Francesco Stelluti, a member of the Accadémia dei Lincei, a learned friend of Galileo’s, did indeed at this time (June, 1622) bring out a work against “Lothario Sarsi,” but he only defended Guiducci, and studiously avoided touching on the reproaches cast on Galileo, in order not to anticipate him.[172] At length, in October of the same year, Galileo sent the MS. of his celebrated work, “Il Saggiatore” (The Assayer), to Mgr. Cesarini, at Rome.[173] For five months it passed from hand to hand among the members of the Accadémia dei Lincei, who carefully criticised it, and with Galileo’s consent, altered the passages which might possibly have been taken advantage of by his enemies to renew their intrigues against him. The Jesuits meanwhile had got wind of the completion of the reply, and did their utmost to get hold of one of the numerous copies of the MS.; but Cesarini, Cesi, Ciampoli, and the other “Lynxes,” took good care of them, well knowing that if the Jesuits once made acquaintance with this crushing reply, they would use every endeavour to prevent its receiving the _imprimatur_.[174] This was granted on 2nd February, 1623, by the supreme authorities of the censorship, not only without hesitation, but they spoke of the work in very favourable and flattering terms. The opinion—which was drawn up by Father Nicolo Riccardi, a former pupil of Galileo’s, who will often be mentioned in the sequel, then examiner, and afterwards even Magister Sacrii Palatii—was as follows:— “By command of the Master of the Palace I have read the work, ‘Il Saggiatore,’ and not only have I detected nothing in it which is contrary to good morals, or deviates from the divine truth of our religion, but I have found in it such beautiful and manifold observations on natural philosophy, that I think our age will not have to boast merely of having been the inheritor of the labours of earlier philosophers, but also of having been the discoverer of many secrets of nature which they were not able to penetrate, thanks to the subtle and solid researches of the author, whose contemporary I think myself happy to be, for now the gold of truth is no longer weighed wholesale and with the steelyard, but with the delicate scales used for gold.”[175] The commencement of the printing was again delayed till the beginning of May,[176] and then proceeded but slowly, for it was not until 27th May that Ciampoli sent the first two sheets of the “Saggiatore” to the author, in order to prove to him the falseness of a report which had meanwhile gained currency, that the printing of the work had been prohibited.[177]