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248 for the money, he would not pay it, as the receipt did not contain a certified copy of the bond to be given by the ten men, and did not specify the interest to be paid. At last everything was settled and the bond was delivered, dated the 24th August 1597, to "Tycho Brahe auf Knustorf im Reiche Dänemark erbgesessen," after which the money was paid.

In the meantime the plague had appeared at Rostock, but Tycho still lingered there, awaiting the reply to his letter to the king. If, before he took the decisive step of removing his family, his great treasure of observations, and nearly all his instruments out of the Danish dominions, Tycho had addressed himself to the king, who was of an open, generous nature, it is not unlikely that he might have been treated very differently; but to an impartial observer it is not strange that the king should be offended with a subject whose previous behaviour had been far from faultless, who had left the country in a huff in order to carry his talents to the most profitable market, and who now declared himself willing to forget the past and come back if it was made worth his while. Of the interference of his grandfather the king took no notice whatever, but to Tycho's own letter he sent on the 8th October the following answer, which we also translate literally.

"Christian the Fourth, by the grace of God of Denmark and Norway, the Vends and the Goths, King, &c. Our favour as hitherto. Know you that your letter which you have addressed to us sub dato Rostock the 10th day of July last, has been humbly delivered to us this week, in which