570 
army; to which his majesty was 
pleased to answer, that before he 
had appointed you to the command 
of the 10th light dragoons, he had 
caused it to be fully explained to 
you what his sentiments were with 
respect to a prince of Wales en- 
tering into the army, and the pub- 
lic grounds upon which he could 
never admit of your considering it 
as a profession, or of your being 
promoted in the service. And his 
majesty, at the same time, added 
his positive command and injunctions 
to me, never to mention this sub- 
jeét again to him, and to decline 
being the bearer of any applica- 
tion of the same nature, should it 
be proposed to me; which mes- 
sage I was, of course, under the ne- 
cessity of delivering to you, and 
have constantly made it the rule of 
my conduct ever since; and, in- 
deed, I have ever considered it as 
one of the greatest proofs of af- 
feétion and consideration towards 
me, on the part of his majesty, 
that he never allowed me to become 
a party in this business. 
Having thus stated to you, fairly 
and candidly, what has passed, lL 
trust you will see that there can 
be ne grounds for the apprehen- 
sion expressed in the latter part 
of your letter, that any slur can 
attach to your character as an offi- 
cer—particularly as I recollect your 
mentioning to me yourself, on the 
day on which you received the noti- 
fication of your appointment to the 
10th light dragoons, the explanation 
and condition attached to it by his 
majesty ; and therefore, surely, you 
must be satisfied, that your not be- 
ing advanced in military rank, pro- 
ceeds entirely from his majesty’s 
sentiments respecting the high rank 
you hold in the state, and not from 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1803. 
any unfavourable to 
you. 
Believe me ever, with the greatest 
truth, 
impression 
Dearest brother, 
Your most affectionate brother, 
(Signed) Frederick. 
His Royal Highness the 
Prince of Wales. 
Brighton, Oét. 9, 1803. 
My dear brother, 
I have taken two days to consider 
the contents of your letter of the 
6th inst. in order to be as accurate 
as possible in my answer, which 
must account to you for its being 
longer, perhaps, than I intended, 
or I could have wished. 
I confide entirely in the personal 
kindness and affection expressed in 
your letter, and am, for that reason, 
the more unwilling to trouble you 
again on a painful subjeét, in which 
you are not free to aét, as your in-- 
clination, [I am sure, would lead 
you. But, as it is not at all im- 
probable, that every part of this 
transaction may be publicly can- 
vassed hereafter, it is of the utmost 
importance to my honour, without 
which I can have no happiness, that 
my conduct in it shall be fairly re- 
presented, and correétly understood. 
When I made a tender of my ser- 
vices to his majesty’s ministers, it 
was with a justand natural expecta- 
tion, that my offer would have been 
accepted, in the way in which alone 
it could have been most beneficial to 
my country, or creditable to my- 
self: or, if that failed, that at least 
(in justice to me) the reasons for a 
refusal would have been distinétly 
stated; so that the nation might 
be satisfied, that nothing had been 
omitted on my part, and enabled to 
judge of the validity of the reasons 
assigned 
— =." 
