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SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL
HIS LIFE AND WORKS
[Illustration: Sir William Herschel]
SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL
HIS LIFE AND WORKS
BY
EDWARD S. HOLDEN
UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY, WASHINGTON
[Illustration: Coelis Exploratis]
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
743 AND 745 BROADWAY
1881
COPYRIGHT, 1880,
BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
PRESS OF J. J. LITTLE & CO.,
NOS. 10 TO 20 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK.
Please see the end of the text for TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
PREFACE.
In the following account of the life and works of Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL,
I have been obliged to depend strictly upon data already in print--the
_Memoir_ of his sister, his own scientific writings and the memoirs and
diaries of his cotemporaries. The review of his published works will, I
trust, be of use. It is based upon a careful study of all his papers in
the _Philosophical Transactions_ and elsewhere.
A life of HERSCHEL which shall be satisfactory in every particular can
only be written after a full examination of the materials which are
preserved at the family seat in England; but as two generations have
passed since his death, and as no biography yet exists which approaches
to completeness, no apology seems to me to be needed for a
conscientious attempt to make the best use of the scanty material which
we do possess.
This study will, I trust, serve to exhibit so much of his life as
belongs to the whole public. His private life belongs to his family,
until the time is come to let the world know more of the greatest of
practical astronomers and of the inner life of one of its most profound
philosophers,--of a great and ardent mind, whose achievements are and
will remain the glory of England.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS; 1738-1772, 1
CHAPTER II.
LIFE IN BATH; 1772-1782, 33
CHAPTER III.
LIFE AT DATCHET, CLAY HALL, AND SLOUGH; 1782-1822, 68
CHAPTER IV.
REVIEW OF THE SCIENTIFIC LABORS OF HERSCHEL, 118
BIBLIOGRAPHY, 215
INDEX OF NAMES, 235
LIFE AND WORKS
OF
WILLIAM HERSCHEL.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS; 1738-1772.
Of the great modern philosophers, that one of whom least is known, is
WILLIAM HERSCHEL. We may appropriate the words which escaped him when
the barren region of the sky near the body of _Scorpio_ was passing
slowly through the field of his great reflector, during one of his
sweeps, to express our own sense of absence of light and knowledge:
_Hier ist wahrhaftig ein Loch im Himmel._
HERSCHEL prepared, about the year 1818, a biographical memorandum, which
his sister CAROLINA placed among his papers.
This has never been made public. The only thoroughly authentic sources
of information in possession of the world, are a letter written by
HERSCHEL himself, in answer to a pressing request for a sketch of his
life, and the _Memoir and Correspondence of CAROLINE HERSCHEL_ (London,
1876), a precious memorial not only of his life, but of one which
otherwise would have remained almost unknown, and one, too, which the
world could ill afford to lose. The latter, which has been ably edited
by Mrs. MARY CORNWALLIS HERSCHEL,[1] is the only source of knowledge in
regard to the early years of the great astronomer, and together with the
all too scanty materials to be gained from a diligent search through the
biography of the time, affords the data for those personal details of
his life, habits, and character, which seem to complete the distinct,
though partial conception of him which the student of his philosophical
writings acquires.
The letter referred to was published in the Goettingen Magazine of
Science and Literature, III., 4, shortly after the name of HERSCHEL had
become familiar to every ear through his discovery of _Uranus_, but
while the circumstances of the discovery, and the condition of the
amateur who made it, were still entirely unknown.
The editor (LICHTENBERG) says:
"Herr HERSCHEL was good enough to send me, some time since, through
Herr MAGELLAN, copies of his Dissertations on Double Stars, on the
Parallax of the Fixed Stars, and on a new Micrometer. In the letter
which conveyed to him my thanks for his gift, I requested him to
note down a few facts in regard to his life, for publication in this
magazine, since various accounts, more or less incorrect, had
appeared in several journals. In answer, I received a very obliging
letter from him and what follows is that portion of it relating to
my request, which was sent me with full permission to make it
public."
"DATCHET, NEAR WINDSOR,
_Nov. 15, 1783._
"I was born in Hanover, November, 1738. My father, who was a
musician, destined me to the same profession, hence I was
instructed betimes in his art. That I might acquire a perfect
knowledge of the theory as well as of the practice of music, I was
set at an early age to study mathematics in all its
branches--algebra, conic sections, infinitesimal analysis, and the
rest.
