My dear Playfair,
I have carefully thought over the subject2 of your recent letters3 to me, and my conclusion is that I ought not to leave London.
In this deciding I see clearly the responsibility of an act by which I virtually decline the best position which this country has to offer to a man like myself; for I feel that no other Chair of Natural Philosophy in the kingdom possess advantages equal to those of the Edinburgh one, whether for the investigation of the science, or its diffusion among the community at large
But I am here close to the heart of England, and in the midst of my personal friends. I cannot break my connexions, and I live in hope that men in power will eventually become sufficiently alive to the importance of the subject, to grant to London the school of physics which the country so much needs.
With regard to the relation in which you have placed yourself to me in this matter,4 believe me I feel truly grateful to you; and I shall avail myself of the very earliest opportunity to visit Edinburgh for the purpose of personally thanking you and the other gentlemen who have honoured me by the spontaneous offer of their support
Believe me dear Playfair | Most faithfully yours | John Tyndall.
RI MS JT/2/13c/1163
[19-21 November 1859]: The letter was written on 19 November and posted on 21 November (Journal, RI MS JT/2/13c/1163).
the subject: Tyndall was deliberating whether he would become a candidate for the Chair of Physics at the University of Edinburgh. See letter 1645, n. 3.
your recent letters: see letters 1645, 1648, 1654, and 1657.
With regard to the relation in which you have placed yourself to me in this matter: Playfair had been lobbying on behalf of Tyndall in anticipation that he would become a candidate for the position; see for example letter 1657.
Please cite as “Tyndall1658,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on