Letter from Henry Pelham, Duke of Newcastle, London, to Catherine Grace Frances Gore, 1851 November 18 : autograph manuscript signed.

Writing to explain that he finds himself too busy to accept an invitation he had previously accepted from her; remarking that he will be going to "The Grange" for 4 or 5 days, "but I fear though you and Lady Ashburton are both blue you look black at one another and there is little chance of meeting you there."; commenting on the recent frost and on the intended sale of a boat that is currently at the docks of St. Catherine, "wither she has come up to be sold to the traders in Portugal"; stating that a report first related to him by Mrs. Gore claiming that he is engaged to Miss Hume has "grown into an established fact I find, and I am congratulated at the corner of every street", adding "Poor Miss Hume! I dare say she laughs at the notion of being bestowed upon such an old 'foggy'" and noting that he has not even had the pleasure of making Miss Hume's acquaintance; discussing political matters, including the observation that "The general notion is that Louis Napoleon has the best of the game now" and that "it seems likely he will be President elect of the People, but further Deponent sayeth not", mentioning the visiting Hungarian political leader (Lajos) Kossuth, who has "set sober men in the Manufacturing Districts ... to the task of thinking and the result of that exertion is that they hope Sir J. Russell will not give them universal suffrage at present."; commenting on the death of Lady Ward and other social affairs, and asking her if she is "really going to Vienna, or have you substituted Petersburg?".