twelvemonth after! " My brother not well," "his life despaired of," "permitted to see him, but only for two or three minutes"! And in this time of distress the worthless Dietrich is causing them no end of trouble by his conduct. Let it be said on his behalf that his daughter, Mrs. Knipping, atoned in future years, to some extent at least, for her father's shortcomings. She was the faithful and trusted attendant of her aunt Caroline during the last years of her long life. As years roll on, the record remains equally mournful: "His strength is now (1815), and has for the last two or three years not been equal to the labour required for polishing 40-feet mirrors"; at a Royal "fête at Frogmore" (1817) "I was obliged to go home with my brother," who "found himself too feeble to remain in company." But feebleness and ill-health gave no remission from a showman's duty: "The Archduke Michael of Russia, with a numerous attendance, came to see Jupiter," etc. (1818). Princesses, archdukes, lords and ladies came to see many objects in the 10-ft. and other telescopes (1819), unaware that the sage-astronomer, whom they were treating as a showman, was hastening to the grave. His sister "with much concern saw that he had exerted himself too much above his strength."
"A small slip of yellow paper" traced by a tremulously feeble hand, indicating the appearance of "a great comet with a long tail," was among the last communications from Herschel to his sister. She kept it as a relic of a lamp of life that once burned brightly, and was then flickering in the socket. For three years it continued to flicker, till the end came, on August 25, 1822. A noble light of humanity and science then set for ever on this earthly scene.
