LITTLE 

 JOURNEYS 



Herschel, F. R. S., LL. D. (Edinburgh);'^ and then 

 "Sir William Herschel, F. R. S., LL. D., D. C. L. 



(Oxon)." 



N 1782 George III. invited his distinguished 

 Hanoverian countryman to become an at- 

 tache of the Court with the title of "As- 

 tronomer to the King." The Astronomer- 

 Royal, in charge of the Greenwich Ob- 

 servatory, was Dr. Maskelyne, a man of 

 much learning, a stickler for the fact, with a mustard- 

 seed imagination. Being asked his opinion of Herschel 

 he assured the company thus, "Herschel is a great 

 musician a great musician!' Afterward Maskelyne 

 explained that the reason Herschel saw more than 

 other astronomers was because he had made himself 

 a better telescope. 



One real secret of Herschel's influence seems to have 

 been his fine enthusiasm js> He worked with such 

 a vim, such animation, that he radiated light on every 

 side. He set others to work, and his love for astronomy 

 as a science created a demand for telescopes, which 

 he himself had to supply. It does not seem that he 

 cared especially for money all he made he spent for 

 new apparatus. 



He had a force of a dozen men making telescopes. He 

 worked with them in blouse and overalls, and not one 

 among his workmen excelled him as a machinist. 

 The King bought several of his telescopes for from 

 150 



