Royal Institution, | 25 July, 1853.
My dear Tyndall
I have received your letter1 without date, so do not know whether you have been expecting to hear from me; I rather waited to learn your address, but by Dr Bence Jones’ advice intend to send this to our friend Du Bois-Reymond’s house. I really have nothing to say, but to convey my kindest remembrances and wishes to your and my friends at Berlin, and to set your mind free in every point however slight. I think your proposed course here2 will be excellent, and know very well that I shall enjoy it, and believe that all others will do so with me. I thought I saw Du Bois-Reymond’s face in the Railway the other day, on the Northern road, but it must have been a mistake. Give my heartiest remembrances to him. Also to M.M. Magnus, Rose,3 and such other friends of mine as you may meet. In thought I send my homage and respects to Humboldt,4 (and through him even to the King,5 who has honoured me with the Order of Merit6), but I refrain from troubling him. Though very much his junior in years, I feel the burden of formalities, and so think I ought to spare him and such as him. Sometimes I fear I may carry this too far, and that it may assume the appearance of indifference on my part; but I hope that will not be the case and that I am favourably interpreted, especially in the case of the man whom I most deeply venerate.
I was with Dr. Percy7 on Saturday night, who tells me they have been building an enormous geyser at Woolwich8 – not on purpose, however, but accidentally. The fact is that they have been building a new boiler which, as far as I understand it, consists of two tall concentric iron cylinders, having water between them and fire in the centre. Percy compares it to the geyser, and thinks of it with some degree of apprehension.
I wish I could transport myself suddenly to Berlin, and be with you in some of the Laboratories and Workshops. I should luxuriate in some of the manufactories of philosophical instruments, but – but such wishes remain long after the ability or fitness to satisfy them has passed away. A single day of such would set my head a ringing, and I should have to run away.
Ever, my dear Tyndall, | Yours very truly, | M. Faraday
RI MS JT/TYP/12/4134
Faraday Correspondence, 4:2706
your letter: letter 0783.
your proposed course here: in letter 0783 Tyndall proposed a course of twelve on the subject of ‘Heat’.
Rose: either Heinrich or his brother Gustav (see letter 0737, n. 18).
Humboldt: Friederich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), German explorer and naturalist, most known for his exploration of Latin America with an approach that encompassed many scientific disciplines.
the King: Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1795–1861) was the reigning monarch of Prussia, 1840–61.
the Order of Merit: the Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste (Sciences and Arts) was founded by the King (see n. 5) on the advice of Humboldt (see n. 4) and was awarded in recognition of extraordinary personal achievement. The award inducted the recipient as a lifetime member of the Order. Faraday received the honour in 1842.
Dr. Percy: presumably John Percy (1817–89), who was a lecturer on metallurgy at the Government School of Mines.
Woolwich: Woolwich a town in the parish of Woolwich St. Mary located on the south bank of the Thames, Kent, England. At the time it was a major center for several military facilities.
Please cite as “Tyndall0789,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on