102 LITEEAET VALTXES 



are not by nature committed to certain views, we 

 are committed to a certain habit of mind, to a cer- 

 tain moral and spiritual attitude, which makes these 

 views almost inevitable to us. " It is not given to 

 all minds," says Sainte-Beuve, " to feel and to relish 

 equally the peculiar beauties and excellences of Mas- 

 sillon," or, it may be added, of any other author, 

 especially if he be of marked individuality. 



We do not and cannot all have the same measure 

 of appreciation of Emerson, or Wordsworth, or Kus- 

 kin, or Whitman, or Browning. To enjoy these men 

 " sincerely and without weariness is a quality and 

 almost a peculiarity of certain minds, which may 

 serve to define them." Sainte-Beuve himself was 

 chiefly interested in an author's character, — " in 

 what was most individual in his personality." He 

 had no arbitrary rules, touchstones, or system^ but 

 pressed each new work gently, almost caressingly, 

 till it gave up its characteristic quality and flavor. 



But the objective consideration of the merits of a 

 man's work does not and cannot preclude or measure 

 the subjective attraction or repulsion or indifference 

 which we do or do not feel toward that work. 

 Something deeper and more potent than reason is at 

 work here. Back of the most impartial literary 

 judgment lies the fact that the critic is a person ; 

 that he is of a certain race, family, temperament, 

 environment ; that he is naturally cold or sympa- 

 thetic, liberal or reactionary, tolerant or intolerant, 

 and therefore has his individual likes and dislikes ; 

 that certain types attract him more than others ; 



