Dublin | July 8th 1854
My dear John,
Day after day I have postponed writing in the hope that when I did so I could tell you that I had been to Leighlin1 and day after day the weather prevented me from doing so. At last tired of waiting I set out on Thursday last in the Teeth of wind and rain. Weather like Fortune favours the brave.2 I reached Bagnals town3 at 8 P.M the rain had cleared away the moon had risen and I had a delightful stroll up the side of the Barrow to Leighlin Bridge. A more beautiful welcome to the birth place of my best friend I could not have wished for. It was like entering a fairy land. A boat was gliding down the river and from it proceeded the music of two flutes beautifully played. It was indeed a beautiful greeting. Unconsciously I fell into a happy tranquil train of thought. The memory of past events in which we had both been actors came to me and accompanied me as I strolled on towards Leighlin Next morning the weather was still fine I called upon your Mother and Sister,4 got William Wright’s letter5 and strolled out to read it on the moat. Believe me I spent a delightful hour or two amongst those scenes of your boyhood than which I know none more beautiful. I returned and got a simple lunch with your Mother and Sister. We talked for a long time together, principally of course about yourself. Right glad I am that I came here that I have seen your Mother and Sister and the place where you were born. I seem to know and love you the better for it, our friendship seems more complete and intimate. I went to see your old Schoolmaster Conwill6 too, and a hearty reception he gave me I can tell you Both he and your mother told me little anecdotes about you that I loved to hear and that I shall long remember. But I shall see you soon in London and we shall talk more of my visit to Leighlin. At present I have something else to tell you The experiment I hinted to you about7 has proved even more successful than I anticipated Miss Martin is no longer my daughter she will some day be my wife.8 I have not been quite candid with you on this matter partly because I felt that in choosing a wife I must decide for myself and partly on account of the vagueness & uncertainty that always attends such intentions The thought of making Miss Martin my wife is by no means a new one for two years it has gradually grown upon me, and the chief almost the sole object of my visit to Ireland was to decide the matter. It was on this account that I did not press you to accompany me which otherwise I should have done. I have told you that I admired her for many things in Marburg but that her fun and frolic hid from me much of her character about which I wished to know more. Her letters revealed more of this to me and in them I noticed a certain cordial friendship almost amounting to respect for me which I began soon to think might form a good foundation for a warmer feeling In this I was not mistaken, when after mature consideration I discovered my real sentiments towards her she was at first somewhat astonished but soon recovered herself and timidly half fearful that she was not good enough for me she has told me she can and will love me sincerely.
Ah me but I have been spending happy days. Between us a mutual trustfulness has gradually established itself which promises to ripen and chasten our whole lives.
Perhaps she has an exaggerated notion of my ‘goodness’ and of her own unfitness but I do not quarrel with it as long as I can see that it is an ideal after which she is earnestly striving herself. Whatever may be the result, and by God I do not fear it, I have this satisfaction that I have forced nothing but simply submitted myself to an instinct that never yet deceived me. I firmly believe she will make me a good and true little wife and that my own life will be ennobled and chastened by having her to love and cherish.
We have talked much about you and I believe she truly appreciates our friendship In talking of you we have learnt more of one another and now I believe she is as wishful as I am for the fatherly blessing which you have promised us.
Goodbye! If you feel desirous you may write to her at 1, Brougham Place Wellington Road, Dublin as for me I shall be with you soon, for I leave here in a day or two.
Yours affectionately | T.A. Hirst.
RI MS JT/1/H/201
RI MS JT/1/HTYP/350
Leighlin: Leighlin Bridge (see letter 0784, n. 26).
fortune favours the brave: a version of the Latin proverb ‘fortes Fortuna adiuvat’ referred to as early as in Cicero, Tusculanae diputationes, 2.4.11.
Bagnals town: misspelling of Bagenalstown, County Carlow, Ireland.
your Mother and Sister: Sarah Tyndall (née McAssey) and Emma Tyndall, respectively (see Volume 1, p. xxxix).
Wright’s letter: William Wright (see letter 0921, n. 1); letter missing.
Old Schoolmaster Conwill: John Conwill (1802–80) was Tyndall’s schoolmaster at the National School at Ballinabranna from c.1836. He was central in Tyndall’s early education particularly with regard to mathematics (see Volume 1). Hirst recounts his meeting with Conwill in his journal entry of 8 July 1854 (Hirst, ‘Journals’).
the experiment I hinted to you: see letter 0949. See also letter 0951, n. 3.
some day be my wife: Tyndall wrote in his journal that he ‘received intelligence from Tom that he has taken one important step and arranged his marriage with Miss Martin. I had long foreseen the probability of such a consummation and was not surprised by it. He has been to Leighlin and written me a sweet account of his visit to the dwelling place of his “best friend”. The moon was on the Barrow as he walked from Badnalstown to Leighlin, and the sound of a flute came mellowed along the waters: next day he visited the moat and spent some hours among the scenes of my earliest boyhood. What wonderful things are in the womb of time! May God bless Tom and keep him strong and upright, and may his wife be a perennial treasure to him’ (Journal, 5 August 1854, JT/2/13b/679–80).
Please cite as “Tyndall0953,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on