82 HERSCHEL AND HIS WORK 



his strength had been failing under the pressure of 

 burdens laid on him as King's Astronomer unnecessary 

 burdens. Without including the diagrams, often in 

 themselves a heavy labour, these papers are spread 

 over two thousand quarto pages, an extraordinary 

 record of hard, honest, earnest work. His first two 

 papers were said to be " communicated by Dr. Watson, 

 Jr., of Bath, F.R.S., and written by Mr. William 

 Herschel of Bath." The same designation of the 

 astronomer appears again in the Proceedings for 

 1*781 ; but in the end of the year it is replaced by 

 Mr. Herschel, F.R.S. In 1783-84-85 we find, William 

 Herschel, Esq., F.R.S. But from 1786, the year in 

 which he received the degree of LL.D. from the 

 University of Edinburgh, 1 to 1815, the style is, 

 William Herschel, LL.D., F.R.S. In 1817, 1818, it 

 becomes Sir William Herschel, Knt. Guelp., LL.D., 

 F.R.S. The musician of Bath had made good his 

 right to rank with the noblest and the most learned 

 of men. 



1 Professor Holden, in his Life, writes (p. 47) : "It was only in 1786 

 that he became 'Dr. Herschel,' through the Oxford degree of LL.D." 

 This Oxford degree of LL.D. has of late been changed in his case into 

 D.C.L. The Oxford "Catalogue of all graduates . . . between Oct. 

 10, 1659, and Dec. 31, 1850," does not contain his name, except as the 

 father of Sir John Herschel, on whom the degree of D.C.L. was 

 conferred. The date of the Edinburgh degree is April 10, 1786, and 

 is the only ground I can discover for the title LL.D., that he takes in 

 all his papers from 1786 to 1818. The honour of LL.D. from Oxford 

 was first claimed for Herschel in 1798-9. See Public Characters, i. 396. 



