Star.
London, England, 1830-01-28 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

Sig—Delightful as it is to witness the manly and
praiseworthy exertions of your Correspondent " St DWZY"
in behalf of his distressed countrymen, by now addressing
the KING himself on the subject, it is painful to reflect
on the little satisfaction such a cause in such times is cal-
culated to obtain. Let his MAJNITY dismiss the Duke
of WILLLINGTOW from his situation, and be will employ,
not his talents, (for that would not matter a fig,) but
his ill-gotten influence, in obstructing the wheels
of Government and the measures of any other ad-
ministration. His temper, made more overbearing by
the homage he has received, will never be quiet again till
the releasing hand of nature, or some other signal mark
of GOD'S mercy, shall deliver us from his domination.
The greater part of the Aristocracy, who are worshipping
this mammon of unrighteousness with a zeal that is little
short of magic, would lend their aid to thwart any admi-
nistration that would make the good of the country their
only aim, and banish corruption from their councils. In
either case ,then ,ruin must ensue—the obvious consequence
of a long course of corruption, imbecility, and injustice !
For my part, I am almost tired of my ineffectual struggles
to open the eyes of the country to the gulf before us, and
in despair am almost inclined to laud and magnify the
General—to quicken him in his unwise and ruinous mea-
sures. At all events. I would hardly ask the KING to
remove him at present, for, as sure as his name is WZI.-
LESLEY, if be goes on in the way he has begun, the day
of retribution is not far off, and it would be but a just
judgment that the man who has provoked the storm should
feel its effects.

Nee les en jostler ails
Quam peels anikee arts perk. sae!

Yet mind me, Sir ; I lay not at the Duke of WEL-
LI N °TON'S door the cause of our miseries : long before
he came into office they were foreseen and foretold. All
that I charge him with, is his stupidity in taking office
when he did ; and since he has taken office, proceeding
in the unwise (to call it by no harsher epithet)
manner he has. As I said in a former letter, I be-
lieve his head more than his heart is in fault.
It is this feeling of mine which prompts me to explain in
what sense I meant that word "Ass," which I have, in
my communications with you, so liberally bestowed
on his HIGHNESS, and which I cannot bring myself
to believe you have done well in leaving out in my
last. No one is more willing than I am to
stand corrected, if I am wrong; but, with all due
deference I can hardly bring myself to think
and I am fain to think, that on consideration
you will agree with me. The word " Au" is but a
:fafun de paler conveying an idea of great stupidity, or
madness if you will, in a particular act. His Huai w ass
himself said, he should be mad to undertake, what I said
he was " an ass" for undertaking. In that sense
alone I mean it—l mean not to impute to him'
general stupidity, any more than he himself meant to
acknowledge- general madness. On the contrary, I
admire him for his activity, I venerate him for his
fortune—honor him for his valour—but despise him for
his madness.—Let our united anticipations prove correct,
and by his unstatesmanlike measures let us suppose he
brings ruin on his country, which he had, on more occa-
sions than one, ventured his life to save. What, I ask, will
posterity say of him for having blotted his fair fame by un-
dertaking what he is as conscious of his incapacity to fulfil,
but that he was an" Ass" for his pains —a word, however,
that, since it sounds harsh in your ears, and in the ears of
some of your queasy readers—though there is not one of
them that would find fault with it, if it were approd, as it'
often is to PEEL, and universally to GOIILDURN, Hem-'
heirs of ihe same Cabinet—shall not be repeated by tse :

nor, indeed, should I have mentioned it now, but
to settle and justify its fair construction. Nay,
I perhaps go further than others in my admiration
for certain parts of the Duke of WELLIN Grow's
character. I db not believe in the ambition which
has been imputed to him—l believe, on the contrary,
that he meant well by the country, till the adulation
of despicable minions, and even of those whom he had
ever regarded as his political enemies, turned his head
—and now it fs his misfortune rather than his fault, that
he is like one intoxicated with liquor, become pot-valiant,
regarding the former humble estimate which he had
formed of his own unstatesmanlike abilities, as the im-
pulsive promptings only of a self-disparaging modesty.
He was unwilling enough to mount, but no sooner is he
en the saddle, than he claps spurs to his steed, and is now
going (and as ill-luck will have it, is carrying the
country along with him) full tilt to destruction—
Set a beggar on horseback and he will ride to the devil—
give power to an ignorant man, and he is sure to abuse it.
Depend upon it, Sir, his HIGH N vas is just the same
now as he ever was. As he was in the beginning, he is
now, and ever shall be—proud and arrogant, as I know
him to have been, from his first entrance into life—with
great activity of mind—of an inflexible temper—with
a strong head and fearless heart—it is hardly astonishing
that he should have been in his career bold even to a
proverb, enterprising and victorious—The situation he
enjoyed, no less than the exploits he achieved, made hies
despotic in his notions, and in the true spirit of a Ge-
neral, arbitrary and overbearing in his disposition.
Was this a character fit for a statesman ? Could it be
expected, that, just escaped from the amp as he was, lin
HlGnwess was likely to succeed at the helm of our state
the most eventful times that this country,or,per-adventure,
any other country, ever witnessed ? Was this the person
likely to inquire into the causes of the calamities which
affect us, and which are so deep-seated as to require the
most consummate skill and most extensive experience ?
No, surely; but lest I underrate his abilities—lest my
prejudice should outstrip my judgment—let me chronicle
the opinion he entertained of himself, and which his
colleagues in office entertained of him, as far as we can
collect one and the other from passing events.
The Peace, for which we are indebted to his valour,
afforded no field for his abilities—