Cork, Saturday night
My dear Father
Your long expected letter1 came at length to hand on I believe Wednesday night. It appears that you had good reason for your delay, namely on account of Mr John Alexander’s absence. Mr Charles’s2 account of England is not a very good one. However the world is wide, and I’m not afraid to face it. I have at present a competence3 and no doubt as to its permanence. To it therefore I shall stick until something good presents itself. You may have remarked in the course of my letters a tone in some very different from that of others. From some you may have gathered that I am rather impatient, while from others you might conclude that I am perfectly satisfied with my present situation. The fact is this: no letter of mine was penned thro’ a spirit of impatience except that which I wrote at the time of Mulligan’s removal,4 and for this I was sorry. It is not discontent that induces me to write, and urge on you the necessity of exertion. No, I am not at all discontented with my present situation, but I have an eye to futurity and I know the value of time. This makes me dread the idea of wasting it. You have a better opportunity of knowing when an application should be made than I have, and you therefore should not let my letters urge you to make it at an improper time. I would therefore say, use your own judgement in this matter. Mr Alexander’s interest is powerful,5 and tho’ at present it may not have scope to work in, still I am sure that at a future day it will be found availing. It gives me great satisfaction therefore to find him on my side.
Tidmarsh’s father, who is at present in Leeds, sent him advertisement the other day taken from the Leeds Mercury6 – It stated that there was a person wanted who knew everything respecting the Surveying, Mapping and computing of estates and Townships. Mr Tidmarsh desired the young fellow,7 in the event of his not being able to fill the situation, to speak to me about it. I accordingly applied but have got no answer as yet. I have no expectation of being successful. This however I dont much care about as from the nature of the advertisement I dont think the gaining of the situation would compensate for the loss of my present one.
I got a letter from Debby yesterday.8 She is at present in Fermoy at Little’s9
Give my love to my mother and Emma I’ll write to them shortly.
Direct your letter as usual, I mean as you directed your last.
Your affectionate son | John.
RI MS JT/1/10/3266
LT Transcript Only
Your long expected letter: letter 0120.
Mr Charles: Charles Leslie Alexander; see letter 0120, n. 3.
competence: a sufficiency of means for living comfortably (OED).
that which I wrote at the time of Mulligan’s removal: letter 0036.
Mr Alexander’s interest is powerful: John Alexander was a very successful and highly-respected mill-owner with a large estate at Milford.
advertisement … Leeds Mercury: ‘To LAND SURVEYORS.–WANTED, in a Land Surveyor’s Office, in Yorkshire, a PERSON of good Character and sober Habits, who has been accustomed to the Surveying and Planning of Townships and Estates. None need apply who are not fully competent to Survey, Plan, and Cast the same with accuracy and expedition. It is not necessary that he should be able to make finished Plans and Field Books. Apply, by Letter, addressed to No. 9, Mercury Office, Leeds, stating qualification and salary requested’ (Leeds Mercury, 22 January 1842, p. 5).
the young fellow: John Tidmarsh.
a letter from Debby yesterday: letter 0121, from Deborah McAssey.
She is … at Little’s: see letter 0125.
Please cite as “Tyndall0122,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0122