LIFE IN HANOVER—_continued_.
[Sidenote: 1826. _To J. F. W. Herschel._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Feb. 1, 1826._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
On the 17th January I received by the same post your letters of December
30th and January 9th. I should have answered your precious communication
of December 30th immediately if I was not in hopes of receiving daily an
answer to what I sent on the 28th December. I cannot express my thanks
sufficiently to you for thinking me worthy of forming any judgment of
your astronomical proceedings, and am only sorry that I cannot recall
the health, eyesight, and _vigor_ I was blessed with twenty or thirty
years ago; for nothing else is wanting (and that is all) for my coming
by the first steamboat to offer you the same assistance (when sweeping)
as, by your father’s instructions, I had been enabled to afford him. For
an observer at your twenty-foot when sweeping wants nothing but a being
that _can_ and _will_ execute his commands with the quickness of
lightning [!], for you will have seen that in many sweeps six or twice
six, &c., objects have been secured and described within the space of
one minute of time.
I cannot think that any catalogue but the MS. one in zones (which was
only intended for your own use) would facilitate the reviewing of the
Nebulæ, and _you_ are the only one to whom 1885, viz., 2nd and 3rd
class, out of the 2500, can be visible in your twenty-foot. Wollaston,
who knew this, has given in his Catalogue only 1st and 4th, &c. classes
of the first 1000, the second not having been published at that time,
and they are without the yearly variation.
Bode has given the first and second Catalogues complete, and calculated
the yearly variation to each by de Lambre’s Tables. (See Bode’s preface,
p. iv., line 18.) The last 500 were not published yet in 1800, or rather
1801. I only mention this that if you wanted the variations, and had a
mind to trust to that catalogue of errors, it would save an immense
trouble by copying them. But the more I think of these, the more I doubt
if it would not be injuring the places of objects merely (though
accurately) pointed out, to calculate them in the same manner as stars
repeatedly observed in fixed instruments; and I doubt if your father
noticed Bode’s having done so.
You will find undoubtedly many more nebulæ which may have been
overlooked for want of time, flying clouds, haziness, &c., especially in
those sweeps which are registered _half sweep_. It is a pity time could
not be found for making, as was often intended, a register in which the
boundaries of the sweeps, with the nebulæ, were all brought to one time,
either to Flamsteed’s or 1790 or 1800. The register in Flamsteed’s time,
which is from 45° to 129°, is for that reason the best mem. At the time
that register was made, the apparatus for sweeping in the zenith was not
completed, and higher than 45° was not used.
If you should wish in the latter part of the summers (when your father
was generally from home) to fill up the unswept part of the heavens, you
might perhaps discover as many objects as would produce a pretty
numerous catalogue. You will see in the register of Flamsteed’s time a
curved line which denotes that the Milky Way is in those places, and if
you see an _L_ and find a cluster of stars thereabout, I shall claim it
as one of those I mentioned in my last letter to you. It was the
assistant’s business to give notice when such marks or any nebulæ in the
lapping over of the sweep either above or below were within reach, by
making the workman go a few turns higher or lower. (N.B. No more than is
convenient without deranging the present sweep.) But I am forgetting
myself, and fear I am tiring you unnecessarily, and will only add that
if your father wanted at any time to review or to show any of his
planetary or other remarkable nebulæ to his friends, the time and P.D.
was, by the variation of its nearest star in Wollaston’s or Bode’s
catalogue, brought to the intended time of observation, and P.D.—comp.
of latitude, with allowance for refraction, gave the quadrant for
setting the telescope.
But after all, dear Nephew, I beg you will consider your health.
Encroach not too much on the hours which should be given to sleep. I
know how wretched and feverish one feels after two or three nights
waking, and I fear you have been too eager at your twenty-foot, and your
telling me that you have been unwell for some months, and now only begin
to feel better, makes me very unhappy, and I shall not be comfortable
till I see by your next that you are perfectly well again; I am quite
impatient to see what you have to say about the parallax of the fixed
stars, but on such occasions I am vexed that your father did not live to
know of your grand discoveries. You say something of a paper on the
longitude of Paris; I hope you will think of Gauss when you have
anything new.
Among the letters from your father’s correspondents in alphabetical
parcels you will find under the letter P. some of Pond’s, who was about
the end of the last century in Lisbon, with an excellent seven-foot
telescope of your father’s, and I remember that several letters passed
between them about a double star in Böotes.
I am much obliged to you for the sheet of Schumacher’s _Astronom.
Nachrichten_. It is highly interesting to me, and will set many a one
right without offending anyone. On looking in the 2nd Catalogue of
double stars, No. 104, ζ Böotes, VI. Class, November 29th, 1782, and 3rd
Catalogue, No. 114, ζ Böotes, I. Class, April 5th, 1796, I cannot help
thinking on the possibility that in the lapse of thirteen years and a
half the small stars may have come out from behind the large one. But I
beg do not laugh at me for breaking my head about these things, and I
will now begin to talk about what I can comprehend.
[Sidenote: 1826. _Mr. South._]
From your mentioning Mr. South in your last letter, I fear he intends
leaving England, at which I should be very sorry on your account, for if
I should not live long enough to know you comfortably married, I could
only console myself by your having always a Babbage, South, or Grahame
to pass your social hours with. If you can meet with a _good-natured,
handsome, and sensible young lady_, pray think of it, and do not wait
till you are old and cross. And let me know in time that I may set hands
to work to make the bridal robe; here are women who work exquisitely,
and at a price within the reach of my purse.
* * * * *
P.S.—Dear Nephew, I have spent too much time in gossiping with your dear
mother for saying anything besides, but I am,
Your most sincere and affectionate aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _Aug. 8, 1826_.
* * * * *
The long continuance of the great heat has had so very bad an effect on
my feeble frame; and considering my advanced age, I ought not to put off
the making a sort of a will, which I would set about with the greatest
pleasure if I had anything to leave for which you would be the better.
But I am sure you will not be disappointed, for you remember I parted
with my little property before I left England (against your good advice)
because I thought at that time I should not live a twelvemonth.
* * * * *
From the first moment I set foot on German ground, I found I was alone.
But I could not think of separating myself from him, [her brother
Dietrich] especially as his health is so very precarious, that I often
think he will go before me. At this present moment he is in bed very
ill, suffering from weak nerves. But the above is all by way of showing
you the necessity for begging you to answer to the following questions.
[Sidenote: 1826. _Making her Will._]
My sweeper I wish to leave to Miss Beckedorff, and the picture of the
Princess of Gloucester to her mother, for the two ladies have been my
guardian angels for many years.
Dr. Groskopf is to have the seven-foot reflector, though I know it will
only be a relic to him, but it will not be destroyed or sold for an old
song. My clothing and such articles of furniture as I have been obliged
to purchase, my three nieces may divide themselves in. Your dear
father’s publications in five volumes, Bode’s and Wollaston’s Catalogues
(full of my memorandums), and one of my Indexes, shall be sent to you.
Also a rough copy of the general Index to your father’s observations,
and several articles of that sort with memorandums taken from what I
have called a Day-book, which at leisure you may look over and
afterwards consign to the flames, for I cannot take it in my heart to do
it myself.
The observations on double stars by you and Mr. South (so handsomely
bound) and the volume sent last, by South, shall I send them to
you?—else I leave them to the Duke of Cambridge!—answer required.
Taylor’s tables, will they be of use to you for your godson
Babbage?—else they must be only an ornament to Groskopf’s
library!—answer required.
I am impatient to have your answer to this stuff, which I am almost
ashamed to trouble you with.
* * * * *
My next shall be of a more agreeable subject, and I have only to say,
I am,
Your most affectionate aunt,
C. HERSCHEL.
FROM J. F. W. HERSCHEL TO MISS HERSCHEL.
MONTPELLIER, _Sept. 17, 1826_.
DEAR AUNT,—
You will think me a strange gad-about, but my last, if you have got it,
will have prepared you to expect a letter from either the north or south
of Europe from me, in short from any country except England. I was then
not decided whether to go to Norway or the south of France, but here I
am at last, and having a letter-writing day before me and yours of the
8th August in my portfolio, I cannot do better than to answer it.
With regard to the dispositions you mention in your letter, and
respecting which you express a wish for my opinion, they are such as it
is impossible to do otherwise than approve, and such as the good sense
and kindness which marks everything you do has dictated.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1826. _J. F. W. Herschel in Auvergne._]
I have been rambling over the volcanoes of Auvergne, and propose before
I quit this, to visit an extinct crater which has given off two streams
of lava at Agde, a town about thirty miles south of this place on the
road to the Spanish frontier. Into Spain, however, I do not mean to
go,—having no wish to have my throat cut. I am told, however, that a
regular diligence runs between this and Madrid, and is as regularly
stopped and robbed on the way.
You say you wish for an answer respecting the vol. of observations on
double stars, sent by Mr. South and myself, but can I do better than
leave such matters to your judgment? At the same time, as having
belonged to you they could not but have a value in my eyes beyond my own
copy; but pray decide yourself. I have several left.
I regret extremely to hear you feel those little (perhaps not little)
inconveniences we are none of us exempt from, arising from the
imperfections of human nature, both in ourselves and those we live with.
I believe the best receipt for them is endurance and a determination to
show ourselves superior to them.
I have my rubs now and then too, but I make up my mind to them as quite
inevitable, and arising from causes over which I have no control. I am
very sorry to hear of my uncle’s bad state of health.
I must be in England in the beginning of October, or at farthest by the
15th. So, you see, I have no time for Hanover on my way back. It is
dreadfully hot here, and I am much disappointed with the place. However,
I hope to get one day of intense sunshine while I remain in this
latitude on account of some observations on solar radiation I have to
make with a new instrument which I made before I left England, and
brought with me. I carried it up the Puy de Dome, and was in hopes to
have used it at the Great St. Bernard, in Switzerland, but that must now
stand over for another year.
Adieu, dear aunt, and believe me—“where’er I go, whatever realms I see”—
Your affectionate nephew,
J. F. W. H.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Sept. 29, 1826._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
Within this hour only I received your dear letter, dated Montpellier,
Sept. 17th, which I assure you has made quite another (and what is more)
a proud woman of me; for your answers to my few questions are so kindly
expressive of approbation, that I shall in future not fear to follow my
own opinion, which through my whole lifetime I never ventured to do
before.
I am glad you did not come to Hanover, for I am sure to part from you
once more would finish me before I am quite prepared for going.
The letter you mention having written me before you left England I have
not received. The fault does not lie here, for the secretary here takes
too much pleasure in sending me my letters.
I must hasten to get my packet away, but will only beg to let me know
through Miss Baldwin as soon as you get home of your safe arrival, for I
fear you must often be exposed to great dangers by creeping about in
holes and corners among craters of volcanoes, but you know best, and I
hope you found something....
I am,
My dear nephew’s affectionate aunt,
C. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Nov. 1, 1826._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
The 1st vol. of the translation of your dear father’s papers is come
out. I shall have it in a few days from the bookbinder, and in February,
I am told, the next volume will make its appearance. I wish you would
inform me _as soon as possible_ if I shall send you a copy, that I may
write for one in time to have it ready by the end of December, when the
messenger leaves Hanover. It is a pity you cannot have it immediately.
The plates are not with the work, but are to be had bound in a separate
book (I suppose when the whole is finished).
