Dear M^r Talbot,

I presume that the Secretary to the Senate ^<1> has informed you that you should be at the College on Wednesday ^<2> a little before 2 o'clock.

On this occasion you have nothing to say. The Dean of the Faculty of Law ^<3> is the only person who makes a speech, so that you have no ground of alarm.

I am, Ever Most Truly y^rs
D Brewster

Portobello ^<4>
March 28^th 1863

P.S. I would have offered to accompany you to the College, but I am obliged to be present at the presentation of the Freedom of the City to Lord Palmerston, ^<5> which may not be over till after 2 o'clock.

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Notes:

1. Of the University of Edinburgh, which intended to confer the prestigious honorary degree of Doctor of Laws upon Talbot.

2. 1 April 1863, brought forward from 21 April [see Doc. No: 08659] possibly to suit the Prime Minister.

3. James Muirhead (1831–89), Professor of Civil Law at the University of Edinburgh. His speech presenting Talbot for the honorary degree and outlining his contributions to knowledge was reported in the Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 23801, 2 April 1863, p. 5.

4. On the Firth of Forth, about four miles northeast of the centre of Edinburgh. See also Doc. No: 08488.

5. Henry John Temple, 3^rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865), Prime Minister 1855–1858 and 1859–1865, was to be the principal honorary graduand at the degree ceremony.