My dear Father,

I wrote to stop you answering in a hurry the offer of the degree because I have several things to say about it. In the first place I hear from Trotter & Hughes that a good many of the Council are very keen about offering the degree—¹ They say you have never received any recognition by any of the public bodies of England & that y^r. own University w^d. like to be the first.² I hear the master of Emman. wishes it particularly.³ But what I now want to say is this. They want you to accept formally, with the arrière pensée⁴ (if you think it really necessary) that you don’t intend to come. Trotter who is on the council is aware of this & therefore there is nothing underhand in doing so. If you refuse point-blank it will never come formally before the University that it has ever been offered, but they want to proceed at least as far as having a regular grace of the Senate, so that everything will have been done except the actual conferring of the degree   Of course this w^d. give you no more trouble than actually refusing straight off.—

It will give absolutely no inconvenience to anybody even if your ultimate refusal is by telegraph & is delayed until the actual day of conferring the degree. The only thing is that they pass at once to other business.

If you are willing to carry out this idea I sh^d. think you might say in accepting that the state of y^r. health always renders it quite uncertain whether you are able to fulfill engagements of this kind. I do not know whether you know how very short an affair the whole thing is— the whole thing would barely last quarter of an hour beginning at two.—

If you receive an invitation to the Lodge at Christ’s⁵ you may be already engaged as I would arrange everything for you & c^d. stop you seeing people— that is assuming that you have any thoughts of coming. The journey here from London is just about the same length as that from Down to London & not so bothering because the train goes right thro!⁶

The degree will not be offered until the Oct. term—or rather w^d. not be conferred until then.

Yours affectionately | G. H. Darwin