: The Story of the Herschels a Family of Astronomers Sir William Herschel Sir John Herschel Caroline Herschel by Anonymous - Herschel William 1738-1822; Herschel John F. W. (John Frederick William) 1792-1871; Herschel Caroline Lucretia 1750-1848; Astronomer

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Herschel's parents--The two brothers--A musical family--An inventive genius--The brothers in England--Herschel as an organist--A laborious life--Mechanical ingenuity of William Herschel--Telescope-making--A Sunday misadventure--Constructing a twenty-foot telescope--A domestic picture--Discovery of a new planet--Herschel's combined musical and astronomical pursuits--A thirty-foot telescope--Casting the mirror--An explosion

The house at Datchet--Housekeeping details--A devoted sister--Life at Datchet--Herschel's astronomical observations--Testing and trying "eyepieces"--The colossal telescope--Miss Herschel's accident--Removed to Slough--Constructing a forty-foot telescope--Brother and sister--Heroic self-denial--Occupations at Slough--Royal liberality--An astronomer's triumphs--About the nebulae--Investigation of the sun's constitution--The solar spots, and their influence--Physical constitution of the moon--Lunar volcanoes--Arago's explanation--Herschel's study of the planets--Satellites of Saturn--Discovery of Uranus--And of its six satellites--Study of Pigott's comet and the comet of 1811--Description of the latter--An uneventful life--Herschel's marriage--His honours--Extracts from his sister's diary--Decaying strength--Herschel removes to Bath--Last days of an astronomer--Illustration of the ruling passion--Death of Sir William Herschel--His achievements

Birth and education of Sir John Herschel--Honours at Cambridge--First publication--Continues his scientific studies--His numerous literary contributions--His devotion to his father's reputation--The forty-foot telescope--Herschel's observations on the double and triple stars--On the refraction and polarization of light--Catalogue of nebulae and star-clusters--Voyage to Cape Town--Letter to Miss Herschel--Study of the southern heavens--Return to England--Distinctions conferred upon him--His "Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects"--His description of volcanoes and earthquakes--Continual changes in the configuration of the earth--Violent earthquakes--Phenomena of volcanic eruptions--In Mexico--In the island of Sumbawa--Herschel's theory of volcanic forces--His character

Caroline Herschel's devotion to her brother William--Her grief and solitariness at his death--Reflections on the mutability of human things--Aunt and nephew--A parsimonious government--Miss Herschel's gold medal--South on Sir William's discoveries--On Miss Herschel's devotion--Her own astronomical discoveries--Her life at Hanover--Her wonderful memory--Anecdotes of Sir John Herschel--Correspondence between aunt and nephew--The path of duty--Sir John's visit to Miss Herschel--Reminiscences of early years--A nonogenarian--A Christmas in Hanover--Last days of Caroline Herschel--Her death--Her epitaph

THE STORY OF THE HERSCHELS.

Now, this is the feeling which the study of Astronomy very certainly awakens. Every day the astronomer discovers something which quickens his curiosity to discover more. Every day he catches new glimpses of the Almighty Wisdom, which stimulate his desire for a further revelation. And all he learns, and all he anticipates learning, combine to produce in him an emotion of awe. What grandeur lies before him in that endless procession of worlds--in that array of suns and stars extending beyond the limits of the most powerful telescopic vision! How marvellous it is! How beautiful! Observe the combination of simplicity with power; note how a great principle of "law" underlies the apparent intricacy of eccentric and intersecting orbits. And then the field of inquiry is inexhaustible. The astronomer has no fear of feeling the satiety of an Alexander, when he lamented that he had no more worlds to conquer. What Newton said of himself is true of every astronomer,--he is but as a child on the sea-shore, picking up a shell here and a shell there, but unable to grasp a full conception of the mighty ocean that thunders in his ears!

And, therefore, because Astronomy cherishes the feelings of awe and reverence and praise, because it inspires a continual yearning after additional knowledge, because it reveals to us something of the character of God, we conceive that of all the sciences it affords the purest intellectual gratification. Certainly it is one of the most absorbing. Its attraction seems to be irresistible. Once an astronomer, always an astronomer; the stars, we may fancy, will not relax the spell they lay upon their votary. He willingly withdraws himself from the din and gaiety of social life, to shut himself up in his chamber, and, with the magic tube due to the genius of a Galileo, survey with ever-new delight the celestial wonders. So was it with Tycho Brah?, and Copernicus, and Kepler; so was it, as the following pages will show, with that remarkable family of astronomers--astronomers for three generations--the HERSCHELS.

