Perhaps no portion of your letter excited my interest more than the kind and friendly wish expressed towards the end of it. I notice this the more particularly as I would rather that you had never taken a step in my behalf than that you should do it under the conviction of my being that which I am not. This would savour of obtaining money under false pretences, perhaps be the less respectable of the two. With regard to my religion the tale is briefly told, were I asked for an epitome thereof I would lay my hand upon the writings of John in the New Testament,2 and the religion there taught is not the religion of the Understanding but a deeper one. Since I came to Germany I have not got a single new notion on this subject, having occupied myself almost wholly with science, intending at a later period of life to test as far as my abilities permitted the fallacy or the truth of German philosophy. There are however two writers in the English language which have exercised and still continue to exercise a great influence upon me, and these are Carlyle and Emerson; I mean Carlyle the historian, the author of Past & Present, Heroes & Heroworship, Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell3 &c. Emerson is an American, doubtless you are acquainted with the writings of both, and if so will have observed that though they never attack the Church of England4 nor any other church, their writing in many places breathe a spirit to which the church of England would scarcely subscribe. Heroes & Heroworship is a foolish kind of name for a very serious work which made a great impression on me, an impression which has not yet worn away. You have thus a complete view of the character of him whom you would befriend – if you blame me, then the plea of Martin Luther must be mine – ‘I cannot otherwise – may God assist me!’5
RI MS JT/2/5/386–7
JT Transcript
[c. 7 April 1850]: the source for this letter is Tyndall’s copy in his journal (entry for the week of 1–7 April). He recorded receiving a letter (missing) from Wynne: ‘At the end of Mr Wynnes letter a hope was expressed that I still adhered to the pure doctrines of the church of England, wrote as follows in reply.’ The journal version is a clean version, not a rough draft.
writings of John in the New Testament: Church tradition holds that the apostle John is the author of the Gospel of John, the three Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation.
Past & Present, … Oliver Cromwell: T. Carlyle, Past and Present (London: Chapman and Hall, 1843); On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History (London: Chapman and Hall, 1840); and Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches: With Elucidations by Thomas Carlyle, 4 vols (London: Chapman and Hall, 1845).
Church of England: Carlyle did not openly attack the Church but he had little respect for it: ‘is it not perishing rapidly enough, much too rapidly perhaps, without help of mine?’ (Carlyle to J. G. Marshall, 18 November 1841, The Carlyle Letters 13: 297–9).
‘I cannot otherwise – may God assist me!’: according to tradition, Luther said these words (in German) at his trial at the Diet of Worms in 1521.
Please cite as “Tyndall0397,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0397