His Majesty the King, in recognition of the valuable services rendered to Astronomy by you, as the fellow-worker of your immortal brother, Sir William Herschel, by discoveries, observations, and laborious calculations, commanded me, before his departure for Silesia, to convey to you, in his name, the large Gold Medal for Science, and to express to you the gratification he felt that, by God’s grace, your noble life has been a long succession of years free of pain, and that now in your solitude you continue to enjoy the reflected glory of the all-embracing knowledge, the great labours in both hemispheres, and the profoundly penetrating genius of your illustrious nephew, Sir John Herschel. To be had in remembrance by an intellectual and kind-hearted Prince cannot be a matter of indifference to you. He had wished you to receive this little gratification on your ninety-sixth birthday, and by an unfortunate mistake the date of Caroline Lucretia Herschel’s birth has been changed from the 16th of March to the 16th of October, and _I_ am the culprit, misled by a misprint in a French history of astronomy. I know I may count upon your indulgence and that of your distinguished family in England. I specially deserve such leniency to-day—the day on which my young friend, Dr. Galle, assistant astronomer in our Observatory (to the triumph of theoretical astronomy be it said), has discovered the transuranian planet indicated by Leverrier as the cause of the perturbations of Uranus. With the deepest respect, I am your most obedient, although illegible, ALEXANDER HUMBOLDT. Do not trouble yourself to write to the King; I will convey your thanks to him. Once more a few lines, begun November 1st, and finished December 3rd, were traced, betraying, now only for the first time, the apprehension that they might be the last, in the words— Miss Beckedorff shall write for me if I do not get better. Loves to _all_. CAROLINE HERSCHEL. Even this, the last letter of all, is addressed in a large, clear handwriting. Henceforth “the messenger” carried no more the large familiar sheet which had often been filled at the cost of many days’ work and frequent re-writing; but her kind friend, Miss Beckedorff, wrote a regular monthly report to the anxious friends in England, from which the following most interesting extracts are taken:— EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS OF MISS BECKEDORFF TO SIR JOHN AND LADY HERSCHEL. _Dec. 1846._ * * * * *