Monday
Boy!
I have written to Mr Edmondson and my letter contains the following words […]2
Boy I will pay you if the Gods grant me life and if I go with you – and boy if I don’t go, the memory of this act of thine3 shall cling to me until it is effaced by a nobler. Were I to tell thee my faith in thee it would make thee proud, and were I to mention the hopes I entertain concerning thee, it would make thee vain. Were I rogue I should not dare thus to write to thee for it might arouse suspicion – But by the Heavens I care nothing at bottom for thy 40 pounds – If I accept it I shall accept it as a free man. And yet the gods know that I should deem this fair act of thine cheaply purchased by 7 years probation upon bread and water.4 I have met many who professed to love me in this world but two only can I now turn to with confidence. In my quiet moments I draw sweet solace from the thought of them – they are worth the universe to me
J.T.
poor January5 – there’s no love lost – I like the fellow heartily – I believe he is an Israelite in whom there is no guile.6
RI MS JT/1/T/954
[2 September 1850]: based on Tyndall’s journal entry, dating his letter to Edmondson to 2 September 1850 (JT/2/14/174). It could have been written a day or two later, but as it served also as a thank you letter for the loan, Tyndall probably did not delay.
[…]: Tyndall copied out part of his letter (0434) to Edmondson at this point.
act of thine: a reference to Hirst’s willingness to loan £40 to Tyndall for the trip to Germany (letter 0433).
7 years… bread and water: a type of extreme hard fare, as of a prisoner or penitent (OED). This may refer to Jacob serving seven years to ‘pay the price’ of his bride, thus implying long service and harsh conditions.
poor January: the entire postscript is written in the left-hand margin of the first page.
poor January … love lost … an Israelite … no guile: three allusions which refer to Hirst’s letter 0433. There are later letters in which Hirst and Tyndall express sympathy for January but we have not determined the specific allusion here. ‘Israelite…’ is an allusion to a statement of Jesus about Nathanael (John 1: 47).
Please cite as “Tyndall0436,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0436