Chapter XV: Appendix

THE inventory of the books, pictures, &c., in the sitting-room of No. 376 Braunschweiger Strass, is too characteristic to be omitted. The following is a copy of it:—

Inventory of engravings, all in good black frames, with gilded beads, and glazed:—

My Nephew, J. H.
My Mother.
A drawing of Slough, by J. Herschel.
My Brother, Lithographed.
Forty-foot Telescope.
Medallion of Wm. H., by Flaxman, of 1782.
Medallion of Wm. H., by Lochée, of 1787.
Engraving of Dr. Maskelyne, and
Greenwich Observatory (presented to me by himself).

BOOKS.

Bode’s Atlas.

South’s Observations on Double and Treble Stars, from Phil. Transactions, Vol. I., 1826.

South’s Discordance between the Sun’s observed and computed Place. 1826.

On the Elements and Orbit of Halley’s Comet, &c., by Lieut. W. S. Stratford, 1837.

Preface to, &c., &c., of a General Astronomical Catalogue, by F. Wollaston, 1789.

J. H.’s Fourth Series of Observations with a twenty-foot Reflector, containing the places of 1236 Double Stars.

Stars in the Southern Hemisphere, observed at Paramatta, in New South Wales, by J. Dunlop, 1828.

Astronom. Nachrichten, from 1833 to 1839, in 7 vols. (half bound).

Emerson’s Treatise of Arithmetic.

Introduction to Sir I. Newton’s Philosophy, with an Essay on, &c., by John Ryland, M.A. (Mem.—A Keepsake of General Komerzewsky to me, and now the same to my dear Nephew from his affectionate Aunt, C. H.)

Salmon’s Geographical and Astronomical Grammar.

Ferguson’s Astronomy.

Watson’s Universal Gazetteer.

Quarterly Journal, Vol. XII., 1822.

Quarterly Review, July, 1832.

Edinburgh Review, January, 1834.

The Connexion of the Physical Sciences, by Mrs. Somerville, 1835.

Third Vol. of Joanna Baillie’s Plays. (Mem.—Was given me by Lady H. the day before I left England, to remember my friend, J. B.)

John F. Wm. Herschel’s Discourse on Nat. Philosophy, which was published in Dr. Lardner’s Cabinet, and that on Astronomy, I had handsomely bound and presented them to the Duke of Cambridge, who asked them of me, and would not even wait till I could read them through myself.

Göttinger Anzeigen, 202, 203 Stück, Dec. 14, 1833.

J. Herschel’s Papers, from January 12th, 1828, to Nov. 11th, 1833. Bound and directed to the Duke of Cambridge (from C. H.).

Eighteen of Wm. H.’s Papers, collected and bound in one volume, and directed for Hauptman Müller.

Über den Neuentdecken Planeten, by Bode, 1784.

Introduction to English Grammar, by R. South.

1st and 2nd Vols. of Pfaff’s Translation of Herschel’s Sämtliche Schriften, 1826 (collected works).

Abominable stuff! What is to be done with them? They are so prettily bound, I cannot take it in my heart to burn them.

---------------------

Landing place and five back rooms contain nothing but what is necessary for the convenience of my servant and myself; and is mostly bought at the fairs, for a trifling price. (Tables and chairs stained like mahogany, the latter with cane bottoms, at 18d. a-piece, are, after seven years’ use, like new.)

Landing-place: A clothes-press, a glass globe, a few chairs.

My Bedroom: A bedstead and bedding, &c., &c. 70 thl. dressing-glass, mahogany frame, plate 22 by 14 inches. (I brought it with me from England.)

A cupboard containing tea things, &c., for company. Urn, tea-board, &c., waiter, two teapots, milk-pot, and slop-bason (black Wedgwood).

A few cups and saucers, coffee-pot, two glass plates, one and half dozen bishop glasses, tumblers, cake-basket, &c.

Plate: Ha! ha! ha! ha!

Twelve teaspoons, 1 sugar-tongs, 1 table, 1 dessert, and 1 saltspoon, 4 plated candlesticks, very little used.

The superscription on the last page is as follows:—

It is a pity that I am not at Slough to put the glazed prints in my nephew’s study; and many articles of furniture would be so useful in the school-room of my little nephews and nieces. God bless them all!

---------------------

EPITAPH OF MISS HERSCHEL.

