GIORDANO BRUNO.
Giordano Bruno. By Alois RiehL Translated by Agnes Fry. (T. N. Foulis. 2s. 6d. net.)—This book first appeared in 1887; Dr.Riehl published a second edition in 1900 in preparation for the tercentenary celebration of Bruno's death (January 17th, 1600). Bruno, there is no doubt, propounded various heresies, some of them as casual speculations, for he had a very restless and in- discreet tongue; but the really central truth which he proclaimed was what is now a commonplace,—the infinity of the universe, with its innumerable suns, each with planets dependent upon it. It was this that brought him to his end. The story of this catastrophe is a very curious one. Betrayed into the hands of the Inquisition at Venice, he was extradited to Rome. He had recanted all his heretical opinions, and made his submission in the amplest terms. But the Roman authorities were not satisfied, They seem to have wanted some pledge of active championship which Bruno would not give. The battle went on for seven years, and by degrees Bruno gathered strength. He withdrew his recantations, and when the year of Jubilee (1600) came round the opportunity of celebrating it by the execution of this obstinate rebel was not to be neglected. He was handed over to the secular arm,—a more than usually farcical proceeding, seeing that in Rome the spiritual and the secular were identical. He suffered with the greatest constancy. The spot where he was burnt is now marked by a monument surmounted by a statue, habited in Dominican robes. It is an interesting speculation to im aine what the Pope would do if he were to recover the temporal power.
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