Autograph letter signed from Foreign Secretary John Ward Earl of Dudley 1827

WARD, John William, 1st Earl of Dudley (1781-1833). Autograph letter signed by the Foreign Secretary to Alderman Matthew Wood, discussing Prime Minister George Canning and an appointment as a King's Messenger. 16 October 1827.
 
Single sheet, approximately 180 x 240 mm, written on both sides in ink and signed "Dudley". Addressed to Mr Alderman Wood. Old folds, otherwise clean and well preserved; Very Good.
 
An interesting letter from Dudley, then Foreign Secretary, to the radical politician and former Lord Mayor of London Matthew Wood (1768-1843), concerning Wood's attempt to secure an appointment for an unidentified "young Austin" as one of the King's Messengers.
 
Dudley explains that Wood's belief that changes to the position of the King's Messengers had been contemplated by the recently deceased George Canning was mistaken: "your impression of some change in the situation of King's messengers having been intended by Mr Canning is I have every reason to believe erroneous." He adds that applications for the positions are numerous and vacancies, particularly those at his own disposal, "so few and uncertain" that he can offer little prospect of obtaining a place for Austin.
 
The reference to Canning is particularly immediate. Canning had died on 8 August 1827, little more than two months before this letter. Dudley had served as Foreign Secretary in Canning's government and continued in that office under Lord Goderich. Wood and Dudley were also, at this date, fellow Members of Parliament for the City of London, despite their markedly different political backgrounds. A good political letter from a serving Foreign Secretary, discussing the intentions of his recently deceased Prime Minister and the highly sought-after appointments of the King's Messengers.