From Thomas Archer Hirst   May 25th¹

Marburg – May 25^th | 1850

My dear John –

Another Sunday has come round in its due time, a small Havannah Cigar and an excellent chapter in Montaigne² have been simultaneously enjoyed The sunshine and the Gods have decreed as it appears to me that at 11 o’clock I must ‘bundle my wallets and walk’³ to Kirchhain⁴ so that in the interval I take upon myself to say a word to thee more especially as a kind of presentiment that you very likely will be doing the same – I should have waited a day longer however & made this more of an answer (I may do so in posting yet) but a letter or two have come to hand – You have them enclosed. Debus in his note to me seems to have made the journey pretty well and is in a fair way of progressing and making himself useful and comfortable, so much will be off your mind. Jemmy Craven’s letter to you⁵ poor fellow is a queer production, nothing in it at all recommendable but this that he will not dissemble or pretend to what he does not feel. Two numbers of Leigh Hunts journal⁶ have arrived for you along with 18 Copies of each of your last Investigations on the ‘Water Jet’⁷ and ‘Laws of Magnetism’⁸ from Francis – I have as yet made only one present, viz, a copy of each to Stegmann with whom I happened to be speaking about you at the time how the rest are to be disposed of you must let me know – and I will punctually execute.

In these few lines I find all business matters between us brought to a close a few more will exhaust the stock of news around me and then comes or perhaps will come as usual the paragraphs on our old subjects our worthy selves and experiences since we parted. – The Laboratory beautifully new cleaned painted and re-arranged has been open for a week, I work there from 9 to 1 A.M. but purely at Practical Chemistry. I hear no Lecture – Kolbe and I have not got into very good pulling harness yet, I mean with regard to my analysis & assistance therein I yet miss Debus & Bunsen very much, it will improve however every day. Ewart⁹ is assistant, a good natured willing fellow enough but compared to Debus his ability to fill Laboratory duties far behindhand yet. There are about 14 students of whom 7 are working at Quantitative, the other beginners – Knoblauch is going a head a little more superficially perhaps than before though I have him at more advantage by far than last Session – He has only 5 lectures per week having abandoned the Theoretical Stunde¹⁰ on Saturdays altogether. On Wednesday Evenings however he gives Wrightson, self and another a ‘Theoretical stunde’ to ourselves – Wrightson is yet ‘muddy’ and on still worse terms with Mathematical Formula¹¹ – & Knoblauchs bad hurried figures on the Black Board – His visits to me have increased of late & occur invariably in the muddiest phases of his muddiness namely after dinner. I treat him very candidly however, and he is forced to take it without offence – ‘My newspaper has just come M^r Wrightson my Cigars you know where to find they are at your service as well as half the paper if you will sit down & use both you are welcome.’ We thus sit silent & preserve the good feeling between us – At 3 O’Clock I have sometimes to add ‘To a Student you are aware M^r Wrightson that when the laws of the University & those of Hospitality come into contact the former must have the preference.¹² I have to go to Stegmann’ And thus we rub on with the best understanding I deal also just as candidly & openly when he wishes any explanation & upon my word I think sometimes in point of trying to get information without appearing to need it, he is seeing its futility & attempting a less pretensious method. As to his Physical Investigations I see no sign of progress or even beginning – Davy & Dicks positions appear still more anomalous & sometimes unfortunate or rather incomprehensible – M^r Simpson for a week at any rate has worked pretty diligently – His manners general appearance & German Language afford the students no small gigling opportunities The Postman entered with a letter from you¹³ as I finished the last line but one – It stops my progress & probably will alter the following when read – I took it with me to Kirchain and read it two or three times through, it smelt of activity John, and to have such smells under my nose is more serviceable than a Scent bottle. Tomorrow I will make enquiries about the money and add a Postscript to this – The Bowels (hush! I dare not let them hear me) have gone a little by themselves for the last 3 days!! for a week or so before that they put me into one of the most unpleasant unnatural states of existence possible, that I would give much to be able to describe All I can say is it was a kind of dilirium – that is I was conscious that my senses were conveying to me sensations from outward objects different to what they ought & formerly did do – In contact with persons about me I felt it necessary to be careful if I would avoid revealing the inner abnormalism I felt – What do you think or can you conceive such a state? I scarcely can myself now that it is past. Tis now at any rate I am on something like Terra-Firma – although I dare not crow too much nor am I elated inasmuch as I find a few old infernal friends awaiting me on the Threshold I would send you an extract or two from the Diary but they are in general too what you call properly ‘mawkish’ & will as yet do nobody good.

Economy of Time. In that simple phrase lies an immense significance and I turned it over & over but confound it far too intellectually & too little practically. From my getting out of bed at 6 A.M to getting in again generally 11¼ to 11½ is 17 hours, and I daily ask what have I done with them? Not above 1 hour of those 17 is employed in eating alone & perhaps another 1½ hours we may reckon strolling about for health &c … Thus even reckoning accidentals of having to waste ½ an hour occasionally in ‘[dummes zeug]’¹⁴ there is almost 15 hours per day pretended working i.e. self informing & improving time I protest that there must be some foul play in the matter some miscalculation at least, but no it is a positive fact, & the corollary from the fact is that I cut myself up & waste myself most miserably in fact as days pass they seem all chippings & only in a few years collecting can one see that a few solid blocks have by chance remained and become hoarded One thing it shews me clearly (many indeed but as you know John it is at bottom a matter entirely of individual insight and arrangement it would be useless to enumerate) that the advise of good people about us & their remarks generally on our actions must be futile & worth little to us – M^rs Simpson & her class smile benignly and say How pale M^r Hirst you are looking! I always see you standing by that old black upright desk when I pass – I’m certain you are working too hard &c &c – But good M^rs S. reckons by hours & minutes & as my calculations have long shewn there is no result as to positive work to be got out of them – alone. Moreover somebody else likely to know better than M^rs Simpson says – Tom Hirst not only does not work too hard but is properly considered actually ‘lazy’

Again with eating. Frau Baum¹⁵ partly from pocket motives partly from better says every other day ‘Och. Herr Hirst Sie essen gar zu wenig[, smächt es] nicht gut dann oder fehlt etwas; sind Sie krank oder was ist es &c’¹⁶ A Weiss Brod¹⁷ sopped morning & evening by bits in my tea & coffee (lasting me 10 days) a basin of soup and a little ‘obst’¹⁸ at noon have for the last fortnight formed exclusively my meals & Frau Baum has not even sent up a Milch Brod or Zwieback¹⁹ in the time. Frau Baum may well cry you eat too little but what say I – who know better – Tom many a time you are a glutton. Thus in matters of praise or blame or guidance must every man for the most part shut up himself from outward influence. But I must close or I may be getting mawkish there is a philosophy I feel at the end of all this – ‘Theres something in this world (or us?) amiss will be unravelled by and bye’²⁰ We’ll help each other as far as possible to do it yet John, but not now – Good night! and a good days work to us both tomorrow (a PS not often added, but of the two the most important inasmuch as it reacts in no small degree on the former)

Saturday June 1^st/51²¹

I have called every day during the week on Bang – There is no difficulty in the way of objection, but he has no ready money on hand – I am tired of waiting (& as you may be anxious) so dispatch this to day, and will send the Money the moment I lay hands on it – He will charge 5 percent Interest for 3 Months & will give the Full exchange that appears in the Frankfurt paper on the day drawn –

In haste yours Affectionately | T A Hirst

RI MS JT/1/H/145