“Etiam nosmet ipsi hodie fronti tam felici hederae nostrae corollam sponte imponimus.
“Duco ad vos Petrum Tchaikovsky.”
After the ceremony there was a breakfast given by the Vice-Chancellor, at which all attended in their robes. At the end of the meal, in obedience to the tradition of centuries, a loving-cup was passed round.
The breakfast was followed by a garden-party, the hostess being the wife of the Vice-Chancellor.
By evening Tchaikovsky was back in London, where he gave a farewell dinner to some of his new friends. Among these I must mention the fine baritone, Eugene Oudin. Tchaikovsky was soon very sincerely attached to him, both as a man and an artist. Upon his initiative Oudin was invited to sing at the Symphony Concerts in Moscow and Petersburg.
The following day Tchaikovsky left for Paris.
To P. Jurgenson.
“Paris, June 3rd (15th), 1893.
“Cambridge, with its peculiar customs which retain much that is medieval, with its colleges that resemble monasteries, and its buildings recalling a remote past, made a very agreeable impression upon me.”
To N. Konradi.