OVERWORK AND DECAY 213 



twelvemonth after ! " My brother not well," " his life 

 despaired of," " permitted to see him, but only for two 

 or three minutes " ! And in this time of distress the 

 worthless Dietrich is causing them no end of trouble 

 by his conduct. Let it be said on his behalf that his 

 daughter, Mrs. Knipping, atoned in future years, to 

 some extent at least, for her father's shortcomings. 

 She was the faithful and trusted attendant of her 

 aunt Caroline during the last years of her long life. 

 As years roll on, the record remains equally mournful : 

 " His strength is now (1815), and has for the last two 

 or three years not been equal to the labour required 

 for polishing 40-feet mirrors"; at a Royal "fete at 

 Frogmore" (1817) "I was obliged to go home with my 

 brother," who " found himself too feeble to remain in 

 company." But feebleness and ill-health gave no 

 remission from a showman's duty: "The Archduke 

 Michael of Russia, with a numerous attendance, came 

 to see Jupiter," etc. (1818). Princesses, archdukes, lords 

 and ladies came to see many objects in the 10-ft.and other 

 telescopes (1819), unaware that the sage-astronomer, 

 whom they were treating as a showman, was hastening 

 to the grave. His sister " with much concern saw that 

 he had exerted himself too much above his strength." 



" A small slip of yellow paper " traced by a tremu- 

 lously feeble hand, indicating the appearance of " a 

 great comet with a long tail," was among the last 

 communications from Herschel to his sister. She kept 

 it as a relic of a lamp of life that once burned brightly, 

 and was then flickering in the socket. For three years 

 it continued to flicker, till the end came, on August 25, 

 1822. A noble light of humanity and science then set 

 for ever on this earthly scene, 



