The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-05-18

"Jana..y 9Th. lsee: r. ,As le,4 grae, =.
sa h.n We shall u .ss to fl,s ior Is 50, :.
Duneannon; A. helleye We hsve giysu lstely
nv stosSss Mr wssss, ~ r yos :ks have
an answer ~ soon - | can hear from him: Nobody
Led
lsse!ose 70. al the letters hare rsee'red from
!" 70 Lord No.sAland.-I have the honor toin-
sogr that the SUN Of ~ ." John
viii Be- paid in fourteen nttinx day: :ftsr Mr;
Scott vii be returned to Parliament 70 inc o'u''
march sstS R,sos. To Sir Can,i.. sax:es: Ba,,.
have moved for new writ e! the c,t 1 q Cssne -
nel das soS o. , Q. ~ yoa Will lot Mr. Psnne
know thai he person whom ! wish should hs r.
:' s'%s :ssfs; name ef tn: gentleman IN. t.
Drsyton Bassett, in the county OF Stafford"
II Is much TO be regretted that Baron MA
cAuLAY did not live to see the publication Of
this correspondence. 1t would have served
him as = book of reference when he published
his next diatribe upon MARLBOROUGH. 1t is
we'll that it did not fall into the hands Of hon.
est and prosy Mr.. CLING, before he published
his Life Of the Duke, otherwise we might have
missed the following innocent and refreshing
paragraph:
"Ths Duke once said to him. Over and over
again 1t has been proposed to me to become the
% 10 the vs S 81 g.
not yet seen the light but thus much may be said.
that in an age Of universal corruption he neither
tanned ior the venal statesmen By whom he was
surrounded"
The Reviewer passes over this burst Of en-
thusiasm on the part Of poor GLEIG, with the
single remark that the Duke must have made
the speech here attributed to him, ON the same
principle that witty Frenchman attempted
to reconcile his taste for the society Of mar
ried women, with his Discrimination to enter
the married state: 81 am very fond OF snuff,
but don't carry box"
We make these extracts, not to show the ex-
ceedingly low moral standard by which the
conduct of WELLINGTON was regulated, but
to give our readers some idea of the imperti-
nence of the English press and statesmenajn
pointing to this country as signal example of
the degI adation to which corruption can sink
people, and in predicting our approaching
ruin, from the existence of that corruption
Were there any weight in what they say,
where would Great Britain be now!
We now come to the most infamous trans
action, or rather series of transactions, re-
corded in the whole history, even of the cor
rupt Government of Great Britain. The
Duke Of York, the second son Of GEORGE Ill,
and Commander in Chief of the British Ar
my, although a married man. lived in public
with one Mrs. CLARKE, the wife of a stonema-
son. He not only did this, but he set up al
establishment for her in Glocester Place, the
most fashionable part Of London at that day,
where the pair entered upon a career Of I'M
bounded luxury and extravaganza. Unable to
extort money from her Royal lover, Mrs.
CLARKE prevailed upon him to allow her to
sell commissions and promotion to army off.
GERS, at prices below the regulation rates
and in this way she realized huge sums,
which the pair squandered with the most
Areckless profusion. So bold did the guilty
parties at last become, that the woman
openly advertised for business in this line
in the newspapers, and the press at last
taking up the matter, the affair was brought
in to Parliament by Col. WARDLE, supported
by Sir FRANCIS BURDETT, Lord FOLKEsTONE
and Mr.. WHITEHEAD. Every possible device
was used to screen the culprit. A majority
had been secured in his favor by bribery, but
the object was to make the public believe him
innocent. To this end the Investigation was
submitted to the Committee of the Whole, the
management was entrusted to Lord MEL
WILLIE, who had himself been impeached for
bribery and corruption, and witnesses were
hired to swear falsely. Two of these-Gen.
CLAvEEING and Capt. SANDoN-were actual
ly committed to Newgate on a charge of per-
jury. The Duke of York was acquitted in
spite of the most overwhelming evidence by
the bribed Parliament, but the national feeling
was so strong against him, that he was COM
PEELED to resign. Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY
came over from Ireland to take his seat in
Parliament, and vote for the Duke, right or
wrong. From day to day he wrote to the
Duke Of Richmond, giving an account of the
progress of the trial. The letters are pub
lished in this volume, and it is evident that
though he at first thought him merely impru.
dent and not guilty the overwhelming nature
Of the testimony at last convinced him to the
contrary. Yet he voted in his favor throughout,
and bore testimony in speech to the highly eff
ficient state of the army during the Dukes ten
ure Of Office. Upon this excuse for the Duke.
CoBBErT made the following pithy remark in
his Register: "The Duke of York is accused of
connivance at corruption, and the charge is
met by the assertion that the army is admi.
rably drilled and disciplined. If shepherd
is tried for sheep-stealing, is evidence ever
admitted respecting the healthy condition of
his flock, and the abilities of his sheep.
dogs!" The speech of Sir ARTHUR VEL
LESLEY, landing the Duke, was delivered in
April. Immediately after the trial he pro-
ceeded to Portugal, to command the army
there, and on the LIST Of May, he wrote as fol-
lows to Lord CAsrLEREAGH:
THE army behave terribly i'll. They are rab
BILE who cannot bear success any more than Sir
Io}u han f2Ilrar I
deavorng to tame them, but il ] should not sue
coed must mako an ofic ial complaint OF them. and
plunder IN all directions
" Aud again, Six weeks later, from Abrantes
- cannot. with propriety, omit to draw your at
tent"n again to the state Of discipline of the ar
jesty' 8 Minister'S
This army was specimen of the Duke of
York's skill and fidelity in managing the at
fairs of the war department. Is it not the
height of impudence to point the finger at this
country, when such scenes as these have lust
been laid open to the world, showing the utter
profligacy with which affairs in England
were conducted under the close borough sys-
TEN, and total want of common honesty
and common respect for truth, ON the part of
an officer SO high in the service as Sir AR
THUR WELLESLEY!
With regard to the subject Of Mrs. CLARKE,
we quote one more letter, not from the Duke
Of WELLINGTON, but from Earl TEMPLE te the
Duke Of BUCKINGHAM:
!" The papers will have told you what passed last
night, and the manner in which Perceval trusting
to paper Deing destroy ed and conse quen beev
ing he might say what he pleased about it. drew
cut 4 document which alone would have damned
the Duke Of York. At the same time, however,
at Sandon'. lodging: they brought parcel of let
ters from Mrs Clarke to Sandon, which were sab