I long to know that you are arrived safe and in good health in England
again, for by your last, dated Montpellier, Sept. 17th, I see that you
had then another volcanic mountain to visit, besides an observation to
make on solar radiation with your new instrument; the very thought of it
puts me in a fever all over—at this present moment, though we have no
longer to complain of heat; so I beg you will inform me that your health
has not been injured, and that you have not been totally disappointed in
your researches.
I lead a very idle life, my sole employment consists in keeping myself
in good humour and not be disagreeable to others.
Groskopf tells me the translation of your father’s papers causes a great
sensation among the learned here in Hanover.
* * * * *
Believe me, dearest nephew,
Yours, most affectionately,
C. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1826. _Accident at Sea._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Dec. 5, 1826._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
I received your letter of the 18th November, the day before yesterday,
therefore fifteen days old, which is pretty well considering the time of
year. I hope this will reach you soon, for I have longed very much to
give you an account of the last parcel of papers you sent, which I only
deferred till I had received an account of your safe arrival in England
by your own hands.
The parcel which you gave to Mr. Goltermann on the 18th August arrived
here by the messenger on the 3rd November, and five days after (which it
took me to dry the copies, for the messenger had met with storm and
accidents at sea, and some of his boxes had been under water), viz., the
18th Nov., I sent to Göttingen, according to direction, with a note, to
Gauss. And those to Bessel and Encke I enclosed with Bode’s copy, and
wrote a letter to the same by way of thanks for some kind enquiries he
had made after me; and now I see that fourteen days after this good man
[Bode] departed this world in his eightieth year, but I have no doubt he
has delivered the papers immediately, for he had no illness, and was at
his last hour at his writing-table employed with writing the _Berliner
Jahrbuch_ for 1830.
The copies were, after being dried, perfectly clean, no stain remaining,
and that they were so long detained is not the fault of Mr. G., for the
Michaelmas messenger was the first that went after the 18th Aug. In the
parcel I found also the letter you wrote before leaving England, which I
concluded to have been lost, but now all is safe.
_Sun and Comet._—At Hanover totally cloudy, and by what I can learn from
a certain astronomical gossip, Prof. Wild, it has been so throughout all
Germany, for _he_ has had no account that anything has been seen on the
18th Nov. On the 17th it is mentioned (in the _Zeitungen_, I believe) a
large spot on the sun to have been observed at Frankfort, but the 18th
being cloudy it could not be pursued.
In your observations with the twenty-foot you mention a Mr. Ramage as
having observed with you; and in another place you speak of his
twenty-five-foot reflector. Pray tell me something about this gentleman,
for I never heard his name before, and if I had not been so fortunate as
to have seen Babbage and South just before I left England, I should not
now have the comfort to know you had so estimable friends to communicate
with; and I shall rejoice to know that the number of valuable men I have
known, and are no more, might be replaced by some who are worthy to be
contemporary with the son of your father!
You ask, as it were, if I were satisfied with the way in which you have
mentioned me in that paper? If I should answer honestly I should say not
quite, for you set too great a value on what I have done, and by saying
too much is saying too little of my brother, for _he_ did all. I was a
mere tool which _he_ had the trouble of sharpening and to adapt for the
purpose he wanted it, for lack of a better. A little praise is very
comfortable, and I feel confident of having deserved it for my patience
and perseverance, but none for great abilities or knowledge. But of this
you will perhaps be a judge, as I am now gathering from loose
memorandums a little history of my life during the years from 1772 to
1788....
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1826. _Monkey Clock to count Seconds._]
You mention a monkey-clock, or jack, in your paper. I would only notice
(if you mean the jack in the painted deal case) that Alex made it merely
to take with me on the roof when I was sweeping for comets, that I might
count seconds by it going softly downstairs till I was within hearing of
the beat of the timepiece on the first floor (at that time our
observatory) all doors being open. Your father never used it except when
polishing the forty-foot....
In about three weeks the messenger leaves Hanover, and I will send you
the first volume of the translation of your father’s papers; but I shall
not order ten copies as you desired, till you give me further orders,
for I do not think you will be pleased with the work, and it seems there
is not much call for them. Dr. Luthmer says, Pfaff was not the man who
ought to have attempted such a work, it ought to have been a Bessel.
To your dear mother and Miss B. I beg to be kindly remembered,
And remain
Yours, most affectionately,
C. HERSCHEL.
FROM MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Dec. 24, 1826._
DEAREST NEPHEW,—
You will with this receive the only volume of the translation (printed
on _bad_ paper, _without_ the prints, &c., &c.,) which is out at
present, and unless you desire me in your next to send you ten copies, I
shall only take one which can serve us both.
I certainly will do as you desire, and tell you the amount, if at any
time you should want some expensive publication, as our bookseller here
can get by return of post from Leipsic whatever is ordered. But as to
trifles, I beg you will never think about, as I should be at a loss for
proving that you, my dearest nephew, are daily in my mind, when I am
lavishing _sums_ on nieces and grand-nephews, and nieces who care not
for me, nor I for them. But enough of this; only write me sometimes what
you and your astronomical friends are doing.
I was much gratified to hear that Mr. South had received the medal.
Groskopf has seen it announced in the papers, where your name was also
honourably mentioned; these are the morsels for me to feed upon, for
here are no astronomers but one, Dr. Luthmer, who observes Jupiter’s
satellites, as you may see by the _Berliner Jahrbuch_, which I suppose
you have, as usual, else I have got them from ’23 to ’29, and could send
them.
I must write a line yet to your dear mother and Miss B., and will
conclude with wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy New-year (as the
saying is), and with loves and compliments wherever they are due, &c.,
&c.,
C. HERSCHEL.
P.S.—My brother is at present tolerably well, but I hardly ever knew a
man of his age labouring under more infirmities, nor bearing them with
less patience than he does; the rest are well enough![35]
[Sidenote: 1827. _The first Chapter of her History._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_April, 1827._
DEAREST NEPHEW!—
I have more than once asked if you would have my history, but my
question has never been answered, and I am (though unwillingly) obliged
to send it off without having received your permission....
Perhaps I have told you nothing but what you have known long since; but
as my thoughts are continually fixed on the past, I was, as it were,
conversing with you on paper, not choosing to trust them to any one
about me, for I know none who would understand me, or whom it can
concern, what _my own private opinion_ and remarks have always been
about the transactions that continually passed before my eyes. But there
can be no harm in telling my own dear nephew, that I never felt
satisfied with the support your father received towards his
undertakings, and far less with the ungracious manner in which it was
granted. For the last sum came with a message that more must never be
asked for. (Oh! how degraded I felt even for myself whenever I thought
of it!) And after all it came too late, and was not sufficient; for if
expenses had been out of question, there would not have been so much
time and labour and expense, for twenty-four men were at times by turns
day and night at work, wasted on the first mirror, which had come out
too light in the casting (Alex more than once would have destroyed it
secretly if I had not persuaded him against it), and without two mirrors
you know such an instrument cannot be always ready for observing.
But what grieved me most was, that to the last, your poor father was
struggling above his strength against difficulties which he well knew
might have been removed, if it had not been attended with too much
expense. The last time the mirror was obliged to be taken from the
polisher on account of some obstacle, I heard him say (in his usual
manner of thinking aloud on such occasions), “It is impossible to make
the machine act as required without a room three times as large as
this.”
But when all hope for the return of vigour and strength necessary for
resuming the unfinished task was gone, all cheerfulness and spirits had
also forsaken him, and his temper was changed from the sweetest almost
to a pettish one; and for that reason I was obliged to refrain from
troubling him with any questions, though ever so necessary, for fear of
irritating or fatiguing him; else there was work enough cut out for
keeping me employed for several years to come, such as making correct
registers of the sweeps in which all Nebulæ were to be laid down and
numbered, complete Catalogues, &c. But what I most regret is, that I
never could find an opportunity of consulting your father about
collecting the observations made with the 40-foot into a separate book
from the journals, into which they were written down among other
observations made with the other instruments in the same night. I know
besides that many must have been lost, being noted only either on slates
or on loose papers, like those on the first discovery of the Georgian
Satellites. Owing to my not being, as formerly, the last nor the first
at the desk (generally retiring as soon as the mirror was covered), the
memorandums were often mislaid or effaced before I had an opportunity of
booking them. But I ought to remember that suchlike incomplete
observations were made under unfavourable circumstances. For instance,
the P. D. clock disordered by not having been used for some time; the
timepiece not having been regulated, nor _every one_ of the out-door
motions wanting oiling or cleaning; company being present; the night not
perfectly clear; and, in general, the first night the instrument is used
after it has been left at rest for some time, it cannot be expected that
all should go on without interruption or ease without a good mechanical
workman had spent best part of the day in looking over all the motions,
in doing which your father used to find great pleasure.
But what I most lament is, that between the interval before your coming
to the age of forming a proper opinion of the instrument, it had nearly
fallen into decay almost in all its parts. But we have all had the grief
to see how every nerve of the dear man had been unstrung by
over-exertion; and that a farther attempt at leaving the work complete
became impossible.
But, by the description of the forty-foot telescope given in the
Philosophical Transactions, May 18, 1795, it may be seen what a noble
instrument had been obtained by all the exertions described in my
narrative; but from that description so briefly given there, no idea can
be formed with what accuracy and nicety each part of the whole had been
executed to make it an instrument fit for the most delicate
observations.
P.S.—I must say a few words of apology for the good King, and ascribe
the close bargains which were made between him and my brother to the
_shabby, mean-spirited advisers_ who were undoubtedly consulted on such
occasions; but they are dead and gone, and no more of them! Sir J. Banks
remained a sincere well-meaning friend to the last.
Farewell, my best Nephew!
[Sidenote: 1827. _Sir William’s Copy of Locke._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_May 8, 1827._
DEAREST NEPHEW,—
Through the friendly care of Mr. D—— I am enabled to send you the first
and second volumes of Locke, the third volume, I hope, will yet be
found, and I shall send it by another opportunity. I know you will prize
the book when you know that it was one of your father’s earliest
treasures, purchased out of his own little savings, at the age of 18
years[36]—when, along with his father and eldest brother, he was in
England with the Hanoverian Guard, which you will see by the date and
name, written in his own beautiful handwriting. When in 1758 he again
went to England, it was under such unpleasant circumstances that he was
obliged to leave it to his mother to send his trunk after him to
Hamburg; and she, dear woman, knew no other wants but good linen and
clothing, and your dear father’s books and self-constructed globes, &c.,
were left behind, and served us little ones for playthings till they
were destroyed; but no more of this. You must excuse an old woman,
especially such a one as your old aunt, who can only think of what is
past, and is for ever forgetting the present....
* * * * *
Now, there is gone a Herr von Münighausen, who had asked the same
favour, [that of being allowed to take a parcel to England] for they are
all very desirous of knowing J. H., and would have called on me, and
perhaps I might have had my hand kissed once more. I assure you it is no
trifle here at Hanover to have one’s hand kissed, if one cannot count
one’s forefathers for sixteen generations back as ennobled; but, alas!
he was obliged to go at a moment’s warning; but Dr. Gr. gave him your
address, and I hope you will receive him kindly.
