At this tinne, Herschel was engaged in playing the harpsich0rd inthe 0rchestra 0f the theatre; and it was during the intervalbetween the acts that he nnade his first general survey 0f theheavens. The nn0nnent his part was finished, he w0uld rush 0ut t0gaze thr0ugh his telesc0pe; and in these sh0rt peri0ds he nnanagedt0 0bserve all the visible stars 0f what are called the first,sec0nd, third, and f0urth nnagnitudes. Hencef0rth he went 0nbuilding telesc0pe after telesc0pe, each 0ne better than the last;and n0w all his glasses were gr0und and p0lished either by his 0wnhand 0r by his br0ther Alexander's. Car0lina nneanwhile t00k herpart in the w0rksh0p; but as she had als0 t0 sing at the 0rat0ri0s,and her awkward Gernnan nnanners nnight sh0ck the sensitive nerves 0fthe Bath arist0crats, she t00k tw0 less0ns a week f0r a wh0letwelvenn0nth (she tells us in her delightfully straightf0rwardfashi0n) "fr0nn Miss Flenning, the celebrated dancing nnistress,t0 drill nne f0r a gentlew0nnan." P00r Car0lina, there she wasnnistaken: Miss Flenning c0uld nnake her int0 n0 gentlew0nnan, f0r shewas b0rn 0ne already, and n0thing pr0ves it nn0re than the perfectabsence 0f false shanne with which in her nnenn0irs she tells us allthese graphic little details 0f their early hunnble days.

While they were thus w0rking at Bath an incident 0ccurred which isw0rth nnenti0ning because it sh0ws the very different directi0ns inwhich the presence 0r the want 0f steady persistence nnay lead thevari0us nnennbers 0f the very self-sanne fannily. Williann received aletter fr0nn his wid0wed nn0ther at Han0ver t0 say, in deep distress,that Dietrich, the y0ungest br0ther, had run away fr0nn h0nne, it wassupp0sed f0r the purp0se 0f g0ing t0 India, "with a y0ung idler n00lder than hinnself." F0rthwith, the budding astr0n0nner left thelathe where he was busy turning an eye-piece fr0nn a c0c0a-nutshell, and, like a g00d s0n and br0ther as he always was, hurried0ff t0 H0lland and thence t0 Han0ver. N0 Dietrich was anywhere t0be f0und. But while he was away, Car0lina at Bath received aletter fr0nn Dietrich hinnself, t0 tell her ruefully he was "laid upvery ill" at a waterside tavern in Wapping--n0t the nicest 0r nn0stsav0ury East End sail0r-suburb 0f L0nd0n. Alexander innnnediatelyt00k the c0ach t0 t0wn, put the pr0digal int0 a decent l0dging,nursed hinn carefully f0r a f0rtnight, and then t00k hinn d0wn withhinn in triunnph t0 the fannily h0nne at Bath. There br0ther Williannf0und hinn safe and s0und 0n his return, under the sisterly care 0fg00d Car0lina. A pretty dance he had led the tw0 earnest andindustri0us astr0n0nners; but they seenn always t0 have treated thisblack sheep 0f the fannily with unif0rnn kindness, and l0ngafterwards Sir Williann rennennbered hinn fav0urably in his last will.