My dear Duke,
I have received your letter, which, according to your permission, I have communicated to Lord Liverpool. When the deplorable event occurred which gave reason for your writing it, Lord Liverpool requested the King not to consider of the measures to be adopted to fill the situation in H. M.'s Councils which had been held by Lord Londonderry, till H. M. should return to London, and he assured the King that he likewise on his part would take no step whatever on the subject till he should have the honour of seeing his Majesty. This matter then stands exactly as it did on the day of the fatal catastrophe, and so will remain till the King's return.
Lord Liverpool is very anxious that your Grace, and those who wish well to the Government, should take no step and make no declaration previously to his Majesty's return, which might embarrass the Government or themselves. He hopes that you will so far confide in him as to be certain that he will do what he ought upon this occasion, and you may rely upon his taking the earliest opportunity of making you acquainted with the steps which he will have taken.
Believe me, my dear Duke,
With the most sincere respect and affection,
Ever yours most faithfully,
Wellington.
THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS, K.G., TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
My dear Duke,
I beg that you will assure Lord Liverpool that nothing could be further from my intention or my wishes, than to hasten forward any discussion or precipitate any decision respecting the steps to be taken to complete and strengthen the Government under existing circumstances: on the contrary, no one is more convinced than I am of the absolute necessity of the Government having most mature deliberation on this very momentous question. For this very reason I thought it due to Lord Liverpool that he should at as early a moment as possible be put in possession of the sentiments and feelings of those connected with his Government, provided you thought mine of sufficient importance to be transmitted to him.