ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH, LONDON, S.E. 1862, April 21.
MY LORD DUKE,
I am exceedingly gratified by your communication this day received, conveying a proposal which I doubt not is suggested by your Grace's recollection of transactions now many years past.
I have always been desirous of maintaining my connection with my University, and have in various ways interested myself practically in its concerns. It would give me great pleasure to have the connection strengthened in the flattering way which you propose.
I had conceived that alumni of the University were not admissible to honorary degrees; but upon this point the information possessed by your Grace, as Chancellor of the University, cannot be disputed.
I am, my Lord Duke,
Your Grace's very faithful servant,
G.B. AIRY.
His Grace
The Duke of Devonshire.
* * * * *
There were in all 19 Honorary Degrees of Doctor of Laws conferred on the 9th of June, including men of such eminence as Armstrong, Faraday, and Fairbairn.
1863