THE MOTHER'S FOOLISHNESS 9 



slave. It was a poor home, badly governed, but rich 

 in promise. She nearly wrecked everything by her 

 folly ; but that folly was strangely overruled for the 

 welfare of humanity and the honour of her own 

 children. 



The Memoirs of Caroline Herschel furnish the only 

 trustworthy account of the means, by which genius 

 and hard work combined laid the foundation, on which 

 her brother's fame was built. At the same time they 

 have left room for myths or legends to supplement 

 facts or to fill up gaps in the story of the first half of 

 his life. This is unfortunate ; but it was known to 

 his sister, who was unwilling or unable to apply a 

 remedy. It is thus not always easy to present the 

 truth of these early years. So busy was she kept that 

 in 1786 she writes, " For these last three years I have 

 not had as many hours to look in the telescope." 