"The insatiable desire for knowledge thus awakened resulted next in
a course of languages; I learned French, English, and Latin, and
steadfastly resolved henceforth to devote myself wholly to those
sciences from the pursuit of which I alone looked for all my future
happiness and enjoyment. I have never been either necessitated or
disposed to alter this resolve. My father, whose means were limited,
and who consequently could not be as liberal to his children as he
would have desired, was compelled to dispose of them in one way or
another at an early age; consequently in my fifteenth year I
enlisted in military service, only remaining in the army, however,
until I reached my nineteenth year, when I resigned and went over to
England.
"My familiarity with the organ, which I had carefully mastered
previously, soon procured for me the position of organist in
Yorkshire, which I finally exchanged for a similar situation at Bath
in 1766, and while here the peculiar circumstances of my post, as
agreeable as it was lucrative, made it possible for me to occupy
myself once more with my studies, especially with mathematics. When,
in the course of time, I took up astronomy, I determined to accept
nothing on faith, but to see with my own eyes everything which
others had seen before me. Having already some knowledge of the
science of optics, I resolved to manufacture my own telescopes, and
after many continuous, determined trials, I finally succeeded in
completing a so-called Newtonian instrument, seven feet in length.
From this I advanced to one of ten feet, and at last to one of
twenty, for I had fully made up my mind to carry on the improvement
of my telescopes as far as it could possibly be done. When I had
carefully and thoroughly perfected the great instrument in all its
parts, I made systematic use of it in my observations of the
heavens, first forming a determination never to pass by any, the
smallest, portion of them without due investigation. This habit,
persisted in, led to the discovery of the new planet (_Georgium
Sidus_). This was by no means the result of chance, but a simple
consequence of the position of the planet on that particular
evening, since it occupied precisely that spot in the heavens which
came in the order of the minute observations that I had previously
mapped out for myself. Had I not seen it just when I did, I must
inevitably have come upon it soon after, since my telescope was so
perfect that I was able to distinguish it from a fixed star in the
first minute of observation.
"Now to bring this sketch to a close. As the king had expressed a
desire to see my telescope, I took it by his command to Greenwich,
where it was compared with the instruments of my excellent friend,
Dr. MASKELYNE, not only by himself, but by other experts, who
pronounced it as their opinion that my instrument was superior to
all the rest. Thereupon the king ordered that the instrument be
brought to Windsor, and since it there met with marked approval, his
majesty graciously awarded me a yearly pension, that I might be
enabled to relinquish my profession of music, and devote my whole
time to astronomy and the improvement of the telescope. Gratitude,
as well as other considerations specified by me in a paper presented
to the Royal Society, of which I am a member, has induced me to call
the new planet _Georgium Sidus_.
"'Georgium Sidus.--jam nunc assuesce vocari.'--(_Virgil._)
And I hope it will retain the name."
We know but little of the family of HERSCHEL. The name is undoubtedly
Jewish, and is found in Poland, Germany, and England. We learn that the
ancestors of the present branch left Moravia about the beginning of the
XVIIth century, on account of their change of religion to Protestantism.
They became possessors of land in Saxony. HANS HERSCHEL, the
great-grandfather of WILLIAM, was a brewer in Pirna (a small town near
Dresden). Of the two sons of HANS, one, ABRAHAM (born in 1651, died
1718), was employed in the royal gardens at Dresden, and seems to have
been a man of taste and skill in his calling. Of his eldest son,
EUSEBIUS, there appears to be little trace in the records of the family.
The second son, BENJAMIN, died in infancy; the third, ISAAC, was born in
1707 (Jan. 14), and was thus an orphan at eleven years of age. ISAAC was
the father of the great astronomer.
He appears to have early had a passionate fondness for music, and this,
added to a distaste for his father's calling, determined his career. He
was taught music by an oboe-player in the royal band, and he also
learned the violin. At the age of twenty-one he studied music for a year
under the Cappelmeister PABRICH, at Potsdam, and in August, 1731, he
became oboist in the band of the Guards, at Hanover. In August, 1732, he
married ANNA ILSE MORITZEN. She appears to have been a careful and busy
wife and mother, possessed of no special faculties which would lead us
to attribute to her care any great part of the abilities of her son.
