CHAPTER XIII 



THE SURVIVOR 



OF those who helped Herschel onward to fame, all 

 were dead but his sister Caroline. Dr. Watson, and Sir 

 Joseph Banks, the King and Herschel himself were 

 gone. A pleasant and useful fellowship of great minds, 

 great in respect of rank or great in intellect and heart, 

 had come to its close. It had lasted for about forty 

 years, more or less ; and the continuance of it so long 

 without break or jar reflects the highest credit on all 

 four. A union of hearts and minds so unusual is 

 worthy of a passing notice. 



Sir William Watson did not belong to the Trium- 

 virate as it was called, but of him Herschel always 

 spoke with the deepest respect. Unworthy and un- 

 scrupulous men, when they think themselves able to 

 climb without further help, have no repugnance to 

 kick away the ladder by which they first mounted 

 into fame. Herschel did not belong to that contemptible 

 class. His was a noble nature, and as generous as it 

 was noble. Watson offered to assist him with money, 

 but he preferred to meet the cost of experiment or 

 manufacture out of his own labours. It was a noble 

 resolve. But almost from the first he confesses obliga- 

 tion, and finds a certificate for himself by linking 

 his name with Watson's. The man with whose fame 



