G Caroline Lucretia Hersckel. [1753-1755, 



agreeable bustle to see that nothing that could give either 

 pleasure or comfort might be wanting in her future estab- 

 lishment. . . . The fete (without which it Avould have 

 been scandalous in those days to get married) ended with a 

 ball, at which I remember to have been dancing among the 

 rest without a partner." 



A little later, when war troubles broke up the 

 household, and the bride returned to her mother, we 

 arc told : 



" my sister was not of a very patient temper, and could not 

 be reconciled to have children about her, and I was mostly,, 

 when not in school, sent with Alexander to play on the 

 walls or with the neighbour's children, in which I seldom 

 could join, and often stood freezing on shore to see my 

 brother skating on the Stadtgraben (town ditch) till he chose 

 to go home. In short, there was no one who cared anything 

 about me." 



The earthquake which destroyed Lisbon on the 1st 

 November 1755, was strongly felt at Hanover, and 

 became closely associated in the poor little girl's mind 

 with the trials and troubles which shortly afterwards 

 fell upon the family. She says : 



" One morning early I was with my father and mother 

 alone in the room, the latter putting my clothes on, when 

 all at once I saw both standing aghast and speechless before 

 me ; at the same time my brothers, my sister, and Griesbach 

 came running in, all being panic-struck by the earthquake." 



For a little while the family enjoyed a peaceful 

 interval, during which the extraordinary proficiency of 



