CHAPTER XIII
THE SURVIVOR
Of those who helped Herschel onward to fame, all were dead but his sister Caroline. Dr. Watson, and Sir Joseph Banks, the King and Herschel himself were gone. A pleasant and useful fellowship of great minds, great in respect of rank or great in intellect and heart, had come to its close. It had lasted for about forty years, more or less; and the continuance of it so long without break or jar reflects the highest credit on all four. A union of hearts and minds so unusual is worthy of a passing notice.
Sir William Watson did not belong to the Triumvirate as it was called, but of him Herschel always spoke with the deepest respect. Unworthy and unscrupulous men, when they think themselves able to climb without further help, have no repugnance to kick away the ladder by which they first mounted into fame. Herschel did not belong to that contemptible class. His was a noble nature, and as generous as it was noble. Watson offered to assist him with money, but he preferred to meet the cost of experiment or manufacture out of his own labours. It was a noble resolve. But almost from the first he confesses obligation, and finds a certificate for himself by linking his name with Watson's. The man with whose fame
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