Star.
London, England, 1830-01-14 00:00:00

THE DUKE AND THE ME N OF KENT.

Si it—No true Englishman can read the soul-stirring
letters of your Correspondent, Si DNEY ," without feeling
thatto be longer quiescent on a subject of such manifest
moment to our national character, or peradventure our
national existence, is to share the odium and degradation
that your Correspondent so forcibly points out.
The truth is, Sir, that these Men of Kent are asses—
egregious asses—and His Grace of WLtta GTON is no
less an ass than they !
These Men of Kent, in their hearts, despise the Duke
of WELLIN ti TON, and look upon him as the chief, if not
the sole cause, of all our disasters—and get, Sir, these
Men of Kent, iu the same breath that they execrate his
name for having, dictator-like, assumed the reins of King,
Lords, and Commons, would fain ratify the unconstitu-
tional appoile.ment by beseeching his HIG It N ESS IO mi-
tigate the rigour of their destiny. Is this true, Sir, or
is it not ?—lf it be, what, I again ask, are they, but
asses? and what conceivable brayings ever sounded more
discordantly in the physical ear, than this slavish petition
of theirs does to the upright understanding of Men ?
Now for W mu) CoanErr calls him—
Is that a Libcl, Sin JANI ES Ctia•r•rEttisox ?
Now I say, for WATERLOO—Is lie an ass, or not ?
that is the question ! Did :to not say that he should be
a madman to undertake the Premiership ? And did he
not undertake it ? Th it, it is true, only proves him to
be mad in his own estimation ; but it is not too much to
say that a man who thus deems himself mad, may—
without rubbing other; of their honours—safely affix
A.S.S. to his cognomen, when he takes on himself so
awful a responsibility. And what did he do when lie
became Premier ? Why he contrived to compose his
Cabinet of such men, as he knew would not dispute his
sway.—Yes, this self-styled mad-man—this inefficient
Minister, would have no one for a colleague who would
dare to question his amazing sagacity—never dreaming
that if matters did nut go on as glibly as formerly, he
would thus draw down on his single head the contu nets- of
all who witnessed the imbecility of his measures, and tho
eternal curses of those who were ruined by them—never
dre.uning, that if he survived the crash his ruinous pro-
ceedings superinduced, he was founding a precedent
for future ambitious Ministers, at direct variance with the
established practice of the Cabinet up to his time ; a pre-
cedent which bids fair to change the character of the Go-
vernment, and to reduc is once happy Monarchy
to a republic or a military deipot ism .
No one, or at all events, very few, think so badly of
WATERLOO, as to suppose that he was influenced by any
such motive. No ; I believe it was a sin of the head
rather than of the heart—of ignorance rather than of in-
tention. But what then ? Does it not prove what I
began by maintaining—that WATERLOO id an ass?
The crack measure of his Administration has been the
everlastingly trumpeted Catholic Question; but admitting
this to have been ably managed, I maintain he did it like
a General, not like a Statesman. Every one will recol-
lect his letters to the Catholic Bishop—to Lord ANOL E-
SEA —to the Duke of Let NST ER—all which was done
to blind them and the public—a manoeuvre worthy enough
of a General, but not less humiliating than derogatory to
the character of a Statesman. Quickness and decision
are the attributes of a General; coolness and deliberation
of a Statesman. Was this important achievement marked
by either of the latter qualities ? Has not the result
proved it was not ? It was carried, I admit, but in such
a manner as to mar every possible good effect. It has
conciliated the aristocratic part of the Catholics to the
Government; and what good, I should like to know, has
that done ? No danger was apprehended from them before
—but every danger was apprehended from the Priesthood
and the Catholic democracy, and what benefit have one
or the other received ? The one has been treated with
unmerited rigour in this famous bill; the other has been
despoiled of its franchise because it dared to exert it as
it pleased : and if last, not least, the means by which its
success was accomplished, have lowered the Houses of
Lords and Commons so much in the estimation of the
people, as to excite, for the time to come, the most fearful
apprehensions. All this has WATERLOO done, and
again and again I ask, is he not an Ass for his pains ?
If his HIGHNESS will condescend to call at your office,
you are welcome to give him my name ; and tell him that
much as I value his services as a SOLDIER, words can
hardly express my contempt for him as a STATES M A N.
I am, Sir, your bumble Servant,
Jan. 10, 1150. PHILO-SIDNEY.