.
Whether he was what is now called a "clairvoyant" or not, Tycho
evidently regarded his utterances as oracular, and of course when one is
receiving what may be a revelation from heaven it is natural to suppress
ordinary conversation.

Among the noble visitors whom he received and entertained, it is
interesting to notice James I. of England, who spent eight days at
Uraniburg on the occasion of his marriage with Anne of Denmark in 1590,
and seems to have been deeply impressed by his visit.

Among other gifts, James presented Tycho with a dog (depicted in Fig.
24), and this same animal was subsequently the cause of trouble. For it
seems that one day the Chancellor of Denmark, Walchendorf, brutally
kicked the poor beast; and Tycho, who was very fond of animals, gave him
a piece of his mind in no measured language. Walchendorf went home
determined to ruin him. King Frederick, however, remained his true
friend, doubtless partly influenced thereto by his Queen Sophia, an
enlightened woman who paid many visits to Uraniburg, and knew Tycho
well. But unfortunately Frederick died; and his son, a mere boy, came to
the throne.

Now was the time for the people whom Tycho had offended, for those who
were jealous of his great fame and importance, as well as for those who
cast longing eyes on his estate and endowments. The boy-king, too,
unfortunately paid a visit to Tycho, and, venturing upon a decided
opinion on some recondite subject, received a quiet setting down which
he ill relished.

Letters written by Tycho about this time are full of foreboding. He
greatly dreads having to leave Uraniburg, with which his whole life has
for twenty years been bound up. He tries to comfort himself with the
thought that, wherever he is sent, he will have the same heavens and the
same stars over his head.

Gradually his Norwegian estate and his pension were taken away, and in
five years poverty compelled him to abandon his magnificent temple, and
to take a small house in Copenhagen.

Not content with this, Walchendorf got a Royal Commission appointed to
inquire into the value of his astronomical labours. This sapient body
reported that his work was not only useless, but noxious; and soon after
he was attacked by the populace in the public street.

Nothing was left for him now but to leave the country, and he went into
Germany, leaving his wife and instruments to follow him whenever he
could find a home for them.

His wanderings in this d