Dear Sir Henry,
You requested me to call upon you at 12 o’clock on Monday. I shall undoubtedly do so, though the more I think on the matter pending between us, the less do I see that you have given me any grounds on which to base a decision. I really feel ashamed of taking up so much of your time to no apparent purpose, and I earnestly hope that you will be in a position on Monday to make a distinct proposal to me,2 and thus place it in my power to give you a distinct answer.
I have the honour to be | your very obedient Servant | John Tyndall
RI MS JT/2/13b/642
LT Typescript Only
[3 December 1853]: Tyndall copied this letter into his journal entry for 3 December 1853 (JT/2/13b/642).
a distinct proposal to me: De la Beche wished for Tyndall to lecture at the Government School of Mines. However, De la Beche had not been clear about the number of lectures Tyndall was to deliver or the amount of remuneration he would receive (see letters 0824, n. 1 and 0846).
Please cite as “Tyndall0847,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on