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King George III, holograph letter signed to Lord Hawkesbury in which he declares War against France, 14 May 1803, 1p. 4to., slight staining. 'The King has perused the dispatch and private letter from Lord Whitworth and the Enclosures with as much rapidity as possible to return them to Lord Hawkesbury; the conduct of France has been equally unfair to the last and though conscious of the Evils that must be entailed on many Countries by the renewal of War, yet the conviction that by the restless disposition of the Ruler of France this event could not long have been kept off, it seems necessary to attend alone to the best modes of repelling the violence with effect, and the attacking those objects which our present means render attainable. The King will remain in Town to execute any Steps that the present moment may require. George R.'. Provenance: Maggs, Royal catalogue May 1935, no.366, apparently from the collection of Sir Ernest Cain. Bought June 1966 through Maggs by the vendor

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