them till very late at night. As Tycho left it to the Emperor to fix the amount of his salary, it was settled that this was to be 3000 florins a year, in addition to some "uncertain income which might amount to some thousands." Tycho tells all this in a long letter to his old friend Vedel, which he wrote on the 18th September following, in which he adds that some councillors were against these arrangements, pointing out that there was nobody at court, not even among counts and barons of long service, who enjoyed so large an income; but as the Emperor insisted on it, and neither the Secretary of State, Rumph, nor the Chamberlain, Trautson, spoke against it, it was settled, and 2000 florins were at once paid to Tycho. The Emperor even ordered that the salary should date from the time when Tycho had been invited to Prague, as he had not accepted service elsewhere since then. The Emperor also of his own accord promised him an hereditary estate whenever one should fall to the Crown, in order that he and his family might feel secure.[1] It was afterwards ordered that 2000 florins a year were to be paid to Tycho from the Treasury, and 1000 from the estates of Benatky or Brandeis, both dating from the 1st May 1599.[2]
In the meantime Tycho had unpacked the few instruments he had brought with him, which were examined with great interest by Corraduc, Hagecius, and other men of learning, as well as by the Emperor, who desired him to send for the remainder as soon as possible. Wishing to display the same taste and elegance in his arrangements as formerly at Uraniborg, Tycho had a pedestal made on which instruments might be placed, and the four sides of this
