My dearest Nephew,—
I do not know where to begin, for I see it is nearly a twelvemonth since I gave some account of myself, and in all that time never returned my thanks for the three letters I received.... I have a great deal to say, and will begin with accounting for my long silence, by confessing that I have throughout the whole winter been too ill to do anything besides nursing myself, and putting myself in a condition to appear before strangers, which I am not able to do till after twelve or one at noon, and the time which I wanted to rest after my exertion and getting my breakfast was generally taken up by pacifying the gulls about the foolish paragraphs they had been reading the night before in the Clubs. I never read, or would read, any of them, but when I heard of anything appearing rational concerning you, I copied or procured the paper for myself, and then I found among the rest a letter of yours to Professor Plana, in Turin, dated December 28th, 1834. And not being able to do anything of use to you myself, I begged Capt. Müller to cause those observations of June 21st, &c., to be made by somebody here in Hanover, and the enclosed letter will, I hope, meet with a gracious reception.... I believe Dr. Heere will not fail the next equinox to be at his post, and you may hear more of him.
1836. Her Brother’s Portrait.
Capt. Müller is at present with Gauss, and will deliver all your messages personally, for you must know I beware of corresponding with all those known ones if I can possibly help it, and have through his hands sent copies of your father’s likeness to Struve, Schumacher, Gauss, Bessel, Encke, Olbers, &c. Gauss sent me word it was hung up in his library. Encke sent me a very pretty letter of thanks.
... That sending is an ugly thing. Mrs. Somerville sent me her book with a letter dated April 16th, which I received October 9th, coming along with Mr. Baily’s publication, presented by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Miss Herschel. You cannot think how agitated I feel on such occasions, coming to me with such things!—an old poor sick creature in her dotage.... I was going to say something yet of Mr. Baily’s labours, but the paper is at an end; but I hope you will now soon read in your own library at Slough what the “Quarterly Review,” No. CIX., says, and what your Cambridge friend Whewell and others have said—in short, Newton remains Newton! God bless my dear nephew and niece!... My heart is too full—I can say no more than that
I am your affectionate aunt,
Car. Herschel.
MISS HERSCHEL TO LADY HERSCHEL.
Hanover, October 20, 1836.
My dearest Niece,—