48 Caroline Lucre tia Herschel, [i 775 -i 782. 



The letter ends abruptly with tins sentence, and 

 only one more was written during this momentous 

 interval, 



TO MISS HERSCHEL. 



July 3, 1782. 



DEAR CAROLINA, 



I have been so much employed that you will not 

 wonder at my not writing sooner. The letter you sent me 

 last Monday came very safe to me. As Dr. Watson has 

 been so good as to acquaint you and Alexander with my 

 situation, I was still more easy in my silence to you. Last 

 night the King, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Princess 

 Royal, Princess Sophia, Princess Augusta, &c., Duke of 

 Montague, Dr. Heberden, M. de Luc, &c., &c., saw my 

 telescope, and it was a very fine evening. My instrument 

 gave general satisfaction. The King has very good eyes, 

 and enjoys observations with telescopes exceedingly. 



This evening, as the King and Queen are gone to Kew, the 

 Princesses were desirous of seeing my telescope, but wanted 

 to know if it was possible to see without going out on the 

 grass, and were much pleased when they heard that my 

 telescope could be carried into any place they liked best to 

 have it. About 8 o'clock it was moved into the Queen's 

 apartments, and we waited some time in hopes of seeing 

 Jupiter or Saturn. Meanwhile I showed the Princesses, and 

 several other ladies who were present, -the speculum, the 

 micrometers, the movements of the telescope, and other 

 things that seemed to excite their curiosity. When the 

 evening appeared to be totally unpromising, I proposed an 

 artificial Saturn as an object, since we could not have the 

 real one. I had beforehand prepared this little piece, as I 

 guessed by the appearance of the weather in the afternoon 

 we should have no stars to look at. This being accepted 



