[Sir John Beckett of Somerby Park, as Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs.] Autograph Letter Signed, to Col. Torrens, giving view of Home Secretary Richard Ryder on ‘The Commander in Chief’ (Prince Frederick, Duke of York) and ‘Mr Sonnenberg'.

See Beckett’s entry in the History of Parliament, according to which he held the position of Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs from 1806 to 1817. 1p, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased at the foot, with strip of discoloration at the head. Folded twice into a packet. Addressed to ‘Colonel Torrens’. (Torrens was a British Army officer, economist, editor of the Globe newspaper and an influential figure in the colonization of Australia.) Reads: ‘Sir, / Your Letter to Mr Peel [the future Tory prime minister Sir Robert Peel, then Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies] of the 24th. Instant having been referred to this Office and laid before Mr Secretary Ryder, [i.e. Home Secretary Richard Ryder] I am directed to acquaint you, that as Mr Ryder has in no instance granted a Cartel Passage to aliens going to France since the Regulation was established confining them to certain Cases connected with the Public Service, He is induced to hope that H: R: H The Commander in Chief [Prince Frederick, Duke of York] will wave his recommendation in favor of Mr Sonnenberg / I am &c / J Beckett’.