Hier ruhet die irdische Hülle von
CAROLINA HERSCHEL,
Geboren zu Hannover den 16^{ten} Marz, 1750,
Gestorben den 9^{ten} Januar, 1848.

Der Blick der Verklärten war hienieden dem gestirnten Himmel zugewandt, die eigenen Cometen Entdeckungen, und die Theilnahme an den unsterblichen Arbeiten ihres Bruders, Wilhelm Herschel, zeugen davon bis in die späte Nachwelt.

Die Königliche Irländische Akademie zu Dublin und die Königliche Astronomische Gesellschaft in London zählten sie zu ihren Mitgliedern.

In den Alter von 97 Jahren 10 Monathen entschlief sie mit heiterer Ruhe und bei völliger Geisteskraft, ihrem zu einem besseren Leben vorangegangenen Vater Isaac Herschel folgend der ein Lebensalter von 60 Jahren, 2 Monathen, 17 Tagen erreichte und seit den 25^{ten} Marz, 1767, hierneben begraben liegt.

[_Translation._]

Here rests the earthly shell of
CAROLINE HERSCHEL,
Born at Hanover, March 16, 1750,
Died January 9, 1848.

The gaze of Her whose eyes are now opened sought while here below the starry skies: her comet discoveries, and her share in the undying work of her Brother, William Herschel, shall tell of this to all time.

The Royal Irish Academy of Dublin, and the Royal Astronomical Society of London counted her among their Members.

At the age of 97 years 10 months she fell asleep in perfect peace, and in full vigour of mind, following into a better life her Father, Isaac Herschel, who lived to the age of 60 years 2 months 17 days, preceded her in 1767, and lies buried hard by.

---------------------

THE GRAVE OF CAROLINE HERSCHEL.

FROM MISS BECKEDORFF.

_Feb. 4, 1850._

“... If I have owned my having neglected visiting Sir John’s _living_ relations, it has not been the same with the churchyard. I have now been confined with cold and fever seven weeks, but one of my last visits was to our lamented friend’s grave, which, with the stone and inscription on it, was in perfect order. On the 16th of March I intend to have a bush of white roses planted near it, knowing that my good mother would have paid her that little tribute had she outlived her revered friend. The white rose she had planted on the grave of Mrs. P. (?) in the same churchyard (the mutual friend of both) continues to blossom every year, and now is a memorial to me and my good mother likewise.”

FROM HERR WINNECKE (Assist. Astron. at Pulkowa.)

“Travelling a few days ago through Hanover, I seized the opportunity of visiting Miss Caroline’s grave. Pastor Richter, her grand-nephew, took me to it. It is in the churchyard of the ‘Gartengemeinde,’ and in a good state of preservation; a heavy slab lies on it, on which is engraved a long inscription, composed by Miss Caroline herself. At the head is planted a rose-bush, from which I gathered the leaves which I enclose. I venture also to send two ‘shadow-outlines’ of Miss Caroline, which I had taken from a silhouette in the possession of Frau Dr. Groskopf.”

_June 26, 1864._

INDEX.

Academy, R. Irish, 300.

Astronomical Society of London, 221, 271.

Aubert, Alex., letter from Miss Herschel on discovering her first
comet, 66;
her third comet, 86.

Baily, F., letter from Miss Herschel, 272-274;
letter to her with his “Account of Flamsteed,” 281;
her answer, 282.

Baldwin, Miss, her marriage, 129;
death, 132.

Banks, Sir J., letter from William Herschel on his sister’s second
comet, 84;
from Miss Herschel on her third comet, 85;
and her eighth, 94.

Beckedorff, Miss, letters during the latter years of Miss Herschel’s
life, 338-340, 343-345.

Beckedorff, Mrs., 108.

Blagden, Dr., letter from Miss Herschel about her first comet, 65.

Brewster, Sir David, opinion of Miss Herschel’s catalogue of all the
star-clusters and Nebulæ, 145, 146.

Cambridge, Duke of, letter to Miss Herschel on the return of her nephew
from the Cape, 292.

Cape of Good Hope—Sir John Herschel leaves the Cape, 292.

Collingwood, the seat of the Herschel family, 320.

Comets, Miss Herschel’s first, 64;
second, 80;
third, 85;
fifth, sixth, 93;
eighth, 94.

Cumberland, Duke of, proclaimed king of Hanover, 290.

Dessau, Princess of Anhalt, letter to Miss Herschel, 267.

