From John Chadwick   Noveber 30th 1842.

Kinsale | November 30th 1842.

Dearest Tyndall

I fully expect that by this time you have completely expunged me from your memory as a faithless and forsworn friend and devoted the manes¹ of our old cronyship to the shades of Erebus² to dwell with devils and damned spirits through the countless ages of eternity as Bagby³ used to say. I received your poetical morceau⁴ with much satisfaction. It quite breathed the spirit of a Tyndall – half ludicrous half sentimental for such was the composition of your mental parts. The spirit of poetry being either extinct or never having had a place in my soul, you must only expect a mere prosaical answer to yours, though according to musical rules sweet sounds should be responded to by others as sweet so as to form a concord. But n’importe;⁵ in plain doggrell,

‘My excuse must be,

That “the sisters three”⁶

Are no friends to me,

So my answer to thee,

Is prose sans⁷ poetry’.

That’s what you may call knocking a spark out of lead and as you have thrown the pearls of your imagination before swine, it is surely time for me to send my responsive grunt – And, to begin in the middle, I must according to law call up the witnesses for the defence. You begin your last letter with an animated exordium about my forgetfulness and want of friendship. Well I looked into my soul and the retrospect of the past told me that I was sinless, so with all the confidence of outraged virtue I repel the accusation with due respect to you. I sent a parcel of letters to England, one for you, another for George Latimer, and another for Richard Hunter to whom I directed them according to the way he told me, namely, Prescott⁸ near Liverpool, enclosing the others in his with directions to forward them to you. Now I suppose that he must not have received them. I sent them a few days after I received your first letter.⁹ They were a glorious windfall of nonsense to whoever got them their united weight might have either sank through the post bag (though indeed I did not hear of any post bag explosion at that period) or the sublimity and airiness of the thoughts and ideas contained in them may have soared through the top and disappeared in a smoke. At all events, God forgive the penny post,¹⁰ which I hope will not serve me another trick with this present production. The head and front of my offending hath this extent: No more than a month has slipped over my poor head since the receipt of your last and without answer But my dear friend, for such I will still call you, I will not write to say farewell, for though surrounded by semi savages and unkindred spirits my soul still cherishes the memory of times I spent with you. God knows the only thing I long for here is the possession of a friend such as you were, who could think as I thought and feel as I felt and know and enter into feelings which are quite above the comprehension of those around me. But I must be content with the blessings I possess without seeking for those unattainable. I hope to be able to pay you a visit some time next summer if you remain so long a sapper, if not I may meet you on our own soil. Your description of the mess is very spirited and clever, quite a hallucination of past times. But I am surprised that the daughters of merry England do not please you better if they are better if they are not so exact and guarded as the females on this side, they are at least more – free and bauld,¹¹ meeting you half way so irresistably as to charm you out of all contenance and to a young gent like you, little more than adolescent, and not much burdened with precise morals – in short not quite a Joseph¹² – such she divinities ought to be very tasty. But I leave you to your morality and in the main I must agree with you that (using a liquorish simile)¹³ the iced wine of Ireland is more palatable than the hot lascivious vintage of England. Before you draw a ticket in the matrimonial lottery, for the sake of auld Ireland shift your orb over here and take one of the native plants out of the wild sweet briery fence you mention, and even if you get a few thorns in your carcase in the pursuit it will repay you for your trouble. I will say no more but leave the matter to your own good sense. The reason I did not sooner reply to your last – Illness, long illness. About a week after I received yours I got a very heavy cold and rhumatism in the head which kept me in tortures for some weeks. I need hardly say that I was not in much humour for writing during the time, but at last thank goodness by the help of cooking myself well I have got rid of it and Jack’s the lad again. And now to give you the first fruits of my recovery and to let you know all the wonderful events that have happened in this wonderful part of the globe since I last saw you. In the first place it has been raining here for the last three weeks without intermission and we’re not full yet. Business is rather dull here and monotony is as much the rider of the day as ever. My partner¹⁴ is quite well and sends her love to you – that is, the little she has to spare. We had a visit from Mr Harris from America, the person to whom John Fudge¹⁵ went. John is conducting his business and makes himself very useful, likes the place very much. Harris gives a flaming fine account of America he says he would engage me 500 a year profit on a capital of 1000 which would be a pretty fair return. John Markham¹⁶ came back from Sydney and brought a fine account of the fortunes he had passed. His journal¹⁷ was very amusing, he has returned there for the purpose of settling, taking his wife¹⁸ and children. George Markham¹⁹ and sons are going there in spring²⁰ and one of the sisters. Robert Markham²¹ who was in the dragoons came home and died after a long illness. We have a Mr Scott²² here now as preacher he is a respectable one for he has taken Mr Chamber’s²³ house on Dean’s Quay, keeps his horse and car and has a very nice woman to wife, is an excellent preacher. The Donaclifts²⁴ are all well, Sophy as usual thatching²⁵ the ladies. Her brother has been here this some time. The Batemans²⁶ and Goods²⁷ are all well and your ci-devant landlady’s family²⁸ the same – every house in Kinsale stands on its own bottom as usual. We had a great tea meeting here lately, Mr Scott paid the expenses, and we got our Belly full gratis, which was a great matter those hard times. There has been the usual number of individuals coming on the earth, going under ditto, and conjointing in marriage. The scarlatina²⁹ has been very prevalent here lately. My little responsibility³⁰ is quite well, she has been on a visit to Clonakilty³¹ this some time, she will remain there until after Christmas. She is growing the size of a whale. Myself and consort will pass the Christmas at Clonakilty and the Abbots³² will come here on little wee Christmas.³³ William Fudger who is my wife’s brother will be here he is in the 65 Reg.,³⁴ in the band, which reg., is lying somewhere near you.³⁵ I intend if I can to go to Dublin on the end of April and from thence to Liverpool and if possible I will pay you a visit I know you will excuse me for asking you to read this for Latimer and I am sure he will not think me so much in fault as I may have appeared; if I can I will write him a few lines but I hate repetitions which must occur if I write at length to you and him. Poor George and me are as divided in sentiment as the North is from the South, so that there cannot be much community of sentiment between us, which must be always the case between the children of this world and those of the next.³⁶ He was a great crony of mine until he was snatched as a brand from the burning,³⁷ and then there was a gulf sunk between us over which I unfortunately could not pass but was obliged to remain in the wilderness of sin and will bad as I am look forward to escaping thence even though I should wander for forty years.³⁸ God help us, we know the right and the world the flesh and devil holds us in the wrong by every fibre of the heart. I have no associate here now and if I do walk it is by myself. I received your last letter on a Saturday and I did not like to profane it by opening it during the hurry of business, so I kept it inviolate until next day, took a walk to the coast at the mouth of Oyster haven³⁹ and there, opposite the Sovereign’s Islands with the booming sea roaring and its surf dashing beneath me I read it and verily the Water Spirits⁴⁰ shouted admirable! – And I there registered a vow that whatever change or fortune might betide me I would hold fast to faith and revive our old association. So my dear friend do not think me capable of breaking a vow made amid nature’s thunders. At the time I would rather have had you with me than any gratification that the world could afford me. Dear fellow, if you think my friendship worthy of a further trial you will find that in future I will not be a remiss correspondent. So I will expect a letter from you shortly and send me a more detailed account of old chums. So as the paper is shook I must remain your friend in heart if not in deed and wishing you the compliments of the season and a good appetite for the English roast beef and pudding⁴¹ and

remain yours very very sincerely | J. Chadwick.

RI MS JT 1/11/3499–500

LT Transcript Only