a countryman Johannes Aalborg (whose acquaintance he had probably made at Rostock the previous winter), that he had since his arrival been staying at the house of Professor Levinus Battus, but that he hoped the same day to take up his residence in the College of the Jurists, where he would have a convenient place for observing. (We find that he commenced to use the radius or cross-staff there on the 19th.) In this letter, which is printed by Gassendi,[1] Tycho says that he intends remaining over the winter in his new abode, and adds: "But you, my dear Johannes, must keep perfect silence with regard to those reasons for my departure which I have confided to you, lest anybody should suspect that I complain of anything, or that there was something in my native land which obliged me to leave it. For I am very anxious that nobody should think that I am complaining of anything, as in truth I have not much to complain of. I was indeed received better in my native land by my relations and friends than I deserved; only one thing was wanting, that my studies should please everybody, and even that may be excused. There are many denunciators everywhere."
But though Tycho was dissatisfied with the want of sympathy which his countrymen showed for his love of the stars, it appears that there must have been those in Denmark who appreciated the steady perseverance with which the young nobleman devoted himself to study, and the first sign of this appeared soon after. On the 14th May 1568, King Frederick II. granted him under his hand a formal promise of the first canonry which might become vacant in the Chapter of the Cathedral of Roskilde in Seeland.[2] To understand this, we must mention that the Danish cathedral
