Great Tyndall still doth lead the van,
In every line he speaks the man.
Ballinabranna M.N.S.1 | March 6th 1841.
‘My dear Tyndall’
The sentiments which your letter of last Saturday2 breathes, are those of a person deeply versed in the philosophy of nature. Yes, I hesitate not to declare in the face of the universe that Tyndall possesses a mind which for its vividness and effusions is not inferior to that of a Newton.3
Shakespear’s4 phrases are so cogent in themselves that any comment of mine would derogate from the merit of that great man, however I must say that the words which you have cited from his work, namely, ‘The world is a stage’5 are words that I have introduced on various occasions to exhibit the frailty and inconstancy of this life; I have also used them to point out the various scenes through which man is ramified during his pilgrimage in this sublunary world.
It appears even in our own native isle of the ocean, there is another Juan Fernandez in which my beloved pupil has undergone the fatigues of an Alexander Selkirk.6
When I read your fanciful description of the brutes of whom you were Lord from the centre all round to the sea, I could not but question the boasted records of the literary acquirements of the peasants of Munster.7 I could not but think that my pupil was as competent to recognize the talents of these people as any alien itinerant historian who has dared to proclaim that he recognized more classic lore among the inhabitants of the South than what could be displayed by the first literary characters in Cambridge or Oxford. Blast such bare-faced falsehoods – You have not suggested that the oases of literature exist in that place of well-contested fame.8 No more of this until another time.
While I was reciting your letter in the presence of your mother, I frequently cast a glance at her to behold the big tear that, as it were, furrowed her cheek and, believe me, her tears caused no small emotion to pervade my bosom.
When she heard your exile read, she burst out into a most sorrowful strain, saying ah! John, my beloved John!! my darling Trooper!!! how truly may I say in the words of the same exile Alexander:–
‘Oh tell me I yet have a son
Tho’ a son I am never to see.’9
You want no stimulus to rouse you to send an epistle written in your wonted drollery to your mother, as she is very dejected in spirit because she had not the pleasure of your company last Christmas, a circumstance which she fondly anticipated, but alas! providence disappoints us when we least expect it.
Butler has been removed from Carlow district and he is succeeded by a man named Shean, who was in my school February 26th. I had to examine all the classes in his presence; during part of the examination he asked Ford10 to parse ‘Pompeii.’
‘The shroud of years thrown back thou dost revive.’11
Ford said that revive was an active verb in this sentence. No English scholar can understand it. And Shean was never the active sort. Hold Sir, said I, not so fast. I am a mere English grammarian and I will account for the verb in all its bearings. In the sentence alluded to it is intransitive, being the same as if I said to you, Sir, Thy sickness being removed thou dost revive. The punctuation, Sir, led my boy astray, as there should be a comma at back. That it is an active verb parse this sentence.
‘The doctor revived his spirits by his timely aid.’12 Moreover, Sir, said I here is Walker13 with common sense on my side. But again, Sir, give me leave to ask you is a knowledge of Latin, Greek &c, a guarantee for infallibility in the English language? Did you ever read old Billy Cobbett’s grammar, which contains thousands of errors selected from Blair, Johnson and Watts,14 any of these men knew more languages than all the Inspectors under the patronage of the National Board. I am convinced, Sir, said I, that you will not hold any antipathy against me for thus opposing you, because I deemed myself called upon in an especial manner to vindicate my own character. He said he was well pleased and gave me an excellent report.
Hennessy came to me lately and implored pardon. Well said I, ‘To err is human, to forgive divine’.15 I pardoned him. He showed me a construction given by one Kelly to the sentence ‘Windmills are made use of to grind corn’16; the construction runs thus ‘Windmills are made to be of use to grind corn’17 I told Hennessy to point out for me whether there was any difference in the following forms. ‘John made use of meat.’ ‘John made meat be of use.’ Another thing philologer Kelly18 insinuated to him was, where was the authority for introducing ‘used’ for ‘made use of’? I have no room here to recount the milling I gave him on the last remark, I shall do so in my next letter. I do wish that you should send me some of your observations on this subject.
