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Aug. 20th, 1806.

THE Lord Chancellor has the honour to return, to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the box, as he received it this morning from His Majesty. It contains the papers he formerly sent to her Royal Highness, and which he sends as they are, thinking that it may be in the meantime most agreeable to her Royal Highness.

The reason of their. not having been authenticated by the Lord Chancellor, was, that he received them as copies, from Earl Spencer, who was in possession of the originals; and he could not therefore, with propriety, do so, not having himself compared them; but Her Royal Highness may depend upon having other copies sent to her, which have been duly examined and certified to be so.

The box will be delivered to one of her Royal Highness's Pages in waiting, by the principal officer, attendant upon the Lord Chancellor, and he trusts he shall find full credit, with her Royal Highness, that in sending a servant formerly with the papers, the moment he received them (no messenger being in waiting, and the officers who attend him, being detained by their duties in court,) he could not be supposed to have intended any possible disrespect, which he is incapable of shewing to any lady, but most especially to any member of His Majesty's Royal Family.

To Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.

Lincoln's Inn Fields, Aug. 24, 1806.

His Majesty has been pleased to transmit to me the letter which he has received from your Royal Highness, dated the 17th instant; and to direct, that I should communicate the same to the Lords Commissioners, who had been commanded by His Majesty to report to His Majesty on the matters therein referred to; and I have now received His Majesty's further commands, in consequence of that letter, to acquaint your Royal Highness, that when I transmitted to your Royal Highness, by the King's commands, and under my signature, the copies of official papers, which had been laid before His Majesty, those papers were judged thereby duly authenticated, according to the usual course and forms of office; and sufficiently so, for the purposes, for which, His Majesty had been graciously pleased to direct them to be communicated to your Royal Highness.

That, nevertheless, there does not appear to be any reason for His Majesty's declining a compliance with the request which your Royal Highness has been advised to make, that those copies should, after being examined with the originals, be attested by some person to be named for that purpose: and that, if your Royal Highness will do me the honour to transmit them to me, they shall be examined and attested accordingly, after correcting any errors, that may have occurred in the copying.

His Majesty has further authorized me to acquaint your Royal Highness, that he is graciously pleased, on your Royal Highness's request, to consent, that copies of the written declarations, referred to in the Report of the Lords Commissioners, should be transmitted to your Royal Highness, and that the same will be transmitted accordingly, so soon as they can be transcribed.

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The Lord Chancellor has the honour to add to the above official communication, that his Pursebearer respectfully waits her Royal Highness's commands, in case it should be Her Royal Highness's pleasure to return the papers by him.

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.

Lincoln's Inn Fields, Aug. 29th, 1806.

THE Lord Chancellor has the honour to transmit, to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the papers,* desired by Her Royal Highness, just as he received them a few minutes ago from Earl Spencer, with the note accompanying them.

*N. B. These papers, being the original decla- · rations, on which the Inquiry proceeded will be found in Appendix (A.)

Aug. 31st, 1806.

HER Royal Highness the Princess of Wales acquaints the Lord Chancellor, that the gentleman, with whom her Royal Highness advises, and who had possession of the copies of the official papers communicated to Her Royal Highness, by the Lord Chancellor, returned from the country late yesterday evening. Upon the subject of transmitting these papers to the Lord Chancellor, for the purpose of their being examined, and authenticated, and then returned to Her Royal Highness, he states, that in consequence of the Lord Chancellor's assurance, contained in his note of the 20th inst. that Her Royal Highness might depend upon having other copies sent to her, which had been duly examined and certified to be so; he has relied upon being able to refer to those already sent, and therefore it would be inconvenient to part with them at present: and Her Royal Highness therefore hopes, that the Lord Chancellor will procure for her the other authenticated copies, which his Lordship promised in his note of the 20th inst.

With respect to the copies already sent, being as the Lord Chancellor expresses it, in his letter of the 24th inst. "judged to be duly authenticated according to the usual course and forms of office, " and sufficiently so for the purpose for which His Majesty had been graciously pleased to

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"direct them to be communicated to Her Royal "Highness, because they were transmitted to

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Her, by the King's commands, and under his "Lordship's signatnre," Her Royal Highness could never have wished for a more authentic attestation, if she had conceived, that they were authenticated under such signature. But she could not think that the mere signature of his Lordship, on the outside of the envelope, which contained them, could afford any authenticity to the thirty papers, which that envelope contained; or could, in any manner, identify any of those papers, as having been contained in that envelope. And she had felt herself confirmed in that opinion, by his Lordship's saying in his note of the 20th inst. "that the reason of their not having been authenticated, by the Lord Chancellor, was, that he "received them as copies from Earl Spencer, who "was in possession of the originals, and he could "not therefore with propriety do so, not having himself compared them.

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Her Royal Highness takes this opportunity of acknowledging the receipt of the declarations referred to in the Commissioners' Report.

To the Lord Chancellor.

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