Earthquake at Lisbon, sensation produced in Hanover, 6.

Encke, Prof., letter to Miss Herschel, 248.

Englefield, Sir H., letter from W. Herschel on his sister’s second
comet, 83.

Epitaph on Miss Herschel, 351.

Etna, Mount, ascent by Sir John Herschel, 173.

Flamsteed’s Catalogue, calculations for, 60.

Forty-foot telescope, 76, 308, 309, 310.

Gauss, Hofrath, letter from Miss Herschel, with her index to
Flamsteed’s Observations, 191;
his answer, 195.

George III. visits the Slough Observatory, 104;
anecdote of, and the Archb. of Canterbury, 309.

Georgian Satellites, the, 74, 305, 316.

Georgium Sidus, the, discovered, 39.

Gloucester, Princess Sophia of, visit to the telescope, 128.

Halley’s Comet, 283.

Herschel, Alex., assists his brother William, 36, 53, 109, 111, 115,
122;
returns to Hanover, 125;
death, 132;
notice of, 132.

Herschel, Caroline Lucretia, early recollections, 1-28;
affection for her brother William, 9;
at the Garrison school, 11;
her father’s careful training, 13;
typhus fever, 15;
confirmation, 17;
learns dress-making, 21;
accompanies William to England, 26-28;
life in Bath, 29-50;
_Heimwehe_, 33;
visit to Mrs. Colebrook, 34;
musical rehearsals, 36;
reputation as a singer, 40;
assists her brother, 42;
life at Datchet, 50;
accidents, 55;
Clay Hall, 57;
Slough, 58;
Flamsteed’s Catalogue, 60, 61;
her _sweeps_, 64, 146-148;
first comet, 64;
salary of 50_l._ as her brother’s assistant, 75;
her eight comets, 80-94;
lives by herself, 95;
Index to Flamsteed’s Observations, 96;
extracts from diary, 98-132;
at Bath, 105;
at Slough, 107;
removes to Chalvy, 108;
resides at Upton, 109;
returns to Hanover on the death of her brother, 133;
_Recollections_, 133-140;
her works, 145;
bitter disappointment in her brother Dietrich’s family, 149;
letters, 152;
Catalogue of the Nebulæ, 181;
her will, 200;
presentation of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society,
221;
her Portrait, 237, 338;
Paganini, 247;
her nephew’s visit, 254;
anecdotes of his boyish amusements, 259;
Hon. Member of the Royal Astronomical Society, 271;
letter from Mrs. Somerville, 274;
illumination in honour of the Duke of Cumberland being proclaimed
king of Hanover, 290;
visit of her nephew and his son, 293-295;
Hon. Member of the R. Irish Academy, 300;
extracts from day-book, 303-307;
anecdotes of the forty-foot telescope, 308, 309;
describes Christmas in Germany, 313;
her 92nd birthday, 318;
begins the history of the Herschels, 324;
her 93rd birthday, 330;
the first railway between Hanover and Braunschweig, 334;
presented with a gold medal by the king of Prussia, 336;
her last letter, 337;
enters her 98th year, 339;
her death, 344;
funeral, 347;
epitaph, 351;
her grave, 352.

Herschel, Sir John, first mention of, 104;
at Cambridge, 117;
senior wrangler, 120;
member of the University of Göttingen, 125;
ascends Mount Etna, 172;
at Munich, 175;
visits his aunt, 177, 293;
Secretary to the Royal Society, 181;
at Montpelier, 201;
catalogue of double stars, 213;
his marriage, 236;
describes his aunt, 254;
anecdotes of his boyhood, 259;
letters from the Cape, 263;
sweeping, 266;
the Milky Way, 270;
Halley’s comet, 283;
spots on the sun, 286, 287;
Saturn’s sixth satellite, 288, 289;
returns to England, 292;
created a baronet, 305;
on the Orionis star, 316;
eclipse of the sun in 1842, 327;
his chrysotype pictures, 327;
translation of Schiller’s “Walk,” 328, 329;
acknowledges his aunt’s history, 333.

Herschel, Lady, letters from Miss Herschel, 152 _et seq._;
her death, 252.

