C. Herschel.
MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
June 23, 1828.
Dearest Nephew,—
I have but just time to write a few lines to accompany the Journals Nos. II. and III., therefore I must beg you to excuse the unconnected manner in which I am writing, for it must require some time before I, and many a one beside me, will recover from the fright we were put in on the 21st, at three o’clock in the afternoon, by a thunderstorm, accompanied with a shower of hail of such an uncommon size as weighing three quarters of a pound; some speak of still larger. I, of course, could only judge of them at a distance by the look, as my carpet was covered by them of all sizes and shapes; I noticed one in particular of the form of a bottle of india-rubber (as it looks before the neck is cut off), but was at the time incapable of going near enough, for I was obliged to keep out of the direction where they entered, forcing the fragments of glass to my sofa (where I was just going to take my solitary dinner) at the opposite end of the room, which is twenty-one feet distant from the window. The houses look deplorable, and the streets are still glittering with powdered glass. Expresses were sent instantly by the magistrates in all directions to the neighbouring towns and glass-houses for workmen and materials. I have been fortunate enough to get my lodging-room mended after lying only two nights without anything but a shutter.
Our gardens and country houses about Hanover have had the same fate. This happened the day before a Volks Fest, which the Hanoverian Bürgers keep for three days yearly, and for which all preparations were made, and is now by many kept with a heavy heart.
But I must not lose this opportunity of mentioning what I forgot in my last, which is to beg you will (when I am no more) take my medal under your protection, and give it a place among those you have of your father’s and your own. I will take care that it shall be delivered to you along with those books which I keep yet as companions, though it is seldom I can look into them, for most of my time I am obliged to waste in lying on the sofa, where I try to forget myself by reading nonsense, over which I soon go to sleep.
I have the two dullest months before me, for the plays and concerts do not begin again till autumn; all families are either gone to the baths or at their villas, &c. My friends are all some dozen years younger than myself, and I cannot always, or but seldom, accept their invitations. Hauptmann Müller took twice tea with me since Christmas. He heard from Encke that a great astronomical meeting was to take place at Berlin, to which Mr. South had been invited; if there should be any truth in this, and that you and Mr. South were inseparables, I might hope to see you once more; but I must not think of anything at the distance, agitations I cannot bear any longer, I only exist by attempting to be indifferent about all human events, and hardly anything can yet give me pleasure but to hear that you, my dear nephew, and those who are dear to you, are well and happy.
Yours very affectionately,
C. Herschel.