A service he had attended in Cork and that the ordination of several Methodist preachers would soon take place.25 In late July 1842, shortly before leaving Cork to join the English Survey, Tyndall informed his father `I have three or four methodists preaching to me daily, very nice Isorhamnetin biological activity fellows indeed and I think consistently religious.’26 These `fellows’ were the other civilian assistants working on the Survey of Ireland. Moreover, when living in Preston and Halifax in the mid 1840s he frequently attended services at Methodist chapels. However, he became increasingly critical of Methodism’s anti-intellectualism and its overly literal reading of the Bible. For example, after visiting the South Parade Wesleyan Chapel in Halifax one Sunday in 1845 he noted that the preacher `had a smattering of geology, a dim perception of astronomy and rushing blindly into the subjects he more than once knocked his head against a planet and cracked his shins upon a ledge of millstone grit. I think Methodists are in general too literal in their interpretation of scripture.’27 Although he occasionally continued to attend Methodist chapels he was, as we shall see, increasingly drawn to a different kind of Christianity. Despite such criticisms of Methodists, in 1855 Tyndall expressed to Hirst his abiding sense of loss in having forsaken the Methodism of his youth. Returning to his lodgings in Pentonville, north London, he encounteredtwo young men on the footway distributing tracts to a rabble of big and little boys which surrounded them. One as he handed the tract to each pronounced in a low voice `the Sabbath’–the other, an older hand or perhaps of a warmer temperament, exclaimed as he distributed his ware `Christ the only Saviour’–I stood and watched them for someG. Cantortime with no small interest, for I could TGR-1202 site discern beneath the wildness of the enthusiast’s eye the working of that spirit which keeps the world out of the mud. As far as intellect and recognition of intellect go I was never better than I am at present, but there was something at the heart of these methodist fanatics which I lacked and which I longed for–Not of course to make use of it as they did, but to apply it to my own private purposes.Tyndall was very aware of the emotional characteristics of the people he met, and he frequently felt an aversion towards those who appeared cold and unemotional, including those scientists who valued the intellect far above the heart. Instead he was attracted to the `warmer temperament’ of these Methodists, just as he sided with `men of warm feelings’ in his Belfast Address two decades later.29 In this letter to Hirst he also acknowledged that he `longed for’ but lacked the emotional intensity manifested by these Methodist missionaries. Moreover, he recognized that their form of spirituality was needed to save the world, and his phrase `out of the mud’ resonates with the salvationist ethic of Psalm 40:2: `He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay’.TYNDALL’SANTI-CATHOLICISMThe Tyndalls, father and son, like many Anglo-Irish families, viewed the Roman Catholic population as the historical enemies of Protestantism. Anti-Catholic diatribes appeared in the Protestant press, and clergymen repeatedly denounced Catholicism from their pulpits. Although few Catholics occupied positions of power or owned land, most Protestants feared that the rise of Catholic political power would destroy the time-honoured and natural dominance of the Protes.A service he had attended in Cork and that the ordination of several Methodist preachers would soon take place.25 In late July 1842, shortly before leaving Cork to join the English Survey, Tyndall informed his father `I have three or four methodists preaching to me daily, very nice fellows indeed and I think consistently religious.’26 These `fellows’ were the other civilian assistants working on the Survey of Ireland. Moreover, when living in Preston and Halifax in the mid 1840s he frequently attended services at Methodist chapels. However, he became increasingly critical of Methodism’s anti-intellectualism and its overly literal reading of the Bible. For example, after visiting the South Parade Wesleyan Chapel in Halifax one Sunday in 1845 he noted that the preacher `had a smattering of geology, a dim perception of astronomy and rushing blindly into the subjects he more than once knocked his head against a planet and cracked his shins upon a ledge of millstone grit. I think Methodists are in general too literal in their interpretation of scripture.’27 Although he occasionally continued to attend Methodist chapels he was, as we shall see, increasingly drawn to a different kind of Christianity. Despite such criticisms of Methodists, in 1855 Tyndall expressed to Hirst his abiding sense of loss in having forsaken the Methodism of his youth. Returning to his lodgings in Pentonville, north London, he encounteredtwo young men on the footway distributing tracts to a rabble of big and little boys which surrounded them. One as he handed the tract to each pronounced in a low voice `the Sabbath’–the other, an older hand or perhaps of a warmer temperament, exclaimed as he distributed his ware `Christ the only Saviour’–I stood and watched them for someG. Cantortime with no small interest, for I could discern beneath the wildness of the enthusiast’s eye the working of that spirit which keeps the world out of the mud. As far as intellect and recognition of intellect go I was never better than I am at present, but there was something at the heart of these methodist fanatics which I lacked and which I longed for–Not of course to make use of it as they did, but to apply it to my own private purposes.Tyndall was very aware of the emotional characteristics of the people he met, and he frequently felt an aversion towards those who appeared cold and unemotional, including those scientists who valued the intellect far above the heart. Instead he was attracted to the `warmer temperament’ of these Methodists, just as he sided with `men of warm feelings’ in his Belfast Address two decades later.29 In this letter to Hirst he also acknowledged that he `longed for’ but lacked the emotional intensity manifested by these Methodist missionaries. Moreover, he recognized that their form of spirituality was needed to save the world, and his phrase `out of the mud’ resonates with the salvationist ethic of Psalm 40:2: `He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay’.TYNDALL’SANTI-CATHOLICISMThe Tyndalls, father and son, like many Anglo-Irish families, viewed the Roman Catholic population as the historical enemies of Protestantism. Anti-Catholic diatribes appeared in the Protestant press, and clergymen repeatedly denounced Catholicism from their pulpits. Although few Catholics occupied positions of power or owned land, most Protestants feared that the rise of Catholic political power would destroy the time-honoured and natural dominance of the Protes.
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