r forty years, he cut holes in the roof, and
also apertures in the sides of the building, through which he watched
the movements of the stars. He lived in practical isolation and exile,
for the Church had forbidden him to speak in public except upon themes
that the Holy Fathers in their wisdom had authorized. None was to invite
him to speak, read his writings or hold converse with him, except on
strictly church matters.

Copernicus knew the situation--he was a watched man. For him there was
no preferment: he knew too much! As long as he kept near home and did
his priestly work, all was well; but a trace of ambition or heresy, and
he would be dealt with. The Universities and all prominent Churchmen
were secretly ordered to leave Copernicus and his vagaries severely
alone. But the stars were his companions--they came out for him nightly
and moved in majesty across the sky. "They do me great honor," he said;
"I am forbidden to converse with great men, but God has ordered for me a
procession." When the whole town slept, Copernicus watched the heavens,
and made minute records of his observations. He had brought with him
from Rome copies made by himself from the works of the prominent Greek
astronomers, and the "Almagest" of Ptolemy he knew by heart.

He digested all that had been written on the subject of astronomy;
slowly and patiently he tested every hypothesis with his rude and
improvised instruments. "Surely God will not damn me for wanting to know
the truth about His glorious works," he used to say.

Emerson once wrote this: "If the stars came out but once in a thousand
years, how men would adore!" But before he had written this, Copernicus
had said: "To look up at the sky, and behold the wondrous works of God,
must make a man bow his head and heart in silence. I have thought and
studied, and worked for years, and I know so little--all I can do is to
adore when I behold this unfailing regularity, this miraculous balance
and perfect adaptation. The majesty of it all humbles me to the dust."

It was ostracism and exile that gave Copernicus the leisure to pursue
his studies in quiet, undiverted, undisturbed. He was relieved from
financial pinch, having all he needed for his simple, homely wants. The
mental distance that separated him from his parishioners made him free,
and the order that he should not travel and that none should visit him
made him master of his time. There were no interruptions--"God has set
me apart,"