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CRITICISM. 



Griticistr. C eive the marketable stamp from the assay-masters of 

 '■"— m >T mm ' the literary corporation. The prospect of such a scruti- 

 ny should, therefore, deter the timid, and make the 

 forward cautious, and should thus diminish the number 

 of flimsy productions which tend to encourage sciolism, 

 and corrupt or retard the progress of the public taste. 

 On this subject we may borrow the elegant language of 

 the French Academy : " Si la censure demeuroit dans 

 ces bornes, on pourroit dire qu'elle ne seroit pas moins 

 utile dans la republique des lettres, qu'elle le fut autre- 

 fois dans celle de Rome, et qu'elle ne feroit pas moins 

 de bons ecrivains dans l'une, qu'elle a fait de bons ci- 

 toyens dans l'autre. Car e'est une verite reconnue que la 

 louange a moins de force pour nous faire avancer dans 

 3e cheinin de la vertu, que le blame pour nous retirer de 

 celui du vice ; il y a beaucoup de personnes qui ne se 

 laissent point emporter a l'ambition, mais il y en a peu 

 qui ne craignent de tomber dans la honte. Ces avis, si 

 atiles en toutes choses le sont principalcment pour les 

 productions de l'esprit, qui ne sauroit assembler sans se- 

 cours tant de diverses beautes dont se forme cette beaute 

 universelle qui doit plaire a tout le monde." 



A second advantage should be, the improvement and 

 propagation of critical acuteness in the public mind. As 

 periodical newspapers diffuse a knowledge of political 

 science, and a perspicuity in noticing the misconduct of 

 our rulers, periodical reviews, which are calculated for 

 popular instruction, by insinuating their lessons in the 

 concrete, rather than in the abstract form, should quicken 

 the general sensibility to literary excellence, and render 

 us, like the Athenians, a nation of critics. A third ad- 

 vantage should be, the improvement of the critics them- 

 selves. It has been often observed, that to teach is the 

 speediest way to learn. Those who employ themselves 

 in the detection of literary faults, should acquire, by 

 practice, a habitual delicacy in perceiving, and prompt- 

 ness in avoiding them ; so that their own writings ought 

 to furnish not only rules, but models of composition, and 

 " be themselves the excellence they draw." 



If these have not been the effects of criticism, it must 

 be owing to certain imperfections in its execution, which 

 appear so incapable of remedy, that they may be num- 

 bered among its permanent disadvantages. Critics in 

 general have a tendency to censure, rather than to com- 

 mend. They wish to exalt themselves above their au- 

 thor, as an apology for assuming the office of his judge. 

 As this cannot be accomplished by the mere acknow- 

 ledgment of beauties, in the production of which they 

 had no concern, it is attempted, by an enumeration of 

 errors, and by claiming credit for an excess of ability, 

 proportioned to that of which the writer has been de- 

 prived, by an original exertion of their own. Critics, 

 too, are seldom actuated by disinterested zeal for reform 

 in literature, nor will they sacrifice an occasion of gain- 

 ing fame for themselves, to the tardy recompence for 

 which every good teacher should wait, in the gradual 

 improvement of his disciples. Under the influence of 

 such motives, they are too frequently seduced to employ 

 a microscopic eye, in eliciting or exaggerating blemishes; 

 and if they happen likewise to excel in satirical asperi- 

 ty, or scornful invective, they cannot deny themselves 

 the exhibition of their specific excellence, or an intem- 

 perate and unnecessary exercise of the scourge, merely 

 to display their dexterity in laceration. Genius, there- 

 fore, with its usual accompaniments of pride and sensi- 

 bility, will often suppress its exertions from a fear of 

 -mockery or insult, which no subsequent applause can re- 



pair; while phlegmatic dulness, which docs not feel, Criticism 

 and forward vanitv, which does not fear rebuke, will "* "Y"*""" 

 continue as liberal of their communications as before; 

 and the public must console itself with the brilliant ef- 

 fusions of the critic, for the double injury which they 

 create, by becoming the involuntary cause, " That Ma- 

 ro will not write, and Maevius will." It is obvious, too, 

 that where general interest is thus sacrificed to the indi- 

 vidual vanity of the critic, he will rather deprave than 

 refine the popular taste and his own, by creating in both 

 a preference of impertinent smartness to liberality and 

 candour. Philosophical or didactic criticism should pro- 

 duce no such unfortunate results ; but should be as ad- 

 vantageous to literature, as to the improvement and em- 

 bellishment of the mind of the critic. On the one hand, 

 every able attempt of this description advances the in- 

 ductive process, and brings us a step nearer to success, 

 in fixing a standard of taste, and in establishing practi- 

 cal rules for the liberal arts, by ascertaining the quali- 

 ties which give pleasure to the greatest number of cultiva- 

 ted understandings. On the other hand, the love and the 

 study of these arts seldom fail to give an interesting ele- 

 gance and attractive amenity to the character of the stu- 

 dent. To excite pleasing emotions in others, is the most 

 general expression of the object, and to be natural, 

 graceful, consistent, and correct, the most general ex- 

 pression of the rules, prescribed to an artist ; and the 

 pursuit of such an end, by such means, must have a 

 powerful tendency to influence the habitual disposition, 

 and to impart an agreeable seasoning to the sentiments 

 and conduct of those who engage in it. It affects even 

 the moral feelings, for he who is most enamoured of grace, 

 propriety, and truth in imitations of nature, can scarcely 

 be insensible to their charms in the regulation of life. 



On this point we have the concurrence of Quintilian. 

 " Adde quod ne studio quidem opens pulcherrimi vacare 

 mens, nisi omnibus vitiis libera, potest : primum quod in 

 eodem pectore nullum est honestorum turpiumque consorti- 

 um : et cogitare optima simul ac deter rima non magis est 

 unius animi quam ejusdem hominis bonum esse ac malum." 

 .Exceptions, we know, may be stated, but not in such a 

 proportion as to infringe the rule ; and therefore it is ge- 

 nerally found that enlightened theorists in the polite arts, 

 become the most captivating members, the dukia decora 

 of society, while the polemical critic, though a sturdy 

 combatant whom it may be a boast to have seen, exhi- 

 bits nothing of that " soft green of the soul" on which 

 it is pleasing to dwell. Of this we may partly be con- 

 vinced, by comparing the contumelious and irascible be- 

 ings which the names of a Salmasius, a Burman, or a 

 Warburton, present to the imagination, with the mild, 

 persuasive, and paternal monitors, whom we contemplate 

 in a Longinus, a Quintilian, a Bossu, or a Blair. We 

 may add, that of all the branches of a liberal education, 

 none are so delightful, as those of which the object is our 

 introduction to the pleasures of taste. Such studies are 

 accompanied by no less interest and gratification in their 

 elementary details, than in their result ; and when, at an 

 after period, we look back to our academical instructors, 

 a double portion of grateful reverence is felt for him, 

 who had been most successful in unveiling to us the ge- 

 nuine fountains of the beautiful and sublime. We re- 

 gard him as one who had enlivened and multiplied our 

 enjoyments, and who, as if by couching the intellectual 

 eye, had awakened us to the exercise of a new sense, and 

 to the perception of qualities in matter and mind which 

 had hitherto been occult. To others we seem indebted 