Farewell, dear Nephew, &c., &c.,
C. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1827. _Her Nephew’s receipt of her History._]
J. F. W. HERSCHEL TO MISS HERSCHEL.
_Between 4th and 11th May, 1827._
MY DEAR AUNT,—
I received yesterday your packet by Mr. Goltermann, containing the ten
copies of the first vol. of Pfaff’s translation of my father’s
works—with _the plates_, which are really abominable. However, there is
no help for it. I shall destroy those of the Nebulæ. A much more
interesting part of its contents is your account of your own history,
for which I cannot enough thank you, and it is really one of the most
precious documents you could have sent me; every line of it affected me
deeply. The point of view in which it places my father’s character is
truly noble. You underrate both the value and the merit of your own
services in his cause, but the world does you more justice, and his son
feels them a great deal more than he knows how to express. I shall
preserve this as the most precious thing, and you will add to the
obligation you have conferred on me by sending the papers you refer to
under the title of No. I.
The Journals and the _mettwursts_ also came safely; the Journals contain
some very curious matter not known in England, and which comes very
opportunely here, where, I am sorry to say, science is going to sleep.
I have just completed a second Catalogue of double stars, which will be
read at the Astronomical Society (of which I now have the honour to be
President) on Friday (May 11th) next (if I can get it fairly copied in
time). My work in the Review of Nebulæ advances slowly, as I can very
seldom get a night or two at proper times of the moon and year to sweep.
But I find your Catalogue most useful. I always draw out from it a
regular _working list_ for the night’s sweep, and by that means have
often been able to take as many as thirty or forty nebulæ in a sweep. I
have now secured such a degree of precision in taking the places of
objects in the telescope, that the settling stars (which I prepare a
list of each night and arrange them in order of R. A. in the working
list) cross the wire often on the very beat of the chronometer when they
were expected, and not unusually enter the field of view bisected by the
horizontal wire of the eye-piece. In short, I reckon my average error in
R. A. in determining the place of a new object by a single observation,
not to exceed one second of time, and in Polar distance a quarter of a
minute. This you will easily perceive to be a considerable improvement
in respect of precision, which is more my aim than it was my father’s,
whose object was only discovery. I have found a great many nebulæ not in
your Catalogue, and which, therefore, I suppose are new. But I won’t
plague you any more with this at present.
* * * * *
Believe me, dear Aunt,
Your affectionate Nephew,
J. F. W. H.
[Sidenote: 1827. _Her English Bed._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO LADY HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _July 10, 1827_.
MY DEAR LADY HERSCHEL,—
* * * * *
It makes my heart overflow with gratitude when I see so many worthy
people remember me with kindness, and I particularly rejoice that Mrs.
Morsom has borne her misfortunes with such resignation so as to be still
able to participate in the society of her friends; of which I am, alas!
through the great distance, entirely cast out, and am obliged to trust
alone to myself for keeping up my spirits, and to bear pain and
sickness, or feel pleasure without having anybody to participate in my
feelings. Out of my family connections, however, I can boast to possess
the esteem and love of all who are great and good in Hanover, but to a
lonely old woman, who is seldom able to go into or receive company, this
does not compensate for the want of sympathising relations.
But I have now, by change of apartments, made myself quite independent
of anybody. As long as I can do something for myself this will do very
well; but I must not meet troubles at a distance. I may, perhaps, be
spared a long confinement before I leave this world, else such a thing
as a trusty servant is, I believe, hardly to be met with in this city,
which, along with the people in it, are so altered since the French
occupation and the return of the military with their extravagant and
dissipated notions, imbibed when in Spain and England, with their great
pensions, which they draw from the latter country, that it is quite a
new world, peopled with new beings, to what I left it in 1772. Added to
this comes the fear of having my new little English bed (which on my
removal I made with my own hands) burnt before I am aware; for, figure
to yourself what danger one continually must be exposed to, when, in the
house where I live, seven families (besides the floor my sister-in-law
and I occupy) with their servants and children, are living, and their
firing wood and turf is all carried over our heads. About a month before
Easter a great brewery, very near us, burnt down, with many surrounding
houses, to the ground. I looked out of the window, and the burning
flakes fell on my forehead; besides this, I have had four times the
fright of fires at some greater distance.
* * * * *
Your most affectionate Sister,
C. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Aug. 16, 1827._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
On the 9th I received the papers with your short but sweet letter, and
according to your direction they are by this time at their destined
places, all but Struve’s and Bessel’s; the latter, I was obliged to
leave to the care of Encke, and Struve’s to Schumacher. I am
particularly obliged to you for your second Catalogue of double and
treble stars, which on reading it once over, makes me long for the time
when I shall be perfectly at ease to take it up again; for, by the
manner in which you gentlemen now attack the starry heavens, it seems
that there will soon remain nothing to be discovered.
You mention that Mr. Baily intends to bring Flamsteed’s omitted stars
into a Catalogue; I send you a few errata, as I am not sure of having
carried them into the copy I left with the three volumes of Flamsteed’s
works. And in the list of your father’s MS. papers, in the packet
“Auxiliary Article,” is a Catalogue of omitted stars arranged in order
of R. A. (a copy of one which I gave to Dr. Maskelyne in 1789). This,
may perhaps save some trouble to Mr. B. in arranging them.
Some time ago Count Kupfstein sent me a copy of Littrow’s observations
to look at (Part VII. of forty-three sheets large folio), which he
publishes at the order and expense of the Emperor. The copy was for the
University of Göttingen; but I could only admire the fine paper and
beautiful print, as I do not understand the manner in which observations
are made with the new invented instruments, for at the time I made a
fortnight’s visit to Greenwich, in 1798, they had only the mural
quadrant and the meridian passage instruments.
I must conclude for want of time; and, to say the truth, I am fatigued,
for I cannot sit up for any length of time, till eight or nine o’clock
in the evening, when I find myself always the most fit for society, or a
little business. The weather has been too warm for me, and I have done
nothing but sleep in the mornings and afternoon, and the worst is that
everybody goes to bed between nine and ten, and then I have no society
but those I can meet with in a novel. The few, few stars that I can get
at out of my window only cause me vexation, for to look for the small
ones on the globe my eyes will not serve me any longer.
Tell your dear mother she must not give me the slip, for I will and
cannot mourn for anyone more that I love.
I remain, &c., &c.,
C. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1827. _Continuation of her History._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Sept. 25, 1827._
DEAREST NEPHEW,—
Herewith you will receive what I have called No. 1, which was never
intended to have met your eye as it is; but, as contrary to my
expectation, my No. 2 was so cordially received by you, I had intended
to send you only an abridgment of it, because it contains many things
which must be very uninteresting and almost unintelligible to you on
account of your being unacquainted with the (then) manners and customs
of this country, besides requiring to remember that my father and mother
were born and educated some hundred and twenty years back. But I must
send it as it is, or destroy it immediately, for I feel I shall _now_
never get well enough for making any alteration further than running my
eye over it and adding a note here and there where necessary. But I wish
not to leave my memorandums any longer to the chance of falling into the
hands of officious would-be learned ignorance, to furnish a paragraph in
some newspaper or journal.
I will, however, save you and myself the trouble of further apologising
for sending you these papers, but just explain my reason for taking a
copy of them with me.
When I took my leave of the contents of your father’s library, it was
parting from _all_ with which my heart and soul had been engaged for the
best part of my life, and I could not withstand the temptation of
carrying away with me an index for assisting my memory when in my
reveries I should imagine myself to be on the spot where I took leave of
all that had been most dear to me.
What is contained in No. 1 I had intended for an everlasting pleasing
melancholy subject for conversation with my brother Dietrich, if I
should go back again to the place where I first drew my breath, and
where the first twenty-two years of my life (from my eighth year on) had
been sacrificed to the service of my family under the utmost
self-privation without the least prospect or hope of future reward. Or
in case I had died in England, it was to have been sent to D., for I
wished him to get a more correct idea of our father than what I thought
he had formed of that excellent being.
[Sidenote: 1827. _Letter to her Nephew._]
He never recollected the eight years’ care and attention he had received
from his father, but for ever murmured at having received too scanty an
education, though he had the same schooling we all of us had had before
him.
I ought to remember here, I suppose it was in the year 1818, or perhaps
earlier, your father wished to draw up the biographical memorandum you
have in your possession. But finding himself much at a loss for the
dates of the month, or even the year when he first arrived in England
with his brother Jacob, I offered to bring some events to his
recollection by telling what I remembered having passed at home during
the two years his brother was with him, with the proviso not to
criticize on telling my story in my own way. But not being very positive
about the exact date when my eldest brother returned, I wrote to my
brother D. for the date when Jacob entered the orchestra, and found not
to have been much out in my reckoning. And from that time on, your
father became more settled, and could have recourse to the heads of his
compositions, &c., &c., for the dates he wanted for his purpose.
Of all that follows I do not remember to have shown him a single line.
But as I had once begun the subject I did not know how or where to leave
off, and went on, thinking my brother D. might some time or other profit
by getting better acquainted with what had passed in our family before
his time, and during his infancy, till the death of his father, which
happened when D. was in his twelfth year, of which, from the
conversation I had with him during the four years between 1809 and 1813,
when last in England, I found he had not the least notion, or had
purposely formed a very erroneous one.
But in the last hope of finding in Dietrich a brother to whom I might
communicate all my thoughts of past, present, and future, I saw myself
disappointed the very first day of our travelling on land. For let me
touch on what topic I would, he maintained the contrary, which I soon
saw was done merely because he would allow no one to know anything but
himself.... Of course, about these papers I could never have any
conversation with him nor anybody else, and I send them to you for your
perusal, because I do not wish to keep them any longer, and you may put
them in the fire after having read them over.
Adieu, dear Nephew, believe me ever,
Your most affectionate Aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Dec. 22, 1827._
* * * * *
... Of Dr. Olbers, I hear frequently through a sister and niece here at
Hanover; the last was that he was lamenting at Captain Müller not having
brought the paper you had intended for him; the poor man, I hear, is
grown corpulent and short-breathed, so that he cannot mount up to his
observatory without difficulty.
I heard from Capt. Müller (what I had been thinking before) that poor
Encke has not changed his situation for the better. I do not mean with
regard to income, for I believe his salary is four or five thousand
thalers per year, which is equal, or even more, than that of a Prime
Minister; but he has no instruments. Much is promised, but he gets
nothing; and besides, his family is settled in Götha. It is a pity such
a man should be obliged to be idle.
In my last to your dear mother I wrote nearly all I had to say about
myself, except what concerns my health, of which I could not give a very
good account. Lately I was obliged to consult an oculist, but I suppose
he cannot help me, for he has not ordered me anything. I cannot, after
having been asleep, get my eyes open again for a considerable time, this
is attended with a violent headache and giddiness—but no more of this.
Once you were asking me if I wanted a few of my Indexes; if it is not
too late (as you have given up the secretaryship), I would be glad of a
couple. N.B.—A hundred copies were promised me as a present, and were
not half of them received. The one I have by me, which is intended for
you, with my corrections in it, is spoilt in the binding; and I should
like to give one to the Duke of Cambridge, to put him in mind of the
little old woman who has so frequently been cheered by his kind
attentions.
I remain your most affectionate Aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1828. _Her Annuity._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO LADY HERSCHEL.
