to return to Denmark. During his absence from home war had broken out between Denmark and Sweden, and his uncle, Jörgen Brahe, who held the post of vice-admiral, probably considered that his nephew's proper place at such a time was in his native country. Travelling by way of Wittenberg, they reached Rostock on the 25th May, and succeeded in crossing to Copenhagen without meeting any hostile cruisers. Whether the uncle had become reconciled to the substitution of the study of astronomy for that of law, is not known with certainty; but the two relatives did not long enjoy each other's company, as Jörgen Brahe, who had just returned from a naval engagement in the Baltic (near the coast of Mecklenburg), died on the 21st June 1565. It happened that King Frederick II., when riding over the bridge which joined the castle of Copenhagen and the town, fell into the water. Jörgen Brahe was in his suite, and hastened to help the king out; but a severe cold he caught in consequence developed into an illness which proved fatal in a few days. After his uncle's death there was nothing to keep Tycho at home. Another uncle, Steen Bille, maintained that he should be left to follow his own inclinations; but, with this exception, all his relations and other nobles looked with coldness at this young man with his odd taste for star-gazing and his dislike to what they considered sensible occupations. He was, therefore, glad to escape from these surroundings to others more congenial, and early in 1566 he left Denmark for the second time, and arrived at Wittenberg on the 15th April. The University of Wittenberg had been founded in 1502, and had then for nearly fifty years been one of the most renowned in Europe, possessing great attractions for Protestant students. Here Luther had lived, and from this hitherto insignificant spot had shaken the spiritual despotism under which the world had suffered so long; and a few years