She could not herself write the letters which she sent to her husband
during his absences with his regiment. It was her firm belief that the
separations and some of the sorrows of the family came from too much
learning; and while she could not hinder the education of the sons of
the family, she prevented their sisters from learning French and
dancing. It is but just to say that the useful accomplishments of
cooking, sewing, and the care of a household, were thoroughly taught by
her to her two daughters. The father, ISAAC, appears to have been of a
different mould, and to him, no doubt, the chief intellectual
characteristics of the family are due. His position obliged him to be
often absent from Hanover, with his regiment, but his hand appears to
have been always present, smoothing over difficulties, and encouraging
his sons to such learning and improvement as was to be had.
His health was seriously injured by the exposures of the campaigns,
and he was left, after the Seven Years' War, with a broken constitution.
After his final return home, in 1760, his daughter gives this record of
him--
"Copying music employed every vacant moment, even sometimes
throughout half the night. . . . With my brother [DIETRICH]--now a
little engaging creature of between four and five years old--he was
very much pleased, and [on the first evening of his arrival at home]
before he went to rest, the Adempken (a little violin) was taken
from the shelf and newly strung, and the daily lessons immediately
commenced. . . . I do not recollect that he ever desired any other
society than what he had opportunities of enjoying in many of the
parties where he was introduced by his profession, though far from
being of a morose disposition; he would frequently encourage my
mother in keeping up a social intercourse among a few acquaintances,
whilst his afternoon hours generally were taken up in giving lessons
to some scholars at home, who gladly saved him the troublesome
exertion of walking. . . . He also found great pleasure in seeing
DIETRICH'S improvement, who, young as he was, and of the most lively
temper imaginable, was always ready to receive his lessons, leaving
his little companions with the greatest cheerfulness to go to his
father, who was so pleased with his performances that he made him
play a solo on the Adempken in RAKE'S concert, being placed on a
table before a crowded company, for which he was very much applauded
and caressed, particularly by an English lady, who put a gold coin
in his little pocket.
"It was not long before my father had as many scholars as he could
find time to attend. And when they assembled at my father's to make
little concerts, I was frequently called to join the second violin
in an overture, for my father found pleasure in giving me sometimes
a lesson before the instruments were laid by, after practising with
DIETRICH, for I never was missing at those hours, sitting in a
corner with my knitting and listening all the while."
Here, as in all her writing, CAROLINA is simple, true, direct to
awkwardness, and unconsciously pathetic even in joy.
The family of ISAAC and ANNA HERSCHEL consisted of ten children. Six of
these lived to adult age. They were:
1. SOPHIA ELIZABETH; born 1733, married GRIESBACH, a musician in the
Guard, by whom she had children. Five of her sons were afterwards
musicians at the court, in England, where they obtained places
through the influence of WILLIAM.
2. HENRY ANTON JACOB; born 1734, November 20.
4. FREDERIC WILLIAM (the astronomer) born 1738, November 15.
6. JOHN ALEXANDER; born 1745, November 13.
8. CAROLINA LUCRETIA; born 1750, March 16.
10. DIETRICH; born 1755, September 13.
Of this family group, the important figures to us are WILLIAM,
ALEXANDER, and CAROLINA.
JACOB was organist at the Garrison Church of Hanover in 1753, a member
of the Guards' band in 1755, and first violin in the Hanover Court
Orchestra in 1759. Afterwards he joined his brother WILLIAM in Bath, but
again returned to Hanover. In 1771 he published in Amsterdam his Opus
I., a set of six quartettes, and later, in London, he published two
symphonies and six trios. He appears to have been a clever musician, and
his letters to his younger brother WILLIAM are full of discussion on
points of musical composition, etc. He died in 1792.
DIETRICH, the youngest brother, shared in the musical abilities of his
family, and when only fifteen years old was so far advanced as to be
able to supply his brother JACOB'S place in the Court Orchestra, and to
give his lessons to private pupils. There is no one of the family,
except the eldest daughter, whom we do not know to have possessed marked
ability in music, and this taste descended truly for four generations.