Herschel, Sir William, early display of talents, 3;
proficiency in music, 7;
accompanies his regiment to England, 8;
resides at Bath, 21;
fetches his sister Caroline, 26;
his musical compositions, 36;
erection of the twenty-foot telescope, 37;
discovers the Georgium Sidus, 39;
casting of the great mirror, 43;
goes to London and is introduced to the King, 45;
Royal Astronomer, 50;
limited salary, 50;
removes to Datchet, 50;
to Clay Hall, 57;
to Slough, 58;
the Georgian Satellites, 74;
marriage, 78;
observations on his sister’s comet, 84, 85;
his failing health, 124;
sits for his portrait, 129;
death, 133.

Hesse, Princess of, letter to Miss Herschel, 267.

Humboldt, Alex. von, letter to Miss Herschel, with the Gold Medal for
Science from the king of Prussia, 336, 337.

Knipping, Mme., extract from letter upon Miss Herschel’s death, 346.

La Lande, J. de, letter to Miss Herschel, 89;
her answer, 91.

Lind, James, 100.

Morgan, A. de, letter from Miss Herschel on being elected Hon. Member
of the R. A. Society, 271.

Mars, observations on, 53.

Maskelyne, Rev. Dr., letter from Miss Herschel, on discovering her
second comet, 80;
on the Index to Flamsteed’s Observations, 96.

Nebulæ, the, 196-198.

Nebulæ, the Cape, and double stars, 328.

Ole Bull, the violinist, 306.

Orange, Prince of, at Slough, 99.

Orionis, α, a variable and periodical star, 316.

Piazzi, Abbé, at Slough, 55;
at Catania, 173.

Pigott, Ed., letter to Miss Herschel on the Flamsteed Catalogue, 101.

Railway, first, between Hanover and Braunschweig, 334.

Ross, Capt., his return with the South Polar Expedition, 333, 334.

Schiller’s “Walk,” translated by Sir J. Herschel, 328, 329.

Schumacher, Prof., letter from Miss Herschel, 260.

Scorpio, 258, 266.

Seyffer, Prof., letter to Miss Herschel, 92.

Somerville, Mrs., letter to Miss Herschel, with her “Connexion of the
Physical Sciences,” 274.

South, J., his 400 stars, 194;
his address to the Astronomical Society on presenting the hon. medal
to Miss Herschel, 222-227.

Stewart, P., letter from Miss Herschel, 277.

Sun, spots on the, 286, 287.

“Survey of the Nebulous Heavens,” the conclusion of Sir W. Herschel’s
vast undertaking, 341.

Sweepings for comets, 146-148.

Telescope, the forty-foot, anecdotes of, 308, 309;
its final preservation, 310.

Watson, Sir W., first acquaintance with W. Herschel, 42.

Wilson, Alex., notice of, 99.

Zodiacal light, the, 331.

THE END.

BRADBURY, AGNEW, CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.

Footnotes

Footnote 1:

The Duke of Cumberland’s army suffered severely in this battle.

Footnote 2:

“While the King of Prussia was warring in the south of Germany, an
army of 60,000 Frenchmen under Marshal d’Estrées was directed upon
Hanover, and occupied in the first place the Prussian dominions
lying upon the Rhine.... d’Estrées had been to a certain degree
successful in an action at Hastenbeck, on the Weser, and had forced
Cumberland to retreat. That commander continued to yield ground
incessantly, leaving Hanover and Magdeburg unprotected.... He
concluded with Richelieu the convention of Closter Severn, by which
he engaged that ... the Hanoverian troops should continue inactive
in their quarters near Stade. Hostilities were to be suspended, and
no stipulation was made respecting the Electorate of Hanover. That
country was accordingly plundered without mercy, and subjected to
enormous contributions.”—_Annals of France_, _Encyclopædia
Metropolitana_.

Footnote 3:

Afterwards Madame Beckedorff, Miss Herschel’s most valued friend in
after years.

Footnote 4:

The other version calls it “from Helvot to Harrige” = Harwich.

Footnote 5:

Although a considerable quantity of Sir W. Herschel’s musical
compositions exist in manuscript, much has unhappily perished. His
sister writes:—“I only lament that this anthem was left with the rest
of my brother’s sacred compositions, which were left in trust with one
of the choristers. The morning and evening services each in two
different keys, and numerous psalm tunes most beautifully set. The
organ book containing the scores; the parts written out and bound in
leather, in a box with lock and key which was always kept at the
chapel. All is lost. With difficulty many years after, one Te Deum was
recovered, and when I was in Bath in 1800 I obtained two or three torn
books of odd parts.” The chorister’s wife openly charged Mr. Linley
with having taken possession of these treasures.

