Page:Hector Macpherson - Herschel (1919).djvu/13

Rh lack of interest in intellectual things, all the members of the family—with the exception of the elder daughter, Sophia—inherited something of their father's ability. All four sons—Jacob, William, Alexander, and Dieterich—were eminent musicians; and the younger daughter, Caroline Lucretia, born 16th March, 1750, also accomplished in music, has earned a distinction only second to that of her distinguished brother, whose life-work she shared.

In her memoirs, written in old age, Caroline Herschel has given some interesting reminiscences of her father. "My father," she says, "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."

Despite his remarkable abilities, Isaac Herschel's whole life was spent in straitened circumstances: the post of bandsman in the Hanoverian Guards was not a lucrative one, and he was forced to augment his income by private tuition. In addition, his poverty was aggravated by chronic ill-health. After the battle of Dettingen in 1743, the Guards remained all night in the field. Isaac Herschel lay in a wet furrow, and as a result of that night's exposure, he contracted an asthmatical affection which impaired his health permanently and ultimately caused his premature death on 22nd March, 1767. Having no wordly goods to bequeath to his children, he sought to educate them as completely as his limited means would allow. From their earliest days, their father instructed them in music. William Herschel, in the short account