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52 pronounced that Galileo had disobeyed the order of 1616, and did really hold and defend the obnoxious doctrines, but it was the practice to Omit no means of obtaining full admission from the prisoner himself. To ensure this, prior to his next appearance before the tribunal, the Commissary-General had a private interview with Galileo, and persuaded him to promise full confession, so that it should be possible for the Court, without weakening its reputation, to deal leniently with him. Accordingly, on April 30, Galileo appeared before the Court a second time, and made a statement that he had examined his book again carefully to see whether he had put the Copernican case too strongly, and found that in some of the arguments he had been carried away by pride in his own subtlety of reasoning in a false cause, and had put the false case too strongly, so that, contrary to his intention, it appeared to be true. He was then allowed to withdraw, but as he saw that the Court was not satisfied he returned and offered to add one or two more days to the Dialogues and to confute the doctrines to the best of his ability. He was then allowed to return to the Tuscan Embassy, to the delight of the Ambassador Niccolini.

On May 10 Galileo was summoned a third time, and produced a written confession of the truth of the minute of 1616, adding an appeal for clemency on the ground of his age and infirmity. He had evidently been persuaded once more, and perjured himself still further for the sake of peace. He thought that now the worst was over, though Niccolini was less sanguine.

On June 16 the Pope presided at a private meeting of the Congregation, and it was decided that Galileo should be tried, under threat of torture, as to his real convictions, should be made to recant before a plenary assembly of the Inquisition, and condemned to imprisonment at their pleasure: also that he should be forbidden to discuss the