Introductions to her brother’s scholars led to occasional evening parties, where her voice was in demand as well for single songs as to take part in duets and glees, and one of these ladies, Mrs. Colebrook, invited her to go to London on a visit. This visit was prolonged for several weeks owing to the deep snow, which rendered the roads impassable. The Duchess of Ancaster is said to have offered any sum to have a passage cut near Devizes, but without success, her Grace was in consequence unable to be present on the 18th January, when the Queen’s birthday was kept. Operas, plays, auctions, and all the usual amusements of the town, gave Miss Herschel a glimpse of the gay world; but the expense of dress and chairmen troubled her spirit too much to allow of her finding pleasure in these dissipations; and although Mrs. Colebrook is allowed to be both “learned and clever,” her society does not appear to have contributed much more to her happiness than that of some younger ladies whose companionship was offered, but whose visits she did not encourage, because, as she bluntly explains, she “thought them very little better than idiots.” “The time when I could hope to receive a little more of my brother’s instruction and attention was now drawing near; for after Easter, Bath becomes very empty; only a few of his scholars whose families were resident in the neighbourhood remaining. But, I was greatly disappointed; for, in consequence of the harassing and fatiguing life he had led during the winter months, he used to retire to bed with a bason of milk or glass of water, and Smith’s ‘Harmonics and Optics,’ Ferguson’s ‘Astronomy,’ &c., and so went to sleep buried under his favourite authors; and his first thoughts on rising were how to obtain instruments for viewing those objects himself of which he had been reading. There being in one of the shops a two and a half foot Gregorian telescope to be let, it was for some time taken in requisition, and served not only for viewing the heavens but for making experiments on its construction.... It soon appeared that my brother was not contented with knowing what former observers had seen, for he began to contrive a telescope eighteen or twenty feet long (I believe after Huyghens’ description).... I was much hindered in my musical practice by my help being continually wanted in the execution of the various contrivances, and I had to amuse myself with making the tube of pasteboard for the glasses which were to arrive from London, for at that time no optician had settled at Bath. But when all was finished, no one besides my brother could get a glimpse of Jupiter or Saturn, for the great length of the tube would not allow it to be kept in a straight line. This difficulty, however, was soon removed by substituting tin tubes.... My brother wrote to inquire the price of a reflecting mirror for (I believe) a five or six foot telescope. The answer was, there were none