From Thomas Archer Hirst   June 18th, 1850¹

Halifax. | June 18th, 1850.

My dear Friend,

I wrote to you some time ago and sent the letter² by a new method³ to lessen the postage, and consequently am not quite certain of its safe arrival. To ensure this I send this as formerly, and hope it will come to hand before you start for England. I expect you to land in Hull and come straight to Halifax;⁴ if you do not I shall be forced to find you out for I am anxious to see that old face, and have another grip of that fist of yours, so I tell you I shall be dreadfully jealous and I would advise you not to provoke it. I sent that MS.⁵ of yours on the day it arrived after reading it with great interest though as you anticipated I did not enter into its merits; but it gave me a good idea of the nature of your labours and what was very curious I attended a lecture of the West Riding Polytechnical Society⁶ that very day, and unexpectedly saw some of the same experiments in Diamagnetism illustrated. Your paper on Propensities and their Equivalents⁷ was an excellent one about which we will have a jaw together when I get you into my snuggery here at Halifax. I showed it to Phillips who was equally pleased with it and offered to send it to Larken, the head proprietor of the Leader. He did so, but I have heard nothing since. I shall be down in Lincolnshire next week and shall see him about it most likely, together with other things. Its subject is similar to one I was engaged on, and as usual there are many coincidences between us. I am about to give them a farewell paper at the Franklin Society⁸ (I should like you to be here at the time) and intend giving them the results of a few experiences gathered from them. I have called it ‘Societies considered in their relation and adaptation to Intellectual Culture and Individual Improvement’. Chemistry is proceeding prosperously just now, but we shall incur your rebuke about our hours of study, it will jar against your habits of early rising, for we work there generally from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M. Intellect in this case however without being at all bribed says that is our most convenient time. I am not in a good writing humour to day and shall not say much more. I am in fact rather low spirited at a small religious dispute or rather difference I met with yesterday. I have an Aunt⁹ here in the neighbourhood, my father’s sister who is very fond of me, very religious & sincerely so I’m certain, but also rather shrewd and prejudiced, it seems she has been frightened, poor soul, at my conduct and writings lately. How she has got hold of the latter I do not know. My bad conduct consists in Sabbath breaking and neglecting M^r Pridie’s Gospel.¹⁰ I have great affection for her too & always found something beautiful about her religion, but I always carefully avoided satisfying her love of argument and disputation. Yesterday however she took me to task most seriously, seemed determined to have it all out of me, the consequence of it was, that she got such a flood of heterodoxy or what she calls infidelity on her head, that completely staggered her. I did so with great reluctance but she was wilful & would have it. I have been sorry though since for I believe it will cause her much anxiety, and certainly it opens an old wound in me, that I flattered myself was almost healed, namely, whether my belief is or is not under the control of my will? When she wrung my hand at parting and with tears in her eyes beseeched me for the Love of God, for everything I held dearest, to consider my sin, to repent & return to Christ like the Prodigal Son to his fathers house: I felt myself to be a monster and a sinner before her and almost frightened her with the earnestness of my answer ‘Would to God, and for your sake, that I could Aunt’. For some hours after I thought I could & would try to be orthodox, and paced about my chamber until 2 O Clock this morning quite restless & quite miserable, as if I had committed a heinous crime. Why can I not wear the garment that brings her such consolation? Reason soon returned and shewed me the impossibility of this, nay the religion which made her believe me to be threatened with eternal damnation & to tremble for my sake seemed far from enviable. Yes, she positively told me that she dare not encourage the idea of my salvation should I be cut off without repentance. One thing she told me surprised me much, viz. ‘That my words were the echo of what she had heard my father say a few years before his death’ Now my father died when I was 12 years old, and his opinions on these matters I have long wished to know, for it has often crossed me what he would have thought of me had he been living at this day. My curiosity was excited all the more by certain curious documents (MSS)¹¹ that fell into my hands at Mothers death,¹² which were tossed about uncared for, but from which I could gather that he too was a thinker. I could meet with no one that could enlighten me on the point until yesterday & I must say the information was encouraging that I was not a wanderer altogether, but treading in my Fathers footsteps was some consolation. And to[-day] I have found myself speculating upon the changed circumstances had he been living yet, and besides the tie of kindred we had been bound also by sympathy in our beliefs and aspirations. But, unluckily for my Aunt’s peace, my Father died in sin, (like poor M’Arthur¹³ he killed himself with drinking) His life I feel certain now is worth investigation and I have an anxious desire to know it better. Meanwhile may the son while following his fathers aspirations, conquer his frailties <and> avoid his errors.

John Tyndall will say Amen.

John Tyndall | ^{care of} Professor Bunsen – | Marburg | Hesse Cassel

Paid at Halifax | June 18^th, 1850¹⁴

RI MS JT/1/H/147