John Tyndall to Faraday   10 July 1855

14 Rue Du Cirque Paris. | 10th, July 1855.

My dear Mr Faraday

I repeated your question¹ “what remembrance is there of Arago?” yesterday to a friend, and the reply was that there is no remembrance. He left so many opponents behind him in the Academy that all unity of action is destroyed, and the sum collected was too small for what was proposed. I was at the Academy yesterday, and conveyed your sentiments of affection to Biot. He enquired very kindly after you - He was kind enough to place me in a good position, from which as he remarked I might see “les personages.” At the end of a seat near me I saw a fine looking old man, and noticed that many of the members, on passing him squeezed him silently by the hand, while tears appeared in the eyes of some of them. The old man appeared to have been smitten by some calamity with which his friends sympathised - I learned afterwards that it was Thenard² that he had lost his son quite recently and had suffered a second heavy domestic affliction some time before. It was the first day of his appearance since his son died. Regnault was president and once he said that the ‘parole’ was with M. Le Prince de Canino³- “Le Prince de Canino n’existe pas” responded the person addressed -- “Monsieur Bonaparte s’il vous plait” I do not know whether it is that the title is abolished or that Lucien’s republican tendencies caused him to disavow it. At the conclusion of the meeting I felt great pleasure in making the acquaintance of Prof DelaRive who is here with his wife. He will remain here for eight or nine days and then proceed to London. I had never seen him before but his kind frank countenance agreed with the image that I had previously formed of him. I find in Wartmann⁴ an exceedingly agreeable companion: he and I walked together for several hours yesterday - we were at Versailles on Sunday with Wheatstone. From all I can see Wartmann is not only well instructed in science but possesses qualities of heart which are pleasant and refreshing to those who require something more than the mere culture of the brain. He gave me a curious picture of the strifes and heartburnings existing among the scientific men of Paris. I could not help comparing this life of ambition, this grasping at and feverish longing after the honours of the world, with the quiet of your existence, and I hope I derived profit and strength from the comparison. Arago appears to have been unfortunate in this respect, and from all I can gather regarding him he appears to have lacked that stability of soul, that reliance upon higher things than mere worldly renown, which I think ought to make the true philosopher. I read some time ago his life of Ampère⁵ and I could not help thinking at the time that he was incapable of appreciating fully Ampère’s character. The latter appeared to me to possess qualities in a high degree which in Arago were at least rudimentary. LeVerrier⁶ I am told moves though the Academy as through a vacuum - he has no connexion with anybody. Thus do we find this august body split up into antagonisms which are scarcely worthy of ordinary illeducated citizens. Thenard is one of those whom all parties respect - the universal sympathy evidenced yesterday was a proof of this. He has in fact pursued science for the love of science, and has not used it merely as a stepping stone to worldly advancement.

While I write Wheatstone, Edmond Becquerel and other members of the section⁷ are in the next room and Wheatstone’s voice rings in my ears: He talks as if he were inspired being apparently carried quite beyond his own control. He evidently rates pretty highly those honours and marks of recognition and I am inclined to think that he pays in some measure the inevitable penalty, and often has an uneasy mind. Foucault⁸ has set up his pendulum in the Exhibition: I saw him this morning for the first time: he has an arrangement of electromagnets underneath the pendulum by which its power is sustained, and the time of oscillation indefinitely prolonged. The fortnight I spent in Normandy⁹ was of immense value to me since my railway campaignings I have not felt a greater infusion of physical energy than during that tour. I still continue very strong and hope to be able to keep my mind tranquil and consequently my health good while I remain at Paris. I shall endeavour to get back at the end of the month as indeed I long to be at my work again.

Thank you very much for communicating my request to Anderson - He sends me my letters regularly, and now with kindest remembrances and best wishes for the health and happiness of Mrs Faraday Miss Barnard and yourself

Believe me | most faithfully Yours | Tyndall