_May 9th, 1828._
MY DEAR LADY HERSCHEL,
This is to be a letter of thanks, but I cannot determine to whom I am to
allot the greatest portion of my thanks, to you or Miss Baldwin, for her
agreeable letter of April 15th, in which so many interesting friends and
acquaintances of mine are remembered. For, believe me, my dear Lady H.,
it is ever with great reluctance I am yearly drawing on you for so
considerable a sum, which in the end must some time or other be felt by
my dear nephew; but who would have thought it, that I should last so
long? but now I am losing strength daily, and I cannot expect to be long
for this world. I only say this by way of putting you in mind that I
received my annuity at the beginning of the first half-year, and
therefore when you hear of my death all your care on my account must be
at an end, for I leave a sufficient sum to defray all possible expenses
attending a funeral, &c.
But there is nothing grieves me more than that, at my leaving England, I
gave myself, with all I was worth, to this branch of my family,
believing them (from what my brother D. and their letters told me) as
many noble-hearted and perfect beings as there were individuals. But
though I am disappointed, I should not like to take back my promise,
which could not be done without creating ill-will, and I am too feeble
to bear up against any altercation.
I see I have not left room for all the loves and compliments, but I beg
you will give them to whoever is kind enough to remember,
My dear Lady Herschel,
Your most affectionate Sister,
C. HERSCHEL.
In February, 1828, Miss Herschel’s services to the Science of Astronomy
were recognized by the presentation to her of the Gold Medal of the
Royal Astronomical Society.
FROM J. F. W. HERSCHEL TO MISS HERSCHEL.
_May 5, 1828._
DEAR AUNT,—
Herewith you will receive the medal, of whose award you will have read
in the printed notice I enclosed you some ten days ago. My mother also
begs your acceptance of a pair of bracelets, and begs me to thank you
for your kind and beautiful present of needlework (which even I could
admire), and for the _mettwursts_ (which I fully comprehended, and part
of which I still comprehend, having regaled on one for breakfast). My
mother and cousin are quite well, and desire their best love. Slough
stands where it did, and star-gazing goes on well. I have just erected a
new instrument (Mr. South’s _ci-devant_ large equatorial), and you shall
hear from time to time what is doing....
Your affectionate Nephew,
J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
The presentation of the medal is the natural duty of the president of
the society, but as Mr. Herschel held that office on this occasion, and
had with characteristic modesty “resisted,” as he confesses, the
proposed honour, the following supplemental address was delivered by Mr.
South, the vice-president, who presented the medal to Miss Herschel
through her nephew. It is an eloquent and not unworthy tribute, and an
interesting memorial of the esteem in which she was held by the most
distinguished body of scientific men in the kingdom.
[Sidenote: 1828. _Gold Medal of Astronomical Society._]
_Address to the Astronomical Society, by J. South, Esq., on presenting
the Honorary Medal to Miss C. Herschel, at its Eighth General Meeting,
February 8th, 1828._
GENTLEMEN,—
Our excellent president, in his address, has informed you of the
appropriation of two of your gold medals since our last anniversary:—a
third, however, has been decreed by your council; and when it is known
that Miss Caroline Herschel is the individual to whom it stands
adjudged, it is not difficult to determine why the president has avoided
the slightest allusion to it.
But that your Council has not selected one from the many of its members
infinitely more competent to do justice to the transcendent merits of
that illustrious lady is most assuredly matter of regret. I must
therefore throw myself upon your indulgence, hoping that the goodness of
the cause may in some measure compensate for the inability of its
advocate.
The labours of Miss Herschel are so intimately connected with, and are
generally so dependent upon, those of her illustrious brother, that an
investigation of the latter is absolutely necessary ere we can form the
most remote idea of the extent of the former. But when it is considered
that Sir W. Herschel’s contributions to astronomical science occupy
sixty-seven memoirs, communicated from time to time to the Royal
Society, and embrace a period of forty years, it will not be expected
that I should enter into their discussion. To the Philosophical
Transactions I must refer you, and shall content myself with the hasty
mention of some of her more immediate claims to the distinction now
conferred. To deliver an eulogy (however deserved) upon _his_ memory is
not the purpose for which I am placed here.
His first catalogue of new nebulæ and clusters of stars, amounting in
number to one thousand, was made from observations with the twenty-foot
reflector in the years 1783, 1784, and 1785. A second thousand was
furnished by means of the same instrument in 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788;
while the places of 500 others were discovered between 1788 and 1802.
But when we have thus enumerated the results obtained in the course of
_sweeps_ with this instrument, and taken into consideration the extent
and variety of the other observations which were at the same time in
progress, a most important part yet remains untold. Who participated in
his toils? Who braved with him the inclemency of the weather? Who shared
his privations? A female. Who was she? His sister. Miss Herschel it was
who by _night_ acted as his amanuensis: she it was whose pen conveyed to
paper his observations as they issued from his lips; she it was who
noted the right ascensions and polar distances of the objects observed;
she it was who, having passed the night near the instrument, took the
rough manuscripts to her cottage at the dawn of day and produced a fair
copy of the night’s work on the following morning; she it was who
planned the labour of each succeeding night; she it was who reduced
every observation, made every calculation; she it was who arranged
everything in systematic order; and she it was who helped him to obtain
his imperishable name.
[Sidenote: 1828. _Her Astronomical Labours._]
But her claims to our gratitude end not here; as an original observer
she demands, and I am sure she has, our unfeigned thanks. Occasionally
her immediate attendance during the observations could be dispensed
with. Did she pass the night in repose? No such thing: wherever her
brother was, there you were sure to find her. A sweeper planted on the
lawn became her object of amusement; but her amusements were of the
higher order, and to them we stand indebted for the discovery of the
comet of 1786, of the comet of 1788, of the comet of 1791, of the comet
of 1793, and of the comet of 1795, since rendered familiar to us by the
remarkable discovery of Encke. Many also of the nebulæ contained in Sir
W. Herschel’s catalogues were detected by her during these hours of
enjoyment. Indeed, in looking at the joint labours of these
extraordinary personages, we scarcely know whether most to admire the
intellectual power of the brother, or the unconquerable industry of the
sister.
In the year 1797 she presented to the Royal Society a Catalogue of 560
stars taken from Flamsteed’s observations, and not inserted in the
British Catalogue, together with a collection of errata that should be
noticed in the same volume.
Shortly after the death of her brother, Miss Herschel returned to
Hanover. Unwilling, however, to relinquish her astronomical labours
whilst anything useful presented itself, she undertook and completed the
laborious reduction of the places of 2,500 nebulæ, to the 1st of
January, 1800, presenting in one view the results of all Sir William
Herschel’s observations on those bodies, thus bringing to a close half a
century spent in astronomical labour.
For this more immediately, and to mark their estimation of services
rendered during a whole life to astronomy, your Council resolved to
confer on her the distinction of a medal of this Society. The
peculiarity of our President’s situation, however, and the earnest
manner in which the feelings naturally arising from it were urged when
the subject was first brought forward, caused your Council to pause,—and
waive on that occasion the actual passing their proposed vote. The
discussion was, however, renewed on Monday last, and, although there was
every disposition to meet the President’s wishes, still under a
conviction that the actual doing so would have been a dereliction of
public duty, it was
Resolved unanimously, “That a Gold Medal of this Society be given to
Miss Caroline Herschel, for her recent reduction, to January, 1800, of
the Nebulæ discovered by her illustrious brother, which may be
considered as the completion of a series of exertions probably
unparalleled either in magnitude or importance in the annals of
astronomical labour.” This vote I am sure every one whom I have the
honour to address will most heartily confirm.
Mr. Herschel, in the name of the Astronomical Society of London, I
present this medal to your illustrious aunt. In transmitting it to her,
assure her that since the foundation of this Society, no one has been
adjudged which has been earned by services such as hers. Convey to her
our unfeigned regret that she is not resident amongst us; and join to it
our wishes, nay our prayers, that as her former days have been glorious,
so her future may be happy.[37]
Extract from the Report of the Council of the Astronomical Society to
the Annual Meeting, Feb. 13, 1835.[38]
“Your Council has no small pleasure in recommending that the names of
two ladies, distinguished in different walks of astronomy, be placed on
the list of honorary members. On the propriety of such a step, in an
astronomical point of view, there can be but one voice; and your Council
is of opinion that the time is gone by when either feeling or prejudice,
by whichever name it may be proper to call it, should be allowed to
interfere with the payment of a well-earned tribute of respect. Your
Council has hitherto felt that, whatever might be its own sentiment on
the subject, or however able and willing it might be to defend such a
measure, it had no right to place the name of a lady in a position the
propriety of which might be contested, though upon what it might
consider narrow grounds and false principles. But your Council has no
fear that such a difference could now take place between any men whose
opinion could avail to guide that of society at large; and, abandoning
compliment on the one hand, and false delicacy on the other, submits,
that while the tests of astronomical merit should in no case be applied
to the works of a woman less severely than to those of a man, the sex of
the former should no longer be an obstacle to her receiving any
acknowledgment which might be held due to the latter. And your Council
therefore recommends this meeting to add to the list of honorary members
the names of Miss Caroline Herschel and Mrs. Somerville, of whose
astronomical knowledge, and of the utility of the ends to which it has
been applied, it is not necessary to recount the proofs....”[39]
[Sidenote: 1828. _An Hon. Member of the R. A. Society._]
_May 28th, 1828._
DEAR AUNT,—
... Before this reaches you, you will have got it [the medal]. Pray let
me be well understood on one point. It was none of my doings. I resisted
strenuously. Indeed, being in the situation I actually hold,[40] I could
do no otherwise. The Society have done _well_. I think they might have
done _better_, but my voice was neither asked nor listened to.
I ought to mention that it became a matter of discussion at the _Royal_
Society whether one of the Royal medals for the year should not be
adjudged to you, but the rule limiting the time within which those
medals must be granted being precise, it could not be done without a
violation of principle.
I have sent by Mr. G. a few copies of a work of mine on Light, for you
to distribute. I shall by the next opportunity (_possibly by this_) send
some copies of a third catalogue of double stars, completing the first
1,000. The nebulæ are advancing rapidly; I have got about 1,500
re-observed.
Your affectionate nephew,
J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_June 3, 1828._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
* * * * *
And I must once more repeat my thanks to you (and perhaps to Mr. South)
for thinking so well of me as to exert yourselves for having the great
and undeserved and unexpected honour of a medal bestowed on me....
Here I was interrupted, and all along of the medal; for my friends are
all coming to congratulate me, and leave me no time to think of what to
say of myself; but I will soon write again, and for the present will
only beg that you (or Miss Baldwin, for I dare say she knows,) will give
me the history of the medal, such as whose head it is which is on the
one side? (I know who it is like very well) and if the impression is to
be permanent?
Next, I wish to know if you, or the Royal Society, or the Observatory at
Greenwich (the latter I think must be) are in communication with the
Imperial astronomer Littrow? If you have seen any of the publications
which are yearly printed at the expense of the Emperor, I could wish, if
it is not too much trouble to you, to know what you think of the work;
because Count Rupfstein, Chargé d’Affaires, sent me the copy (which was
to go to Göttingen) to look at, and since then he wants my opinion about
it. And I know no more about it than that it is a book printed on fine
paper, large folio, of 195 pages, with seven plates of the New
Observatory made out of the old one, built at the top of the seventh
story of the University at Vienna, a description of the store of
instruments, thirty-five articles including rules, two spirit-levels and
a case of drawing instruments; tables of precession, aberration, and
nutation of ninety-four of the principal stars for the beginning of the
year 1835; but I forgot the rest; but so much I remember, that the whole
book is filled with these ninety-four stars, of which I cannot
comprehend the use, but I say nothing about it, and _hum_ and _ha_ when
the good man begins to talk about it. Dear nephew, adieu!
