Page:Galileo (1918).djvu/18

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GALILEO

question. His friends then pestered the Doge on his behalf for an increase of salary, pointing out that his Bologna rival was now receiving more than Galileo, and succeeded in having the appointment secured for a second six year period with a salary of £70 approximately. He now had a wide European reputation as a teacher, and among those who came to Padua for his lectures were the Archduke Ferdinand, afterwards Emperor of Germany, and several other princes. Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, probably attended a course of Galileo's lectures. The next step was a move into a large house for the accommodation of resident pupils. Galileo looked after the catering himself and made practically no profit on the housekeeping. There was a large garden to which he added extra ground with vines, and in the cultivation of which he took a considerable share.

Apparently Galileo marked the occasion of his increase of salary by setting up an establishment for a Venetian lady by whom he had three children within the next few years, but at the same time he had to bear the increasing burden of the maintenance of the other members of his family, of which he had now for some years been the head. His brother was continually sponging on him, and even when Galileo succeeded in getting him established in good positions as Court Musician, first in Poland and afterwards in Bavaria, it was Galileo who had to advance the money for an expensive outfit, hardly any of which did Michelangelo ever repay. Virginia's husband caused fresh trouble by threatening to bring an action against Galileo for the unpaid balance of his wife's dowry, and another sister Livia was married in 1601, her brothers guaranteeing her dowry, which meant that the whole responsibility for this also fell upon Galileo. It may be urged in palliation of the irregular nature of Galileo's private household that no wife would have