My dear Mrs Buxton,
You must I think have noticed my hesitation last night3 when you asked me to take Miss D.4 to dinner. Possibly my taciturnity during dinner may also have attracted your notice5—Will you allow me to write two words in explanation of this?
For a considerable time I was honoured by the intimacy of Mrs D. but it is now almost a year since that intimacy ceased, and it is perfectly understood between Mrs D. and myself that it is never to be renewed.
You could not have known this when your kindness prompted you to make an arrangement which under other circumstances would have been so pleasant to me; but which, as it was, placed me in a position of no small difficulty.
If I dared I would ask you to regard this as a confidential note: it is indeed many months since the name of Mrs D.6 has escaped either my lips or pen, and it should not do so now were I not extremely anxious to prevent the recurrence of an incident which must have been the reverse of agreeable to those whom I should be sorry to annoy.
Believe me dear Madam | most truly yours | J.T.
RI MS JT/2/13c/1184
Buxton: likely Emily Mary Buxton (née Holland, 1824–1908), wife of Charles Buxton (1822–71).
[25] January 1860: This letter was recorded in Tyndall’s journal for Saturday 28 January 1860 together with letter 1638 (Journal, RI MS JT/2/13c/1184–5). In the Saturday 28 January journal entry, Tyndall recorded his activities for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The facsimile of these two letters were included between Tuesday and Wednesday. Tyndall wrote that, ‘On Tuesday I wrote my epitome and experimented with Gassiot. I dined at Buxton’s’. It is therefore likely that this letter was written on Wednesday 25 January 1860, and letter 1677 was written on Thursday 26 January.
last night: Tyndall attended a dinner at the Buxton’s, which was also attended by Mary Drummond. Tyndall courted Mary for a period in 1858 (see for example letters 1564 and 1576 to Hirst in Volume 6), but their relationship ended badly (see letter 1604).
Miss D.: Mary Drummond.
Possibly my taciturnity during dinner may also have attracted your notice: Tyndall recorded this letter and his thoughts about the dinner in his journal entry for Saturday 28 January 1860. He noted that ‘Though I did not think that Mrs Buxton at all knew the true state of things: I thought she might have known a little and that the attempt was kindly made to heal old wounds. Not this mode of healing however suited me’. (Journal, RI MS JT/2/13c/1184).
Mrs D: Maria Drummond, mother of Mary.
Please cite as “Tyndall1676,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on