Footnote 6:

“The grinding of specula used to be performed by the hand, no
machinery having been deemed sufficiently exact. The tool on which
they were shaped having been turned to the required form, and covered
with coarse emery and water, they were ground on it to the necessary
figure, and afterwards polished by means of putty or oxide of tin, or
pitch spread as a covering to the same tool in the place of the emery.
To grind a speculum of six or eight inches in diameter was a work of
no ordinary labour; and such a one used to be considered of great
size.”—“_Lord Rosse’s Telescopes_,” 1844.

Footnote 7:

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, Dec. 6, 1781.

Footnote 8:

“About the latter end of this month [December, 1779] I happened to be
engaged in a series of observations on the lunar mountains, and the
moon being in front of my house, late in the evening I brought my
seven-feet reflector into the street, and directed it to the object of
my observations. Whilst I was looking into the telescope, a gentleman
coming by the place where I was stationed, stopped to look at the
instrument. When I took my eye off the telescope, he very politely
asked if he might be permitted to look in, and this being immediately
conceded, he expressed great satisfaction at the view. Next morning
the gentleman, who proved to be Dr. Watson, jun. (now Sir William),
called at my house to thank me for my civility in showing him the
moon, and told me that there was a Literary Society then forming at
Bath, and invited me to become a member of it, to which I readily
consented.”—_Sir W. Herschel’s Journal._ This occurred at a house in
River Street, which was soon changed for 19, New King Street.

Footnote 9:

George Griesbach, who with the rest of the family settled in England,
where they all did well, their musical talents and connections
bringing them a good deal under the notice of the Court. Mr. G.
Griesbach’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth, became the wife of Mr.
Waterhouse, of the British Museum. She died in 1874.

Footnote 10:

This eminent astronomer made inquiries after Miss Herschel long years
afterwards, as is related in the correspondence. See letter from Sir
J. Herschel, dated Catania, 1824, p. 174.

Footnote 11:

This is the last time that the name of Jacob Herschel appears.

Footnote 12:

Dr. Herschel married Mary, only child of Mr. James Baldwin, a merchant
of the City of London, and widow of John Pitt, Esq., by whom she had
one son, who died in early youth. She was a lady of singular
amiability and gentleness of character. The jointure which she brought
enabled Dr. Herschel to pursue his scientific career without any
anxiety about money matters.

Footnote 13:

M. De la Lande’s name was _Jerome Le Français dit de la Lande_; it is
to himself, therefore, that he here refers. The letter is addressed
“Mlle. Caroline Herschel, Astronome Célèbre, Slough.”

Footnote 14:

This comet, since known as Encke’s, in consequence of that great
astronomer having determined its periodicity in 1819 and predicted its
triennial return, was discovered, independently, four several times
before its identity was recognized, Miss Herschel’s observation of it
in 1795 being the second in order of time. Additional interest has
since attached to it, in consequence of its gradually diminishing
period and the views hence suggested on the economy of the solar
system.

Footnote 15:

The Rev. S. Vince, a mathematician and natural philosopher.

Footnote 16:

Sir William Watson, M.D., Knight, F.R.S. from 1770 to 1800, when he
resigned. He was one of the first members of the Astronomical Society
at its foundation in 1821 under the Presidency of William Herschel.
His father, also M.D. and Knight, was the eminent botanist and
naturalist. He lived much at Dawlish, where the Herschel family
frequently went to stay with him.

Footnote 17:

Alexander Wilson, M.D., professor of practical astronomy in the
University of Glasgow, and first propounder of that theory as to the
cause and nature of the spots on the sun, which was afterwards fully
corroborated and worked out by Sir W. Herschel.

Footnote 18:

The Prince’s questions were sometimes of a very remarkable kind. On a
previous occasion when he “stept in” with a view to having them
answered, and was not so fortunate as to find anyone at home, he left
the following memorandum: “The Prince of Orange has been at Slough to
call at Mr. Herschel’s and to ask him, or if he was not at home to
Miss Herschel, if it is true that Mr. Herschel has discovered a new
star, whose light was not as that of the common stars, but with
swallow tails, as stars in embroidery. He has seen this reported in
the newspapers, and wishes to know if there is any foundation to that
report.—Slough, the _8th_ of _August_, 1798.—W. Prince of Orange.”

Footnote 19:

James Lind, M.D., was a Scotchman, who devoted a considerable amount
of his time to astronomical observations.

