My dear Ginty,
I promised to write to you but what am I to say? I got here safe and have tackled into my work earnestly, the result of which up to the present time I have no reason to complain of. Things are looking serious here, war is lowering – a conflict between Prussia on the one hand and Austria and Bavaria on the other seems unavoidable.2 Marburg is now in possession of the Prussians – they entered in the night before last and were welcomed by the chief magistrate. The Bavarians have entered the Southern skirt of the Province. All the principal towns are in the hands of the Prussians including Cassel the Capital. If a conflict occurs it will probably be first in this neighbourhood.
A little incident singular in my experience occurred when I met Hirst in London – ‘you would not guess what I have for you’ he said. He opened his pocket book and placed two pounds before me – sent to me by the proprieter of the Leader newspaper for a short article which had appeared upwards of three months previous3 and for which I never expected a farthing.
I have got employment in the literary line: sufficient I think to pay for board and lodging4 here; I will assuredly take advantage of it and remain in Germany longer than I anticipated when I left you.
How are you getting on at the Athenaeum? the bazaar of course is over – Has it been successful? How did the Album take?5 If it be not too dear I should like you to purchase me a copy. I trust you like your new situation – The hydrocarbon process I saw at Queenwood – it really is very beautiful. Tell me everything when you write – cram your letter with politics, literature and domestics.
This last word leads me to Peb.6 I will write to herself by and bye, but she must remember that heaven has given the chief honour to the man and I therefore write to you first. Kiss her for me and say there is nothing in the world so well calculated to promote a little woman’s happiness as activity provided always there be a little method in it. To hear from all that Peb wants to make herself perfect is a little improvement in this line, for the girl I believe has a precious little heart. How is Bill! – with a kind thought of Miss Roberts7
I am | Tyndall.
RI MS JT/1/TYP/11/3639
LT Transcript Only
[10 November 1850]: dated by reference to the Prussians in Marburg. The night before last was Friday, 8 November, when Tyndall noted in his journal: ‘This evening proclamation was made of the arrival of the Prussians’ (JT/2/13b/516).
war ... seems unavoidable: conflict between Prussia and Austria/Bavaria over competing claims to rule Hesse-Cassel broke out in early November 1850. Bavarians entered Hesse Cassel on 1 November, with open conflict erupting on 8 November. The issues were multiple: according to Tyndall’s German friends (letter 0444) ‘the democratic tendencies of the Hessian parliament’ had initiated the recent conflict.
when I met Hirst … three months previous: ‘Propensities and their Equivalents’ (cited letter 0406, n. 7) was published in June. Hirst gave Tyndall the money on the evening of 28 September. It was, Tyndall noted in his Journal, ‘my first literary earnings’ (2 October 1850, JT/2/13b/513, and Hirst, ‘Journals’, 28 September 1850). On the Leader see letter 0398, n. 8.
got employment … for board and lodging: translation work for Francis. Tyndall was paid £2 per sheet of 16 pages.
How are you … at the Athenaeum? … How did the Album take?: Ginty, who was a leader in the Manchester Athenaeum, had helped organise a bazaar, held 22–6 October 1850, to raise funds for the institution. Many of the stalls were organized by women, including one by Margaret Ginty (see ‘The Athenaeum’, Manchester Courier, 19 October 1850, p. 7). Tyndall contributed ‘A Mountain Dialogue’ (full text in Journal, 10 September 1850, JT/2/13b/508–9) to The Manchester Athenaeum Album (1850), published to coincide with the bazaar. More eminent contributors included Currer Bell (Charlotte Bronte) and Tennyson.
Peb: a short (familiar) form of the name Margaret.
How is … Miss Roberts: probably family members. Ginty’s second child and first son was William; Miss Roberts is probably a sister of Ginty’s wife.
Please cite as “Tyndall0451,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0451