Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-11-19 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTIIERN TIMES.

Sir,—From the classic period when "heroes of the sock
and buskin," ambitious of Thespian renown, delicately and
insinuatingly deprecated the censorship of the fastiduous
and too•eaacting "pit," in the laboured prologue or epi-
logue—from the time when vendors in the Grub street
market duly ticketed their wares with the name of some
" most puissant prince," or "illustrious lord," (seeking
a reputation through a dedication, and bread and a £5
note through self-abasement and personal degredation)—
from these " good old times," sir, when
" Critics sought the pit,"

and " a discerning public" was only to be can-
vassed cunt permissive superiorum—to the present
bad new times, when the " pit" is exactly estimated
at the number of shillings it represents, and
princes and lords," in affairs patronising, as in many
others, are at a discount, your " Sir Critic " has been the
iugeus a monstrum horrendum—the greatest of all bug-
bears to the literary aspirant and artistic adventurer.
During the times I speak of (and they include any period
between Anne and the Regency, from the first issue of the
Spectator to that of the Edinburgh) a man who, in any
capacity challenged the notice of the critic, stood a fair
chance of having justice done him. It is true that political
asperity sometimes turned the ink in'o gall, and that party
hatred and rivalry then, as now,
" damned with faint praises,"

and was ready enough
"To hint a fault, and hesitate dislike,

but, in the main, justice held her own. At the most, the
criticised of those days, had this advantage over his fellow
of to-day, that he generally knew his critic, and was
obliged to admit his ability, while he questioned his judg-
ment. If there was another advantage, it was this, that the
criticised was never allowed to be in doubt as to his peculiar
failings, and shortcomings, or in what direction they lay.
Exceptions were taken, but it was clearly stated to what
they were taken ; unlike the critics of the present day,
unqualified judgments a ere never dealt in ; the critic kept
legitimately within his province, and hence we are always
treated to an artistic dissection, and never to a "wholesale
slaughter." This, the era of our great literary and artistic
reputations, we refer to, as our Augustine age; and it is a
remarkable coincidence, that the period which produced our
greatest men also furnished the ablest citifies. Criticism,
as.an institution, though it has enlarged its sphere, with
the many novel developments that challenge its exercise,
can carcely be said to have improved amongst us. This
is readily accounted for. The genius of the hour is action,
and action is not so much connected even with the pre,.
sent, as with the future. The past it ignores altogether.
Men, these days, do not stop to examine that wh ch has
been accomplished ; but busy their minds in planning and
realising that which is to be done. Hence the age, though
fruitful in projects and specaletions, is altogether des-
titute of analytical investigation, or abstruse thought. It
has ever been an idea of mine, sir, that the days
of your slew coaches, were also the days of your
weighty articles and solid criticisms. " The Fly,"
belyine. her name, might any time between 1710 and
1804, only do her five miles an hour, but the folk he
carried were anything bat flighty and superficial.
Their literature, like their travelling, was slow ; but their
slowness was the slowness of solidity. The men and
books, of these days, always appeared to my mind as full
of pith and matter. But we, in this 19th century, live very
fast, and we travel very fast. Analysis and reflection are
not the mental operations now most in requisition, neither
ia slow coaching a disideratum in travelling Our mental
operations, and social appliances, seem to show the same
characteristics—both are of a flighty nature. They shape
for progress, but it is a progress heralded by imaginisTion
rather than by thought.
All this is unfavourable to the critical faculty, whose
forte and strength lies in rest. Motion, however, is the
order of the day, and hence cursory review, superficial
skimming, has usurped the functions and the name of
Criticism ; and that which in the days of the Comet
and The Fly, was• elevated into, and illustratel, as a
science, has now, in the days of the Railroad and Tele_
graph, degenerated into the most vulgar of trades.
How far, or whether physical locomotion affects mental
volition ; or what exact mental influence or reciprocal
relation they exercise on each, if any, I leave philosophers
to determine. Of this, however, lam satisfied, that pace
in both is exactly concurrent in circumstance. If there is
one characteristic that more than another distinguishes
this age, besides its fastness and flightiness, it is the
shallowness of its thinkers. lam etre)r gly inclined to the
belief, that deep thinking went out with the " four-in-
hand ;" and I am more than half converted to the opinion,
that genuine criticism fled, appalled, at the first shriek of
the locomotive !

From Anne to George 111., legitimate criticism held
sway—with the Regency it mty be raid to have disap.
peered. Since then it has yearly been mistaking
its object, and losing sight of its office, until now
the criticism is lost in the review, and the author
confounded in the reviewer. Take up any one of our
Periodicals ; consult its article on the leading book, topic,
or person of the day; after you read it are you satisfied
you have read a criticism? Clearly not. You have read
a more or less able review. You clearly see that the book,
the person, or the topic, has been suggestive to the writer
of an article, upon which to exercise his talent ; and that
he has selected his subject, not so much with the view Of
pointing out its defects, or discovering its excellencies, as
of letting the world know what he—the reviewer—thinks
and knows on the same subject. Before you are half way
through the paper, you forget nil about the author and the
book, respecting whichyou are ostensibly-reading a criticism
because the reviewer ignores both book and author the
moment he gets into his subject. Ilav;ng used befit, but
as a title for his article, and by this means secured your
attention, he imperceptibly shelves them, gradually mono-
polises your attention, and treats you—it may be—to a
splendid article—all about himself!

With le9itinaate criticism went out the educated pro-
fessional critic. The man of leisure, refinement, great
na.iuml parts, and taste, who devoted himself to the ‘tu
of the fine arts, and belle leelres as A, profession, and
followed them as the business and passion of his life Men
thos qualified, pronounced with authority, upon whatever
subject they dealt with; and cotemporaries, conscious
of the competency and ability of the critic, accepted end
endorsed his opinions, : nd recognised justice in his awards
There your wits, critics, and conno-sseurs, of a past gene-
ration were the men who, frequenting alike the studio,
the green room, the study, and the saloon, and equally at
home in all, either damned by their censure, or established
and immortalised a reputation by their countenance and
approval.

What a noble use they made of their power is evidenced
by the reptitations which they made, and have handed
down to us and to the world. Prom the constellation out
of which Swift, Pope, and Addison, stood forth like stars
of the first reagnitur!e, down to that group which gathered
round the burly form of Johnson, among whom we chic:fly
recognise the oweet ringer of " Sweet Auburn," the
fiery-eyed Garrick, the dreamy Sir Joshua. We find the
times fruitful in men

" Who could dart the word,
And point the per,"
and to whose words and penfl, nearly as much a 3 to their
owr, these the Lares and Penates of our history owed the
publicity which conferred and endowed them with
immortality. _ _

The days of great thinking, great writing, great speaking,
great acting, and great painting, are gone, and, with them,
have disappeared the days of great criticism. This, to be
sure, is necessarily so, but still it is a curious illustration
of the doctrines of supply and demand, which it would be
well for our "learned Pundits" to ruminate upon.
Here, for the present, I will leave the subject. In a
succeeding letter, I will close it with some " modern
instances" and practical applications.—l am, sir. your
obedient servant,

BOYS' CI °THOR) MADE WITH GREAT TASTE AT LEWIS ul
COMPANY'S. Ranigagh-street.