ROBERT PEEL | autograph letter signed, 11 December 1834

PEEL, SIR ROBERT

AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, TO "MY DEAR SIR",

on his appointment as Prime Minister ("...On arriving in England on Tuesday last, I at once informed His Majesty, that I should not hesitate to place my services at his Disposal, however painful the sacrifices of comfort and Repose which I knew such a Step would involve. In conformity with the King's wishes I accepted the appointment of First Minister, and undertook to attempt to form an administration..."), explaining his plans for Cabinet appointments and hoping for his correspondent's approbation, marked "Private", 4 pages, 4to, Whitehall Palace, 11 December 1834

AN IMPORTANT LETTER WRITTEN BY PEEL TWO DAYS AFTER COMING TO OFFICE FOR THE FIRST TIME. The early 1830s had seen huge disruptions in British politics culminating in the Great Reform Act and the subsequent enlargement of the franchise. Peel came to power when William IV dismissed Lord Melbourne and the Whigs, but the recent tumults had caused an irrevocable split in Tory ranks. Peel immediately requested the dissolution of Parliament and on 19 December he issued his famed Tamworth Manifesto, which established the principles underpinning the modern Conservative Party by appealing "to that great and intelligent class of society ... which is far less interested in the contentions of party, than in the maintenance of order and the cause of good government".

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