In the quiet city of Hanover, nearly a century and a half ago, lived a professor of music, by name Isaac Herschel, a Protestant in religion, though presumably of Jewish descent. He had been left an orphan at the early age of eleven, and his friends wished him to adopt the vocation of a landscape-gardener; but being passionately fond of music, and having acquired some skill on the violin, he left Dresden, his birthplace, in order to seek his fortune; wandering from place to place, until at Hanover, in 1731, he obtained an engagement in the band of the Guards. Soon afterwards he married; and by his wife, Anna Ilse Moritzen, had ten children, four of whom died in infancy. Of the others, two--a brother and a sister--lived to distinguish themselves by their intellectual power; and all true lovers of science will regard with reverence the memories of William and Caroline Herschel.

Frederick William Herschel was born on the 15th of November 1738. Like his father, he displayed an innate musical ability, which was sedulously cultivated and constantly developed; while his general mental training was left to the care of the master of the garrison-school. Those who are gifted with a love and a capacity for music sometimes show to little advantage in other pursuits; but such was not the case with William Herschel, who progressed so rapidly in all his studies that the pupil soon outstripped the teacher. Although, we are told, four years younger than his brother Jacob, the two began French together, and William mastered the language in half the time occupied by his senior. His leisure time out of school, when not given up to practice on the oboe and the violin, was devoted to the acquisition, of Latin and arithmetic.

In 1755, the tranquil family circle was broken up--the Hanoverian regiment in whose band William and Jacob were engaged having been ordered to England. The parting was very sorrowful; for the invalid father had derived much support as well as enjoyment from the company of his sons. At first, the English experiences of the young Germans were somewhat severe. They endured all the pangs of poverty; pangs endured with heroic composure, while William relaxed not a whit in his devotion to the pursuit of knowledge. Happily, however, his musical proficiency attracted the attention of Lord Durham, who offered him the appointment of bandmaster to a militia regiment stationed in the north of England. In this position he gradually formed a connection among the wealthier families of Leeds, Pontefract, and Doncaster, where he taught music, and conducted the public concerts and oratorios with equal zeal and success. In 1764 he paid a brief but happy visit to his family, much to the joy of his faithful sister, Caroline. Returning to England, for which country he cherished a strong affection, he resumed his career of patient industry, and in 1765 was appointed organist at Halifax. He was now in receipt of an income which secured him due domestic comforts, and enabled him to remedy the defects of his early education. With the help of a grammar and a dictionary he mastered Italian. He also studied mathematics and the scientific theory of music, losing no opportunity of adding to his stores of knowledge.

In 1766 he obtained the lucrative post of organist to the Octagon Chapel at Bath. Increased emoluments, however, brought with them increased obligations. He was required to play almost incessantly, either at the oratorios or in the rooms at the Baths, at the theatre, and in the public concerts. When his sister Caroline joined him, in 1772, she found him immersed in his various labours. For the choir of the Octagon Chapel he composed anthems, chants, and complete morning and evening services. A part of every day was occupied in giving lessons to his numerous pupils. In truth, he was one of the busiest men in England; yet in all his arrangements he was so methodical that he found time for everything--and time, more particularly, for the studies in which his soul delighted. His life furnishes an admirable example of what may be accomplished by a man with a firm will and a strong purpose, who sets before himself an end to be attained, and controls all his efforts towards its attainment. He toiled so hard as a musician, because he wanted to be something more. Every spare moment of the day, and frequently many hours of the night, he gave up to the pursuits which were gradually leading him into the path best fitted for his genius. The study of mathematics proved but a preliminary to the study of optics; and an accident made him once for all an astronomer.

A common two-foot telescope falling into his hands, revealed to him the wonders of the heavens. His imagination was inspired by their contemplation; with ever-increasing enthusiasm he gazed on the revolving planets, on the flashing stars; he determined to fathom more profoundly the constellated depths. A larger instrument was necessary, and Herschel wrote to London for it; but the price demanded proved far beyond the resources of the sanguine organist. What should he do? He was not the man to be beaten back by a difficulty: as he could not buy a telescope, he resolved to make one; an instrument eighteen or twenty feet long, which would reveal to him the phases of the remotest planets. And straightway the musician entered on a multitude of ingenious experiments, so as to discover the particular metallic alloys that reflected light with the greatest intensity, the best means of giving the parabolic figure to the mirrors, the necessary degree of polish, and other practical details. In his eager pursuit he enlisted the services of his loving and intelligent sister. "I was much hindered in my musical practice," she writes, "by my help being continually wanted in the execution of the various contrivances; and I had to amuse myself by making the tube of pasteboard for the glasses which were to arrive from London--for at that time no optician had settled at Bath. But when all was finished, no one besides my brother could get a glimpse of Jupiter or Saturn, for the great length of the tube would not allow it to be kept in a straight line. This difficulty, however, was soon removed, by substituting tin tubes."

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