136 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONTEM- 
PORARY CRITICISM. 
NO. XLVL.- ¢ KU ’ 
The Edinburgh; ‘Quarterly, und West- 
minster Reviews. 
eed So these three quar- 
‘W' terly publications are called; but 
there is}'in fact,:at this time, no such 
thing’as a “Review” extant—at least, as 
a Literary Review; in any general sense 
of the word. Politics and Political 
Economy, and that branch of politics 
called Theology, engross almost exclu- 
sively the attention of our journalists 
= quarterly and monthly; and the re- 
cord of: literature is resigned, almost 
exclusively; to the partial care of one 
or two weekly trumpeters of the par- 
ticular publications of particular knots 
of booksellers which, indeed, are. so 
far useful, that they give us some idea, 
by ample extracts, however partially 
selected, of a part of that mass of pro- 
ductions which the printing-offices are 
perpetually pouring forth. As for the 
journals, as they are called, before us, 
they are little other than mere quar- 
terly collections of essays, for which the 
titles’ of some half-dozen new books 
furnish the pretence; but whose real 
objects are the advancement of: such 
opinions, upon the subjects above enu- 
merated, as the principles, or the in- 
terests, of ‘the respective conductors 
have disposed them to adopt. Thus, 
twelve books (two of which are foreign), 
out of all that had been published dur- 
ing three preceding months, furnish. the 
texts of the nine essays which occupy 
the 260 pages of the 53d Number of 
the Edinburgh Review ; and of these 
the Subjects: of two only. are purely 
literary. The Quarterly presents us 
with ten of these essays, of which, in- 
deed, one-half profess to. be literary in 
their subjects ; and for these, the titles 
of five Foreign and eleven English pub- 
lications, from the whole quarterly list, 
furnish the pretences and the mottos: 
and thus fill they out their 262 pages, 
Our friends of the Westminster treat us a 
little more liberally in their like space, 
for we have from them thirteen articles ; 
to eleven of which, fifteen publications 
(some of them foreign also) give nomi- 
nal heads. The other two essays are 
professed political controversies’ with 
the rival reviews. Is this, we should. 
ask, reviewing the quarterly progress of — 
literature ? . Is, this, executing the func- 
tions of a critical,guardianship over the 
public taste ?—bringing incipient merit 
Philosophy of Contemporary Criticism. 
‘Is, it) not, something, worse; 
_ the proceedings in Chancery 
(Sept. 1, 
into, view ?—and .dealing out the im- 
. partial, justice of the critical tribunal 
among the literary suitors of the age ? 
AP AER 
+ for, the 
awards of justice, are nota. ly delayed : 
3 
1 Ry ie) 
poses .of a. Literary Review! "The 
Monthly Magazine, to. the éxtént’ of 
the, very limited space to which that 
(and, indeed, every other) department 
is necessarily confined, endeayours; to 
supply that deficiency ; and what, it 
does in this way is, at least, indepen- 
dent.—It mixes neither party nor per- 
sonal feeling with the estimation’ of 
literary merit ; and the bad taste, whe» 
ther in prose or verse, of the reputed’ 
Radical, meets with no more mere} 
than .would that of temporizing Whig’ 
or high-flown Tory, Literary, merit, 
loses no part, of its gloss from happen-: 
ing to invest the name. of.a; political) 
adversary. And: this we call the;true; 
Philosophy of Criticism—contempo~ 
rary, or retrospective. nl. bete 
In proceeding, howeyer, to the exa* 
mination of the three periodicals  be~ 
fore us, as one must have precedency, 
we shall commence with the West- 
minster. ; daisies 
The first article of the seyenth 
number of this Journal is deyoted,.to 
the Chronicles of Froissart (Collection 
des Chroniques Nationales Franguises 
écrites en Langue Vulgaire dw tréiiéme 
au seiziéme siecle ; avec notes et éclair- 
cissements. Par J. A. Bucuon. Paris), 
and has more of the charactet it as- 
sumes (that of a review) than most’ of 
those that follow. It is, a very able 
article, interesting and instructive; «and 
shews the author to, be well acquainted, 
not only with his book; but with hissub- 
ject. The remarks are pertinent, and 
the criticisms just; and the’ matter 
thrown in from the reviewers” own 
stores, such as belongs appropriately 
to his theme. The brief TatrOdUeRON 
observations, for example, on’ “the 
$5 & Sa ORE Oat 
conquests,” military an politi of 
“the French kings of the thitteenth 
race—from Hugh Capet,..who. recom- 
menced the edifice: of .the monarchy, 
down to Louis XIV.; -;who».completed 
