The brothers Jacob and William were, with their father, members of the band of the Guards in 1755, when the regiment was ordered to England, and they were absent from Hanover a year.
William (then seventeen years old) went as oboist, and out of his scanty pay brought back to Hanover, in 1756, only one memento of his stay—a copy of Locke On the Human Understanding.
He appears to have served with the Guard during part of the campaign of 1757. His health was then delicate, and his parents "determined to remove him from the service—a step attended by no small difficulties."[3]
This "removal" was hurriedly and safely effected, so hurriedly that the copy of Locke was not put in the parcels sent after him to Hamburg by his mother; "she, dear woman, knew no other wants than good linen and clothing."
Thus, at last, the young William Herschel, the son of an oboe-player in the King's Guard, is launched in life for himself, in the year 1757, at the age of nineteen.
All his equipment is the "good linen and clothing," a knowledge of French, Latin, and English, some skill in playing the violin, the organ, and the oboe, and an "uncommon precipitancy" in doing what there is to be done.
A slender outfit truly; but we are not to overlook what he said of himself on another occasion. "I have, nevertheless, several resources in view, and do not despair of succeeding pretty well in the end."
From 1757 to 1760—three years—we know nothing of his life. We can imagine what it was. His previous visit to England had given him a good knowledge of the language, and perhaps a few uninfluential acquaintances. On his return he would naturally seek these out, and, by means of his music, he could gain a livelihood. We first hear of him as charged with the organization of the music of a corps of the militia of Durham, under the auspices of the Earl of Darlington. "La manière dont il remplit cette mission, le fit connaître avantageusement."[4] The nature of the service of these militia corps, which were then forming all over England, is well described in the Autobiography of Gibbon. Every county-gentleman felt constrained to serve his country, and the regimental mess-rooms were filled with men of rank and fashion.
In 1760 we hear of him again. He has attracted the notice of those about him.
"About the year 1760, as Miller[5] was dining at Pontefract with the officers of the Durham militia, one of them, knowing his love of music, told him they had a young German in their band as a performer on the hautboy, who had only been a few months in England, and yet spoke English almost as well as a native, and who was also an excellent performer on the violin; the officer added that if Miller would come into another room, this German should entertain him with a solo. The invitation was gladly accepted, and Miller heard a solo of Giardini's executed in a manner that surprised him. He afterwards took an opportunity of having some private conversation with the young musician, and asked him whether he had engaged himself for any long period to the Durham militia. The answer was, 'Only from month to month.' 'Leave them, then,' said the organist, 'and come and live with me. I am a single man, and think we shall be happy together; and, doubtless, your merit will soon entitle you to a more eligible situation.' The offer was accepted as frankly as it was made, and the reader may imagine with what satisfaction Dr. Miller [Pg 20] must have remembered this act of generous feeling when he hears that this young German was Herschel, the Astronomer. 'My humble mansion,' says Miller, 'consisted, at that time, but of two rooms. However, poor as I was, my cottage contained a library of well-chosen books; and it must appear singular that a foreigner who had been so short a time in England should understand even the peculiarities of the language so well as to fix upon Swift for his favorite author.'