CRITICISM. 



the rules of criticism did not precede 

 the production of some of the greatest 

 monuments of human genius. On the 

 contrary, the circulation of works of 

 transcendent merit affords the models, 

 from the contemplation of which were 

 derived the rules of criticism. It was 

 from the study of Homer, of Eschylus, 

 of Sophocles, and Euripides, that Aris- 

 totle deduced those laws of composition, 

 which hare been universally received by 

 the enlightened part of the world as the 

 dictates of sound judgment and elegant 

 discrimination. But it must not on that 

 account be imagined, that the authors 

 of those models did not form and shape 

 them by rule. Though they were not 

 guided by any lex scripta, it may truly be 

 asserted, that "they were a law unto 

 themselves:" they were guided by an 

 intuitive sense 



" Of decent and sublime, with quick 

 disgust 



Of things deform'd, or disarrang'd, or 

 gross 



In species ." 



But as this immediate perception of 

 what is fitting and what is unbecoming, in 

 works of art, seems to be communicated 

 only to a chosen few, it must be regard- 

 ed as a law of our nature, that mankind 

 in general must be content to learn, by 

 study, what they do not derive from intui- 

 tion, and on this circumstance are found- 

 ed the utility and the dignity of the ele- 

 ments of criticism. 



The truth of this observation will be 

 the more apparent, if we examine the 

 writings of those, who either enjoyed no 

 opportunity of becoming acquainted with 

 those elements, or from the heights of 

 their vain imaginations looked down up- 

 on them with contempt. These have uni- 

 versally been betrayed into the most glar- 

 ing improprieties, which, though they 

 may in some instances have been, by the 

 applause of the injudicious, rendered 

 popular for a short period, have never 

 stood the test of time, but in consequence 

 of the operation of good sense have been 

 finally condemned by the unanimous suf- 

 frage of the public. The conceits of Cow- 

 ley had their admirers for a few years, but 

 they are now buried in oblivion, or are 

 only quoted as lessons of warning to the 

 youthful poet. It is the opinion of true 

 judges, which rectifies the impressions of 

 the multitude when they are led astray 

 by haste, by ignorance, or by the pursuit 

 of false ornament, that at length bestows 

 the meed of lasting renown. 



Let it not be said, in opposition to 



this recommendation of the study of 

 the rules of criticism, that certain writ- 

 ings, which have grossly violated their 

 precepts, have nevertheless descended 

 with high applause to future times, and 

 are still read with unabating avidity. 

 This may be true : and indeed, in the de- 

 served popularity of the plays of Shak- 

 speare, we have in our vernacular Ian- 

 guage a most striking case in point. But 

 it has been justly observed, thai these 

 plays " have gained the public admiration, 

 not by their being irregular, not by their 

 transgressions of the rules of art, but in 

 spite- o;' such transgressions. They pos- 

 sess otUev beauties, which are conforma- 

 ble to just rules ; and the force of these 

 beauties has been so great as to overpow- 

 er all censure, and to give the public a 

 degree of satisfaction superior to the dis- 

 gust arising from their blemishes." If 

 the mixed metaphors, the low puns, and 

 far-fetched allusions, which abound in 

 Shakspeare's writings, had not been re- 

 deemed by such truly empassioned and 

 high-wrought scenes as the closet inter- 

 view between Hamlet and his mother, or 

 the terrific phantom of the " air-drawn 

 dagger," his works would have been 

 left to moulder in the dust of public 

 libraries, or would have been doomed by 

 their rare occurrence to acquire a facti- 

 tious value, by being stored up on the 

 shelves of the curious collector. 



If rightly considered, indeed, the in- 

 stance of Shakspeare eminently evinces 

 the necessity of an acquaintance with 

 the rules of criticism, to the attainment 

 of perfection in the art of composition. 

 Had that child of fancy possessed taste 

 in the same degree with which he was 

 gifted with genius, he would have re- 

 duced the plots of his dramas to order ; 

 he would have pruned the luxuriance of 

 his style ; he would have discarded all 

 meretricious ornaments, and would have 

 cleared away those incongruities which 

 abound in his writings, like noisome 

 and disgusting- weeds amidst a wilder- 

 ness of sweets. Thus would he have 

 risen from the rank of the darling of a 

 nation to that of the poet of the civilized 

 world. Whilst it must be confessed, 

 that the most approved system of rules 

 cannot kindle the fire of genius, or stimu- 

 late the activity of the imagination; yet 

 it is tequally true, that a knowledge of 

 the laws v of criticism is absolutely neces- 

 sary to preserve a writer from committing 

 egregious faults. Justly has it been ob- 

 served by Horace, that the author who 

 wishes to excel, 