In the letters of Chevalier BUNSEN,[2] he describes meeting, in 1847,
the eldest granddaughter of WILLIAM HERSCHEL, who, he says, "is a
musical genius."
Three members of the family, WILLIAM, ALEXANDER, and CAROLINA, formed a
group which was inseparable for many years, and while the progress of
the lives of ALEXANDER and CAROLINA was determined by the energy and
efforts of WILLIAM, these two lent him an aid without which his career
would have been strangely different. It is necessary to understand a
little better the early life of all three.
The sons of the HERSCHEL family all attended the garrison school in
Hanover until they were about fourteen years old. They were taught the
ordinary rudiments of knowledge--to read, to write, to cipher--and a
knowledge of French and English was added. WILLIAM especially
distinguished himself in his studies, learning French very rapidly, and
studying Latin and arithmetic with his master out of hours. The
household life seems to have been active, harmonious, and intelligent,
especially during the presence of the father, who took a great delight
in the rapid progress of all his sons in music, and who encouraged them
with his companionship in their studies and in their reading on all
intellectual subjects.
From the _Memoir_ of CAROLINA, on which we must depend for our
knowledge of this early life, we take the following paragraph:
"My brothers were often introduced as solo performers and assistants
in the orchestra of the court, and I remember that I was frequently
prevented from going to sleep by the lively criticism on music on
coming from a concert, or by conversations on philosophical subjects,
which lasted frequently till morning, in which my father was a
lively partaker and assistant of my brother WILLIAM, by contriving
self-made instruments. . . . Often I would keep myself awake that
I might listen to their animating remarks, for it made _me so happy_
to see _them so happy_. But generally their conversation would
branch out on philosophical subjects, when my brother WILLIAM and my
father often argued with such warmth that my mother's interference
became necessary, when the names LEIBNITZ, NEWTON, and EULER
sounded rather too loud for the repose of her little ones, who
ought to be in school by seven in the morning. But it seems that
on the brothers retiring to their own room, where they shared
the same bed, my brother WILLIAM had still a great deal to say; and
frequently it happened that when he stopped for an assent or reply,
he found his hearer was gone to sleep, and I suppose it was not till
then that he bethought himself to do the same.
"The recollection of these happy scenes confirms me in the belief,
that had my brother WILLIAM not then been interrupted in his
philosophical pursuits, we should have had much earlier proofs of
his inventive genius. My father was a great admirer of astronomy,
and had some knowledge of that science; for I remember his taking
me, on a clear frosty night, into the street, to make me acquainted
with several of the most beautiful constellations, after we had been
gazing at a comet which was then visible. And I well remember with
what delight he used to assist my brother WILLIAM in his various
contrivances in the pursuit of his philosophical studies, among
which was a neatly turned 4-inch globe, upon which the equator and
ecliptic were engraved by my brother."
The mechanical genius was not confined to WILLIAM, for we read that
ALEXANDER used often to "sit by us and amuse us and himself by making
all sorts of things out of pasteboard, or contriving how to make a
twelve-hour cuckoo clock go a week." This ability of ALEXANDER'S was
turned later to the best account when he became his brother WILLIAM'S
right hand in the manufacture of reflectors, eye-pieces, and stands in
England. His abilities were great, and a purpose which might otherwise
have been lacking was supplied through the younger brother's ardor in
all that he undertook.
His musical talent was remarkable; he played "divinely" on the
violoncello. He returned to Hanover in 1816, where he lived in
comfortable independence, through the never-failing generosity of his
brother, until his death in 1821. A notice of him in a Bristol paper
says: "Died, March 15, 1821, at Hanover, ALEXANDER HERSCHEL, Esqr., well
known to the public of Bath and Bristol as a performer and elegant
musician; and who for forty-seven years was the admiration of the
frequenters of concerts and theatres of both those cities as principal
violoncello. To the extraordinary merits of Mr. HERSCHEL was united
considerable acquirement in the superior branches of mechanics and
philosophy, and his affinity to his brother, Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL, was
not less in science than in blood."
We shall learn more of the sister, CAROLINA, as time goes on. Now in
these early years she was a silent and persistent child, growing up with
a feeling that she was uncared for and neglected, and lavishing all her
childish affection, as she did all that of her womanly life, on her
brother WILLIAM. Throughout her long life, "my brother" was WILLIAM,
"my nephew" _his_ son.
