The Story of the Herschels by Anonymous
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6 THE STORY OF THE HERSCHELS
A FAMILY OF ASTRONOMERS.
SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL
SIR JOHN HERSCHEL
CAROLINE HERSCHEL.
"Stars
Numberless, as thou seest, and how they move;
Each has his place appointed, each his course."
MILTON.
1886
PREFATORY NOTE
From the best available sources have been gathered the following
biographical particulars of a remarkable family of astronomers--the
Herschels.
They will serve to show the young reader how great a pleasure may be
found in the acquisition of knowledge, and how solid a happiness in
quietly pursuing the path of duty.
On the value of biography it is unnecessary to insist. It is now well
understood that we may learn to make our own lives good and honest and
true, by carefully and diligently following the example of the good and
honest and true who have gone before us. And certain it is that the
lessons taught by the lives of the Herschels are such as young readers
will do well to lay to heart.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
The study of astronomy a source of intellectual pleasure--By
contemplating the heavens, the mind is led to wonder and adore--A
proof of the existence of a Creator is afforded by creation--"We
praise thee, O Lord!"--The beauty of Nature--Intellectual
curiosity--"Order is Heaven's first law"--Value of astronomical
study
CHAPTER II.
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
CHAPTER III.
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
CHAPTER IV.
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
CHAPTER V.
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.
CHAPTER I.
Of all the sciences, none would seem to yield a purer intellectual
gratification than that of Astronomy. Man cannot but feel a sense of
pleasure, and even of power, when, through the instruments constructed
by his ingenuity, he finds himself brought within reach, as it were, of
the innumerable orbs that roll through the domains of space. He cannot
but feel a sense of pleasure, and even of power, when the telescope
reveals to his gaze not only the worlds that constitute his own
so-called Solar System, but the suns that light up the borders of the
Universe, system upon system, sun upon sun, covering the unbounded area
almost as thickly as the daisies cover a meadow in spring. He cannot
but feel a sense of pleasure, and even, of power, when he tracks the
course of the flashing comet, examines into the physical characteristics
of the Sun and Moon, and records the various phases of the distant
planets. But if such be his feeling, it is certainly tempered with awe
and wonder as he contemplates the phenomena of the heavens,--the beauty
of the stars, the immensity of their orbits, the regularity with which
each bright world performs its appointed course, the simplicity of the
laws which govern its motions, and the mystery which attends its far-off
existence. It has been, said that "an undevout astronomer is mad;" and
if Astronomy, of all the sciences, be the one most calculated to gratify
the intellect, surely it is the one which should most vividly awaken the
religious sentiment. Is it possible to look upon all those worlds within
worlds, all those endless groups of mighty suns, all those strange and
marvellous combinations of coloured stars, all those remote nebulous
clusters,--to look upon them in their perfect order and government,--to
consider their infinite number and astonishing dimensions,--without
acknowledging the fulness of the power of an everlasting God, who
created them, set them in their appointed places, and still controls
them? Is it possible to be an astronomer and an atheist? Is it possible
not to see in their relations to one another and to our own little
planet an Almighty Wisdom as well as an Almighty Love? Could any
"fortuitous concourse of atoms" have strewed the depths of space with
those mighty and beautiful orbs, and defined for each the exact limits
of its movements? Alas! to human folly and human vanity everything is
possible; and men may watch the stars in their courses, and delight in
the beauty of Sun and Moon, and perceive all the wonders of the sunrise
and all the glories of the sunset, without any recognition in their
hearts of Him who made them--of Him in whom we and they alike live and
move and have our being! Yet it is not the less true that only the
devout and thankful heart can adequately and thoroughly sympathize with
the love and wisdom and power which are written in such legible
characters on the face of heaven. Astronomy gives up _all_ its
treasures only to him who enters upon its study in a reverent spirit. It
affords the purest intellectual gratification only when its pursuits are
undertaken with a humble acknowledgment of the littleness of man and the
greatness of God. Half the wonder, half the mystery of creation is lost,
when we fail to recognize the truth that it is governed by eternal laws
springing from an Almighty Intelligence. Take the Creator out of
creation, and it becomes a hopeless puzzle--a dreary problem, incapable
of solution. But we restore to it all its brightness, all its beauty,
all its charm, when we are able to lift up our hearts with the Psalmist
and to say: "Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all
ye stars of light. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name
alone is excellent: his glory is above the earth and heaven."
And it is to be observed that the soul cannot be satisfied without this
religious view of Nature. The heavens and the earth are as nothing to
man, if they do not excite his awe and call forth his thanksgiving. We
might almost suppose that it is for this purpose that the sea rolls its
waves on the shore, and the violet smiles by the wayside, and the moon
floods the night with its silver radiance. As a recent writer has
observed,[1] the beauty of Nature is necessary for the perfection of
_praise_; without it the praise of the Creator would be essentially
weakened; our hearts must be roused and excited by what we see. "It may
seem extraordinary," adds our authority, "but it is the case, that,
though we certainly look at contrivance or machinery in Nature with a
high admiration, still, with all its countless and multitudinous uses,
which we acknowledge with gratitude, there is nothing in it which raises
the mind's interest in nearly the same degree that beauty does. It is an
awakening sight; and one way in which it acts is by exciting a certain
curiosity about the Deity. In what does God possess character, feelings,
relations to us?--all unanswerable questions, but the very entertainment
of which is an excitement of the reason, and throws us upon the thought
of what there is behind the veil. This curiosity is a strong part of
worship and of praise. To think that we know everything about God, is to
benumb and deaden worship; but mystical thought quickens worship, and
the beauty of Nature raises mystical thought. So long as a man is
probing Nature, and in the thick of its causes and operations, he is too
busy about his own inquiries to receive this impress from her; but place
the picture before him, and he becomes conscious of a veil and curtain
which has the secrets of a moral existence behind it,--interest is
inspired, curiosity is awakened, and worship is raised. 'Surely thou art
a God that hidest thyself.' But if God simply hid himself and nothing
more, if we knew nothing, we should not wish to know more. But the veil
suggests that it _is_ a veil, and that there is something behind it
which it conceals."
