se which I have set forth at greater length than I
intended.
Ever yours very faithfully,
T. H. HUXLEY

[Illustration: JOHN TYNDALL]

JOHN TYNDALL

In my little book on Faraday, published in Eighteen Hundred
Sixty-eight, I have stated that he had but to will it to raise his
income, in Eighteen Hundred Thirty-two, to five thousand pounds a
year. In Eighteen Hundred Thirty-six, the sum might have been
doubled. Yet this son of a blacksmith, this journeyman book-binder,
with his proud, sensitive soul, rejecting the splendid
opportunities open to him--refusing even to think them splendid in
presence of higher aims--cheerfully accepted from the Trinity House
a pittance of two hundred pounds a year.

--_John Tyndall_

JOHN TYNDALL

Tyndall was of high descent and lowly birth. His father was a
member of the Irish Constabulary, and there were intervals when the
boy's mother took in washing. But back of this the constable swore i'
faith, when the ale was right, that he was descended from an Irish King,
and probably this is true, for most Irishmen are, and acknowledge it
themselves.

The father of our Tyndall spelled his name Tyndale, and traced a direct
relationship to William Tyndale, who declared he would place a copy of
the English Bible in the hands of every plowboy in the British Isles,
and pretty nearly made good his vow. William Tyndale paid for his
privileges, however. He was arrested, given an opportunity to run away,
but wouldn't; then he was exiled. Finally he was incarcerated in a
dungeon of the Castle Vilvoorden.

His cell was beneath the level of the ground, so was cold and damp and
dark. He petitioned the governor of the prison for a coat to keep him
warm and a candle by which he could read. "We'll give you both light and
heat, pretty soon," was the reply.

And they did. They led Tyndale out under the blue sky and tied him to a
stake set in the ground. Around his feet they piled brush, and also all
of his books and papers that they could find.

A chain was put around his neck and hooked tight to the post. Then the
fagots were piled high, and the fire was lighted.

"He was not burned to death," argued one of the priests who was present;
"he was not burned to death. He just drew up his feet and hanged himself
in the chain, and so was choked: he was that stubborn!