The brothers JACOB and WILLIAM were, with their father, members of the
band of the Guards in 1755, when the regiment was ordered to England,
and they were absent from Hanover a year.
WILLIAM (then seventeen years old) went as oboist, and out of his
scanty pay brought back to Hanover, in 1756, only one memento of his
stay--a copy of LOCKE _On the Human Understanding_.
He appears to have served with the Guard during part of the campaign of
1757. His health was then delicate, and his parents "determined to
remove him from the service--a step attended by no small
difficulties."[3]
This "removal" was hurriedly and safely effected, so hurriedly that the
copy of LOCKE was not put in the parcels sent after him to Hamburg by
his mother; "she, dear woman, knew no other wants than good linen and
clothing."
Thus, at last, the young WILLIAM HERSCHEL, the son of an oboe-player in
the King's Guard, is launched in life for himself, in the year 1757, at
the age of nineteen.
All his equipment is the "good linen and clothing," a knowledge of
French, Latin, and English, some skill in playing the violin, the organ,
and the oboe, and an "uncommon precipitancy" in doing what there is to
be done.
A slender outfit truly; but we are not to overlook what he said of
himself on another occasion. "I have, nevertheless, several resources in
view, and do not despair of succeeding pretty well in the end."
From 1757 to 1760--three years--we know nothing of his life. We can
imagine what it was. His previous visit to England had given him a good
knowledge of the language, and perhaps a few uninfluential
acquaintances. On his return he would naturally seek these out, and, by
means of his music, he could gain a livelihood. We first hear of him as
charged with the organization of the music of a corps of the militia of
Durham, under the auspices of the EARL OF DARLINGTON. "La maniere dont
il remplit cette mission, le fit connaitre avantageusement."[4] The
nature of the service of these militia corps, which were then forming
all over England, is well described in the Autobiography of GIBBON.
Every county-gentleman felt constrained to serve his country,
and the regimental mess-rooms were filled with men of rank and fashion.
In 1760 we hear of him again. He has attracted the notice of those about
him.
"About the year 1760, as MILLER[5] was dining at Pontefract with
the officers of the Durham militia, one of them, knowing his love of
music, told him they had a young German in their band as a performer
on the hautboy, who had only been a few months in England, and yet
spoke English almost as well as a native, and who was also an
excellent performer on the violin; the officer added that if MILLER
would come into another room, this German should entertain him with
a solo. The invitation was gladly accepted, and MILLER heard a solo
of GIARDINI'S executed in a manner that surprised him. He afterwards
took an opportunity of having some private conversation with the
young musician, and asked him whether he had engaged himself for any
long period to the Durham militia. The answer was, 'Only from month
to month.' 'Leave them, then,' said the organist, 'and come and live
with me. I am a single man, and think we shall be happy together;
and, doubtless, your merit will soon entitle you to a more eligible
situation.' The offer was accepted as frankly as it was made, and
the reader may imagine with what satisfaction Dr. MILLER
must have remembered this act of generous feeling when he hears
that this young German was HERSCHEL, the Astronomer. 'My humble
mansion,' says MILLER, 'consisted, at that time, but of two rooms.
However, poor as I was, my cottage contained a library of
well-chosen books; and it must appear singular that a foreigner who
had been so short a time in England should understand even the
peculiarities of the language so well as to fix upon SWIFT for his
favorite author.'
"He took an early opportunity of introducing his new friend at
Mr. CROPLEY'S concerts; the first violin was resigned to him; 'and
never,' says the organist, 'had I heard the concertos of CORELLI,
GEMINIANI, and AVISON, or the overtures of HANDEL performed more
chastely, or more according to the original intention of the
composers, than by Mr. HERSCHEL. I soon lost my companion; his fame
was presently spread abroad; he had the offer of pupils, and was
solicited to lead the public concerts both at Wakefield and Halifax.
A new organ for the parish church of Halifax was built about this
time, and HERSCHEL was one of the seven candidates for the
organist's place. They drew lots how they were to perform in
succession. HERSCHEL drew the third, the second fell to Dr.
