to find sufficient pupils to eke out his little income with
comparative comfort.

William Herschel, the great astronomer (born in 1738), was the
fourth child of his mother, and with his brothers he was brought up
at the garrison school in Hanover, together with the sons of the
other common soldiers. There he learned, not only the three R's,
but also a little French and English. Still, the boy was not
content with these ordinary studies; in his own playtime he took
lessons in Latin and mathematics privately with the regimental
schoolmaster. The young Herschels, indeed, were exceptionally
fortunate in the possession of an excellent and intelligent father,
who was able to direct their minds into channels which few people
of their position in life have the opportunity of entering. Isaac
Herschel was partly of Jewish descent, and he inherited in a marked
degree two very striking Jewish gifts--a turn for music, and a turn
for philosophy. The Jews are probably the oldest civilized race
now remaining on earth; and their musical faculties have been
continuously exercised from a time long before the days of David,
so that now they produce undoubtedly a far larger proportion of
musicians and composers than any other class of the population
whatsoever. They are also deeply interested in the same profound
theological and philosophical problems which were discussed with so
much acuteness and freedom in the Book of Ecclesiastes and the
subtle argument of Job and his friends. There has never been a
time when the Jewish mind has not exercised itself profoundly on
these deep and difficult questions; and the Hanover bandsman
inherited from his Jewish ancestry an unusual interest in similar
philosophical subjects. Thus, while the little ones were sleeping
in the same common room at night, William and his father were often