Footnote 20:

The only child of Dr. Herschel. He afterwards became Sir John
Herschel. Miss Herschel was very proud as well as fond of him. He is
“my nephew.” Dr. Herschel is usually called “my brother,” in
distinction from all the rest of the family.

Footnote 21:

Mrs. Beckedorff was “the sweet little girl of ten or eleven years old”
with whom Miss Herschel had exchanged pleasant greetings when they
were both taking lessons in dressmaking from Madame Küster, in
Hanover, thirty-five years before. (See p. 22.)

Footnote 22:

Probably Professor Wales, mathematical master at Christ’s Hospital,
author of a mathematical paper published in the “Phil. Trans.,” 1781.

Footnote 23:

The cost of this fine instrument, which had been ordered by the King
of Spain as long before as January, 1796, was £3150. The Prince of
Canino paid £2310 for a ten and a seven-foot telescope from the same
indefatigable hands. But although the pecuniary profit was great, it
is not surprising that Miss Herschel should bemoan the “making and
selling of telescopes” as unworthy of the enormous amount of time and
labour which must be withdrawn from the study of astronomy; and it is
evident that the fatigue and exhaustion from polishing mirrors told
seriously upon Sir William’s health.

Footnote 24:

A characteristic little note from her brother belongs to this time:
“Lina,—Last night I ‘popt’ upon a comet. It is visible to the naked
eye, between Fomalhout and β Ceti, but above the line that joins the
two stars. It made an equilateral triangle (downwards) with 100 and
107 Aquarii. I wrote last night to Sir J. Banks and write now also to
Dr. Maskelyne. Adieu.

_Dec. 9, 1805._”

Footnote 25:

De Luc was a geologist of high reputation; an ardent opponent of
Huttonian views.

Footnote 26:

The following notice is from a Bristol paper:

“Died, March 15th, 1821, at Hanover, Alexander Herschel, Esq.,
well-known to the public of Bath and Bristol as a performer and
elegant musician; and, who for forty-seven years was the admiration of
the frequenters of concerts and theatres of both those cities, as
principal violoncello.

“To the extraordinary merits of Mr. Herschel was united considerable
acquirement in the superior branches of mechanics and philosophy, and
his affinity to his brother, Sir William Herschel, the illustrous
astronomer, was not less in science than blood. To a large circle of
professional friends the uniform gentlemanly manners of Mr. Herschel
have rendered him at once an object of their warmest regard and
respect.” Alexander Herschel returned to Hanover in September, 1816,
and was enabled to live in comfortable independence until his death at
the age of seventy-six, through the never failing generosity of his
elder brother.

Footnote 27:

Although Miss Herschel was endowed by nature with a fine healthy
constitution, she suffered much in various ways during the last
twenty-five years of her life; and there is little doubt that her
health was injured, to a considerable extent, by the excessive fatigue
and serious accidents to which she was exposed in her earlier days,
when she often denied herself rest that was imperatively needed, in
order to be at hand when her brother required her services.

Footnote 28:

A younger sister of Mrs. Beckwith, niece of Lady Herschel.

Footnote 29:

This passage is a later note, added Sept. 26, 1828.

Footnote 30:

At this time W. Herschel frequently gave thirty-five and thirty-eight
lessons a week to lady pupils.

Footnote 31:

It was not an unknown circumstance for the ink to freeze while she was
attending to take down her brother’s observations.

Footnote 32:

These words had apparently to be sought for in the dictionary, as they
are inserted in pencil in blank spaces left for the purpose.

Footnote 33:

To her brother, in Upton Church, near Slough.

Footnote 34:

The paper referred to is probably one on “The Aberrations of Compound
Lenses and Object Glasses,” read at the Royal Society on the 22nd
March, 1821.

Footnote 35:

Dietrich Herschel died towards the end of January, 1827.

Footnote 36:

See p. 10.

Footnote 37:

The author of this hasty address feels no slight gratification in
having been present on the 1st June, 1821, at the last observations
with the twenty-foot reflector, in which Miss Herschel was engaged. He
remembers also, not without regret, but with becoming gratitude, that
the mirror used for his improvement, on the occasion was inserted, for
the last time, in the tube, by the hands of Sir William
Herschel.—_Memoirs Astronomical Society_, Vol. III., p. 409.