WAINWRIGHT of Manchester, whose finger was so rapid that old
SNETZLER, the organ-builder, ran about the church exclaiming:
'_Te tevel! te tevel! he run over te keys like one cat; he will
not give my piphes room for to shpeak._' 'During Mr. WAINWRIGHT'S
performance,' says MILLER, 'I was standing in the middle aisle with
HERSCHEL. 'What chance have you,' said I, 'to follow this man?' He
replied, 'I don't know; I am sure fingers will not do.' On which he
ascended the organ loft, and produced from the organ so uncommon a
fulness, such a volume of slow, solemn harmony, that I could by no
means account for the effect. After this short _ex tempore_
effusion, he finished with the Old Hundredth psalm-tune, which he
played better than his opponent.
"'_Ay, ay_,' cried old SNETZLER, '_tish is very goot, very goot
indeet; I vil luf tish man, for he gives my piphes room for to
shpeak._' Having afterwards asked Mr. HERSCHEL by what means, in the
beginning of his performance, he produced so uncommon an effect, he
replied, 'I told you fingers would not do!' and producing two pieces
of lead from his waistcoat pocket, 'one of these,' said he,
'I placed on the lowest key of the organ, and the other upon the
octave above; thus by accommodating the harmony, I produced the
effect of four hands, instead of two.'"[6]
The dates in this extract are not so well defined as might be wished.
HERSCHEL had certainly been more than a few months in England at the
time of his meeting with Dr. MILLER, which was probably about 1760. The
appointment as organist at Halifax was in 1765, and the pupils and
public concerts must have filled up the intervening five years. During a
part of this time he lived in Leeds, with the family of Mr. BULMAN, whom
he afterwards provided with a place as clerk to the Octagon Chapel, in
his usual generous manner.
All during his life he was placing some of the less fortunate and
energetic members of his family.
We cannot be too grateful to Dr. MILLER, who, seeing his opportunity,
used it. Their frank friendship does honor to both. HERSCHEL'S
organ-playing, which no doubt had been begun when his brother was the
organist of the garrison chapel at Hanover, must have been perfected at
this time, and it was through his organ-playing that he was able to
leave the needy life in Yorkshire.
He was sure to have emerged sooner or later, but every year spared to
him as a struggling musician was a year saved to Astronomy.
During all this period, a constant correspondence was maintained
between the family at Hanover and the absent son.
Many of WILLIAM'S letters were written in English, and addressed to his
brother JACOB, and treated of such subjects as the Theory of Music, in
which he was already far advanced.
His little sister was still faithful to the memory of her _dearest_
brother, and his father, whose health was steadily declining, became
painfully eager for his return. In 1764 (April 2), he returned to
Hanover on a very brief visit. He was attached to England, he was
prospering there, and he had no inclination towards returning to a life
in Hanover. His sister says:
"Of the joys and pleasures which all felt at this long-wished-for
meeting with my--let me say my _dearest_--brother, but a small
portion could fall to my share; for with my constant attendance at
church and school, besides the time I was employed in doing the
drudgery of the scullery, it was but seldom I could make one in the
group when the family were assembled together.
"In the first week, some of the orchestra were invited to a concert,
at which some of my brother WILLIAM'S compositions, overtures, etc.,
and some of my eldest brother JACOB'S were performed, to the great
delight of my dear father, who hoped and expected that they would
be turned to some profit by publishing them, but there was no
printer who bid high enough.
"Sunday, the 8th, was the--to me--eventful day of my confirmation,
and I left home not a little proud and encouraged by my dear brother
WILLIAM'S approbation of my appearance in my new gown."
The engagement of HERSCHEL at Halifax did not long continue. In 1766 he
obtained an advantageous engagement as oboist at Bath, and soon after
the position of organist at the Octagon Chapel was offered to him and
accepted. This was a great and important change.
Bath was then, as now, one of the most beautiful cities in England, and
the resort of the fashion and rank of the kingdom, who came to take the
waters. It is beautifully situated on both sides of the Avon, and has
many fine walks and public buildings. The aspect of the city is markedly
cheerful and brilliant, owing to the nature of the white stone of which
the principal houses are built, and to the exquisite amphitheatre of
hills in which they lie.
