To John Tyndall, Snr   Saturday night, (April 12th, 1841.)

Youghal | Saturday¹ night

My dear Father

About half an hour ago a letter from you was handed to me by John Hennessy.² So you see that I have lost no time in answering it. You complain of my expecting letter for letter from you, but I assure you this was not the cause of my delaying to write to you. It was something else which I won’t tell you at present.³ I’m sure you’ll laugh when you hear it from my own lips when I go home. I was just on the point of sending to you for Poole’s ‘Nullity’ or his ‘Dialogues’.⁴ This is just a hint. You draw in your letter a comparison between our ages – you complain of a palsied hand. Now with great deference to you, father, your writing contradicts your words. I positively think I never saw better writing after you than your last letter contained. This does not argue much in favour of a trembling hand. The steel pen⁵ must be valuable, but I’m afraid if the hand that guided its movements was not steady its own efforts must fail in producing good writing.

Never dread my health, if you could but see the mess of herrings and butter that I despatched this day you would not be over anxious concerning that matter. I however will write to you weekly from this out.

I’m extremely sorry to hear of Mr Conwill’s health being delicate, it gives me great pleasure however to find that he is recruting, tell him to give up Diophantus and Descartes⁶ for a while, they are bad medicine for a delicate frame.

There is one portion of your letter in particular which gave me great concern and that is where you tell me that the times are very bad. Are they very bad with you? If I thought so I’d starve myself to keep you independent. Have you a good stock at present? Do you keep Jem⁷ constantly employed? Egad⁸ this is the worst news I heard since I came to Youghal.

But after this unpleasant news you have penned a little palliative, it gives me great pleasure to hear that you were able to afford the girls some fun there is an amazing spirit contained in two or three [tumblers].

Did you hear how was Sarjent McKim⁹ from Jacob Little?

I suppose I need not tell you that my feeling with respect to Mrs Steuart is as strong as your own. I believe in her loss I would have to deplore that of one of my best friends.

I’m just after extracting the first halfcrown¹⁰ from Wm. Heydon.¹¹ I would have got more from him but being prevented from working on Good Friday and not being paid for it diminished his week’s pay something, he promises well, I’ll make him keep up to his trumps. I have John Murray also under contribution¹² I was afraid that he was spending the overplus of his pay foolishly, so I make him give it up to me now on every Saturday night I have six and six¹³ of his at present when it amounts a little higher I’ll buy some clothes for him.

I saw Wm Murray a couple of times lately he’s as strong as an ox and comfortably dressed. I wanted him to come and eat his dinner with me the other day and after much pressing he promised to follow me up but he did not come.

I like our present Corporal¹⁴ better and better every day. He’s a very fair man I think.

Things are going on in their old way here. Roberts is to be married on the 1st of May to a girl for whom he farmed an attachment while employed in the field.¹⁵ She’s a young woman that a Mrs Fitzgerald a lady here has taken under her protection. Mrs F. is to give him a hundred pounds, and to send both of them out to Australia. Roberts’s father is very averse to the match I believe however the son is determined to persist in his choice. I owe I suppose half a dozen letters, the same cause that prevented me from writing to you operated in like manner with respect to the rest of my correspondents. Its nearly 12 o’clock so I’ll have my Easter’s egg¹⁶ on you and bid you Good night

Your affectionate son | John Tyndall

RI MS JT/1/10/3217

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