Copernicus had given up the notion of becoming a medical
practitioner, and had resolved to devote himself to science. He was
engaged in teaching mathematics, and appears to have acquired some
reputation. His growing fame attracted the notice of his uncle the
bishop, at whose suggestion Copernicus took holy orders, and he was
presently appointed to a canonry in the cathedral of Frauenburg, near
the mouth of the Vistula.

To Frauenburg, accordingly, this man of varied gifts retired.
Possessing somewhat of the ascetic spirit, he resolved to devote his
life to work of the most serious description. He eschewed all
ordinary society, restricting his intimacies to very grave and
learned companions, and refusing to engage in conversation of any
useless kind. It would seem as if his gifts for painting were
condemned as frivolous; at all events, we do not learn that he
continued to practise them. In addition to the discharge of his
theological duties, his life was occupied partly in ministering
medically to the wants of the poor, and partly with his researches in
astronomy and mathematics. His equipment in the matter of
instruments for the study of the heavens seems to have been of a very
meagre description. He arranged apertures in the walls of his house
at Allenstein, so that he could observe in some fashion the passage
of the stars across the meridian. That he possessed some talent for
practical mechanics is proved by his construction of a contrivance
for raising water from a stream, for the use of the inhabitants of
Frauenburg. Relics of this machine are still to be seen.

[PLATE: COPERNICUS.]

The intellectual slumber of the Middle Ages was destined to be