The society was then gay and polite, and HERSCHEL was at once thrown
into a far more intelligent atmosphere than that he had just left in
Yorkshire. It was easy to get new books, to see new faces, to hear new
things. The Assembly Rooms (built in 1771) were noted for their size and
elegance; the theatre was the best out of London.
His position as organist of the fashionable chapel placed him in the
current. His charming and engaging manners made him friends. His talents
brought him admirers and pupils, and pupils brought him money.[7]
He began in 1766 a life of unceasing activity, which continued. In 1768
he published in London a symphony (in C) for two violins, viola, bass,
two oboes, and two horns, and in the same year two military concertos
for two oboes, two horns, two trumpets, and two bassoons.[8] He wrote
pieces for the harp, glees, "catches," and other songs for the
voice. One of these, the _Echo Catch_, was published and had even
considerable vogue.
A competent musical critic writes to me of this work: "The
counterpoint is clear and flowing, and is managed with considerable
taste and effect. It would be difficult to explain the great
cleverness shown in the construction of the _Catch_ without diagrams
to illustrate the movements of the parts. It is certainly an
ingenious bit of musical writing."
When he left Bath (in 1782), many of these musical writings were lost,
in his great haste to take up his new profession. One, specially, his
sister remembers to have written out for the printer, "but he could not
find a moment to send it off, nor answer the printer's letters." This
was a four-part song, "In thee I bear so dear a part." He wrote very
many anthems, chants, and psalm-tunes for the excellent cathedral choir
of the Octagon Chapel. Unfortunately, most of this music is now not to
be found.
A notice of HERSCHEL'S life which appeared in the _European Magazine_
for 1785, January, gives a very lively picture of his life at this
time, and it is especially valuable as showing how he appeared to his
cotemporaries.
"Although Mr. HERSCHEL loved music to an excess, and made a
considerable progress in it, he yet determined with a sort of
enthusiasm to devote every moment he could spare from business to
the pursuit of knowledge, which he regarded as the sovereign good,
and in which he resolved to place all his views of future happiness
in life.". . .
"His situation at the Octagon Chapel proved a very profitable one,
as he soon fell into all the public business of the concerts, the
Rooms, the Theatre, and the oratorios, besides many scholars and
private concerts. This great run of business, instead of lessening
his propensity to study, increased it, so that many times, after a
fatiguing day of fourteen or sixteen hours spent in his vocation, he
would retire at night with the greatest avidity to _unbend the
mind_, if it may be so called, with a few propositions in
MACLAURIN'S _Fluxions_, or other books of that sort."
It was in these years that he mastered Italian and made some progress
in Greek.
"We may hazard a natural conjecture respecting the course of
HERSCHEL'S early studies. Music conducted him to mathematics, or,
in other words, impelled him to study SMITH'S _Harmonics_. Now this
ROBERT SMITH was the author of _A Complete System of Optics_,
a masterly work, which, notwithstanding the rapid growth of that
branch of the science, is not yet wholly superseded. It seems to us
not unlikely that HERSCHEL, studying the _Harmonics_, conceived a
reverence for the author, who was at that time still living, so that
from the _Philosophy of Music_ he passed to the _Optics_, a work on
which SMITH'S great reputation chiefly rested; and thus undesignedly
prepared himself for the career on which he was shortly about to
enter with so much glory."[9]
There is no doubt that this conjecture is a true one. The _Optics_ of
Dr. SMITH is one of the very few books quoted by HERSCHEL throughout his
writings, and there is every evidence of his complete familiarity with
its conclusions and methods; and this familiarity is of the kind which a
student acquires with his early text-books. One other work he quotes in
the same way, LALANDE'S _Astronomy_, and this too must have been deeply
studied.
During the years 1765-1772, while HERSCHEL was following his profession
and his studies at Bath, the family life at Hanover went on in much the
same way.
In 1765 his father ISAAC had a stroke of paralysis, which ended his
violin-playing forever, and forced him to depend entirely upon pupils
and copying of music for a livelihood. He died on March 22, 1767,
leaving behind him a good name, and living in the affectionate
remembrance of his children and of all who knew him.
CAROLINA had now lost her best friend, and transferred to her brother
WILLIAM the affection she had before divided between him and her father.
