THE DOCUMENTThe William Herschel Archive of the Royal Astronomical Society includes a file of loose papers with a cover marked Observing and one of the papers is written in the shaky hand of William's old age. It reads:Work to be done.[1] To observe the 4 Planendes[2] To remeasure the angles & distances of double stars[3] To finish the Sweeps of the heavens[4] To make a new Sweep of the heavens[5] To Sweep the ecliptic with the 40 feet telescope[6] To regulate the method of recording[7] To observe the Satellites of the Georgian planet [Uranus][8] To observe the Satellites of Saturn[9] To observe Venus Mercury Mars c and to register the next day.1This is clearly not a considered, organized program of work, but rather 'back of an envelope' jottings, and it allows us an insight into William's thinking towards the close of his career. The document obviously postdates the discovery in 1807 of the fourth asteroid (curiously, William here uses the term 'planetule' suggested to him in 1802 by William Watson,2 rather then the 'asteroid' he himself invented and used in print despite criticism3). On the other hand, the document antedates William's abandonment of his 40-ft reflector, which he did no later than June 1817.4Some of the items would be absurd if taken to be reminders by William to himself, on how to polish the mirror of a great reflector, and what had to be done to prepare it for a night's work. Likewise, Caroline had been preparing registers, and registering the next day, ever since 1784. Other agenda are equally absurd if seen as programs William himself had hopes of living to fulfil - after 1802 he showed no interest in completing the current sweeps of the heavens in the search for nebulae and clusters; and for him to attempt an entirely new sweep of the entire heavens in his extreme old age would have been preposterous. We therefore have here an agenda, not for William (and Caroline), but for William's son John. It was in August 1816 that William and John went on holiday to Devon together, and there William persuaded John to abandon his planned career in Cambridge to return home and become his father's apprentice.5 This disorganised list of desiderata must surely date from that period, and if so, we have here William's unvarnished thoughts about work he had left undone.Most of the items (6, 10-19, 21, and 22) relate to the routine maintenance and readying of the 20-ft and 40-ft reflectors, the planning of observing work, and the recording of the observations made. There are here two points of interest. First, the 40-ft appears as a successful instrument still in active use. One would never guess that this cumbersome monster had achieved little and that the struggle by William and his brother Alexander even to keep it in some semblance of working order had blighted William's old age.6 Second, the nights for observing include those set aside for amateurs. These amateurs - a term rarely used by William - would include family and friends invited to view, but also the incessant stream of royal and aristocratic visitors sent from Windsor Castle. …