To Thomas Archer Hirst   July 2/49

[July 2/49]¹

My Dear Tom,

The intelligence has indeed fallen upon me unexpected, like the first shower of coriander manna upon the Israelites in the desert of the red sea.² One word however before you set out, dont allow imagination to inflate herself to an undue extent dont expect too much, nay expect very little for I should not like to send you back disappointed with me and Marburg. our town is nichts besonders,³ nay it is positively old and ugly and were it not lifted up into heavens sunshine by the hill on which it stands would be a semiplace of perdition – our University is not grand, it is broken into parts and presents no imposing front – our laboratory⁴ presents rather a scoundrel like appearance but dont conclude hastily against it – it holds a man whose superior as a chemist is not to be found within a radius of 8000 miles from the Piece Hall of Halifax⁵ – there however right over against me on the summit of a hill with the sun shining upon its white walls, and its tower piercing the air is a fine building an astronomical observatory and physical institute, its interior furnished with costly apparatus and notwithstanding all this I will not say much for it, on the other hand I can lead you into a little room with hacked ricketty benches perhaps the whole not worth 5 and sixpence where a man of genius makes his hearers forget the poorness of his furniture as he crushes the crust of a mathematical Calculus between his fingers, but come however and judge for yourself, if you are a lover of nature you will be pleased Marburg liegt schön⁶ – our neighbourhood is smashed and torn by volcanic agency and here & there the basalt juts from the hill summits –

Your best route I believe will be from Hull⁷ to Antwerp. Packets sail twice a week – you must ascertain the days and the fare – From Antwerp you come to Colne⁸ for a few shillings, you travel always 3^rd class of course. from Colne along the Rhine to Mainz⁹ – from Mainz to Frankfort¹⁰ by railway, and thence by a rascally old postomnibus¹¹ to Marburg take the 1^st cabin at Coln (Cologne), as I believe you sleep a night on board, If you were over in London your best way would be by Dover to Ostend¹² and thence by Railway to Coln. The fare from Antwerp to Marburg will be about 28p* and it will cost you perhaps 10p for Nahrungs Mittel¹³ &c. vieleicht nicht so viel¹⁴ – I would write to London if I were you and ascertain the time and fare by that route also then you can compare both – you may come as early in August as you please but you must so manage that you can remain till about the 10^th of September, we have then our vacation and I will accompany you part of the way back – if you like we will take a run into Switzerland together, that is if it dont cost too much – Chambers¹⁵ has written a narrative of a tour up the Rhine. you can get it for a few pence, buy it – I am wrong, I have just made enquiry, the title of the book is a tour in Holland, the Countries of the Rhine and Belgium¹⁶ – but instead of a few pence it cost 1/6 perhaps it is cheaper now. you will get maps of the river cheap along the way but dont buy a large one, they are expensive –

* this at the highest, it may be less.

I believe M^r Phillips is the January Searle of the truth seeker¹⁷ – in the last number that I have seen was a discourse on the use of books <signed> G.S.P.¹⁸ probably by him – the style was his – he spoke rather freely of both Caryle & Emerson, acknowledged them to be the greatest English thinkers but insinuated that the latter was <an> imitator and the former unhealthy. I believe however the imitation of Emerson had <reference> only to his style not to his matter – & that the unhealthiness of Carlyle consists in his rejecting the agency of worthless men in the effecting of any good end whatever – In attempting to describe Caryle however G.S.P. <resembles> a man swimming amid billows and talking of the expanse of ocean round him, he is swamped in the wave his pen describes, he is a disciple of Caryle to the back bone, a rugged chip of the same rugged block – dont think that I undervalue G.S.P. his utterances though <tinged> by the peculiarity of the man are brave and honest there is an unknown mass of talent in him – When you come you will be able to tell me whether I am right in my surmise –

I’m not sure of my spelling¹⁹

Poor M^cArthur!²⁰ His death and the method of it are the most natural things in the world. superior intellectual cultivation allied to an inveterate love of gin, both eternally pulling in contrary directions – he could not bear it – it is in fact unbearable – Had he been true to his bottle and thought no further he would have lived; but he had reached a point from which he could see the <degradation> of his habit, this sight coupled with the <absence> of all hope of successful battle against it led naturally to self slaughter. pious people will call the act wicked and send him to hell by special train without thinking of the tortures and agonies, the vain efforts, and bitter self accusations which took place beforehand. there is a deeper meaning in the fate of such a man than pious people take notice of.

English money – gold – is passable everywhere – I want you <to> bring me a little with you – Write to M^r Edmondso<n> Queenwood College²¹ Stockbridge letting him know the day you start from Halifax. I will write to him to send you 10 or 15 or perhaps 20£ which you will like a good boy bring over in sovereigns with you – take care of being robbed – If you come here without my money I will put you in the hand of the State officers.

affectionately yours | Tyndall

Put postage stamps on the enclosed. I will pay you when you come

If you can get a cheap edition of Launcelot²² buy it for me

You will <perhaps> besides the money from M^r E. receive a pound or so from another quarter –

RI MS JT/1/HTYP/29-30

RI MS JT/1/T/520