June 15th 1852.
I had every thing packed on Friday evening last – ready to start for London on the following morning – I rose on the following morning at 5 oC. but found that a cold which had been threatening me for a day or two previous had blossomed out into such exceeding ripeness that I was obliged to stagger into bed again – Thus I missed the Soirée2 – I devoted the remnant of strength left me to getting up a kind of farewell experimental display3 – We had a number of people from the neighbourhood here last night and it was my lot to entertain them for an hour or so with science. We fired off a number of small cannons & did sundry other scientific tricks to amuse the péuple.4 I am better today after my effort than I anticipated – you must not blame me for this last illness it is the confounded weather and not I that is to blame – as a proof of this I may mention that Phelan5 was the first to fall ill and his symptoms are exactly the same as mine, and Phelan, as you know, is not a man who overstrains his mental energies or permits his mind to invade the comfort of his body – I shall be soon well again – in a day or two I purpose going to London to be fully initiated6 and I will write to you soon afterwards –
Have you been at your old tricks in the Cathedral Hotel? 7 –
Debus8 won’t go to Germany.
RI MS JT/1/T/551
Hirst: this letter is neither addressed to Hirst nor signed by Tyndall, but it was written in Tyndall’s hand and was received by Hirst in Marburg on 20 June (see letter 0634).
the Soirée: Tyndall had planned on attending a soirée hosted by the president of the RS on Saturday 12 June (first mentioned in letter 0631).
experimental display: showy experiments, including the firing of cannon by electrical means, seem to have been part of an end of term celebration (Journal, 14 June 1852, JT/2/13b/569).
péuple: ‘le peuple’ is the people, or the common people. Tyndall’s accent is incorrect.
Phelan: probably a fellow teacher at Queenwood. In his Journal (4 April 1852) Hirst described him as an Irishman.
I purpose ... fully initiated: admitted into the the RS as described in letter 0630. Tyndall attended a meeting to complete the admission process on 17 June (Journal, 17 June 1852, JT/2/13b/570).
old tricks in the Cathedral Hotel?: Tyndall was accusing Hirst of leaving belongings behind at the Cathedral Hotel, as he had done at a number of lodgings during his summer travels in England. Hirst responded to the implied criticism in letter 0634.
Debus: this note was written in the left hand margin as the page was full.
Please cite as “Tyndall0633,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 14 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0633