Faraday to Lyon Playfair   10 October 1842

London | Royal Institution | 10 Octr. 1842

My dear Sir

Will you allow me to hope I shall not give you offence if I ask whether the following offer would be worth your consideration. The Professorship of Chemistry in the University of King's College at Toronto in Upper Canada1. The remuneration would be about £450 per annum with a house Garden & the usual college advantages - the Professor would be on the Council of the University of which the Bishop is President2. He must reside at Toronto - there would be a sum of money allowed by the council for Laboratory outfit &c. Now I am called upon to advise in the matter & if you are inclined to consider the offer seriously and are able to go out I would put you in communication at once with His Excellency the Governor3. If not have the goodness to drop me a line here4. Graham mentioned your name to me & believe that in writing to you though the offer may be unworthy your attention still I meant as far as I am empowered to make it to testify my respect for you & your attainments[.] At any rate keep the matter private especially if you decline[.]

Ever dear Sir | Very faithfully Yours | M. Faraday

Dr Playfair | &c &c &c


Endorsed by Playfair: 1842 | London 10 Octr | Professor Faraday | offers me the Chair | of Chemistry at Toronto | The turning point of | my life. I accepted | but Sir Robert Peel advised | me to decline & promised | to provide for me in this Country5

1
See letters 1401 and 1414.
2
John Strachan.
3
Charles Bagot.
4
According to Playfair's autobiography, he visited Faraday in London to discuss this proposal and indicated that he would accept. Reid, T.W. (1899), 59.
5
Peel sought, initially, to find a position for Playfair in the Museum of Practical Geology, which he was unable to deliver immediately; see Reid, T.W. (1899), 59-60, 81-6. However, the following year Playfair was appointed a member of the Royal Commission on the Health of Towns (ibid.,63-4). After this work had been completed Playfair was appointed to the Museum (ibid.,71-2).

Please cite as “Faraday1435,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday1435