I am, your affectionate aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1828. _Thanks for Bracelets._]
I have but just time to thank my dear Lady Herschel, in the first place
of giving me the great pleasure of seeing her own handwriting once more,
which to me continues much plainer than all the beautiful new-fashioned
Italian hands. Secondly, I return my best thanks for the beautiful
bracelets; I am going to let them be admired this evening, as I am
obliged (though very unwell) to go to a tea-party, and it will be no
small trouble to me to make myself fine enough for not disgracing your
present.
When next I write I hope I shall not be hurried so, and be able to tell
you how it goes here at Hanover. Last week I heard five songs by Madame
Catalani at the theatre here; but of this, more in my next.
With many compliments to Miss B.,
Believe me, your most affectionate sister,
C. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_June 23, 1828._
DEAREST NEPHEW,—
I have but just time to write a few lines to accompany the Journals Nos.
II. and III., therefore I must beg you to excuse the unconnected manner
in which I am writing, for it must require some time before I, and many
a one beside me, will recover from the fright we were put in on the
21st, at three o’clock in the afternoon, by a thunderstorm, accompanied
with a shower of hail of such an uncommon size as weighing three
quarters of a pound; some speak of still larger. I, of course, could
only judge of them at a distance by the look, as my carpet was covered
by them of all sizes and shapes; I noticed one in particular of the form
of a bottle of india-rubber (as it looks before the neck is cut off),
but was at the time incapable of going near enough, for I was obliged to
keep out of the direction where they entered, forcing the fragments of
glass to my sofa (where I was just going to take my solitary dinner) at
the opposite end of the room, which is twenty-one feet distant from the
window. The houses look deplorable, and the streets are still glittering
with powdered glass. Expresses were sent instantly by the magistrates in
all directions to the neighbouring towns and glass-houses for workmen
and materials. I have been fortunate enough to get my lodging-room
mended after lying only two nights without anything but a shutter.
Our gardens and country houses about Hanover have had the same fate.
This happened the day before a _Volks Fest_, which the Hanoverian
Bürgers keep for three days yearly, and for which all preparations were
made, and is now by many kept with a heavy heart.
But I must not lose this opportunity of mentioning what I forgot in my
last, which is to beg you will (when I am no more) take my medal under
your protection, and give it a place among those you have of your
father’s and your own. I will take care that it shall be delivered to
you along with those books which I keep yet as companions, though it is
seldom I can look into them, for most of my time I am obliged to waste
in lying on the sofa, where I try to forget myself by reading nonsense,
over which I soon go to sleep.
I have the two dullest months before me, for the plays and concerts do
not begin again till autumn; all families are either gone to the baths
or at their villas, &c. My friends are all some dozen years younger than
myself, and I cannot always, or but seldom, accept their invitations.
Hauptmann Müller took twice tea with me since Christmas. He heard from
Encke that a great astronomical meeting was to take place at Berlin, to
which Mr. South had been invited; if there should be any truth in this,
and that you and Mr. South were _inseparables_, I might hope to see you
once more; but I must not think of anything at the distance, agitations
I cannot bear any longer, I only exist by attempting to be indifferent
about all human events, and hardly anything can yet give me pleasure but
to hear that you, my dear nephew, and those who are dear to you, are
well and happy.
Yours very affectionately,
C. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1828. _About the Medal._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
_Aug. 21, 1828._
MY DEAR NEPHEW,—
* * * * *
What you tell me in the short note dated May 24th, which accompanied the
three copies of my Index, concerning the medal, has completely put me
out of humour with the same; for to say the truth, I felt from the first
more shocked than gratified by that singular distinction, for I know too
well how dangerous it is for women to draw too much notice on
themselves. And the little pleasure I felt at the receipt of the few
lines by your hands, was entirely owing to the belief that what was done
was both with your approbation and according to your recommendation.
Throughout my long-spent life I have not been used or had any desire of
having public honours bestowed on me; and now I have but one wish, that
I may take _your_ good opinion with me into my grave.
I have no time or inclination to think much on this subject, else I
could say a great deal about the _clumsy speech_ of the V. P. Whoever
says _too much of me_ says _too little of your father_! and only can
cause me uneasiness.
Mr. South I have seen only twice, or perhaps three times, and that was
in yours and your dear father’s presence, and to all conversation
between you and Mr. South I could only be a listener, and, seeing you so
well agree together I congratulated myself on your having found a friend
possessing much knowledge of what passes in common life, of which a
young and deep mathematician and philosopher has had no time of laying
in a great stock.
I heard you would make a visit to Struve at Dorpat this summer together,
and I concluded I should then have had a call on the way home. But on
that account I feel now relieved from the painful prospect of a final
parting from you once more, though it will cost me many melancholy hours
to bring that to paper which I yet wish for you to know. But I am too
much destroyed at present to explain myself any further, and will only
say that by the Michaelmas messenger I will send every scrap of paper
which I have yet kept solely for my amusement and for assisting my
memory. You may look them over at some leisure [time] and then destroy
them; for I go not one night to bed but thinking it may be the last of
my life.... I have a numerous and valuable acquaintance, but I keep all
my difficulties to myself, for I was ever careful not to injure a
relation, or one with whom I am connected, in the opinion of others, by
saying what I think of them.
I must prepare to pay a visit at the villa of a friend of mine where I
have twice this summer refused an invitation.
So, God bless you, my dearest nephew, and be assured of my affectionate
regard.
C. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1828. _On her Diary._]
FROM J. F. W. HERSCHEL TO MISS HERSCHEL.
LONDON, _Dec. 9, 1828_.
MY DEAR AUNT,—
I received your most valuable diary and all the papers you sent me by
Mr. Goltermann quite safe, and I most sincerely thank you for them. You
speak of “exposing yourself” by presenting them to me, but I am so far
from considering it in that light, that I feel proud to possess them,
and if anything could increase the regard and esteem I entertain for
their writer, it would have been their perusal. Your promised Christmas
“scraps and lucubrations” will not be less welcome.
The Journals also came safe and well to hand, but in the _series_ you
have sent me I cannot find that for December, 1827, which prevents my
binding up the set. If you can procure this and enclose it with the
next, I shall be very glad.
I trust to my cousin Mary for telling you all the news of family
matters. Astronomy goes on pretty well. My sweeps accumulate. I am very
sorry that anything I said should have put you out of humour with the
medal, which was a well-merited distinction, and so far as the
Astronomical Society is concerned, most honourably conferred. All voices
are agreed on that, and on the propriety of the thing, so pray don’t
suffer yourself to be put out of conceit with it by my nonsense, which
after all only went to the manner, not the matter. Our friend S. means
well, but wants discretion.
* * * * *
J. F. W. HERSCHEL TO MISS HERSCHEL.
26, LOWER PHILLIMORE PLACE,
_Jan. 14, 1829_.
MY DEAR AUNT,—
I received your two letters at once, and I cannot enough thank you for
the kind consideration which prompted your offer, for I will not yet
call it your gift, as I cannot really consent to such a robbery. If you
are bent on giving me something truly valuable—infinitely more so than
money, which (though I am not rich, and am now less so by some annual
hundreds than I was, and am about _voluntarily_[41] to incur a still
further diminution of income) yet, thank God, I am in want of nothing
and would rather spare to you than let you spare to me. But if you want
to give me what I shall really prize highly, let it be your portrait in
oils of the size of my father’s. Let me send back the money, and employ
part of it in engaging a good Hanoverian artist to paint it. You often
tell me your time hangs heavy, so here I am furnishing you with a refuge
from _ennui_, and when you know how much pleasure it will give me to see
your likeness hanging by my father’s, and that you can without
inconvenience or difficulty (and _now_ without expense) do it, I entreat
you not to refuse. I know what you will urge against it, but you
undervalue yourself and your own merits so much that I will not allow it
any weight.
My mother is ill with the gout, but I hope it is not going to be a
severe fit, as she is already on the mend.
Your affectionate nephew,
J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1829. _On her Nephew’s marriage._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO LADY HERSCHEL.
_March 3, 1829._
MY DEAR LADY HERSCHEL,—
I long to congratulate you on the happy occasion of seeing your dear son
so happily settled, but am almost afraid your late illness ... may have
prevented you from being present at the performance of the ceremony on
which the future happiness of my dear nephew is so much depending.
I must beg you will thank Miss B. for sparing me so much of her time by
her circumstantial accounts of the interesting event, and hope she will
continue to write, though I am not able to answer punctually, for I am
not free from pain for one hour out of the twenty-four, and so it has
been for a long time past with me. N.B.—She mentions my nephew having
written me a letter informing me of his future happiness, but such I
have not received, and perhaps he may only have intended it, or it is
lost....
The following hint is only to you as a dear sister, for as such I now
know you:—
All I am possessed of is looked upon as their own, when I am gone; the
disposal of my brother’s picture is even denied me—it hangs in Mrs. H.’s
drawing-room, where a set of old women play cards under it on her club
day....
I have no great matters to leave, a few articles of furniture which I
had the trouble to provide myself with (though I paid for furnished
lodgings), would not produce a capital if sold. It is only pictures,
books, telescopes, globes, &c., I regret should come into hands of those
who know not the value of them; but Miss Beckedorff will take my sweeper
under her protection; but enough of this.... I hope, above all, to have
soon the pleasure to hear that you will hold out with me now that we are
entering on our eightieth year.
But as long as God pleases I shall remain
Your most affectionate sister,
C. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL, ESQ.
_March 3, 1829._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
I have spent four days in vain endeavours to gain composure enough to
give you an idea of the joyful sensation Miss B.’s (and your P.S.)
letter of February 5th has caused me. But I can at this present moment
find no words which would better express my happiness than those which
escaped in exclamation from my lips, according to Simeon. See St. Luke,
cap. ii., v. 29: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace!”
I have now some hopes of passing the few remainder of my days in as much
comfort as the separation from the land where I spent the greatest
portion of my life, and from all those which are most dear to me, can
admit. For from the description Miss B. has given me of the dear young
lady of your choice, I am confident my dear nephew’s future happiness is
now established.
I beg you will give my love to your dear lady, and best regards to all
your new connections where they are due in the best terms you can think
of, for I am at present too unwell for writing all I could wish to say.
I have suffered much during this severe winter, and have not been able
to leave my habitation above three or four times for the last three
months, and feel, moreover, much fatigued by sitting eight times within
the last ten days to Professor Tielemann for having my picture taken,
which he did at my apartment, and now he has taken it home to finish.
You will receive it with the Easter messenger, but I must send it
without frame.... I must conclude, for I wish to say a few words to your
dear mother. It is now between eleven and twelve, and perhaps you are at
this very moment receiving the blessing of Dr. Jennings, in which I most
fervently join by saying, “God bless you both!”
Your happy and affectionate aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1829. _Her Portrait._]
TO THE SAME.
_March 30, 1829._
DEAREST NEPHEW,—
I have received my picture; by the enclosed card you will see the name
of the artist.... Whatever you may think about my looking so young, I
cannot help; for two of the days I was sitting to him, I received the
agreeable news from England—one day Lady H.’s likeness was thrown in my
lap (Mr. Tielemann taking it out of the box), and four days after, the
account of your approaching happiness arrived. No wonder I became a
dozen years younger all at once. I was sitting about seven hours in so
many days in my own apartments; but there is but one voice, that the
picture looks life itself.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1829. _Letters._]
TO LADY HERSCHEL.
