merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more
precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire are not to be
compared unto her." So, to such a man as Herschel, that peaceful
astronomer life at Datchet was indeed, in the truest sense of those
much-abused words, "success in life." If you had asked some vulgar-
minded neighbour of the great Sir William in his later days whether the
astronomer had been a successful man or not, he would doubtless have
answered, after his kind, "Certainly. He has been made a knight, has
lands in two counties, and has saved L35,000." But if you had asked
William Herschel himself, he would probably have said, with his usual
mixture of earnestness and humility, "Yes, I have been a very fortunate
man in life. I have discovered Uranus, and I have gauged all the depths
of heaven, as none before ever gauged them, with my own great
telescope."

Still, those who cannot sympathize with the pure love of knowledge for
its own sake--one of the highest and noblest of human aims--should
remember that astronomy is also of immense practical importance to
mankind, and especially to navigation and commerce. Unless great
astronomical calculations were correctly performed at Greenwich and
elsewhere, it would be impossible for any ship or steamer to sail with
safety from England to Australia or America. Every defect in our
astronomical knowledge helps to wreck our vessels on doubtful coasts;
every advance helps to save the lives of many sailors and the cargoes of
many merchants. It is this practical utility of astronomy that justifies
the spending of national money on observatories and transits of Venus,
and it is the best apology for an astronomer's life to those who do not
appreciate the use of knowledge for its own beauty.

At Datchet, Herschel not only made several large telescopes for sale,