on of her nephew's visit filled her with
the deepest sorrow. With the generous, but, as it proved, mistaken
intention of sparing her feelings, her nephew left without informing her
beforehand of the exact time of his departure, simply bidding her
good-night prior to his return to his inn. Great was her distress when
she found that he and his son had quitted Hanover at four o'clock on the
following morning.

Her introduction to her grand-nephew, as described by his father, Sir
John, was exceedingly quaint:--

"Now, let me tell you how tilings fell out. Dr. Groskopff took
Willie with him to Aunty, but without saying who he was. Says
she, 'What little boy is that?' Says he, 'The son of a friend
of mine. Ask him his name.' However, Willie would not tell his
name. 'Where do you come from, little fellow?' 'From the Cape
of Good Hope,' says Willie. 'What is that he says?' 'He says he
comes from the Cape of Good Hope.' 'Ay! and who is he? What is
his name?' 'His name is Herschel.' 'Yes,'says Willie. 'What is
that he says?' 'He says he comes from the Cape of Good Hope.'
'Ay! and who is he? What is his name?' 'His name is Herschel.'
'Yes,' says Willie, 'William James Herschel.' 'Ach, mem Gott!
das nicht moeglich; ist dieser kleines neffeu's sohn?' And so it
all came out; and when I came to her all was understood, and we
sat down and talked as quietly as if we had parted but
yesterday."

* * * * *

In a letter which she wrote to Lady Herschel in 1838, we find some
reminiscences of her early years. She says that when, at the age of
twenty-two, she first visited England, there was no kind of ornamental
needle-work, knitting, plaiting hair, stringing beads and bugles, and
the like, of which she did not make samples by way of mastering the art.
As she was the only girl, and consequently the Cinderella, of the
family, she could not find time, however, for much self-improvement. She
was not, for instance, a skilled musician, but she was able to play the
second violin part of an overture or easy quartette. And it is worth
notice that the Herschels were something more than astronomers only.
Both Sir William and his son, great as they were in their special
department of science, took care to cultivate their minds generally;
were mathematicians, chemists, geologists, and men of letters. And here
is a lesson for our younger readers.