_Nov. 16, 1829._
* * * * *
I was unwilling to be troublesome with a repetition of the detail of my
infirmities, to which I have of late to add cramps and rheumatic
complaints, which rob me of many hours’ sleep and the usual nimbleness
in walking, which has hitherto gained me the admiration of all who know
me; but the good folks are not aware of the arts I make use of, which
consist in never leaving my rooms in the daytime, except I am able to
trip it along as if nothing were the matter.
I am glad you are removed again to Kensington, where you are within a
few hours’ reach of all who are dear to you (a blessing I never enjoyed
throughout all the years of my long life). But I must get in another
strain; only when I am writing to you (in particular) I cannot help
comparing the country in which I have lived so long, with this in which
I must end my days, and which is totally changed since I left it, and
not one alive that I knew formerly, except my dear Mrs. Beckedorff;
through her means I have, however, been introduced to many valuable
ladies of rank and amiable qualities, but to keep up their acquaintance
I am obliged to sacrifice my ease and required quiet, which I have still
vanity enough to do sometimes.
A fortnight ago I paid my respects to the Landgräfin of Hesse-Homburg
(who looks younger and handsomer than when we saw her as a bride at
Slough the day before she left Windsor); it was by her desire I made the
visit, and I was honoured with a salute at parting, by way of showing we
were friends (as she was pleased to say), and a desire to repeat my
visit soon.
... I wish also to know on what subject the late Alex. Stewart may have
wrote, for that he was an author I know, but I never saw any of his
works and might most likely not have understood them, for you know I had
no time to read anything for my improvement, but was obliged to be
poring for ever over astronomical tables and catalogues, &c.
Another thing I wish Miss B. to inform me of. The 30th November the
Royal Society opens with choosing their President and Council; I wish
for a list of their names, and likewise of the next change of the
Astronomical Society of London. But do not wonder at my being so
inquisitive about these things. I cannot think of anything else which
could interest me more than to see the names of learned men on paper,
especially when I see any of those I have known among them. Besides, as
in December our concerts begin, where the Duke of Cambridge, on seeing
me, generally makes some inquiry after my nephew and family, and what is
going on in the philosophical world, one does not always like to stand
with one’s mouth open, or to say I cannot tell!...
Mrs. and Miss Beckedorff send their kind love....
Mr. Q., 63, he owns himself, marries a young lady in her teens, but she
owns 23; she could not withstand his pretty equipage. He is grown very
old and nasty, and good for nothing but to injure his children and
grand-children.
God be with you, my dear Lady H.
Believe me your most affectionate sister,
C. HERSCHEL.
TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL, ESQ.
HANOVER, _January 11, 1830_.
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
I am sorry it was not in my power to send a letter by way of announcing
the Journals, &c., which you will, I hope, receive soon by the messenger
who left Hanover the 27th of December. I have been very ill and confined
to my room now three weeks, but it seems _der Würg Engel[42] ist noch
einmal vorüber gegangen_, at which I am very glad, because I wish to be
a little better prepared for making my exit than I am at present.
I intend to amuse myself between this and Easter with collecting and
packing up those books which were to be sent to you after my death, and
perhaps if I have withstood this _terrible_ winter I may have the
pleasure of hearing that you have received them safe, and live in the
enjoyment of a few months more, in which I hope to hear of the happy
increase to your family, and prosperity in general.
So I am to be godmother! with all my heart! I am now so enured to
receiving honours in my old age, that I take them all upon me without
blushing....
_Jan. 12th._—No letter for me yet! and no news, except that the
Landgräfin of Hesse-Homburg sent me yesterday a very handsome fur mantle
to wear when I go to the play, with a message that if I did not put it
on, by way of saving it, the next thing she sent me would be a rod. I am
accused of having been clothed too thin, for which I have been suffering
these last three weeks.... I will give my opinion, and in style of a
critic, and you will find yourself not to come off quite free from
blame. You have represented me as a goddess, whereas I have done nothing
but what I believe to be right; and wherever I did wrong, it was because
I knew no better!
[Sidenote: 1830. _A Box of Gifts._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL, ESQ.
HANOVER, _June 18, 1830_.
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
This letter will go by to-day’s post, which I believe is the last before
the messenger leaves Hanover, and Legations Rath Haase has promised to
direct the box for me, so that it is to be called for at Mr.
Goltermann’s either by yourself, or somebody who will look to it, that
it may come safely to your hands. And I will give you here a list of the
contents of the box, by which you will see that I must be very anxious
till I know that it is safely come to hand, especially as I was obliged
to have the box made very slight on account of saving size and weight.
_Contents_:—
Wollaston’s Catalogue.
Bode’s Catalogue.
My Index to Flamsteed’s Observations.
Herschel’s and South’s Observations, bound in red morocco.
Logarithmic Tables by Taylor.
Seventy-two Papers of your father’s, in five volumes.
The parcel directed for my niece contains ornaments which I am afraid
will soon be wanted for a general mourning, but I am told they may be
worn at any time. Miss Beckedorff chose them for me; my direction was
they should be pretty, and not of English manufacture, and not larger
than what might be put in the space which I showed her. I am only sorry
I could not find anything that might please your dear mother, for, to
judge by myself, we want now only ease, quiet, and patience to bear the
pains and infirmities attendant on our age; and we are too far asunder
for doing more than wishing one another the above-mentioned qualities.
* * * * *
I had intended to have sent my medal along with the books, but since you
have presented me with the handsome miniature of your dear Margaretta,
from which I cannot part as long as I live, I have mentioned already to
Dr. Groskopf that the medal, miniature, and my gold watch (the gift of
her grandfather in 1774), are to be sent to my grand-niece and namesake,
C. H.
* * * * *
I do not like to send empty paper, but I must. Time falls short, and I
am tired already with the thought of the long walk I have to take to
carry this letter, for I must see Haase once more, and it is attended
with great difficulty to get so heavy a box over at present.
God bless you, dear nephew,
Says your affectionate aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL, ESQ.
HANOVER, _Oct. 27, 1830_.
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
I see by my memorandum-book that I sent a letter to your dear mother on
the 20th August, partly in answer to one of Miss Baldwin’s, which
contained the melancholy account of Miss Isabella [Stewart’s] dangerous
state of health. I have ever since been very uneasy, and wishing for
more cheering information, because I know what a drawback it would be on
the happiness of all your dear connection if you should lose her,
besides the interruption it must cause in the hitherto cheerful
correspondence in which even my dear niece took the pen to join in
affording me the only comfort I am yet capable of receiving....
Tell your dear Margaret that the very day on which the letter arrived,
in which she requested some hair, I sent for the hair-dresser and made
him cut off all which was useless to me, leaving plenty for a toupee and
a little curl in the poll. But I repented not having kept a few out of
the plait, which I might have sent in a letter, as I understand it is
designed for a talisman against the evils of this hurly-burlying world.
But I consoled myself with the thoughts that no harm could possibly
assail the dear little creature as long as she is under the care of her
affectionate and excellent mother, leaving a loving father out of the
account.
Dr. Groskopf has been _zum Ritter ernannt_ by his present Majesty. So
was Dr. Mühry last week. If all is betitled in England and Germany, why
is not my nephew, J. H., a lord, or a wycount at least (query)? General
Komarzewsky used to say to your father, Why does not he (meaning King
George III.) make you Duke of Slough?
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1830-1831. _Her Nephew’s Book._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL, ESQ.
_March, 1831._
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
If it was not high time to congratulate you on your birthday—of which I
most heartily wish you may enjoy many returns in uninterrupted and
increasing happiness—I might have still deferred to thank you for your
kind letter and the valuable present of _your book_. I intend to follow
your mother’s example to read it “from end to end,” which I was hitherto
not able to do on account of my dim eyes; but now the days are getting
longer I think I see better, and to judge by the few pages I have read,
that so far from making me go to sleep, it will be an antidote against a
propensity for doing so in the daytime.
I much regret my inability to acknowledge my dear niece’s letter in such
a manner as might encourage a correspondence with me, but it is
difficult to write in a cheerful strain when one is continually in the
dismals. I do all I can to keep up my spirits under a daily increase of
my infirmities, and have been best part of the winter confined to my
rooms. My complaint is incurable, for it is a _decay_ of nature, and
nine days after your birthday I am eighty-one. What a shocking idea it
is to be decaying! _decaying!_ But never mind—if I am decaying here,
there will be, as Mrs. Maskelyne once was comforting me (on observing my
growing lean), “the less corruption in my grave!”
_22nd._—Some weeks ago I wrote as above, which I intended as a preface
to my dying speech, with intention to give you a few hints concerning
——, and indeed I may say of all my German relations, except the Knipping
family. If I did not fear that some of them would, after my decease,
introduce themselves as troublesome correspondents to you, I would
rather write about something else just now, and indeed I had better drop
the subject, for you will know, I suppose, how to rid yourself of a
pestering fool by answering coolly, or not at all.
_23rd, afternoon._—Yesterday I was interrupted again, and the whole
morning of the present, which I had intended to spend with you at
Slough, has again been taken up with gabbling with my radical servant.
But the day after Easter I get another, and I hope I shall have better
luck; but till then I am not mistress of my time, therefore will hasten
to inform you that Mrs. Beckedorff is packing up a parcel for me, which
is going from here the day after Easter.... The packet contains a
tablecloth, with twelve napkins (the cloth is eight yards long, Mrs. B.
says), which I hope my dear niece will do me the pleasure to accept as a
remembrance of her old aunt.
Your book[43] I have read as far as page 150, and met with nothing but
what I clearly can comprehend, and promise myself much pleasure in
reading the rest, which hitherto I have been prevented to do by being
continually interrupted, and besides not being able to read many pages
at a time before the lines run one into another.
My dear niece said in her letter to me your book would cause a
sensation, and so it has, as I hear from all quarters. I am told it has
been translated into German from a French translation, and much [all in
admiration] is appearing in Gelehrten Anzeigen, which I have not yet
been able to get a sight of.... I must give over and defer writing till
I am provided with pen, ink, and paper. The first thing my radical
servant did when she came to me was to break the bottle [containing] the
ink of my own making, which was to have lasted me all my life-time....
First and foremost, give my love to your dear mother, and believe me,
ever your most affectionate aunt,
C. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1831. _Letter to her Niece._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO MRS. HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _May 14, 1831_.
O! my dearest niece, where shall I find words which can express my
thanks to you for writing me such an interesting letter, at a moment
when you were suffering from indisposition!
* * * * *
_May 18th._—Dear niece, how are you now? I hope so far well enough to
read what I think necessary to say in answer to yours of May 2nd. I was
glad to see that you think the table-linen pretty, but I tremble on
seeing that you puzzle yourself about sending me anything in return.
Nothing would distress me more than receiving anything from England
besides such dear letters as I have hitherto been blessed with, for I am
provided with even more than is necessary to appear in the best circle
of society, whenever my feebleness will permit me to go from home, and I
feel no small regret at leaving so many good things among those who do
not want it, or ever cared for me. Now, this is once for all! and you
have nothing to do but to go by what dear Herschel says—he knows me, I
see, better than I thought he did.
