The Right Honourable
Sir George C. Lewis, Bart.,
&c. &c. &c.
To this letter Sir G.C. Lewis replied that the fees would amount to about £30, an intimation which produced the following letter:
ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH, S.E.
1863, Feb. 19th.
DEAR SIR,
I have to acknowledge your letter of yesterday: and I advert to that part of it in which it is stated that the Fees on Knighthood amount to about £30.
Twenty-seven years ago the same rank was offered to me by Lord John Russell and Mr Spring Rice (then Ministers of the Crown), with the express notice that no fees would be payable. I suppose that the usage (whatever it be) on which that notice was founded still subsists.
To a person whose annual income little more than suffices to meet the annual expenses of a very moderate establishment, an unsought honour may be an incumbrance. It appears, at any rate, opposed to the spirit of such an honour, that it should be loaded with Court Expenses in its very creation.
I hope that the principle stated in 1835 may serve as precedent on this occasion.
I am, dear Sir,
Your very faithful servant,
G.B. AIRY.
The Right Honourable
Sir G. C. Lewis, Bart.,
&c. &c. &c.