heard discussing the ideas of such abstruse thinkers as Newton and
Leibnitz, whose names must have sounded strange indeed to the
ordinary frequenters of the Hanover barracks. On such occasions
good dame Herschel was often compelled to interpose between them,
lest the loudness of their logic should wake the younger children
in the crib hard by.

William, however, possessed yet another gift, which he is less
likely to have derived from the Jewish side of the house. He and
his brother Alexander were both distinguished by a natural taste
for mechanics, and early gave proof of their learning by turning
neat globes with the equator and ecliptic accurately engraved upon
them, or by making model instruments for their own amusement out of
bits of pasteboard. Thus, in early opportunities and educational
advantages, the young Herschels certainly started in life far
better equipped than most working men's sons; and, considering
their father's doubtful position, it may seem at first sight rather
a stretch of language to describe him as a working man at all.
Nevertheless, when one remembers the humble grade of military
bandsmen in Germany, even at the present day, and the fact that
most of the Herschel family remained in that grade during all their
lives, it is clear that William Herschel's life may be fairly
included within the scope of the present series. "In my fifteenth
year," he says himself, "I enlisted in military service," and he
evidently looked upon his enlistment in exactly the same light as
that of any ordinary soldier.

England and Hanover were, of course, very closely connected
together at the middle of the last century. The king moved about a
great deal from one country to the other; and in 1755 the regiment