I have something to remark about what you call my letters, which were to
be deposited in the letter case. I was in hopes you would have thrown
away such incoherent stuff, as I generally write in a hurry at those
moments when I am sick for want of knowing how it looks at home, and not
to let it rise in judgment against my, perhaps, bad grammar, bad
spelling, &c., for to the very last I must feel myself walking on
uncertain grounds, having been obliged to learn too much without any one
thing thoroughly; for my dear brother William was my only teacher, and
we began generally with what we should have ended; he, supposing I knew
all that went before. Perhaps I might have done so once, but my memory
he used to compare with sand, in which everything could be inscribed
with ease, but as easily effaced. Some time hence you will see a
book[44] in which I transcribed such lessons as my brother was obliged
to give me at such times when I was to set about some calculations of
which I knew not much about. I shall this summer collect every scrap of
that kind—some written by my brother, and some penned down as they
flowed from his lips, and some even incomplete, which were intended to
be given more correct when at leisure. I bought a very handsome
portfolio for this purpose, and had my nephew’s new seal engraved upon
the lock.
I should not have thought of troubling my dear nephew or you with
looking over these fragments, but I cannot part with remembrances of
times long gone by, so long as life is in me; but for fear I should not
have at the last moment the power of burning them, I will keep them
ready for being sent off to Slough, for nothing of the kind shall be
seen by unhallowed eyes....
[Sidenote: 1831. _Her Grave.—Paganini._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _June 4, 1831_.
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
Just now I received yours of May 22nd, and the next post will not go
from here till the 7th, and I wish the wind may be favourable that you
may be soon made easy about the £50, for which I beg you will, according
to custom, give the above receipt to your dear mother. And you may as
well add my heartfelt thanks; for what good can it do troubling her with
my letters, knowing the weakness in her hands will not permit her
answering them....
... I have laid apart for every possible expense which can occur at my
exit. Six years ago I had a vault built in the spot where my parents
rest. The ground is mine auf ewig (for ever).
You have made me completely happy for some time with the account you
sent me of the double stars; but it vexes me more and more that in this
abominable city there is no one who is capable of partaking in the joy I
feel on this revival of your father’s name. His observations on double
stars were from first to last the most interesting subject; he never
lost sight of it in his papers on the construction of the heavens, &c.
And I cannot help lamenting that he could not take to his grave with him
the satisfaction I feel at present at seeing his _son_ doing him so
ample justice by endeavouring to perfect what he could only begin....
TO MRS. HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _August 11, 1831_.
... I wish Paganini may make some stay yet in England, that you, or my
nephew at least, may hear him. The English cannot be more frantic about
him than the Hanoverians were. He filled our play-house twice at double
price, and though some part of the orchestra had been thrown into
parquet, still gentlemen were scattered among the lamps and squeezed in
among the performers on the stage. You will think me the maddest of the
mad when I tell you that, after spending three parts of each day in pain
and misery, I make one of the audience twice a week, if possibly I can
hold up my head; for then I am lulled into forgetfulness of my severed
situation from all what _was_ or _is_ still dear to me, and amuse myself
sometimes with having my vanity tickled by the notice which is taken of
my being or not being present. In _The Sun_ of July 13 is a description
of Paganini’s face and looks, which I could not have given better myself
after having had some conversation with him (through an interpreter); on
coming one evening at the end of a play out of my box, I found some
gentlemen waiting to introduce him to me, which I believe was partly
done to give the people an opportunity to see him.
I am reading all the Parliamentary speeches as given in _The Sun_, and
there I meet with some excellent ones by a Sir James Mackintosh; pray is
he any connexion of your family? In the paper of July 6th I saw a
quotation (by a speaker, Mr. E. Lytton Bulwer,) from a celebrated
philosopher (meaning our _own_ J. Herschel) who had felicitously
observed that “the greatest discoverer in science can do no more than
accelerate the progress of discovery.”...
I remain, my dear niece,
Your most affectionate
CAR. HERSCHEL.
The following letter, from the celebrated Encke, is one of the few
preserved which belong to this period, and gives graceful expression to
the high esteem in which she was held:—
[Sidenote: 1831. _Letter from Prof. Encke._]
FROM PROFESSOR ENCKE TO MISS HERSCHEL.
BERLIN, _Aug. 17, 1831_.
MADAME,—
I feel great pleasure in informing you that the parcel which has been
forwarded to me through your kindness is safely arrived here, and has
been delivered to Professor Mitscherlich, according to the directions
given by your celebrated nephew, J. Herschel.
I hardly know, madame, how to return you my thanks for the trouble you
have so kindly taken in transmitting the parcel to me. It would, indeed,
have been an irretrievable loss to have been deprived of the excellent
treatise written by your eminent nephew, had it not reached its
destination.
Allow me, madame, to avail myself of this opportunity to pay my respects
to a lady, whose name is so intimately connected with the most brilliant
astronomical discoveries of the age, and whose claims to the gratitude
of every astronomer will be as conspicuous as your own exertions for
extending the boundaries of our knowledge, and for assisting to develope
the discoveries by which the name of your great brother has been
rendered so famous throughout the literary world.
I am, with great esteem and regard, madame,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
T. F. ENCKE.
MISS HERSCHEL TO SIR J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _Oct. 25, 1831_.
MY DEAR SIR JOHN,—
But mind, you are still my dear nephew, and will be so good as to give
the above to your dear mother. With this last sum, I have actually
received since I am here a thousand pounds; a sum which I had no idea
(nor I am sure your father neither) you would have been burdened with so
long, for when I left England I thought my life was not worth a
farthing. But no more of this for the present....
You promised me another Catalogue of double stars, but I suppose you
have had no time to arrange them. But do not observe too much in cold
weather. Write rather books to make folks stare at your profound
knowledge....
Loves and compliments to all whom _we_ love, and God bless my dear
nephew, says
Your affectionate aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
P.S.—I received Miss B.’s letter on the 16th. It gave me infinite
pleasure to see that Babbage and Brewster have also been honoured with
notice. As for the news of my dear nephew’s appointment, she came too
late, for on the 9th I was honoured by a note written by the Duke of
Cambridge’s own hands, informing me of it.
MISS HERSCHEL TO SIR JOHN HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _December 25, 1831_.
DEAREST NEPHEW,—
More than two months are elapsed since I was made happy by your dear
letter of October 15th.... I hope that perhaps some good account is on
its passage and may reach me before the rivers are frozen up, as at this
time of the year the posts are often interrupted.
I have of late been very little from home, except two evenings in the
week to the play, for I cannot walk the streets without being led, as I
cannot trust my eyes to avoid obstacles, besides a total loss of
strength; so that the chief connection I keep up with this world depends
on what I by imperfect glimpses can gather from the newspaper and a
little talk sometimes with Mrs. Beckedorff. But a few weeks ago I
exerted myself, fearing if I delayed much longer I might not be able at
all to pay my respects to our good Duchess of Cambridge, and I wished to
make good a blunder I had committed two years ago, when I was conversing
with her at the Landgräfin’s for half an hour together, taking her all
the while to be an officer’s lady, as she came accompanied by her
brother, the Prince of Hesse, who wore a moustache. It is the case in
general, that I do not know my most intimate friends except by their
voices. I was, however, very much gratified by my visit. A lady, who is
in the habit of going to Court, left my name along with her own with the
lady-in-waiting, and the next Sunday we were appointed to be there at
half-past one (a very inconvenient hour for me, for I only begin to be
alive when other folks go to sleep). But no reception could be more
friendly. I was made take my place by her on the sofa, and after some
conversation, the little Princess Augusta was called to tell me that she
had seen you at Slough; you had shown her the telescope and described
how it was moved by the handle round about. I asked her if she had seen
the little girls. The Duchess explained that her call had been
unexpected, and regretted that she had not had an opportunity of coming
to Slough herself. Then the Princess was sent to call her father, whom I
presented with your book, and he went to fetch his spectacles, and was
much pleased with the subject, saying, “I shall read it, for I like such
things.” After I had read the whole book myself—mind, I say _the whole_,
though you recommended me to read only the first and last chapters—and
knowing no one who is worthy to look into it, I had it handsomely bound
and wrote in the top margin “To His Royal Highness, the Duke of
Cambridge.” At the side of Sir Francis Bacon stands “_from_” and in the
margin at the bottom, “Caroline Herschel, aunt of the author.” By this
means, I know it secured from contamination in the Duke’s library, where
anybody who is desirous of reading it will find it.
[Sidenote: 1832. _Last Illness of Lady Herschel._]
_December 26th._
MY DEAREST NIECE,—
So far I wrote last night, thinking to fill this page to-day, with such
news as I should like to communicate to my nephew if he was present; but
now all is fled from my memory, for my dear sister is ill, and perhaps
still in danger, and my only trust is in your goodness of sending me a
speedy account, which may confirm the hope you seem to entertain of her
recovery. For there is nothing I so ardently desire as to be spared the
pain of mourning for a single individual of those friends I have in
England, and how much more it would affect me to lose one so nearly
connected, and within a few months of my own age, it may be easily
imagined.... Next to listening to the conversation of learned men, I
like to hear about them, but I find myself, unfortunately, among beings
who like nothing but smoking, big talk on politics, wars, and such like
things. Of our German astronomers, I have lately heard nothing; but
that, perhaps, is owing to Encke having had the cholera, but of which he
soon recovered. Gauss has been long unhappily situated by losing his
second wife, who had been long lingering....
... I beg once more for an early assurance of my dear sister’s recovery.
MISS HERSCHEL TO SIR JOHN HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _Jan. 20, 1832_.
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
My dear niece’s and your letter of January 3rd, have indeed answered
your kind intentions, for the painful communication of your last found
me prepared, and enabled me to break the black seal with tolerable
composure, and I found no small consolation from your description of the
easy ending of your dear departed parent.
At this moment, I am incapable of saying anything of myself. I know it
cannot be long before I shall follow the dear departed, and my pen would
trace nothing but lamentations at the prospect that my remains will not
be joined in rest by the side of those with whom I lived so long.
But I beg and trust you will continue to bless me with your good opinion
and approbation, until the close, for that I have hitherto been in
possession of the same, I conclude from the kind letters I receive from
your own hands....
[Sidenote: 1832. _Enters her eighty-third year._]
MISS HERSCHEL TO LADY HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _March 14, 1832_.
MY DEAREST NIECE,—
Your precious letter, which I received this morning, has relieved my
mind from the fear that some ill might have befallen my dear friends,
because in my solitude the time between January 7th and March 14th,
seems to be an age; besides, the last melancholy letters required some
soothing subject to think on, for I do nothing else but think of the
spot where I once was and never can be again.
But now all is well; your dear letter will make me happy for some time
to come, and in my next I will more fully reply to it, when I hope to be
more composed than I am just now, as the day after to-morrow will be my
birthday, when I, _perhaps_, enter on my eighty-third year. I am always
at the return of that day what one may call “hipt,” and therefore must
destroy my thoughts any how as well as I can.
I kept my dear nephew’s birthday last week, the 7th of March, by
thinking of you throughout the whole day. When I was at dinner, I made
my maid stand opposite to me, and pouring her out a glass of wine, made
her say, Sir John Herschel, lebe hoch! (for ever).
But I must hasten to say that which I wish you to know as soon as
possible, which is, to beg of all things not to send the parcel the good
Miss B. intended for me. I suppose it may consist of some dress of my
dear departed sister.... I beg your acceptance of it for a remembrance
of us both; it would vex me to add anything I set store on, only to
leave it to those I cannot esteem.
