John Tyndall to Faraday   24 March 1857

Royal Institution | 24th. March 1857.

My dear Mr. Faraday

I think I ought to let you know that my feelings with regard to M. Plücker are, that he is not dealing with me in an open and upright manner. I can hardly imagine myself writing of him as he does not scruple to write of me, My relation to him has been altogether of a public kind, and he ought to deal with it in a public manner. If the facts do not justify what I have done let him shew this, and I am willing to make reparation. But M. Plucker must feel that a reference to facts would only prove that I have been very tender of his reputation as an experimenter, and hence he resorts to a private canvass of my “motives”. What guarantee have I that he does not write to all his friends as he has written to Wheatstone, where he broadly insinuates that I have unfairly influenced you against him - a charge which you know to be as unjust as it is unwarranted¹. Instead of dealing with facts in a philosophic spirit, M. Plücker deals in suspicions regarding me which arise purely out of his own constitution. I think I have reason to complain of this. If he wishes to influence you in his favour let the case be laid fully before you and I pledge myself to abide by your decision. If you can call to mind your own impressions regarding his meaning when he experimented with you here, I venture to say that they will be substantially the same as mine.

Ever yours, | John Tyndall