refused
to be aroused.

Finally he was invited by Zuone Mocenigo of Venice to teach him the
higher and secret learning. The Venetian supposed that Bruno, with more
than human erudition, possessed the art of conveying knowledge into the
heads of dullards. Disappointed in this expectation, he quarreled with
his teacher, and in a spirit of revenge picked out of Bruno's writings
a mass of testimony sufficient to convict him of heresy. This he turned
over to the Inquisitor at Venice, Bruno was arrested, convicted, and
sent to the Inquisition in Rome. When called upon there to recant, he
replied, "I ought not to recant, and I will not recant." He was
accordingly confined in prison for seven years, then sentenced to death.
On hearing the warrant he said, "It may be that you fear more to deliver
this judgment than I to bear it." On February 17th, 1600, he was burned
at the stake in the Campo de' Fiori at Rome. He remained steadfast to
the end, saying, "I die a martyr, and willingly." His ashes were cast
into the Tiber. Two hundred and fifty-nine years afterwards, his statue
was unveiled on the very spot where he suffered; and the Italian
government is bringing out (1896) the first complete edition, the
'National Edition,' of his works.

In their substance Bruno's writings belong to philosophy rather than to
literature, although they are still interesting both historically and
biographically as an index of the character of the man and of the temper
of the time. Many of the works have either perished or are hidden away
in inaccessible archives. For two hundred years they were tabooed, and
as late as 1836 forbidden to be shown in the public library of Dresden.
He published twenty-five works in Latin and Italian, and left many
others incomplete, for in all his wanderings he was continually writing.
The eccentric titles show his desire to attract attention: as 'The Work
of the Great Key,' 'The Exploration of the Thirty Seals,' etc. The first
extant work is 'Il Candelajo' (The Taper), a comedy which in its license
of language and manner vividly reflects the time. In the dedication he
discloses his philosophy: 'Time takes away everything and gives
everything.' The 'Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante' (Expulsion of the
Triumphant Beast), the most celebrated of his works, is an attack on the
superstitions of the day, a curious medley of learning, imagination, and
buffoonery. 'Degl' Eroici Furori' (The Heroic Enthusiasts) is the most
int