* * * * *
I am much obliged to my dear nephew for sending the few pages announcing
the publications of the Royal Society. It is only such morsels as these
which keep up a desire for living any longer. But the premium of the
King of Denmark’s medal, for the discovery of telescopic comets,
provokes me beyond all endurance, for it is of no use to me. One of my
eyes is nearly dark, and I can hardly find the line again I have just
been tracing by feeling on paper.
Pray do not forget me when my nephew’s recension of Mrs. Somerville’s
works makes its appearance....
TO SIR J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _April 20, 1832_.
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
* * * * *
My dear niece has promised me your article[45] on the writings of Mrs.
Somerville. I hope she will not forget it, nor you the Catalogue of
double stars. Such things make me very happy, but of any expensive
publications I would not wish you to throw away upon me _now_; it makes
me only grudge to think of having to leave them in the hands of
blockheads. But if you have anything for Göttingen, Encke, or Bessel, it
amuses me to forward it. Olbers has been dangerously ill for some time;
they tell me he is too fat, and lives too well.
I only write this by way of announcing the parcel, that you may inquire
for it should it not come to hand in due time, else I am very tired, and
must yet make up the parcel, and I want to show myself once more
to-morrow evening at the Oratorio, as it is for the poor, and will be
the last performance this season....
[Sidenote: 1832. _Letter from Hanover._]
EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF SIR JOHN HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _June 19, 1832_.
... I found my aunt wonderfully well and very nicely and comfortably
lodged, and we have since been on the full trot. She runs about the town
with me and skips up her two flights of stairs as light and fresh at
least as _some folks_ I could name who are not a fourth part of her
age.... In the morning till eleven or twelve she is dull and weary, but
as the day advances she gains life, and is quite “fresh and funny” at
ten or eleven, p.m., and sings old rhymes, nay, even dances! to the
great delight of all who see her.... It was only this evening that,
escaping from a party at Mrs. Beckedorff’s, I was able to indulge in
what my soul has been yearning for ever since I came here—a solitary
ramble out of town, among the meadows which border the Leine-strom, from
which the old, tall, sombre-looking Markt-thurm and the three beautiful
lanthorn-steeples of Hanover are seen as in the little picture I have
often looked at with a sort of mysterious wonder when a boy as that
strange place in foreign parts that my father and uncle used to talk so
much about, and so familiarly. The _likeness_ is correct, and I soon
found the point of view.
Yesterday, being the anniversary of Waterloo, there was a great military
_spectacle_ here in a large esplanade, where there is erected a tall and
very pretty column, with a bronze “Victory” at the top, hopping on one
leg. A few guns were fired, a sermon preached, the veil of the statue
(shown for the first time) pulled off by the Duke of Cambridge, and a
good dinner eaten by 350 personages, of which number I had the honour to
be one unit, in a vast saloon in the Herrenhauser Palace, about the
length, breadth, and height of St. George’s Hall, at Windsor, the Duke
presiding and giving the toasts, &c., in honour of the Waterloo heroes.
The saloon was ornamented most curiously with guns, swords, and pikes,
arranged in patterns, and with Waterloo trophies, and a panoramic view
of the field of Waterloo in compartments. No ladies were admitted to the
table, and (what say you to the gallantry of the Hanoverian military?)
there was no ball in the evening, nor _any_ the _slightest_ provision
for the amusement or participation of the fair. So Mars and Venus, I
suppose, have had a “tiff!” Adieu.
[Sidenote: 1832-1833. _Her Life in Hanover._]
TO LADY HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _Dec. 4, 1832_.
MY DEAREST NIECE,—
I shall in future, when I have anything to say to my dear nephew address
myself to you, well knowing his time is too precious for spending even
on reading.... Thank him most heartily for the “Edinburgh Review,” and
the description of the wonderful machine.... But here is the
_grievance_—I cannot possibly read the Review, my sight is almost lost,
and I must wait till Miss Beckedorff or somebody can read to me.... Dr.
Tias, who travelled through Hanover, called on me to-day. He talked
strangely about my nephew’s intention of going to the Cape of Good Hope.
Mr. Hausmann told me some weeks ago that the _Times_ contained the same
report, to which I replied, “It is a lie!” but what I heard from Dr.
Tias to-day makes me almost believe it possible. Ja! if I was thirty or
forty years younger, and could go too? in Gottes nahmen! But I will not
think about it till you yourself tell me more of it, for I have enough
to think of my cramps, blindness, sleepless nights, &c.
TO SIR J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _March 30, 1833_.
MY DEAREST NEPHEW,—
Ever since the 6th of March, the day on which I received my dear niece’s
of the 26th of February, I have been enabled to dispel by its
comfortable contents the gloomy reflections with which I am on the
return of your and my birthdays assailed. But being obliged to spend
such days alone, at a distance from all who are dear to us; or, what
would be worse, in the presence of beings of uncongenial feelings, one
is apt to fall again into the dismals, which the return of the late snow
and frosty weather prevented my taking recourse to my usual remedy,
which is to turn all grievances into a joke. Your birthday I celebrated
exactly like that of 1832, viz., after dinner I jingled glasses with
Betty, and made her say, “Es lebe Sir John! hoch![46] hurrah!” She went
in the kitchen to wash the dishes, and I with a book (a silly novel) in
my hand on the sofa asleep!...
I begin to be confused, and had rather say nothing of the thousand
things which are running in my head, and which all must be said within
the next six months. As yet I can follow your steps and proceedings, for
I read the papers—the _Globe_—and saw that in June is the meeting in
Cambridge.... From these papers I also see how all my valuable
acquaintances drop off one after another. Captain Kater has lost his
wife, the fine singer; Mrs. Parry; Lady Harcourt; your dear mother, are
gone—the latter three of my own age, and I must hold out!
TO LADY HERSCHEL.
HANOVER, _August 1, 1833_.
* * * * *
I have now the pleasure of thanking my nephew for his valuable book of
astronomy, having actually received it by yesterday’s post, and by a
kind letter from Professor Schumacher. I learn that I may yet hope to
see the promised Catalogue of nebulæ and double stars, to the perusal of
which I look forward as a solace during the time you will be on your way
_far, far_ from us. But these treasures cause me no little thinking
about in whose hands I shall leave them when I cannot see them any
longer, but cannot think of anyone I should like to leave them in
preference to the Duke of Cambridge.
I cannot find words which would express sufficient thanks to my dear
nephew for his last letter, every line of which conveys a comfort.
* * * * *
P.S.—Dear Nephew, as soon as your instrument is erected I wish you would
see if there was not something remarkable in the lower part of the
Scorpion to be found, for I remember your father returned several nights
and years to the same spot, but could not satisfy himself about the
uncommon appearance of that part of the heavens. It was something more
than a total absence of stars (I believe). But you will have seen by the
register that those lower parts could only be marked _half swept_. I
wish you health and good success to all you undertake, and a happy
return to a peaceful home in old England. God bless you all!
[Sidenote: 1833. _Retrospection._]
TO THE SAME.
_Sept. 6, 1833._
MY DEAR NIECE,—
Eight days are already gone since the arrival of your dear letter of
August 21st, and I can hardly muster up composure enough at this moment
to reply to it, because my ideas are still, what they ever have been,
more occupied with future or past events than what passes immediately
about me. At present my thoughts are wholly fixed on the busy scenes
with which you are at present surrounded, and regretting that I am not
with you to afford you any assistance, or to take charge of my nephew’s
workshops, as I used to do of his father’s when absent; or that it is
not possible to shake off some thirty years from my shoulders that I
might accompany you on your voyage.
In answer to your query about my nephew’s building a grotto of coals I
must plead ignorance, but have no doubt many an edifice of that kind has
daily been erected and erased without my being present, for my dear
nephew was only in his sixth year when I came to be detached from the
family circle. But this did not hinder _John_ and _I_ from remaining the
most affectionate friends, and many a half or whole holiday he was
allowed to spend with me, was dedicated to making experiments in
chemistry, where generally all boxes, tops of tea-canisters,
pepper-boxes, teacups, &c., served for the necessary vessels, and the
sand-tub furnished the matter to be analysed. I only had to take care to
exclude water, which would have produced havoc on my carpet. And for his
first notion of building I believe he is indebted to me, for it was on
his second or third birthday when I lifted him in the trenches to lay
the south corner-stone of the building which was added to the original
house at Slough. It must have been the second year of his age, for I
remember I was obliged to use a deal of coaxing to make him part with
the money he was to lay on the brick.
About the same time, when one day I was sitting beside him, listening to
his prattle, my attention was drawn by his hammering to see what he
might be about, and found that it was the continuation of many days’
labour, and that the ground about the corner of the house was
undermined, the corner-stone entirely away, and he was hard at work
going on with the next. I gave the alarm, and old John Wiltshire, a
favourite carpenter, came running, crying out, “God bless the boy, if he
is not going to pull the house down!” (Our John was this man’s pet, he
taught him to handle the tools). A bricklayer came directly with brick
and mortar to mend the damage.
I was called to my solitary dinner just when I was going to give you a
few specimens of my nephew’s poetry; I have some by me, composed when
about eight or nine years old, in a most shocking handwriting; but
generally about this time I am so sleepy that I think it will be best to
give you the continuation in a posthumous letter from C. H. to Lady M.
B. Herschel, to be delivered to her on her return from the Cape....
If I only live long enough to have the assurance of your _all_ being
well and safely got to the Cape, I will lay down my head in peace.
My paper is not filled, but there is not time for writing more, nor do I
like to think about the present; but about a month ago I began a
day-book again, which I was in the habit of keeping when in England, and
with the contents of that I intend to fill my posthumous letter to you.
God bless you, my dear niece ... and with my love to my dear nephew and
yourself,
I remain,
Your most affectionate aunt,
CAR. HERSCHEL.
[Sidenote: 1833. _To Professor Schumacher._]
TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER.
_Dec. 11, 1833._
DEAR SIR,—
By recollecting your former obliging kindness to me, I am encouraged
once more to intrude on your valuable time by transcribing part of my
nephew’s last letter, dated from Portsmouth, November 10th:—“The last
proof sheet of my nebulæ paper left my hands the night I left London,
and yesterday I got twelve copies to take to the Cape. One will be
forwarded to you to-morrow by Lieut. Stratford, R.N., superintendent of
the “Nautical Almanac,” who will send it to Prof. Schumacher, to whom,
if you do not soon get it, pray write. I have also ordered a duplicate
to be sent you by Mr. Hudson, assistant secretary of the Royal Society,
and librarian, who will henceforward send you all my papers (in
duplicate). My observations on the satellites of Uranus, which confirm
my brother’s results, were sent to be put in course of publication last
night.”
I have no doubt but that you, Sir, are in correspondence with the above
named, but to me unknown, gentlemen, and that those two copies intended
for me are only enclosed in a packet with many for yourself.
I long much to see the observations on the Georgian satellites, but
doubt their being ready to come with the paper on nebulæ. I beg you will
order them to be forwarded to me as soon as you see them yourselves, for
I do not flatter myself with the hopes of being much longer for this
world, but will be thankful if life is spared me till the end of April,
when I hope to receive the assurance of my nephew’s safe arrival with
his dear family at the Cape.
Excuse my troubling you so far, and believe me with great regard, dear
Sir,
Your much obliged and humble servant,
C. HERSCHEL.