Note 214 — Chapter VIII

Some of us enjoyed a capital view of the eclipse at Swindon in fine weather and pleasant company. Our friend, Mr W. H. Wills, who was also present, wrote an amusing account of the eclipse—appending to it, however, a pretty story which never happened—in Household Words. The eclipse was soon over, but the great astronomical treat of the year was, of course, Donati's unforgettable comet, “a thing of beauty,” though unfortunately not “a joy for ever,” which blazed magnificently in the northern hemisphere for some few weeks.