13 Ashley Place | April 24
My dear Sir,
Some time since I may, perhaps, (little as it seemed to be in my way to do so, and little as it now seems possible that it should have been in my way to do so), have had some slight influence1 upon a wish of yours to change your scene of action to a Canadian University.2 I have never felt a moment’s regret at the counsel which I then permitted myself to offer to you; on the contrary, the position which in the short time that has since elapsed you have established for yourself has been attentively observed by me since as a full justification of the freedom which I used to you when we were yet personally strangers.
Nevertheless the offering counsel to another is so little in my way, & I have so little confidence in my own judgment to advise, that I rejoice in an opportunity of making known to you, that if you have ever doubted of the expediency of the step you then took, you may have it in your power now to obtain a situation at Toronto, more eligible I believe in a pecuniary point of view than the one you had then in view, and far more important in scientific respects, inasmuch as the directorship of the physical observatory3 attached to it, in hands such as yours, would secure opportunities scarcely inferior to that of any European or British establishment, for obtaining a present and an enduring scientific fame. It is, it is true, in the line of observation rather than that of experiment, that the enquiry into nature could be carried on; and your course hitherto has been rather in the field of experiment, but both are alike handmaids to knowledge; the principles of both are the same; and the aptitudes which you have so manifested in so remarkable a degree for experiment would soon lead you to distinction in the kindred field of observation.
Whatever may be your decision, – (and there must be much unknown to me to influence it) – I cannot but feel a great satisfaction in the opportunity it affords me of assuring you how cordially I join in the general feeling amongst your friends of admiration for the devotion to science which has hitherto so strongly marked your progress in life.
Very sincerely yours | Edward Sabine
RI MS JT/1/S/35
[Surviving extract from enclosure]
I am happy to inform you that his Excellency the Governor General has at last taken steps which will secure the permanence & efficiency of this Institution4 & has been pleased
to approve of the plan submitted by me for that purpose. A chair of meteorology is to be founded in University College to which the directorship of the observatory will be attached, the salary is £450 currency a year, together with lecture fees, and the house and grounds – on the whole worth about 600L5 a year. There is also to be a permanent sub-director and three assistant observers, who shall be graduate scholars of the University of Toronto, and one mechanic (Sergt. Menzies)6 with an attendant – thus forming an effective staff of seven persons. The expenses will be defrayed partly by the University, partly from the public funds, and I believe there is every disposition on all sides to treat the matter liberally. I have reason to expect that the new chair with the directorship will in the first place be offered to me – if so I shall decline it, so that if you are aware of any one who is worthy and desirous of filling it might be as well if he were to make application at once to the Honble G. Et. Cartier7 Provincial Secretary, Quebec
Believe me my dear Sir |Yours very faithfully | W. Cherriman8
Col. Ed. Sabine, RA
RI MS JT/2/7/48–9
LT Typescript Only
some slight influence: Edward Sabine had directed the worldwide project to study the changes in magnetic declination. This had involved the construction of a number of magnetic observatories including the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory, which was completed in 1840. Although the project at the observatory had ended in 1853, Sabine’s earlier connection with the Toronto observatory would have given him some influence over appointments.
to change … Canadian University: With Sabine’s encouragement in the autumn of 1851 Tyndall had applied for the chair of natural philosophy at the University of Toronto; see volume 3, letter 0559. The University of Toronto had been founded in 1827 as King’s College, an Anglican institution. However in 1850 it was renamed the University of Toronto and severed its connection with the Anglican Church.
the directorship of the physical observatory: John Henry Lefoy had served as director of the Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory from 1842 to 1853, after which John Cherriman (see n. 8, below) became the acting directory. Cherriman wanted to ensure the observatory’s continued existence and to put it on a firm financial footing. In 1855 his brother-in-law, G. T. Kingston, became the director (as professor of meteorology), a position he held until 1880.
this Institution: the University of Toronto.
600L: The character after the number 600 is unclear but could be an L (perhaps Livres?) or an incomplete £ sign.
Sergt. Menzies: not identified.
Honble G. Et. Cartier: George-Étienne Cartier (1814–73) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.
W. Cherriman: The Cambridge-educated John Bradford Cherriman (1823–1908) was the professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at the University of Toronto. In 1855 a chair of meteorology was established, which included the directorship of the magnetic and meteorological observatory. Cherriman was briefly appointed to the new position, which was soon transferred to G. T. Kingston. The initial ‘W’ in LT’s transcription is an error.
Please cite as “Tyndall1074,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on