His
leisure time out of school, when not given up to practice on the oboe
and the violin, was devoted to the acquisition, of Latin and arithmetic.
His father in 1743 was present at the battle of Dettingen; and the
exposure consequent on a night spent on the rain-soaked battle-field
afflicted him with an asthmatic complaint and a partial paralysis of
the limbs, which darkened for years the musician's peaceful household.
He himself, however, was greatly cheered by the musical proficiency of
his two sons, and the intellectual refinement of Frederick William. "My
brothers," says Caroline Herschel, "were often introduced as solo
performers and assistants in the orchestra of the court; and I remember
that I was frequently prevented"--she was then a child about five years
old--"from going to sleep by the lively criticism on music on [their]
coming from a concert, or conversations on philosophical subjects, which
lasted frequently till morning, in which my father was a lively
partaker, and assistant of my brother William by contriving self-made
instruments.
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