Many minds had received it, but
within the hearing of the papacy only one tongue appears to have
dared to utter it clearly. This new warrior was that strange
mortal, Giordano Bruno. He was hunted from land to land, until at
last he turned on his pursuers with fearful invectives. For this
he was entrapped at Venice, imprisoned during six years in the
dungeons of the Inquisition at Rome, then burned alive, and his
ashes scattered to the winds. Still, the new truth lived on. Ten
years after the martyrdom of Bruno the truth of Copernicus's
doctrine was established by the telescope of Galileo.[130]
Herein was fulfilled one of the most touching of prophecies. Years
before, the opponents of Copernicus had said to him, "If your
doctrines were true, Venus would show phases like the moon."
Copernicus answered: "You are right; I know not what to say; but
God is good, and will in time find an answer to this objection."
The God-given answer came when, in 1611, the rude telescope of
Galileo showed the phases of Venus.
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