England. Two years later he
removed himself from the regiment, with the approval of his parents,
though probably without the approbation or consent of the commanding
officer, by whom such removal would be regarded as simple desertion,
which indeed it was; and George III. long afterwards handed him an
official pardon for it.

At the age of nineteen, he was thus launched in England with an outfit
of some French, Latin, and English, picked up by himself; some skill in
playing the hautboy, the violin, and the organ, as taught by his father;
and some good linen and clothing, and an immense stock of energy,
provided by his mother.

He lived as musical instructor to one or two militia bands in Yorkshire,
and for three years we hear no more than this of him. But, at the end of
that time, a noted organist, Dr. Miller, of Durham, who had heard his
playing, proposed that he should come and live with him and play at
concerts, which he was very glad to do. He next obtained the post of
organist at Halifax; and some four or five years later he was invited to
become organist at the Octagon Chapel in Bath, and soon led the musical
life of that then very fashionable place.

About this time he went on a short visit to his family at Hanover, by
all of whom he was very much beloved, especially by his young sister
Caroline, who always regarded him as specially her own brother. It is
rather pitiful, however, to find that her domestic occupations still
unfairly repressed and blighted her life. She says:--

"Of the joys and pleasures which all felt at this long-wished-for
meeting with my--let me say my dearest--brother, but a small
portion could fall to my share; for with my constant attendance at
church and school, besides the time I was employed in doing the
drudgery of the scullery, it was but seldom I could make one in the
group when the family were assembled together."

While at Bath he wrote many musical pieces--glees, anthems, chants,
pieces for the harp, and an orchestral symphony. He taught a large
number of pupils, and lived a hard and successful life. After fourteen
hours or so spent in teaching and playing, he would retire at night to
instruct his mind with a study of mathematics, optics, Italian, or
Greek, in all of which he managed to make some progress. He also about
this time fell in with some book on astronomy.

In 1763 his father was struck with paralysis, and two years later he
died.

W