Footnote 38:

This extract, as it bears on the subject of the recognition of Miss
Herschel’s labours, is inserted here, though somewhat before its time.

Footnote 39:

“Motions were then made for passing these several resolutions, and the
same were carried unanimously.”—_Monthly Notices_, vol. iii. p. 91.

Footnote 40:

Of President.

Footnote 41:

An allusion to his approaching marriage, when he would resign his
Fellowship.

Footnote 42:

The Destroying Angel has once more passed by.

Footnote 43:

Discourse on the study of Natural Philosophy.

Footnote 44:

See p. 72, 1786.

Footnote 45:

In the Quarterly Review.

Footnote 46:

Sir John for ever!

Footnote 47:

Here, indeed, is a hole in the sky.

Footnote 48:

A brother of Lady Herschel’s. This gentleman and his brothers were in
the habit of writing to Miss Herschel during her nephew’s absence at
the Cape, keeping her informed of the latest news, and showing her
every kind and thoughtful attention.

Footnote 49:

This lady, the daughter of Dietrich Herschel, proved a most true,
affectionate, and trustworthy friend to the last. See her letter on
Miss Herschel’s death.

Footnote 50:

“On the Influence of the Irregularities of the Earth on Geodetic
Operations, and their Comparison with Astronomical Determinations.”

Footnote 51:

How d’ye do?

Footnote 52:

Betrothed.

Footnote 53:

On the Exchange.

Footnote 54:

The whole family party assembled at Christmas in the tube of the great
telescope, and sang a ballad composed for the occasion.

Footnote 55:

“The telescope, as you know, is laid on three stone piers
horizontally. It will be fresh painted to-morrow, and afterwards every
three or four years, as it wants it, and it looks very well. The
observatory will remain nearly as it is. The apparatus of the
telescope is _inside of the tube_, and will be riveted up from all
intruders. And all the polishing apparatus is _fixed_ on the
spot.”—_Letter of Sir John Herschel, Feb. 28, 1840._

The great mirror is now put up in the hall of the house—“Herschels”—at
Slough, by the present tenant, Mr. Montressor, who has spared no pains
to do honour to the relics as well as to keep up the character of the
old fashioned “habitation,” which owes much to the taste and judgment
he has bestowed on it.

Footnote 56:

General Baron Hugh Halkett, a distinguished officer of the German
Legion, died 1863.

Footnote 57:

Miss Herschel gave special directions that, after her death, her
snuff-box should be given to this lady.

Footnote 58:

The family of Sir J. Herschel had left Slough and settled at
Collingwood, near Hawkhurst, Kent, now the family residence.

Footnote 59:

Every fool is pleased with his own cap.

Footnote 60:

In answer to this announcement her niece wrote: “Herschel bids me say
he is quite delighted at the idea of your undertaking the family
history, but he insists upon it that you prove his descent from
_Hercules_, and I dare say in this age of relics, we could contrive to
find in the rummaging of old traps turned out at Slough, a veritable
piece of the old _club_ which has by fortunate accident served as part
of the ladders of the forty-foot telescope! or perhaps you remember
its slipping down the mouth of the great telescope one night when it
was turned in the direction of your ancestor’s constellation, as a
sign that he confessed himself _outshone_ by your _labours_.”

Footnote 61:

He who first cries “Kick!” shall have the apple.

Footnote 62:

The astronomers for ever!

Footnote 63:

Her 93rd birthday.

Footnote 64:

Thank God.

Footnote 65:

Railway.

Footnote 66:

The fellow is a fool!

Footnote 67:

The days on which this periodical arrived are always noted in the
Day-books.

Footnote 68:

The inscription is given in the Appendix.

* * * * * *

Transcriber’s note;

Some corrections were made to the original text. In particular, punctuation was corrected without further note. Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation was retained unless noted otherwise. The order of Index entries was corrected where errors were found. Ditto marks were replaced by the text they represent. There was no marker for Footnote 21; its placement has been assumed. Further corrections are noted below:

p. 91 Ungeshick -> Ungeschick
p. 125 Gottingen -> Göttingen
p. 181 liknesses -> likenesses
p. 212 Von -> von
p. 226 Herchel's -> Herschel's
p. 240 excpet -> except
p. 266 nebulæ -> nebula
p. 304 Hohembaum -> Hohenbaum
p. 312 to of the age -> to the age of
p. 326 fouteeth -> fourteenth
Footnote 18 ommon -> common