CRITICISM, from the Greek word agma), signifies, in general, the art of ; judging ; but in its more restrained and usual sense, denotes the art of judging with propriety concerning the nature of literary compositions.
Notwithstanding the ignorance and in solence which have occasionally disgraced I the writings of professed critics of minor rank, and notwithstanding the sneers of one of the Wittiest of English authors , against what he denominates the " cant of criticism," and his memorable eulo glum of those, "who are pleased they I know not why, and care not wherefore," the art of criticism is founded in nature, and every man of thinking mind is led to ' the practice of that art. The merits or demerits of literary works are a perpe tual subject of comment, and the intern- 1: gent reader is not contented with refer- 1 ring to his own immediate feelings as the I grounds of his verdict, but appeals to I certain principles, which he regards as established, and which he quotes as the " i guides of opinion. When, after we have perused a poem, or attended at the re presentation of a play, we call to mind what has pleased and what has displeas ed us in the whole, or in the parts of it, we exercise criticism in its simplest form ; but when, at the call of a laudable , curiosity, or in order to enable ourselves to detail the reasons of our admiration or of our disappointment, we attentively examine those reasons, we else into the regions of philosophy ; and the princi ples which are founded on the basis of philosophy can alone constitute the stand ard of true taste.
If these principles be the rules by which the Intelligent reader forms his decision upon the character of an author's writings, it is evident that the writer, who would wish to please the intelligent, must conform himself to the laws which are established by their sanction. It is true, indeed, that the promulgation of 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 of Homer, of Eschylus, of Sophocles,- and Euripides, that. Aris totle deduced those laws of composition, which have 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 youthfhl 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.