428 The Field of Monuments : a Vision. APRIL, 



sympathies, those delicate perceptions of the beautiful and the grand, 

 which are inseparable from a poetic mind, and shews himself the dis- 

 ciple of a school whose character is correctness instead of fire, and which 

 abounds more in laboured declamation, than in the inborn eloquence of 

 the soul, we are justly entitled to conclude that that man is not fitted for 

 judging of poetry, the elements of which dwell not in him. In propor- 

 tion as the poetry criticised by Johnson approaches his own, his judg- 

 ments are correct." 



" But how is it," said I, " that with such an estimate of Johnson's 

 merit as a critic, this monument should be even so lofty as I find it ?" 



" Because," replied my companion, " he was also a moral essayist ; 

 and possessed that fine sense of right and wrong, that unerring percep- 

 tion of virtue, which, aided by a sound judgment, and keen observation, 

 eminently qualified him for excellence in this department and it is a 

 curious illustration of this truth, that the prejudices which in matters of 

 criticism often betrayed him into error, have never impaired his moral 

 judgment. But look, this is the record of a greater man," added my 

 companion, as he turned towards the loftier pillar, upon which was 

 written the name of Oliver Goldsmith ; a better dictionary than John- 

 son's may hereafter appear ; a sounder body of criticism than his pen 

 has produced ; but never will it be our duty to raise a monument to a 

 poem, or a novel, more full of nature and truth, than those bequeathed 

 to us by Goldsmith." 



" And this," said my companion, turning towards the pillar that stood 

 hard by, " fixes the rank of Laurence Sterne." 



" You amaze me," said I, " you assign a higher place to him than to 

 Johnson ; to a trifler, than to a " 



" No profanity," interrupted my companion, " he who is master in 

 any one department has a right to pre-eminence, and deserves to be 

 named with respect." 



" And what department may I ask/' said I, " was that in which 

 Sterne was master ?" 



" The pathetic," replied my companion. <f You have had no imita- 

 tions of Sterne," added he, after a pause ; " you have had the ghost of 

 Johnson, but never the shade of Sterne. The language in which Sterne 

 clothes his thoughts is as imposible to be imitated as the thoughts them- 

 selves. There never was but one Sterne. But let us pass on/' said my 

 guide, " there is nothing to detain us here." 



As we walked onward, I saw many groups, and single pillars, scat- 

 tered here and there, generally of little altitude, and some scarcely 

 visible above the level ; but feeling as desirous of knowing who were 

 esteemed little, as who were esteemed great, I inquired to whom belonged 

 a group of pillars of very moderate altitude that stood on the left hand ? 



" These," said my companion, " are the metaphysicians ; we do not 

 question the accuracy of some of their deductions, but we question their 

 utility. If Locke had never existed, men would have continued to act 

 as they now do ; the stock of human enjoyment would not have been 

 less, or the amount of human knowledge scarcely less limited. Where 

 a study can neither lead to any practical result, nor widen the circle of 

 enjoyment, the time that is bestowed upon it is cast upon the waters." 



As we still proceeded, my companion pointed out to me, as we passed 

 successively by them, the monuments of our historians, novelists, and 

 poets. Among the latter, I could distinguish those of Thomson, Collins, 



