swarmed with labourers and workmen--smiths and carpenters speeding to
and fro between the forge and the forty-foot machinery; and so incessant
was the vigilance of Herschel, that not a screw-bolt in the whole
apparatus was fixed except under his eye. "I have seen him," writes his
sister, "lying stretched many an hour in the burning sun, across the top
beam, whilst the iron-work for the various motions [of the great
telescope] was being fixed." At one time no fewer than twenty-four men,
in relays of twelve each, were engaged in grinding and polishing day and
night; and Herschel never left them, taking his food without allowing
himself time to sit down to table.

"In August 1787," writes the diarist, "an additional
man-servant was engaged, who would be wanted at the handles of
the motions of the forty-foot,"--that is, to raise or lower it,
or move it from side to side, as might be required,--"for which
the mirror in the beginning of July was so far finished as to
be used for occasional observations on trial. Such a person was
also necessary for showing the telescopes to the curious
strangers, as by their numerous visits my brother and myself
had for some time past been much incommoded. In consequence of
an application made through Sir J. Banks to the king, my
brother had in August a second sum of £2000 granted for
completing the forty-foot, and £200 yearly for the expense of
repairs; such as ropes, painting, &c., and the keep and
clothing of the men who attended at night. A salary of £50 a
year was also settled on me, as an assistant to my brother. A
great uneasiness was by this means removed from my mind; for
though I had generally (and especially during the last busy six
years) been almost the keeper of my brother's purse, with a
charge to provide for my personal wants, only annexing in my