We owe an account of his last days to his
sister, but for whose pious care, indeed, very little of his private
life would have been known, and Herschel could have been judged only
from the recorded results of his immense labours.
"_May 20th_.--The summer proved very hot; my brother's feeble
nerves were very much affected, and there being in general much
company, added to the difficulty of choosing the most airy
rooms for his retirement.
"_July 8th_.--I had a dawn of hope that my brother might regain
once more a little strength, for I have a memorandum in my
almanac of his walking with a firmer step than usual above
three or four times the distance from the dwelling-house to the
library, in order to gather and eat raspberries, in his garden,
with me. But I never saw the like again.
"The latter end of July I was seized by a bilious fever, and I
could for several days only rise for a few hours to go to my
brother about the time he was used to see me.
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