"My father wished to give me something like a polished education,
but my mother was particularly determined that it should be a rough,
but at the same time a useful one; and nothing farther she thought
was necessary but to send me two or three months to a sempstress to
be taught to make household linen. . . . My mother would not consent
to my being taught French, and my brother Dietrich was even denied a
dancing-master, because she would not permit my learning along with
him, though the entrance had been paid for us both; so all my father
could do for me was to indulge me (and please himself) sometimes
with a short lesson on the violin, when my mother was either in
good humor or out of the way. Though I have often felt myself
exceedingly at a loss for the want of those few accomplishments of
which I was thus, by an erroneous though well-meant opinion of my
mother, deprived, I could not help thinking but that she had cause
for wishing me not to know more than was necessary for being useful
in the family; for it was her certain belief that my brother WILLIAM
would have returned to his country, and my eldest brother not have
looked so high, if they had had a little less learning.
* * * * *
But sometimes I found it scarcely possible to get through with the
work required, and felt very unhappy that no time at all was left
for improving myself in music or fancy work, in which I had an
opportunity of receiving some instruction from an ingenious young
woman whose parents lived in the same house with us. But the time
wanted for spending a few hours together could only be obtained by
our meeting at daybreak, because by the time of the family's rising
at seven, I was obliged to be at my daily business. Though I had
neither time nor means for producing anything immediately either for
show or use, I was content with keeping samples of all possible
patterns in needlework, beads, bugles, horse-hair, etc., for I could
not help feeling troubled sometimes about my future destiny; yet I
could not bear the idea of being turned into an Abigail or
housemaid, and thought that with the above and such like
acquirements, with a little notion of music, I might obtain a place
as governess in some family where the want of a knowledge of French
would be no objection."
A change was soon to come in her life too; her brother WILLIAM wrote
to propose that she should join him at Bath--
. . . "to make the trial, if, by his instruction, I might not become
a useful singer for his winter concerts and oratorios; he advised my
brother JACOB to give me some lessons by way of beginning; but that
if, after a trial of two years, we should not find it answer our
expectation, he would bring me back again. This at first seemed to
be agreeable to all parties, but by the time I had set my heart upon
this change in my situation, JACOB began to turn the whole scheme
into ridicule, and, of course, he never heard the sound of my voice
except in speaking, and yet I was left in the harassing uncertainty
whether I was to go or not. I resolved at last to prepare, as far as
lay in my power, for both cases, by taking, in the first place,
every opportunity, when all were from home, to imitate, with a gag
between my teeth, the solo parts of concertos, _shake and all_, such
as I had heard them play on the violin; in consequence I had gained
a tolerable execution before I knew how to sing. I next began to
knit ruffles, which were intended for my brother WILLIAM, in case I
remained at home--else they were to be JACOB'S. For my mother and
brother D. I knitted as many cotton stockings as would last two
years at least."
In August, 1772, her brother arrived at Hanover, to take her back to
England with him. The journey to London was made between August 16th and
26th, and soon after they went together to HERSCHEL'S house, No. 7 New
King's Street, Bath.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Wife of Major JOHN HERSCHEL, of the Royal Engineers,
grandson of Sir WILLIAM.
[2] Page 127.
[3] _Memoir_ of CAROLINA HERSCHEL, p. 10. Sir GEORGE AIRY,
Astronomer Royal, relates in the _Academy_ that this "removal" was a
desertion, as he was told by the Duke of Sussex that on the first visit
of HERSCHEL to the king, after the discovery of the _Georgium Sidus_,
the pardon of HERSCHEL was handed to him by the king himself, written
out in due form.
[4] FETIS; _Biographie universelle des musiciens_, tome V.
(1839) p. 141.
[5] Dr. MILLER, a noted organist, and afterwards historian of
Doncaster.
[6] _The Doctor_; by ROBERT SOUTHEY, edition of 1848, p.
140.
[7] He frequently gave thirty-five and thirty-eight lessons a
week to pupils at this time.
[8] According to FETIS. A search for these in London has led
me to the belief that FETIS, who is usually very accurate, is here
mistaken, and that these writings are by JACOB HERSCHEL.
[9] _Foreign Quarterly Review_, volume 31.