CHAP, v.] Retrospection. 151 



looked at for such a one, but even stared at here in 

 Hanover ! " Her deprecation of' the membership of 

 the Irish Academy, conferred on one who for so 

 many years had " not even discovered a comet," was 

 thoroughly sincere as well as characteristic, but she 

 found pleasure in receiving the homage which was 

 naturally paid to her; no man of any scientific 

 eminence passed through Hanover without visiting 

 her ; from the Koyal Family she received the 

 most kind and graceful attentions; and it be- 

 came a matter of public concern to note the 

 presence of the well-known tiny figure at the Theatre, 

 where her constant appearance in extreme old 

 age was in itself a marvel. The frugal simplicity 

 of her habits made it a positive perplexity to dispose 

 of her income ; she protested that 50 a-year was all 

 she could manage to spend on herself, and she per- 

 tinaciously resisted receiving the pension of 100 

 per annum left to her by her brother, often de- 

 voting the quarterly or half-yearly payment to the 

 purchase of some handsome present for her nephew or 

 niece. She wrote full instructions and made the 

 most careful arrangements for every detail of business 

 in connection with her own burial and the disposal of 

 her property that is of the little she reserved, for her 

 generosity towards her relations was as great as the 

 expenditure on herself was small. 



In these last remarks I have anticipated events, and 



