrary, he had condemned Protestant teachings so far as they departed from those of Rome, and had always upheld the theologians of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas before all. He had read heretical books and animadverted on them. As to the doctrine of good works, he quoted passages from his own writings, which maintained that works, no less than faith, were necessary to salvation. Since he gave the precise page, it is evident that the books lay on the table or that he was allowed them in his cell for the preparation of his defence.^
Had he said that monks did not make their lives conform to those of the apostles ? '"I have said nothing of the kind, nor held that view,' and therewith," says the Inqui- sitorial record, " he threw up his hands and was agitated because such questions were asked of him."
The judge-prosecutors pushed him hard with Mocenigo's charges, which they brought forward one by one. Bruno
1 It is true. Later in the examination he attributes to Joachim of Flora a doctrine which Joachim expressly repudiated. J- The Causa is erroneously inserted for the Spaccio in the MS.
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remembered saying that the preaching, example, and miracles of the Apostles effected more than the Church's appeal to force to-day does ; but his works showed that he supported the discipline of the Church against heresy. Closely pressed as to the different method of the Church in Apostolic times, he replied that perhaps hearts were harder to-day, and so, although there were exemplary Christians, our wicked and perverse generation would not listen.
Asked if Christ wrought his miracles by magic, he raised both hands and cried out : " What is this ? Who invented these devilries ? I have never even thought such a thing. O God ! what is this ? I would rather be dead than have said anything of the kind." The gibe concerning the Last Judgment which Mocenigo attributed to him was then brought up, and Bruno exclaimed : " I have never said these things. My Lord, look through my books. They are profane enough ; but you will not find a trace of this ; nor has it entered my head."
Asked as to carnal sin, he had spoken of fornication as
the smallest of such sins and joked about it in frivolous
company. He had never blamed the Church- for its moral
code, but accepted its teaching on the subject. Changing
the subject, the Court then informed Bruno that he must
not be surprised at the questions which were asked, for he
had dwelt in heretical countries, had had many dealings
with heretics and had attended their sermons. Such was
their comprehension of the impressionability and lack of
personal force of the great original thinker before them !
He had admitted, the}' said, enough to make the allegations
against him credible. These were enumerated. Let him
take heed and make full, open and faithful confession in
order to be received into the bosom of Holy Mother Church
and be made a member of Jesus Christ. But it would be
a marvel if persistence in his obstinate denial did not lead
S
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to the usual end of the impenitent. The Holy Office was desirous of bringing to the light, by its piety and Christian love, those who were in darkness, and of deliverance from the crooked way to the straight path of eternal life. At last it must have been clear, even to Bruno, that the noose was tightening. " So may God pardon me," he replied, " every one of my answers to every question has been true so far as my memory has served me ; but, for my greater satisfaction, I will again pass my life in review, and, if I have said or done anything against the Catholic Christian Faith, I will frankly confess it. I have said what is just and true, and I shall continue to say it. I am certain the contrary shall never be proved against me." He put a vastly dif- ferent interpretation on the Catholic Christian Faith and what he had written about it to that of the Church itself.
Next day (June 3rd) the Court reassembled, the Patriarch and Nuncio being again represented by their vicars. The interrogatories of the previous day were again read over and Bruno was asked if he were guilty with regard to any of the charges indicated. He replied that he had indeed broken fasts, which were not kept by heretics, for he did not know the appointed days except when among CathoHcs : he had had scruples, but punctilious observance would have excited ridicule. He was of opinion that every faithful Catholic should adhere to the Calendar ; but he called God to witness that he had not offended in this respect because of despising such observances. He had attended the sermons of Protestants out of intellectual curiosity, and had never sat with heretics at their breaking of bread or at their other usages. Pushed on this point he replied : "Wherein I have erred, I have told the truth, and you will never find that this is not so. There are plenty of Catholics in those parts who drop their own religious observances without becoming heretics." Cross-examined
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concerning the divinity and birth of Christ, he repeated his former statement, adding, " what I have held, I have told you, I never talked on the subject. I volunteered admissions to clear my conscience." Frankly, the doctrine of the infinite nature and infinite humanity of Christ could not be understood in the same way as the unity of body and mind in the one individual. He was far from being with Joachim of Flora in understanding the human nature of Christ as a quaternity, additional to the Trinity.* The whole subject was one bristling with difficulties, and, how- ever fallacious his premises might be, he had not fallen into heretical conclusions. Pressed as to his having derided the Miraculous, Christ and the Sacraments, he repeated his former denials and referred his judges to his Latin poem, which would show that he had done justice to the Clergy. He had never held that man was of purely animal origin, though he had quoted the opinions of Lucretius and Epicurus ; nor could such a charge be drawn from his writings. He had contempt for conjuration and the like ; but, nonetheless, still desired to study judicial astrology. Never had he taught that the world is governed by Fate and not by God's providence ; nay, he had always held that there is a Divine Providence and that the will is free, which is the antithesis of Fate. True he had praised heretics and their princes for their human virtues, but not for their religious opinions ; moreover, the praise of Princes is demanded by etiquette. Cross-questioned about the King of Navarre, he said that when conversation turned on that monarch he had expressed his belief that his profession of heresy was made with an eye to the throne. He had seen but did not know him or his minis- ters ; but he had said that, if the new monarch followed the edicts of his predecessors, permission might be obtained ^ Bruno was in error ; Joachim did not hold this view.
