United College | St. Andrews. | Jan. 11th 1859.
My dear Dr. Tyndall,
You are, I believe, aware that our Chair of Natural Philosophy at St. Andrews2 is now vacant.
The Professors are the Electors. Several of us feeling that we could hardly find better judges, asked Stokes and Adams3 to suggest the best man for us, and they both agree in strongly recommending Mr Liveing4 Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge,
<Handwritten letter begins>
as the best Candidate. You may perhaps have read his paper on the Transmutation of Matter in the Cambridge Essays.5
Now we should, I have no doubt, succeed in carry Liveing, if it were not for a document published by another Candidate, a Mr Swan,6 a private teacher of Mathematics in Edinburgh, emanating from Mr Faraday whose name very justly carries with it so much weight that the testimonial (which I enclose)7 will in all probability overbalance the strong evidence of Stokes and Adams in favour of Liveing.
Would you so far oblige us as to ask Mr Faraday whether he intended his note to be used as a general Testimonial for a Natural Philosophy Chair, or whether he merely meant it as a kind encouragement to a young and unknown investigator?
If Mr Faraday really does think that Mr Swan’s Papers entitle him to aspire to our Chair, we shall probably all (or almost all) vote for him; if however this is not the case we should act upon the recommendation of Stokes and Adams.
Your answer will of course only be confidentially shown to two or three of my Colleagues.
The matter is one of so much importance that I feel we need offer no apology either to Mr Faraday or yourself for the trouble we are imposing on you.
An early reply will oblige | Dear Dr Tyndall | yours ever truly | Geo. E. Day.
We all very much regret that we could not persuade you to accept our Chair.8 Wont six months holiday still tempt you?
RI MS JT/1/D/12
RI MS JT/1/TYP/1/317
George Day: George Edward Day (1815–1872), a Welsh physician who was Chandos Professor of Anatomy and Medicine at the University of St Andrews from 1849 until his retirement in 1863 (ODNB).
St. Andrews: St Andrews University in Scotland.
Adams: John Couch Adams (1819–92), a British mathematician and astronomer, most well-known for his prediction of the existence and position of the planet Neptune (ODNB).
Mr Liveing: George Downing Liveing (1827–1924), an English chemist at the University of Cambridge. From 1860–80, he served as professor of chemistry at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst (ODNB).
his paper on the Transmutation of Matter in the Cambridge Essays: G. D. Liveing, ‘On the Transmutation of Matter’, Cambridge Essays, contributed by Members of the University, 1 (1855), pp. 123–47.
Mr Swan’s: William Swan (1818–94), a Scottish mathematician and physicist. He was appointed as Chair of Natural Philosophy at St Andrews in 1859 and served until 1880 (ODNB). See letter 1572, n. 3.
the testimonial (which I enclose): this is not found in Faraday Correspondence.
could not persuade you to accept our Chair: see letter 1572, where David Brewster asked Tyndall if he wanted the position; Tyndall’s reply is missing.
Please cite as “Tyndall1581,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on