James Porter, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, received this letter on 19 April 1882, the day that CD died; believing it to be probably the last that CD wrote, Porter thought this of sufficient interest to describe its contents in a letter to the editor of The Times that was published in the newspaper on 24 April 1882, p.10.

On 18 April 1882, the day before his death, CD recorded a payment of £3 3s. to ‘Porter for the Devonshire Portrait’ under ‘cheques paid’ in his Account books–cash account (Down House MS). William Cavendish, duke of Devonshire, served as chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1861 to 1891. The proceedings of a meeting for procuring a portrait of the chancellor, and the speeches of those who supported the proposal, were published in the Cambridge University Reporter, 2 February 1882, pp. 282–92. The portrait, painted by George Frederic Watts, was deposited in the Fitzwilliam Museum on 13 December 1883 (Cambridge University Reporter, 19 June 1885, p. 888).