14th Aug. 1851
My Dear Tom
Be good enough to carry to the enclosed1 to their respective addresses. That to Gerling is to thank him for the testimonial2 – still a very dilute affair – Knoblauch has sent me a good one – a very good one – That to Hessel is requesting one, as I believe the man understands what I have done better than most physicists – He is a valuable old fellow, under his rough old bodily bark beats I believe a heart of oak –
Had I taken time to dwell upon it I might almost have arrived at the contents of your last letter3 a priori God knows my readiness to respond to your wish and to wander the world with you; and if occasion ever demand it you shall not find me slow to gratify the feeling – But under present circumstances I think I am choosing the most prudent path. Faraday writes to me thus.4 ‘I trust it (Toronto) is a place where a man of science and a true philosopher is required and where in return such a man would be nourished and cherished in proportion to his desire to advance natural knowledge – so I think that you would be exceedingly fit for the position and I hope that the position fit for you’. Francis who at first rather opposed the idea of my going writes thus5 – ‘I was much gratified by the perusal of Faraday’s letter and entirely concur in his advice to you however much I shall regret your leaving England’. Now Tom what am I to do? – Dont you think that my decision is the best possible under the circumstances? and the decision once made dont you think it behoves me to set all levers at work and not to do the thing by halves – If I am successful I must manage to see you before I set out.
Many thanks for that odorous6 passage from Schiller.7 – I had never read it – but it is beautiful – It fell like dew upon my heart.
I was thinking of writing more but I wont8 – good bye dear Tom | John
you must take the note to Hessell yourself and translate it for him
Herrn Stud. Thos Hirst | <word illegible> beim Hrn Baum | Marburg | Hesse Cassel9
frei!
RI MS JT/1/T/544
the enclosed: at least two letters, to Gerling and to Hessell, were enclosed. Both are missing.
Gerling ... testimonial: see letters 0504 and 0508.
your last letter: letter 0508.
Faraday writes to me thus: Tyndall quotes from letter 0506. He does not mark ellipsis in his quotation from Faraday. The quotation lacks punctuation when compared with letter 0506, but that was based on an LT transcription and LT often improved Tyndall’s punctuation. Tyndall mistakenly inserts ‘that’ six words from the end (compare with the same quotation in letter 0512).
Francis ... writes thus: letter missing.
odorous: sweet-scented (OED).
passage from Schiller: ‘The Genius’, a poem translated by Hirst in letter 0508.
writing more but I wont: Tyndall stopped when he ran out of space on the page, but he had not run out of paper for the back of the sheet, where he added the postscript.
Herrn … Cassel: address from the envelope, along with ‘frei’ (at the bottom left corner), to indicate postage paid.
Please cite as “Tyndall0510,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 7 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0510