From Thomas Archer Hirst   Feb 19th 1854

Queenwood College. | Feb. 19^th 1854

My dear John.

When I said that I would write occasionally to you for medicinal purposes I thought I was generous in resolving upon a letter every Sunday. You seem to have anticipated more for you complain although I have acted up to my determination thus far. I am perfectly satisfied that ‘through pure love of liberty you choose me as a butt against which to discharge your epistles’¹ for they interest me exceedingly and they serve to disentangle your thoughts which to you and me is most important You are quite right too in saying that ‘yourself’ is too often your theme at present and that your friends are partly to blame for it. To avoid this I have often talked about other things when your health was uppermost in my thoughts. At one time I thought I ought to avoid the subject & divert the conversation into other channels but I found it always interested me too much to do so successfully. And I consoled myself with the notion that it was perhaps less injurious to talk about yourself than to war against yourself without being talked to. The best thing of all to do would be to talk as little as possible about yourself, but to listen attentively to other people’s talk on the same subject and to act accordingly. Unadvised you would in the end kill yourself, advised you talk about yourself too much and perhaps dwell a little too much on your weak health. Here are the two horns of a dilemma and of the two I begin to think the latter is most harmless. The Spiral² has arrived safely, is well made and acts well. What will it cost? Tomorrow I shall lecture at Salisbury.³ A successful lecture depends upon many unforeseen things otherwise I should predict that tomorrow’s lecture will be the best I have yet delivered. I have taken considerable pains & am in good health and spirits. You can never talk too much for me about Faraday every little incident interests me for all appear to proceed from a most kind and generous purpose towards you. Depend upon it, it will be an interesting chapter in the history of Physics & Physicists which records the good understanding and friendship that exists between you and Faraday. An occurrence took place yesterday which is new to Queenwood two little boys⁴ ran away. After sending Wright after them Edmondson mentioned the matter to me and from what he said I thought he was certain that they had gone to Winchester⁵ and I rested quiet all day. Wright returned at 12 P.M alone. He had been unable to trace them, at the Winchester Station they had not been seen. Edmondson had gone to bed, M^rs E.⁶ had not; after delivering his report he came to me at the Lodge.⁷ I saw that the affair ought to be more energetically sifted, that perhaps Edmondson had blundered. Late as it was (1 A.M) John Haas and I got into the College,⁸ went quietly upstairs to see if they have come back again unseen, no: we then examined their clothes for letters &c examined their boxes, broke open their writing desks for any indications as to their intentions & from certain letters it seemed evident that M^r E. ⁹ was right. We then walked to Dunbridge¹⁰ called up the Porter, got to know that they had taken tickets to Winchester; it was 3 AM when we returned; we sent for Emm’s carriage¹¹ and early this morning set Wright off again to Winchester. All this was done quietly and without M^r E’s knowledge.

When he heard of it this morning he opened his eyes and became as determined as a poor lion. Just as Wright was starting a letter from Barber’s father¹² came saying that his son¹³ together with the other Boy Orton¹⁴ had arrived at Winchester and he would send them back on Monday. Well, M^r E. bustled up more still. ‘no Richard Wright’ says he, ‘thou must go and bring Orton back with thee in any case, and if M^r Barber will not give up his son he must keep him altogether we will have him here no more. I think it is our duty to be prompt’ Poor fellow he is like a bladder, in general all flabby and shriveled up, you may dilate him by blowing him up with courage and he sounds well, but prick him and he collapses again into flabbiness.

But it is just post time | Good Bye. | Thine as ever | T. A. Hirst

I know nothing about Bulloughs patent¹⁵ and cannot well understand M^r. E. I will see that he writes to you tomorrow morning.

RI MS JT/1/H/192

RI MS JT/1/HTYP/315–315a