Complete Works, Volume Four

fixed in my heart; but nothing is more pleasant than to remember those things besides, which have always produced in me such great admiration and veneration for you.

This was, above all, the singular sincerity of your spirit. Being one who does not know how to pretend, you have always shown yourself in public to be exactly as you are in private. Because of your noble character, you have never done anything except what is proper; because of your ancient faith, you have performed nothing except what is lawful and just. From this has always come that sincere and unadorned piety. You are a most strict observer of the ancient and legitimate worship of God, and have always shunned? original: "auersatus" all novelty and superstition. Just as you never patiently tolerated those who used Religion as a mask for deceit, so with wonderful fervor you pursued the new Alcibiades Alcibiades was an Athenian politician known for his brilliance but also for his alleged sacrilege regarding religious mysteries. Gassendi likely uses the name here to refer to contemporary heretics or disruptors of Church tradition.. You did not allow them to go unpunished for dragging the sacred Mysteries into the dust. From this comes that true and brotherly concern for the flock committed to your care. Even when the dire destruction of the plague was spreading, you were constantly present among them. You considered it a blessing to be able to lay down your life for them. This is a rare example in a man of your high dignity. It is a singular proof that you do nothing for the sake of a false appearance of piety; for on such an occasion, the mask is stripped away and the true character remains. From this comes that unbroken and lofty constancy, by which you allowed your worldly wealth to be taken from you. You valued those goods so little that you did not feel you had lost anything truly yours. You did not even wish to exercise your legal rights against others when your own safety was secure. You declared that what remained to you was still abundant, and you most cordially refused the most prestigious ecclesiastical offices original: "Sacerdotia" that were subsequently offered to you. From this comes that heart, tenacious in its purpose and steeped in honor. Whether acting within the Sacred College or presiding over your own clergy, and indeed the whole Gallican Clergy The Catholic Church in France, which maintained a degree of administrative independence from the Pope in Rome., you always looked to what was worthy of a wise and good man. You dispensed the various duties committed to you under various titles, never out of personal favor, but by your own choice and according to the diligence you recognized in each person.

But the introduction would be too long if I were to pursue every detail. This occasion requires instead that I recount the exceptional love for the liberal arts with which you have always burned. I speak especially of this art which is situated in the contemplation of heavenly things. No study can be considered more worthy of a free and noble man. I certainly hardly ever approach you without you asking me something about these matters. You exult when you hear something new, whether it was discovered by observation or deduced by reasoning. Because of this, I offer this little work to you with all the more confidence, as it concerns those things which I know are pleasant for you to learn. Indeed, even if it contains nothing other than the basic principles of the art, I guess it will be no less pleasing to you. You do not disdain to descend to these simple matters at times. Whatever the quality of this work, it is mine, and it was published for no other purpose than the one you wished: that it be publicly dictated. If it has any merit or enjoys a happy fate, it should benefit as many people as possible. Although many books and learned commentaries exist on this subject, there are still people who require a type of instruction better suited to beginners. They need something that is not obscure because of brevity, nor exhausting because of length. They need a work that does not exhaustively debate every point of science, but touches upon the most important parts nonetheless.

I am not one who claims that this work has reached that ideal. I only testify to the ready affection with which I wished to help students. I intended to state everything concisely but as clearly as I could, so they would not be overwhelmed by the complexity or the "darkness" of the subjects. I have done this not only regarding the Ptolemaic System The traditional geocentric model where the Earth is at the center of the universe. or the common hypothesis, which I covered in two books on spherical doctrine and planetary theory. I also included the less common systems and hypotheses of both Copernicus The heliocentric model where the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun. and Tycho Brahe A hybrid model where the planets revolve around the Sun, but the Sun and Moon revolve around a stationary Earth.. I have set these out in a separate book to satisfy the wishes of those who earnestly asked me about them. They requested that I collect these ideas and explain them in my own way, as they felt others had taught them either too vaguely or too confusingly. Whether I have achieved what they expected is for them to see and say. For me, it is enough if I am approved by you alone, and if this little work shows that I am your most obedient and devoted servant. Live long, MOST EMINENT CARDINAL, for the great good of the Church, and FAREWELL. Paris, the Ides of July July 15th. 1647.