198 HERSCHEL AND HIS WORK 



in the terrestrial globe. At night Mr. Hn^cli.-!. l.\ th*> 

 King's command, came to exhibit to His Majesty and 

 the Royal Family the new comet lately discovered by 

 his sister, Miss Herschel ; and while I was playing at 

 piquet with Mrs. Schwellenberg, the Princess Augusta 

 came into the room, and asked her if she chose to go 

 into the garden and look at it. She declined the niln, 

 and the Princess then made it to me. I was glad to 

 accept it for all sorts of reasons. We found him at 

 his telescope. The comet was very small, and h;ul 

 nothing grand or striking in its appearance ; but it is 

 the first lady's comet, and I was very desirous to see 

 it Mr. Herschel then shewed me some of his new 

 discovered universes, with all the good humour with 

 which he would have taken the same trouble for a 

 brother or a sister astronomer; there is no possibility 

 of admiring his genius more than his gentleness." 



Of these four paragraphs the first and the last show 

 undisguised, genuine admiration of this hero of the 

 stars by a heroine of the pen, "for all sorts of reasons." 1 

 It was the queen of literature crowning the kin^ and 

 high priest of the stars with the laurel wreath of 

 a world's homage. Perhaps it was more than this, 

 different though the ages of the king and queen wertt 

 But the second of the four paragraphs is of a dil: 

 nature. It hints at dangers and difficulties, which do 

 not square with Caroline Herschel's Memoirs. They 

 may be explained by Miss Burney's knowledge of the 



1 MUs Burney tells the story of love's progress in her novel of L\ 

 written some time before : " How rapid was then my Evelina's progress 

 through those regions of fancy and passion, whither her new guide 

 conducted her ! She saw Lord Orville at a ball and he was tht most 

 amiable of men! She met him again at another and he had every 

 virtue under heaven ! " (Evelina, ii. 149). 



