FOX CHARLES JAMES: (1749-1806) British Statesman.

L.S., C. J. Fox, one page, folio, St. James's, 29th March 1782, to Sir William Hamilton, marked 'No.1' to the upper left corner. Fox informs his correspondent that, following the resignation of Viscount Stormont, King George III has 'been pleased to appoint me to be one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State' and, as such, 'make a new arrangement in the Departments by conferring that for Domestick Affairs and the Colonies on the Earl of Shelburne, and entrusting me with the sole Direction of the Department for Foreign Affairs'. Fox adds that in the future Hamilton should address his letters to him, and that 'I shall not fail to lay regularly before the King' those letters 'and to transmit to you such orders and instructions as His Majesty shall think proper to give for your Guidance and Direction'. With blank integral leaf. Some very light, extremely minor dust staining and age wear, VGSir William Hamilton (1730-1803) Scottish Diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764-1800. Hamilton's second wife was Emma Hamilton, the mistress of Horatio Nelson.As the present letter confirms, Fox was appointed as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs two days earlier on 27th March 1782. He served in the post until 5th July of the same year and was later reappointed from April-December 1783 and February-September 1806.Great Britain's Prime Minister, Lord North, resigned in March 1782 as a result of the strains of office and the disastrous American war, and was replaced by the new ministry of the Marquess of Rockingham, under whose administration Fox was first appointed as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Rockingham died unexpectedly on 1st July 1782 and Fox refused to serve in the successor administration of the Earl of Shelburne. The ensuing political turmoil culminated in the Fox-North Coalition which came to power on 2nd April 1783, representing the first occasion when King George III had been allowed no role in determining who should hold government office.Charles James Fox, the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger, rose to prominence in the House of Commons as a forceful and eloquent speaker with a notorious and colourful private life. In a parliamentary career spanning almost forty years Fox's opinions evolved into some of the most radical ever to be aired in the Parliament of his era.