were kept constantly at work on different parts of the new telescopic
leviathan; and a whole troop of labourers was engaged in grinding the
tools required for shaping and polishing its mirror. Had not a cloudy or
moonlight night sometimes intervened, Herschel and his sister must have
died of sheer exhaustion, for they toiled with unremitting ardour both
day and night. With the morning came the workpeople, of whom no fewer
than between thirty and forty were at work for upwards of three months
together: some employed in felling and rooting out trees, some digging
and preparing the ground for the bricklayers, who were laying the
foundation for the telescope. Then there were the carpenter and his men;
and, meanwhile, the smith was converting a wash-house into a forge, and
manufacturing complete sets of tools for his own share of the labour.
In short, the place was at one time a complete workshop for the
manufacture of optical instruments; and it was a pleasure to enter it
for the purpose of observing the fervour of the great astronomer, and
the reverent attention given to his orders.

It is impossible not to refer here to the sisterly devotion of Caroline
Herschel, who was in every respect worthy of her noble-minded,
tender-hearted, and enthusiastic brother.

She stood beside him to the last, sharing his labours, brightening his
life. In the days, says her biographer, when Herschel gave up a
lucrative career that he might dedicate all his energies to astronomical
pursuits, it was through her care and thriftiness that he was spared
from the unrest of pecuniary anxieties. As she had been his helper and
assistant during his career as a popular musician, so she became his
helper and assistant when he gave himself up, like the Chaldeans of old,
to the study of the stars. By dint of a resolute will and a love that
shrank from no sacrifice or exertion, she acquired such a knowledge of