To E. D. Steuart   5th Aug. 1850

Spring Bank, Over Darwen, | Lancashire | 5th Aug. 1850

Dear Madam,

Though I date this from Spring Bank which is my standing address for the present I write it from Manchester.¹ Had I followed my impulse I should have written at once to thank you for your last truly kind letter,² but I have been in the habit of curbing these impulses a little, not by any means quenching them, but keeping them like a little fire within me for the warming of my feelings when these grow cold.

Well I have been to Edinburgh and shall now give you a short abstract of my three days life there.³ I started on Wednesday morning last and reached the City the same night, put up at a temperance hotel, being converted to this act by one of my fellow travellers. Next morning on payment of a pound I was enrolled an associate of the British Association; as Saturday was devoted to excursions I saw that if I could not get my paper read on Friday that I must remain until the next week. I saw the Secretaries of the Mathematical and Physical Section and expressed to them my desire upon this point. Next morning accordingly I found my name in the published list in the respectable society of Sir David Brewster and others. I was among the audience on Friday morning, one gentleman read a paper on Meteorology and the President standing up announced ‘the next paper is by Mr Tyndall on the Magneto-Optic Properties of Crystals’. Well I fumbled forward to the rostrum and soon found myself there with Lord Wrottesley at my immediate left, next to him Sir David Brewster and further on the Chairman Professor Forbes with other members of the Committee – at my right were two professors about my own age, the one Prof of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow the other a Cambridge gentleman. Well I never felt more at home in my life, from beginning to end I did not experience a trace of alarm or hesitation there was something genial in the atmosphere and calculated to draw out the best power of a man. The paper occupied about 3 quarters of an hour and at the end the Chairman arose, and said that he had been at Bonn lately and had seen the experiments alluded to in my memoir himself. They seemed to be quite conclusive and satisfactory as regards the proof of the theory which Prof. Plücker their originator sought to establish, at the same time he said he knew how impossible it was to form a correct notion of the theory from seeing a few experiments merely. I arose and said that I had experimented for 3 weeks 10 hours each day before I discovered that the theory was defective. The Chairman proceeded, ‘Here[’] he said ‘is an entirely new branch of scientific enquiry the researches of Plücker and Faraday have been very elaborate but Mr Tyndall’s memoir goes directly to invalidate the views of both, if any gentleman present has any remark to make or any objection to urge against the reasoning we shall be happy to hear him’.

The Glasgow professor arose and spoke at some length on the interesting nature of the inquiry and the beauty and ingenuity of the experiments described in the memoir – He introduced Poissons theory of Magnetism which had been abandoned for want of experiments to confirm it ‘Now’ he said ‘this is the very thing itself. I have not the shadow of a doubt but the theory will be established by this investigation and that the investigation in its turn will be supported by the theory.’ But he could not agree in toto with my explanations and proceeded to combat the views advanced at some length. It would be totally void of interest to you to go over the ground after him, suffice it to say it came to a regular hand to hand contest between us, but I believe it was the opinion of every one present that he had not made a single point good against me. Once Sir David Brewster arose and though he did not pronounce a decided opinion it was manifest from what he said that he thought as I thought. The discussion endured for about 3 quarters of an hour and I firmly believe would have taken up the entire time of the Section had not the Chairman felt compelled in order to make way for other claims to shorten it. It was not a task to me, nothing like a painful conflict, for I had thoroughly mastered my subject beforehand, and found little difficulty in settling objections – it was in point of fact the keenest piece of amusement I ever enjoyed.

The vote of thanks was right warmly responded to, and an old gentleman, a member of the Committee said to me when done ‘go in to the Committee-room Mr Tyndall and write out a good abstract of your paper for me – I want to send it off to the Athenaeum’. In passing through the street afterwards a gentleman a perfect stranger accosted me – ‘I have just heard your paper’ said he ‘and have taken notes of it but I don’t know whether I can do it justice. Would you oblige me with an abstract from it for the Literary Gazette?’ But the old door keeper of the Section amused me most - he had peeped in during the controversy and heard it all – ‘Well Sir’ said he as I passed him ‘you have got your business settled’ ‘Yes’ I replied ‘Weel weel’ said he ‘it war most interestin I have heard nothin like it, really Sir Professor Thomson could make nothing of it He war completely under’.

Saturday was to be devoted to excursions, but Saturday saw me on my way southward, where I shall now have time to gather up my thoughts and to contemplate the possibilities that await me.

You ask me what my plans are, well that is easily answered I returned from Germany with the intention of borrowing a little money so as to enable me to return and pursue my studies for six months longer: Circumstances have turned up to render this difficult of accomplishment – I now see no probability of being able to return. Were I singlehanded I might manage it but I must not forget those depending on me in Leighlin⁴ – I must look out for some employment and hand over my task to those in luckier circumstances than myself.

With best wishes and remembrances to Captain Steuart | believe me dear Madam | most faithfully yours | John Tyndall.

RI MS JT/1/TYP/10/3327–3328

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