[Footnote 1: Professor Mozley, "University Sermons," pp. 145, 146.]
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 Brahe, 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.
CHAPTER II.
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.
His father in 1743 was present at the battle of Dettingen; and the
exposure consequent on a night spent on the rain-soaked battle-field
afflicted him with an asthmatic complaint and a partial paralysis of
the limbs, which darkened for years the musician's peaceful household.
He himself, however, was greatly cheered by the musical proficiency of
his two sons, and the intellectual refinement of Frederick William. "My
brothers," says Caroline Herschel, "were often introduced as solo
performers and assistants in the orchestra of the court; and I remember
that I was frequently prevented"--she was then a child about five years
old--"from going to sleep by the lively criticism on music on [their]
coming from a concert, or 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." She adds that she often kept herself awake in order to
listen to their animating remarks, feeling inexpressibly happy in
_their_ happiness,--an indication of that devoted and unselfish
affection which afterwards consecrated her whole life. But, generally,
their conversation branched out into philosophical subjects; and
father and son argued with so much fervour, that the fond mother's
interference became necessary,--the immortal names of Leibnitz, Newton,
and Euler ringing with a clarion-like peal that boded ill for the repose
of the younger members of the family. "But it seems," says Caroline,
"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 a reply,
he found his hearer had 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," she continues,
"was a great admirer of astronomy, and had some knowledge of that
science; for I remember him 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 four-inch globe,
upon which the equator and ecliptic were engraved by my brother."
* * * * *
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."
The work went on famously, as might be expected from so much ardour,
perseverance, and ingenuity. Of a Quaker resident at Bath, the
musician-astronomer purchased a quantity of patterns, tools, hones,
polishers, and unfinished mirrors. Every room in the house was converted
into a workshop. In a handsomely-furnished drawing-room might be seen
a cabinetmaker constructing a tube and stands of all descriptions;
while Herschel's brother Alex was engaged in a bedroom in putting up a
gigantic turning-machine. Meantime, the claims of music could not be
ignored: there were frequent rehearsals for the public concerts; lessons
to pupils; the composition of glees and catches, and the like; the
superintendence of the practice of the chapel choir; and the study of
sonatas and concertos for public performance. But all the leisure that
could be made or stolen was occupied in labours which proved their own
reward. Straight from the concert-platform rushed the musician to his
workshop, and many a lace ruffle was torn by nails or bespattered by
molten pitch; to say nothing of the positive danger to which Herschel
continually exposed himself by the precipitancy of his movements. For
example: one Saturday evening, when the two brothers returned from a
concert between eleven and twelve o'clock, William amused himself all
the way home with the idea of being at liberty to spend the next day,
except the few hours' duty at chapel, at the turning-bench; but
recollecting that the tools wanted sharpening, they ran with them
and a lantern to their landlord's grindstone in a public yard, where,
very naturally, they did not wish to be seen on a Sunday morning. But
William was soon brought back by his brother, almost swooning with the
loss of one of his finger-nails.
This incident took place in the winter of 1775, at a house situated
near Walcot turnpike, to which Herschel had removed in the summer of the
previous year. Here, on a grass plot behind the house, he made active
preparations for the erection of a twenty-foot telescope. So assiduous
was his devotion to this work, that while he was engaged in polishing
the mirror, his sister was constantly obliged to feed him by putting his
victuals into his mouth. Otherwise he would have reduced himself to a
condition of positive emaciation! Once, when finishing a seven-foot
mirror, he did not take his hands from it for sixteen consecutive hours;
for in these days machinery had not been devised as a substitute for
manual toil. He was seldom unemployed at meals; but at such times
employed himself in contriving or making drawings of whatever occurred
to his fertile fancy. Usually his sister Caroline read to him while he
was engaged at the turning-lathe, or polishing mirrors; choosing such
books as "Don Quixote," the "Arabian Nights," the novels of Sterne and
Fielding; and tea and supper were served without any interruption to the
task in which Herschel was absorbed.
In Miss Herschel's charming letters we find a vivid sketch of the
family avocations at this period:---
"My brother applied himself to perfect his mirrors, erecting in
his garden a stand for his twenty-foot telescope: many trials
were necessary before the required motions for such an unwieldy
machine could be contrived. Many attempts were made by way of
experiment against a mirror before an intended thirty-foot
telescope could be completed, for which, between whiles (not
interrupting the observations with seven, ten, and twenty-foot,
and writing papers for both the Royal and Bath Philosophical
Societies), gauges, shapes, weights, &c, of the mirror were
calculated, and trials of the composition of the metal were
made. In short, I saw nothing else and heard nothing else
talked of but about these things when my brothers were
together. Alex was always very alert, assisting when anything
new was going forward; but he wanted perseverance, and never
liked to confine himself at home for many hours together. And
so it happened that my brother William was obliged to make
trial of my abilities in copying for him catalogues, tables,
&c, and sometimes whole papers which were lent [to] him for his
perusal. Among them was one by Mr. Michel, and a catalogue of
Christian Mayer in Latin, which kept me employed when my
brother was at the telescope at night. When I found that a hand
was sometimes wanted when any particular measures were to be
made with the lamp micrometer, or a fire to be kept up, or a
dish of coffee necessary during a night's long watching, I
undertook with pleasure what others might have thought a
hardship."
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