n a clear night, and admired the thousands of stars with
which they were adorned; but now, when he was able to increase his
powers of vision even to a slight extent, he obtained a view which
fascinated him. The stars he had seen before he now saw far more
distinctly; but, more than this, he found that myriads of others
previously invisible were now revealed to him. Glorious, indeed, is this
spectacle to anyone who possesses a spark of enthusiasm for natural
beauty. To Herschel this view immediately changed the whole current of
his life. His success as a professor of music, his oratorios, and his
pupils were speedily to be forgotten, and the rest of his life was to be
devoted to the absorbing pursuit of one of the noblest of the sciences.

Herschel could not remain contented with the small and imperfect
instrument which first interested him. Throughout his career he
determined to see everything for himself in the best manner which his
utmost powers could command. He at once decided to have a better
instrument, and he wrote to a celebrated optician in London with the
view of making a purchase. But the price which the optician demanded
seemed more than Herschel thought he could or ought to give. Instantly
his resolution was taken. A good telescope he must have, and as he could
not buy one he resolved to make one. It was alike fortunate, both for
Herschel and for science, that circumstances impelled him to this
determination. Yet, at first sight, how unpromising was the enterprise!
That a music teacher, busily employed day and night, should, without
previous training, expect to succeed in a task where the highest
mechanical and optical skill was required, seemed indeed unlikely. But
enthusiasm and genius know no insuperable difficulties. From conducting
a brilliant concert in Bath, when that city was at the height of its
fame, Herschel would rush home, and without even delaying to take off
his lace ruffles, he would plunge into his manual labours of grinding
specula and polishing lenses. No alchemist of old was ever more deeply
absorbed in a project for turning lead into gold than was Herschel in
his determination to have a telescope. He transformed his home into a
laboratory; of his drawing-room he made a carpenter's shop. Turning
lathes were the furniture of his best bedroom. A telescope he must have,
and as he progressed he determined, not only that he should have a good
telescope, but a very good one; and as success chee