EARLY YEARS IN ENGLAND 25 



intend and instruct a military band then forming by 

 that nobleman in the county of Durham. After this 

 engagement ended, he spent several years in Leeds, 

 Pontefract, Doncaster, etc." That he had been a 

 soldier, officers and men would soon discover from 

 his language and bearing. But he was, and seems to 

 have remained, a mystery for years. In 1764 he was 

 residing in Leeds, and went from that town on a 

 visit to his relations in Hanover. Towards the end 

 of 1765 he became organist of a church in Halifax, 

 where he applied himself to the study of Latin, 

 Italian, and mathematics. Music he continued to 

 cultivate as his profession in life during these years 

 of wilderness wandering. 



Southey, in one of his stories from Doncaster, 1 re- 

 presents Herschel, the astronomer, to have been, in 

 1760, "only a few months in England, and yet" able 

 to speak "English as well as a native." Miller, the 

 organist of Doncaster, who lived in a two-roomed 

 cottage, but had a collection of classical English works, 

 became acquainted with him through an officer of 

 the Durham Militia, found that his engagement with 

 that regiment was " only from month to month," and 

 urged him to leave them, and take up his abode in the 

 " but and a ben," which he did. Swift is alone men- 

 tioned as the English author Herschel preferred to 

 read, which, though it be consistent with the list of 

 favourite authors given by his sister, is not altogether 

 satisfactory evidence of the authenticity of Southey 's 

 story. But, be that as it may, Miller was thus entitled 

 to be called his "earliest acquaintance" in England, 

 and certainly his best friend, if it be true that he en- 



1 The Doctor, ii. 251, from Miller's Doncaster (1804), p. 162. 



