41 North Bank | Regent Park | May 7th 1852
My dear Tyndall1
Allow me to be one of the first to have the pleasure of congratulating you on your new honours – I had the satisfaction last night to hear your name read out as one of the selected of the Council of the Royal Society – for election to the Fellowship this year – and you are therefore as good as elected.2
I always made sure of your success, but I am not the less pleased that it is now a fait accompli –
I saw Francis two days ago – he was quite well and as jolly as usual
I am | My dear Tyndall | faithfully yours | T. H. Huxley
John Tyndall Esqr
P.S. | I have heard nothing of Toronto – and I begin to think that the whole affair University and all, is a myth3 –
IC HP 9.3
My dear Tyndall: this letter was so significant to Tyndall that he copied both it and his reply into his Journal (9 May 1852, JT/2/13b/563–4). He described Huxley (who was a few years younger) as ‘that able and learned young fellow’.
as good as elected: Tyndall was duly elected (see letter 0630).
Toronto … is a myth: no news had been received, although applications had been due by 19 November 1851 (letter 0504, n. 3); Tyndall’s had been posted at the end of October.
Please cite as “Tyndall0627,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 2 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0627