[copied to Thomas Hirst]2
Clarendon Hotel Chale | Isle of Wight 7th Ap. 1863
My dear Col[onel]. Addison.
I trust to your good nature to pardon my present act if, judged from my position, it should seem an unwarranted liberty. It has come to my knowledge that the Council of Military Education will probably appoint an assistant Professor of Mathematics in the Academy of Woolwich,3 and I thought on receiving the intelligence that I might without presumption introduce to your notice a gentleman who is certainly eminently qualified for the post. This is Mr. Thomas Archer Hirst, at present head mathematical master in University College School. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has been educated under some of the most eminent mathematicians of the Continent. He is a pupil of Derichlet’s,4 of Steiner,5 Louisville6 & Chasles.7 His own position as a mathematician may be inferred from the original investigations which he has published in the Philosophical Transactions, the Philosophical Magazine, the Comptes Rendus,8 Crelle’s Journal,9 & the Journal of Tortolini.10 He has an excellent knowledge of physics; he is perfectly good tempered, and I am acquainted with no man more likely to live in peace & harmony with his colleagues. He has had considerable experience as a teacher, and wherever he has taught he has invariably won the respect & confidence of his pupils. Of his personal character it belongs perhaps to me to speak <more> than to any other man, for although he is esteemed by all who know him, there are few so well acquainted as I am with his private excellence. I know he will do his duty with wholeheartedness: <and> that should he be appointed to Woolwich he will justify by his deeds all that I have here written regarding him.
Believe me | Most sincerely yours | John Tyndall
Approximately correct | J. T. | Frankland has written a strong letter to Sir Fred[eric]k. Abbott.11
RI MS JT/1/T/657
Joseph Edward Addison: Joseph Edward Addison (1821–90), a British Army officer and member of the Council of Military Education. He had been promoted to colonel in 1861 (Modern English Biography).
[copied to Thomas Hirst]: comments at the end of the letter suggest that this is a copy of a letter to Addison that Tyndall forwarded to Hirst. See letter 1993.
Academy of Woolwich: the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich.
Derichlet: Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805–59), a German mathematician (ADB).
Steiner: possibly Jakob Steiner (1796–1863), a Swiss mathematician (HLS).
Louisville: possibly Joseph Liouville (1809–82), a French mathematician (CDSB).
Chasles: Michel Floréal Chasles (1793–1880), a French mathematician known for his work in geometry (CDSB). His work Traité des Sections Coniques, faisant suite au Traité de Géométrie Supérieure was published in 1865 (Paris: Gauthier-Villars).
Compte Rendus: the common name for the French journal Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Sciences.
Crelle’s Journal: the common name for the Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik, founded in 1826 by the German mathematician August Leopold Crelle (1780–1855).
Journal of Tortolini: Annali di scienze matematiche e fische, a journal founded in 1850 by the Italian mathematician Barnaba Tortolini (1808–74).
Sir Fred[eric]k. Abbott: Frederick K. Abbott,(1805–92), a British Army officer and engineer of the East India Company. In 1859, he was appointed to the Royal Commission on the Defense of the United Kingdom which embarked on a program to fortify the nation’s dockyards. He later served on a number of royal commissions (ODNB).
Please cite as “Tyndall1994,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on