308 CAROLINE HERSCHEL. On her ninety-eighth birthday, she was still in the enjoy- ment of her mental faculties and a comfortable degree of health. That day was celebrated at Hanover with eclat. A lady who lived near her, wrote to her English nephew, Sir John Herschel : " Upon passing her door I first saw a beautiful and most comfortable velvet arm-chair, a cake, and a magnifi- cent nosegay carried up to her, and soon after met the gracious donor, our kind crown-princess, with the crown- prince and the royal child, driving to her house. They staid nearly two hours, Miss Herschel conversing with them without relaxation, and even singing to them a com- position of Sir William Herschel, ' Suppose we sing a catch.' The king sent his message by Countess Grote. On the seventeenth I found her more revived than exhausted, in a new gown and smart cap. I ran over (since writing the last sentence) to ask for Miss Herschel' s own message, before I send. I am to give her best love to her dear nephew, niece, and the children, and to say that she often wished to be with them, often felt alone, did not quite like old age with its weaknesses and infirmi- ties, but that she, too, sometimes laughed at the world, liked her meals, and was satisfied with (her servant) Betty's services." The cheerful old lady lived ten months longer, enjoy- ing life to her last day, January 9, 1848. She suffered little even during her last hours, and softly breathed out her life without an effort. The guns seven hours before her death announced the birth of a princess. She opened her eyes for the last time, recognized the happy event, fell again into sleep, and so passed away. Few ladies have been either able or disposed to sing a song on their ninety-eighth birthday.
