LITTLE 

 JOURNEYS 



This itinerant interested the populace by telling them 

 a few stories about the stars that were not recorded 

 in Ferguson, and passed out his cards showing where 

 he could be consulted as a fortune-teller during the 

 day jt> & 



Once Herschel was passing by this street astronomer, 

 who was crying his wares, and a sudden impulse 

 coming over him to see how bad the man's lenses 

 might be, he stopped to take a peep at Earth's satel- 

 lite. He handed out the usual tuppence, but the owner 

 of the telescope loftily passed it back saying, "I takes 

 no fee from a fellow-philosopher!" 

 This story went the rounds, and when it reached 

 London it had been amended thus: Charles Fox was 

 taking a ramble at Bath, ran across William Herschel 

 at work, and mistaking him for an itinerant, the great 

 statesman stopped, peeped through the aperture, and 

 then passing out a tuppence moved along blissfully 

 unaware of his error, for Herschel being a perfect 

 gentleman would not embarrass the great man by re- 

 fusing his copper. 



When Herschel was asked if the story were true he 

 denied the whole fabric, which the knowing ones said 

 was further proof of his gentlemanly instincts for a 

 true gentleman will always lie under two conditions 

 first to save a woman's honor, and second to save a 

 friend from embarrassment. 



As a profession, astrology has ever proved a better in- 

 vestment than astronomy. Astronomy has nothing to 

 offer but abstract truth, and those who love astronomy 

 146 



