The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-11-26
ErisAsr.i Row among IN. L,t'r.si-A

other journals, as folows;-
A scoUNDREL BRANDED.
TO the Editors fine Tribune
KNicKERBocKER SANcruM, Nov II, 1s49.
Gentlemen send you extract from letter re-
csived by me from MIR Charles Dickens, by the last
Engsh steamer 1t strikes me as but Just to Mr. Dick
ems as well to our community that the facts which
IL sets forth should be made public The volume Of this
Mr. Powell to which The Tribune has assisted to give
the uneHvisbe notoriety. and which 1t would have
cured for itself had it been widely your jour-
nal Is doubt authentic in respect Of other English
Dickens Is to be hoped that the circumstance Of
the books not being at all reliable in it's accounts Of
1t may still be true may it notD that the fire of Mr.
Dickens's genius pales before the intellectual Of
Puher Hopkins from whom Boz is charged to have
psarzed of bis best and that few writers
equal MIR. w. Iryingn in tame sentimentalism,n
faded piracy , and fmsy com mo -placel''
Yours faithfully, L. GAYLORD CLARK.
But have another piece of news for yeu
am geipg TO give you a serious caution respecting
who has been, and who possibly may yet be, in
n ew York and who think very likely to have fallen
in your way learn from q brother Of mine that one
OF your newspapers, think 1t is called the Nep York
Erenine Post) has been putting Mr. Thomas Powell,
Enghsh literary gentleman, and publishing life OF
by that eminent individual purportDg to be part
OF some forthcoming book which is from beginning to
done intact and complete lie. think Mr. Powell
very likely man indeed, TO form ready connection
with the American press.
He is u foIger ana a thief He managing clerk
to emine nj merchants house in the city of London
and during series of years forged aud altered checks
until he had defrauded them to the extent of thou
sands upon Thousands of pounds. His robberies being
discovered one day. he took up his hat went a
CHEMISTS bought come laudanum walked off TO a
warm bath, ana was found ia 1t insepsibe. | don't
know whether he took laudanum enough to kin HIM
self, but should he was careful 10 keep on the
safa side He recovered and forgiven by The gem
tleman whom he had robbed dismissed, OF course but
not prosecuted They were teoder OF his wife and
family. After some months endurance OF the misery
and shame Of his position he taken at Croy don
sbeetp TO divers trSaespeope 10 thai nsirh5orhoed
stated to the magistrate to be mad, and was
tualy confined for time in lunatic asylum that
the prosecutions against him might not go on. From
the luDltic asylum he found his way to New York.
He arrived there with forged letter of recommen-
dation credit purporting from partner in
the very houfe he had obbed and drew two bills upon
that gentleman (cashed in New ork) which Of course
have been protested and returned The very same
house TO whose moderation he Is Indebted for his not
working IA chains In Norfolk Island at this Instant
OF the object OF his blacklist ingratuds aud
Ab,ieg In all sorts OF in his aforesaid life OF
Before bis character discovered, he wrote some
plays-one dedicated to me-by pushing which he got
into the houses OF certain literary men, and among
Others into nine, where he once dned am sorry to
say. know his late employers well aud tell you this
story with full and complete personal knowledge OF
its truth in every particular. indeed 1t ID under
stated You are at liberty to make any use Of this
communication that you think proper. i am respon-
sbe for it's truth, aud think your American readers
will 60 well to consider whom they trust to, sometimes
Ever, my dear Clarke, faithfully yours
DEvoNsHrrE Terrace, Oct. %, 1919.
This publication has led to a criminal prose-
cution against Mr. Clarke, and all parties con-
cenned In this city; and the affair has created so
much anxiety and curiosity TO know the meaning
Of all this, that we have undertaken, with great
labor, and vast outlay of money, TO gather up
the basis Of this mysterious business.
A few years ago, Mr.. Thomas Powell was
confidential clerk in a commercial house Ia Lon
don. Having penchant for literary subjects, he
sought the society Of literary men, and was par
ticuary happy In making the acquaintance OF
Dickens and his set, and other literary cliques;
just as our amateurs plume themselves on getting
into the Puffer Hopkins and bslderdash cliques of
this metropolis. About this time, the railway spe-
cula,ions commenced in England. Mr.. Powelfs
employer thought that money was TO be made in
that line, and finding his clerk possessed of
tact and capacity for the business, made him his
confidential agent in the buying and selling OF
stocks, giving HIM the use OF his name, in signing
drafts checks, acceptsnces, etc. For short time,
everything went on swlmmingly. Hudson, the
railway king and all his agents, rolled in wealth.
The California gold mines were mere moonshlne,
compared with the golden profits Of their splendid
operations. The fever was contagious, like the
California, and everybody that had few thou
sands, or few shlllipgs, to spare, invested the
amount in railway shares. Mr.. Dickens was seized
with the fever. He wished to make money little
faster than by the drudgery Of writing novels at
stated salary. He wished to flourish at the Wes'
End, and to roll in his carriage among the swells
OF Piccadllly and Hyde Park. Powell was the
very man; and through his advice, Mr.. Dickens put
in for his share of the railway profits. Bat the
thing turned out another South Sea bubble-it ex.
ploded, and IN the revulsion evaporated like mist
al. D...s. Ix... nj gsH
close behind. The spectators turned upon each
other, Ike sHarlng dogs; ordinations and re-
ordinations, and the most outrageous confessions,
succeeded-just as we have often seen in Wall
street, or in the late explosion Of the State Bank
of Morris Norton accuses Thompson of being
rogue, and Thompson accuses Norton OF being
exactly the same thing, while the public have their
suspicious that they are both telling the truth.
With the railway explosion, all hands were did
died, Powelrs employers were tncked, Dickens
was cheated, and Powell was ruIned-the railroad
king and his satellites, the spectators and the sub
scribers, fell together In the crash, like Nicholas
Biddle, Watson Webb, the banks, aud theirvictims,
IN lS:y7. Powell escaped to this country, and for a
livelihood commenced writing the book entitled
"The Living Authors Of England" Of which the
Appletons are the publishers. These sketches are
small gossip, which don't amount to much; but they
appear to have hit the sensitive feelings OF Dickens,
who, SINCE his brilliant reception by our Goldfish
arrstocracy, and the honors of the Boz ball. has
become exceedingly consequential and exclusive.
He writes to Mr.. Clarke, "a literary man, with
good deal Of extra superfne common sense,) his
complaints and charges against Mr.. Powell. Mr..
Clarke. of course, could not keep a letter from
Dickens from the knowledge of the world, and so
he forthwith publishes il, with flourish of trum-
pets and kettle drums, in the Tribune. The Mirror
ard some other papers, with as little remorse or
decacy, take up the echo Of ga scoundrel
branded" and republish the correspondence with
out qualification or apology. Powell was thunder
struck cut up, knocked down, trampled upon. No
one could suppose that philosopher Greelev would