Edward Geoffrey STANLEY (1799-1869) British statesman. L.A.S., Downing Street 4 November 1833, [to Adolphe de Bacourt] 3 pages in-4; in French. About the Slavery Abolition Act. Interesting letter marked "Confidential", on the abolition of slavery by England, when Stanley was Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, addressed to Talleyrand's secretary. Stanley was quick to point out "two circular dispatches addressed to the Governors of our Colonies, with which I have accompanied the Resolutions of the House of Commons, and the Act of the Imperial Parliament for the Abolition of Negro Slavery"... These documents were confidential, as they had not yet been communicated to the respective Assemblies, which "might perhaps complain that a foreign Power had become aware of the intentions of the Mother Country, before they had been indicated to the Colonies themselves. You will also not fail to observe that the Plan itself is only a fairly general sketch, the details of which each Colony is allowed to fill in as it sees fit"... By sharing this information with him, he is "pleased to believe that I am giving one more proof of the complete trust that so happily subsists between our two Courts"...