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for him (Bruno) to lecture publicly, which the former king had allowed. With regard to his compliment to Elizabeth, he neglected to point out that if he had called her diva he had also called Rudolf II divus. He had no recollection of having said that he wished to be " captain " and secure the wealth of others ; his was no martial disposition, and what he wanted was not wealth but to follow philosophy and the sciences.
Throughout the day, the Court had repeated, in varied forms, questions which had been asked before and to which the prisoner had surely replied sufficiently. It was now demanded of him if he abjured and hated his heresies. Bruno answered : " I hate and detest all the errors I have at any time committed as regards the Catholic Faith and decrees of Holy Church, and I repent having done, held, said, believed or doubted anything Catholic. I pray this Holy Tribunal that, aware of my infirmity, it will admit me into the bosom of the Church, providing me with remedies proper to salvation and shewing mercy." We shall see how he received both.
The facts as to his flight from Naples were now extracted from him, and he was removed to his cell.
At a short sitting the next day, whereat the Nuncio and Patriarch themselves were present with the Father Inqui- sitor and the State-Assessor, Barbadico, the evidence was read over to Bruno who replied that it was accurately reported and he had nothing to add. Asked about Divina- tion, he explained about the transcription found among his belongings. Asked if he had an enemy, he replied he could think of none, except Mocenigo, against whose tru- culent and vindictive behaviour he inveighed, exposing what he supposed to be its cause.^
' Doc. xiv. The examination of Bruno is given in Berti, Docs, vij, ix, xi, xij, xii]\ xiv, xvij.
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It was not until three weeks later that the judges re- assembled, Thomas Morosini now representing the State. The prisoner was not brought before the Court, but the entirely favourable deposition of the distinguished patrician and scholar, Andrea Morosini was taken. Ciotto was called and confirmed Bruno's statement that he intended to present a book he was writing to the Pope in person.^
After two tedious months in a prison-cell, doubly lacerat- ing to a spirit so enamoured of freedom and so restless, not to speak of the doubt and dread which would attend any solitary prisoner of the Inquisition, Bruno was brought again before the same authorities as on the last occasion ; with the addition of a second State-Assessor. He was asked if, having had time to reflect, he could tell the truth better. No, he had nothing to add. He was informed that his protracted and contumacious apostasy placed him under the grave suspicion of the Holy Chair (so there had been communications with the Pope and Curia). Perhaps there was more than appeared behind the statements he had made. He must purge his conscience. The prisoner replied that his confessions and writings were indeed such as to rouse suspicions of heresy ; he had always felt re- morse and wished to amend his ways, wherefore he had sought a less irksome path than that of returning to strict monastic rule and had hoped to make himself acceptable to His Holiness, so as to live in more freedom, yet as a Catholic priest. There had been no slight intended to the Faith, but dread of the rigours of the Holy Office and love of liberty. But, he was told, " had your desire been sincere you would not have lived so long in France and other Catholic countries and here in Venice without having consulted some prelate ; whereas you went on teaching false and heretical doctrine up to now." Bruno referred the * Docs. XV, XV].
278 GIORDANO BRUNO
judges to his deposition to prove that he had indeed con- sulted prelates and Catholic Fathers. His conduct in Venice had been without fault ; he had discussed philo- sophy with many patricians, as his judges might ascertain ; he had expressed his disapproval of Protestantism ; he designed to be absolved so as to live, but not cloistered, among the monks of his native province. He believed Mocenigo, and he alone of men, was his accuser. Being told that he had been so long time an apostate and dwelt so many years among heretics that he might easily be 'a wicked man, wherefore he must prepare to purge his con- science, he replied that it might be he had erred more than he could recollect, but truly, though he had thoroughly searched himself for faults, he could not find them. He had readily confessed all he knew of; he was in their Lordships' hands ; he did not know what the needful penalty might be ; he was ready with his soul to receive it.
His great scheme of getting the ear of an enlightened Pope through high influence and the presentation of an explanatory and illuminating book had failed, like all his many attempts to reconcile himself with the Church. Traitorously delivered to the Inquisition, at first he felt little or no fear, for he was convinced of his own integrity and blindly self-assured of his own essential Catholicity. But now he felt with the Theban King —
"All I can touch Is falling, falling round me, and o'erhead Intolerable destiny descends."
He cast himself on the mercy of the Inquisition. Falling on his knees he humbly demanded pardon of God and the Court. Might any punishment be given privately, and public disgrace not attach to the habit he had worn. If his life were spared he promised so to reform it as to
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outbalance all previous stain. The Sacred Tribunal ordered him to rise and asked if he had thought of anything more to reveal. There was nothing.^ So the prisoner was again removed to his cell to meditate and the judges went to dine. This was the last appearance of Bruno before the Venetian Inquisition.
' Doc. xvij.