I am your faithful teacher | J. Conwill
P.S. As to Evans farewell to <word(s) missing>
On my conscience, Tyndall, I thought that I gave a hop, step and a leap into Youghal the other night; that we conversed about Milton, Dryden, Homer19 and other wits of antiquity; and that as we were conversing about the scenes of bygone days, I was attracted by the contortions of a person whom I imagined lay near me. I then interrogated you about what happened [to] him – you were about to answer me when he screamed aloud and I thought a cow burst forth from his bowels after which followed twelve black monsters that devoured the poor animal. Heavens! I cried, are we to have twelve years of famine. Just as I was pondering on Pharaoh’s dream20 I was started from my sleep by a shrill call from my mother. She said I was sleeping uneasily.
RI MS JT/1/11/3516
LT Transcript Only
Ballinabranna M.N.S.: see letter 0017, n. 1.
your letter of last Saturday: letter missing.
Tyndall … a Newton: Conwill’s uncanny appreciation of Tyndall’s potential as a scentist. Isaac Newton (1642–1727) was widely hailed as the most outstanding natural philosopher (scientist) and mathematician.
Shakespear’s: The eminent playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564–1616).
The world is a stage: ‘All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.’ (W. Shakespeare, As You Like It, II.vii.142–3).
Juan Fernandez … Alexander Selkirk: Conwill compares Tyndall’s lonely sojourn in rural Co. Cork to the experience of a Scottish buccaneer named Alexander Selkirk (1676–1721), who was marooned for four years on the Juan Fernandez Islands in the South Pacific, some 370 miles off the coast of Chile. Selkirk’s adventures inspired a number of books including Daniel Defoe’s The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719).
the peasants of Munster: In his letter ‘of last Saturday’ Tyndall had presumably sent Conwill a narrative of his visit to the Parish of Killeagh similar to that contained in letter 0043. Munster is an ancient province of Ireland comprising several counties in the south west of Ireland.
place of well-contested fame: May refer to Cork’s turbulent history, including the Irish Rebellion of 1641 when it was a Protestant stronghold.
Alexander … never to see: Conwill appears to be paraphrasing Nathaniel Lee’s tragedy The Rival Queens, or the Death of Alexander the Great (1677), II.
Ford: one of Conwill’s pupils.
The shroud of years thrown back thou dost revive: From the poem ‘Pompeii’, by J. Beldam, Fourth Book of Lessons, for the Use of the Irish National Schools (Dublin: printed by P. D. Hardy, 1835), p. 165. The punctuation centres on a sentence whose punctuation is deficient. Therefore, the pupil mistakenly parsed the verb ‘revive’ as a transitive verb (takes an object), rather than an intransitive verb (which does not take an object).
The doctor revived his spirits by his timely aid: The sentence is an example of the verb ‘revive’ being correctly used in an active (transitive) sense to govern the object word ‘spirits’.
Walker: Probably the lexicographer John Walker (1732–1807), whose works included The Teacher's Assistant in English Composition (1801) and Outlines of English Grammar (1805).
old Billy Cobbett’s grammar … Blair, Johnson and Watts: The radical journalist and pamphleteer William Cobbett (1763–1835) published A Grammar of the English Language (New York: Clayton & Kingsland, 1818) in which he criticised the use of language by such eminent authorities as Hugh Blair (1718–1800), professor of rhetoric at the University of Edinburgh and author of Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres (1767), Samuel Johnson (1709–84), essayist and lexicographer, and Isaac Watts (1674–1748), hymnwriter and author of Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth (1724).
To err is human, to forgive divine: A. Pope, An Essay on Criticism, I.525.
Windmills are made use of to grind corn: This poorly-constructed sentence suggests that the purpose of the windmill is subsidiary to its existence.
Windmills are made to be of use to grind corn: This sentence by contrast links the construction of the windmill firmly to its function.
philologer Kelly: possibly C. Patrick Kelly, superintendent of the school at St Patrick’s Monastery, Tullow (Slater’s).
Milton, Dryden, Homer: John Milton (see letter 0009, n.9); the poet and playwright John Dryden (1631–1700); the ancient Greek poet Homer, author of the Iliad and Odyssey.
Pharaoh’s dream: In Genesis 41 Pharaoh recounted his dream in which ‘seven well favoured … and fatfleshed’ cows emerged from a river. Subsequently seven ‘ill favoured and leanfleshed kine [cows] did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine’. Joseph interpreted this as a prediction that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of famine.
Please cite as “Tyndall0048,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0048