_To his Grace the Duke of Wellington._
Foreign Office, April 11, 1897.
My dear Duke of Wellington,--I believed it to be
so generally understood, that the king usually intrusts
the formation of an administration to the individual
whom it is his majesty's gracious intention to place at
the head of it; that it did not occur to me, when I
communicated to your Grace yesterday the commands
which I had just received from his majesty, to add, that,
in the present instance, his majesty does not intend to
depart from the usual course of proceeding on such
occasions. I am sorry to have delayed some hours this
answer to your Grace's letter; but from the nature of
the subject, I did not like to forward it without having
previously submitted it (together with your Grace's
letter) to his Majesty.
Ever, my dear Duke of Wellington, your Grace's
sincere and faithful servant,