And view those lamps that yield eternal day;
Bring forth your glasses; clear thy wondering eyes,
Millions beyond the former millions rise;
Look farther—millions more blaze from remoter skies.”
Sir William Herschel assuming that the instrument which he used could enable him to penetrate 497 times farther than Sirius, reckoned 116,000 stars to pass in a quarter of an hour, over the field of view, which subtended an angle of only 15′. If from such a narrow zone we compute, the whole celestial vault must display, within the range of telescopic vision, the stupendous number of more than five billions of stars. If each of these be the sun to a system similar to ours, and if the same number of planets revolve round it, then the whole planets in the universe will be more than fifty-five billions, not reckoning the satellites, which may be even more numerous. That part of the science which gives a description of the motions, figures, periods of revolution, and other phenomena of the celestial bodies, is called descriptive astronomy; that part which determines the motions, figures, periodical revolutions, distances, etc., of these orbs, is called practical astronomy; and that part which explains the causes of their motions, and demonstrates the laws by which those causes operate, is termed physical astronomy.
BIOGRAPHY.
On the 16th of March, 1750, Caroline Lucretia Herschel was born. Her birthplace was Hanover. She was the fourth daughter of Isaac Herschel, and Ann Ilse Moritzen, his wife. Her parents had also six sons. The childhood of this distinguished woman is to us a blank. Till her twenty-second year, she lived in her native place; and her father and mother seem to have been anxious about her education, but their means were limited; and moreover, Hanover, during the latter end of the last century, did not possess the facilities for the acquirement of literature, science, and art, that it does now. Since 1837, when it became a royal residence, many changes have taken place, and numerous improvements continue to be made. We may therefore consistently affirm, that among the female examples of the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, few deserve a higher place than Miss Herschel.
In 1772, she came to England to live with her brother William, who had been appointed organist to the Octagon chapel, at Bath. When he changed his profession for astronomical labours, she became his helpmate. “From the first commencement of his astronomical pursuits,” says an authority, who writes from intimate knowledge, “her attendance on both his daily labours and nightly watches was put in requisition, and was found so useful, that on his removal to Datchet, and subsequently to Slough, she performed the whole of the arduous and important duties of his astronomical assistant—not only reading the clock and noting down all the observations from dictation as an amanuensis, but subsequently executing the whole of the extensive and laborious numerical calculations necessary to render them available for the purposes of science, as well as a multitude of others relative to the various objects of theoretical and experimental inquiry in which, during a long and active career, he was at any time engaged.” For these important services, His Majesty King George III. was graciously pleased to place her in receipt of a salary sufficient for her singularly moderate wants and retired habits.
Her brother was knighted by George III., and made a D.C.L. by the University of Oxford. During the whole of his distinguished career, Miss Herschel remained by his side, aiding him and modestly sharing the reflection of his fame.
After Sir William’s death in 1822, Miss Herschel returned to Hanover, which she never afterwards left; passing the last twenty-six years of her life in repose, enjoying the society and cherished by the regard of her remaining relatives and friends, and gratified by the occasional visits of eminent astronomers. The Astronomical Society of London, very much to its honour, voted her a gold medal for her reduction of the nebulæ discovered by her renowned brother. She was afterwards chosen an honorary member of that Society, and also a member of the Royal Irish Academy: very unusual honours to be conferred upon a woman. Is it not matter both for wonder and for lamentation, that the guardians of learning, the patrons of literature, and the princes of science, have been so indifferent to the intellectual claims of the female sex? Surely sages and philosophers should not be the last to rescue woman from the neglect of ignorance and the contempt of frivolity; to lift her up to her proper elevation in the sight of the world; and enhance their own dignity by associating her with themselves. There can be no doubt but that the universities would have conferred their most honourable diplomas upon Miss Herschel, had she not been a woman.