up, or a dish of
coffee necessary during a long night's watching, I undertook with
pleasure what others might have thought a hardship. . . . Since the
discovery of the _Georgium Sidus_ [March 13, 1781], I believe few
men of learning or consequence left Bath before they had seen and
conversed with its discoverer, and thought themselves fortunate in
finding him at home on their repeated visits. Sir WILLIAM WATSON was
almost an intimate, for hardly a day passed but he had something to
communicate from the letters which he received from Sir JOSEPH
BANKS, and other members of the Royal Society, from which it
appeared that my brother was expected in town to receive the gold
medal. The end of November was the most precarious season for
absenting himself. But Sir WILLIAM WATSON went with him, and it was
arranged so that they set out with the diligence at night, and by
that means his absence did not last above three or four days, when
my brother returned alone, Sir WILLIAM remaining with his father.

"Now a very busy winter was commencing; for my brother had engaged
himself to conduct the oratorios conjointly with RONZINI, and had
made himself answerable for the payment of the engaged performers,
for his credit ever stood high in the opinion of every one he had to
deal with. (He lost considerably by this arrangement.) But, though
at times much harassed with business, the mirror for the thirty-foot
reflector was never out of his mind, and if a minute could but be
spared in going from one scholar to another, or giving one the slip,
he called at home to see how the men went on with the furnace, which
was built in a room below, even with the garden.

"The mirror was to be cast in a mould of loam, of which an immense
quantity was to be pounded in a mortar and sifted through a fine
sieve. It was an endless piece of work, and served me for many an
hour's exercise; and ALEX. frequently took his turn at it, for we
were all eager to do something towards the great undertaking. Even
Sir WILLIAM WATSON would sometimes take the pestle from me when he
found me in the work-room, where he expected to find his friend, in
whose concerns he took so much interest that he felt much
disappointed at not being allowed to pay for the metal. But I do not
think my brother ever accepted pecuniary assistance from any on