[191] Theoricæ novæ planetarum. G. Purbachii, Parisiis, 1553.
_Kepler appointed Professor at Linz--His second marriage--Publishes his new Method of Gauging--Refuses a Professorship at Bologna._
WHEN presenting this celebrated book to the emperor, Kepler gave notice that he contemplated a farther attack upon Mars's relations, father Jupiter, brother Mercury, and the rest; and promised that he would be successful, provided the emperor would not forget the sinews of war, and order him to be furnished anew with means for recruiting his army. The death of his unhappy patron, the Emperor Rodolph, which happened in 1612, barely in time to save him from the last disgrace of deposition from the Imperial throne, seemed to put additional difficulties in the way of Kepler's receiving the arrears so unjustly denied to him; but on the accession of Rodolph's brother, Matthias, he was again named to his post of Imperial Mathematician, and had also a permanent professorship assigned to him in the University of Linz. He quitted Prague without much regret, where he had struggled against poverty during eleven years. Whatever disinclination he might feel to depart, arose from his unwillingness to loosen still more the hold he yet retained upon the wreck of Tycho Brahe's instruments and observations. Tengnagel, son-in-law of Tycho, had abandoned astronomy for a political career, and the other members of his family, who were principally females, suffered the costly instruments to lie neglected and forgotten, although they had obstructed with the utmost jealousy Kepler's attempts to continue their utility. The only two instruments Kepler possessed of his own property, were "An iron sextant of 2½ feet diameter, and a brass azimuthal quadrant, of 3½ feet diameter, both divided into minutes of a degree." These were the gift of his friend and patron, Hoffman, the President of Styria, and with these he made all the observations which he added to those of Tycho Brahe. His constitution was not favourable to these studies, his health being always delicate, and suffering much from exposure to the night air; his eyes also were very weak, as he mentions himself in several places. In the summary of his character which he drew up when proposing to become Tycho Brahe's assistant, he describes himself as follows:--"For observations my sight is dull; for mechanical operations my hand is awkward; in politics and domestic matters my nature is troublesome and choleric; my constitution will not allow me, even when in good health, to remain a long time sedentary (particularly for an extraordinary time after dinner); I must rise often and walk about, and in different seasons am forced to make corresponding changes in my diet."
