Another foreign correspondent was inspired to soar above the ordinary level of scientific communications, and addressed Miss Herschel in a strain of high-flown adulation, of which the following is a translation:—
Göttingen, May 10, [about 1793.]
Permit me, most revered lady, to bring to your remembrance a man who has held you in the highest esteem ever since he had the good fortune to enter the Temple of Urania, at Slough, and to pay his respects to its priestess. I still recall the happy hours passed in England in earlier days of sweet remembrance, and above all, those which I was privileged to spend near you in a society as genial as it was intellectual.
Give me leave, noble and worthy priestess of the new heavens, to lay at your feet my small offering on eclipses of the sun, and at the same time to express my gratitude and deepest reverence. The bearer is a young Mr. Johnston, who has been studying here, and is now returning to England. He is a young man of excellent character, and possessed of unusual capacity and attainments.
May I venture to ask, most honoured Miss, that when you or your brother make any discovery, you will grant me early notice of it, as you once had the kindness to promise to do. You can hardly fail to make them at Slough, where every day is rich in discovery, especially when one of your own subjects—the comets—comes to offer its homage.
How happy should I esteem myself if there were any service I could render you here, most admirable lady astronomer, that I might be permitted to prove how entirely my heart is devoted to you.
Prof. Seyffer.
The fifth comet was discovered December 15th, 1791, and a simple record of the fact is all that the packet devoted to it contains, with the information, “My brother wrote an account of it to Sir J. Banks, Dr. Maskelyne, and to several astronomical correspondents.” The discovery of the sixth is treated with equal brevity. “Oct. 7, at 8h. mean time. I discovered a comet, my brother settled its place on the 8th, and I wrote to Sir J. Banks, Dr. Maskelyne, and to Mr. Planta. The letter to Mr. Planta is printed in the Philosophical Transactions.”
None of the correspondence in connection with the seventh has been preserved, excepting her own letter announcing its discovery to Sir J. Banks.
MISS HERSCHEL TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS.