Robert Peel to Lord Ashley   3 May 1835

Drayton Manor, | May 3, 1835.

My Dear Ashley, - You do me but justice in entertaining the belief that had I remained in office one of my earliest recommendations to his Majesty would have been to grant a pension to Mr. Faraday¹, on the same principles precisely upon which one was granted to Mr. Airy². If there had been the means, I would have made the offer before I left office.

I was quite aware of Mr. Faraday's high eminence as a man of science, and the valuable practical service he has rendered to the public in that capacity; but I was to blame in not having ascertained whether his pecuniary circumstances made an addition to his income an object to him.

I am sure no man living has a better claim to such a consideration from the State than he has, and I trust the principle I acted on with regard to the award of civil pensions will not only remove away impediments of delicacy and independent feeling from the acceptance of them, but will add a higher value to the grant of a pension as an honourable distinction than any that it could derive from its pecuniary amount.

Ever, my dear Ashley, | Most faithfully yours, | Robert Peel.