Letter from the Duke of Richmond and Lennox, Whitehall, to the Prince of Wales, 1806 July 23 : autograph manuscript signed.

Expressing his disappointment that he was passed over for a position which he believed he deserved; saying "The Condescension of your Royal Highness in taking the Trouble of writing, to assure me of your retaining sentiments of Regard and Friendship for me, is what I must ever receive with the most gratefull Respect. The Conversation I had with Mrs. Fitzherbert respecting your Royal Highness, could be no other than expressive of that most dutifull attachment to your Royal Highness's Person which I must ever feel. But it would be inconsistent with that sincerity that belongs to it, were I to say, that after the very flattering Encouragement your Royal highness had had the Goodness to hold out to me, that I might be of some use to you and the Public, I did not feel the deepest mortification in finding that at a moment when, if ever, I might have had an opportunity of endeavoring to merit that good opinion by my Devotion to your Royal Highness, and my Zeal for the Public Service, Reasons which I presume not to dive into, have excluded me from both. It is with more confidence than ever, because all possible suspicion of interested views must now be out of the Question, that I can assure your Royal Highness of the warmth of that truely affectionate attachment (forgive me Sir the familiarity of the Expression) with which you had inspired me. It was a Pride, in which I certainly had no right to indulge but from your Royal Highness's Partiality, but which I could not resist, to think that in the Decline of my Health and Life, I might still be of some use to your Royal Highness and to my Country at such a Crisis as the present. Those Hopes are now vanished, and I have only to wish that those Persons whom your Royal Highness honors with your Confidence may ever seek to promote your Honor Glory & Happiness as sincerely as I have done. I shall be happy in any opportunity that may again introduce me to your Royal Highness's Presence, to testify the high sense I have of your Royal Highness's still preserving a favorable opinion of me."