gs.

Ever yours most truly,
J. HERSCHEL.

On returning to Rome I was elected Associate of the College of
Risurgenti, and in the following April I became an honorary member of
the Imperial and Royal Academy of Science, Literature and Art at Arezzo.
I finished an edition of the Physical Sciences, at which I had been
working, and in spring Somerville hired a small house belonging to the
Duca Sforza Cesarini, at Genzano, close to and with a beautiful view of
the Lake of Nemi; but as I had not seen my son for some time, I now
availed myself of the opportunity of travelling with our friend Sir
Frederick Adam to England. We crossed the Channel at Ostend, and at the
mouth of the Thames lay the old "Venerable," in which my father was
flag-captain at the battle of Camperdown. I had a joyful meeting with
my son and his wife, and we went to see many things that were new to me.
One of our first expeditions was to the British Museum. I had already
seen the Elgin marbles, and the antiquities collected at Babylon by Mr.
Rich, when he was Consul at Bagdad, but now the Museum had been enriched
by the marbles from Halicarnassus, and by the marvellous remains
excavated by Mr. Layard from the ruins of Nineveh, the very site of
which had been for ages unknown.

I frequently went to Turner's studio, and was always welcomed. No one
could imagine that so much poetical feeling existed in so rough an
exterior. The water-colour exhibitions were very good; my countrymen
still maintained their superiority in that style of art, and the
drawings of some English ladies were scarcely inferior to those of
first-rate artists, especially those of my friend, Miss Blake, of
Danesbury.

While in England I made several visits; the first was to my dear friends
Sir John and Lady Herschel, at Collingwood, who received me with the
warmest affection. I cannot express the pleasure it gave me to feel
myself at home in a family where not only the highest branches of
science were freely discussed, but where the accomplishments and graces
of life were cultivated. I was highly gratified and proud of being
godmother to Rosa, the daughter of Sir John and Lady Herschel. Among
other places near Collingwood I was taken to see an excellent
observatory formed by Mr. Dawes, a gentleman of independent fortune; and
here I must remark, to the honour of my countrymen, that at