26 HERSCHEL AND HIS WORK 



couraged Herschel to apply for the organist's place in 

 Halifax. But Miss Herschel in 1822 speaks of " Mr. 

 Bulman from Leeds, the grandson of my brother's 

 earliest acquaintance in this country," 1 and tells ug 

 that in 1764 he paid them in Hanover a fortnight's 

 visit from " Leeds in Yorkshire (where he must be left 

 for some time)." The organist's place at Halifax does 

 not date from 1760, but from 1765. The inconsist- 

 encies between Southey's story and Caroline Herschel's 

 are too serious to allow us to accept his version of the 

 means by which the organist's place at Halifax was 

 gained in or about 1760 as true of "Herschel the 

 astronomer." It is known that his brother Jacob was 

 in England for two years about 1759. 



While resident in Halifax, Herschel appears to have 

 paid a visit to Italy, the ancient land of poetry and 

 astronomy. Our authority for this is Niemeyer, Chan- 

 cellor of the University of Halle, who visited Herschel 

 at Slough shortly before his death, and seems to have 

 received the details of the journey from his own lips. 

 When he reached Genoa on his way home, he found him- 

 self short of money to meet expenses. He had gone to 

 Italy to " improve himself in his profession of music " ; 

 and he put his improvement to use "by an original 

 kind of concert he gave in that town, in which he 

 played on the harp and on two horns fastened on his 

 shoulders at the same time." He procured the money 

 he needed, and, had he not been proud of his youth- 

 ful success as a musician, would not have told the 

 story, fifty years after, to his learned and distinguished 

 visitor, as either he or his sister Caroline must 

 have done. Her Memoirs contain no information on 

 1 Memoirs, pp. 137, 326. 



