Page:Hector Macpherson - Herschel (1919).djvu/76



biographies are sometimes painful reading—painful because in them we are occasionally brought face to face with the flaws in great characters, the pettinesses of great minds. The biography of Herschel does not belong to that class. The character which shines through his writings, through his sister's memoirs, and through the correspondence and comments of contemporaries is that of a genial, kindly, earnest man. In private life he was a good husband and father, a loving brother and a devoted son. His less fortunate relatives found in him a ready and willing helper: he maintained his brother Alexander after his retirement until his death in 1821. Even to Dieterich, the shiftless member of the family, he was unfailingly kind and sympathetic, bequeathing to him a sum of £2000. From earliest years he was to Caroline "the best and dearest of brothers," and that his care for her did not close with his death is evident from his bequest to her of an annuity. Alike in times of adversity and prosperity, he was ever helpful and kind.

He had none of that aloofness which has often characterized men of science. He was at all times ready to reply to correspondents and to answer inquiries. He was always accessible and never pedantic. The poet Campbell has given us a charming word-picture of the astronomer in private life. Writing to a friend on 15th September, 1813, Campbell said: "I wish you had been with me the day before yesterday, when you would have