The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE 81-CENTENARY
OF REVIEWING.—Just two hundred years ago, ac-
cording to Mr. Hallam, appeared the first number
of the first review ever published. Monday, the sth
of January, 1665, was the birthday of the Journal
des Scavans, destined through. two centuries to wit-
ness the rise and fall of innumerable rivals, The
books reviewed in the first:number, as we learn from
the same authority, were a new edition of the "Works
of Victor Vitensis and Victor Tapsensis, two African
bishops of the fifth century," and Spelman's Glos-
sary. Besides criticisms of new authors, the journal
contained necrologies of distinguished men, and ac-
counts of scientific discoveries ; it reported the
births of double-headed children, the trial of new
models of ships, and disputations as to the nature of
comets. Before long it encountered the ills to
which criticism is heir. Various authors—amongst
others, Menage—were so much irritated by this
new-fangled instrument of torture that the privilege
of publication was withdrawn from its original pro-
jector, and it passed into other hands. The first
attempt at an English imitation was some seventeen
years later, when a publication called Weekly Me-
morials for the Ingenious led a short existence, and
then perished from off the earth. Such was the
first appearance on the surface of one of the most
characteristic modern forms of literature. Its in-
ventor, Dennis de Salo, showed a high degree of the
talent which enables men to find appropriate satis-
faction for a want existing, but not yet con-
sciously felt. Like the first introducer of tea into
Europe, or the legendary hero- who, according to
Charles Lamb, blessed the Chinese by the discovery
of the sucking-pig, he " inaugurated" a new era. It
now requires a painful effort of the imagination to
picture the condition of a reviewless people. We can
conceive a man of powerful digestion substituting
beer for tea at breakfast. Most people can consent
to live in ignorance of the charms of sucking-
pig. But the wretch condemned to read no re-
views loses one of the chief means of communica-
tion with his kind. He falls by perceptible grada-
tion of the scale, towards the savage. He is in
contact with no conductors to convey to him the in-

tellectual currents of his time. If the deprivation is
not painful, it is only because of the absence of a
healthy appetite. In fact, the existence of a vigor-
ous periodical criticism is as necessary. a sanitary
condition of modern literature as the existence of
good ventilation is of a house. The incidental in-
conveniences that result may be compared to the
draughts which sometimes kill off invalids in over-
ventilated houses. But in literature invalids ought
to be killed off. They are, indeed, in the habit of
complaining during the process, and weak-minded
persons sometimes take up their complaints, and rail
somewhat vaguely against the evil spirit of periodi-
cal criticism generally. To answer such complaints
is not very easy, except indeed, if that be easy, by
stating them clearly. They are like the grumblings
against steam-engines because their smoke some-
times blackens gentlemen's houses, or against free
trade because it has introduced the foot-rot in sheep.
The existence of the evil shows a power to be ac-
tively at work whose generally beneficial tendency
may be proved by a mere statement of its purposes.
When once those purposes are appreciated, the re-
lation of the incidental evils to the substantial bene-
fits becomes obvious. The enormous development
which the system of reviewing has received since
the foundation of the Journal des Scavans is sufficient
proof of its utility. It is, in fact, an essential part
of the machinery of modern society. It may be re-
garded as an illustration of the advantages of divi-
sion of labour in its application to literature. Every-
one has been bored by the everlasting story of the
pins—of the number of different workmen who com-
bine to makepins' heads, and to sharpen pins' points,
and to put the pieces together. If every workman
made the, whole pin by his unaided exertions, the
world would have to do without pins, and Adam
Smith without his happiest illustration. But the con-
sequences of each author depending upon his own
powers to provide all his raw material would
be more disastrous. In the multitude of books,
which it seems as if the world itself would not be
able long to contain, the miserable historian
or philosopher would be overwhelmed. We have
often thought that, as it is, a commission for the
destruction of useless documents will boon be as
requisite as one for the preservation of records. The
Macaulay of a future generation may spend volumes
upon the history of a single month, if the pile of ma-
terials accumulated does not drive him mad before
he gets through it. It might be best to commit
boldly to the flames all novels, newspapers, Parlia-
mentary blue-books, and statistical documents
which could not establish a special claim to pro-
longed life. Meanwhile, it is necessary to de-
tach a certain corps of literary pioneers to econo-
mize the time and trouble of their brethren by
making the investigation once for all. An unfor-
tunate author of 1663 had no means of discovering
the value of any book but by reading it himself, or
finding one who had. To go through such a pro-
cess now would be as hopeless a task as for a com-
manding officer to examine personally every soldier
in his army. A little organization makes the work
easy. It introduces a certain amount of concert
into the labours of all writers on given subjects,
without which progress•would be next to impossible.
These palpable and undeniable advantages were ap-
parently all that were aimed at, in the first instance,
by the Journal des *cans. Its innumerable
progeny of weekly, monthly, and quarterly
reviews have come to discharge more important
functions. The mere diffusion of new intelligence
is their least prominent characteristic ; from being
reporters they soon grewtup by a natural process into
judges, and from judges they become legislators.
They succeeded in laying down canons of criticism
which affected the develbpraent of the public taste •
and it is in this capacity that they have been accused
by the sentimental school of every variety of harsh-
ness and meanness. The ignorance of the Edinburgh
reviewers who said that Wordsworth was 'dull and
childish, and the brutality of the assault upon Keats
in the Quarterly, are the staple examples of late
years. They are neither of them good for much.
Keats was not really snuffed out by the article ; and
Wordsworth would have been none the worse for
attending to some of Jeffrey's criticism. If he had
known how to take advice, he would not have mixed
with some noble poetry so much that no human
being ever reads except, from a-sense of duty. In
fact, Wordsworth, whilst hiddenin a region shel
tered from critics, produced stuff which, as coming
from a true poet, is the best proof of the necessity
of the critical spur to keep poets up to the mark. If
he had lived in London instead of on the shores of
Rydal, the " Solitary" and the " Wanderer" could
never have been so pitilessly prosy. But, without
examining particular cases, the general accusation
seems to us to be childish. To say that periodical
criticism is, as a rule, unduly harsh, is, if anything,
the reverse of the fact. Boys at a public school ge-
nerally think their head master too much given to
flogging. They attribute this peculiarity to a cer-
tain bloodthirsty ferocity of disposition inherent in
schoolmasters. This is doubtless a natural inference
though we never thought it philosophical one. If we
saw that the boys treated their master's orders with
habitual disrespect, we should doubt, in spite of the
assertions, whether he flogged them enough. On the
same principle, when eccentric authors complain of
the bitter tone of criticism prevalent, we doubt,
from our observation of results, whether it has
been bitter enough. Some sensitive spirits may
have suffered •, we will trust their words if they
tell us so, and hope that their suffering has done
them good. But, meanwhile, we can point to a
flourishing crop of fools who do not appear to have
suffered at all. If the critical acid had been so
powerful as is represented, it surely should have
checked some of the exuberant harvest of nonsense.
So long as there is an unfailing supply of absurdity,
its very existence seems a tolerable proof that it has
not been laughed at sufficiently. Though you bray
a fool in a mortar, we are told, yet will not his folly
depart from him; and we may add, what is still
more annoying, the braying will not seem to hurt
him. He will be just as happy after the operation
as he was before. The person against whom the
attack is directed is therefore the last to be pitied.
He will continue to write things in lines with capital
letters at the beginning, and to call them poetry, or
to spin out elaborate prophetical twaddle by tortur-
ing the language of the Apocalypse, and will only
smile with benevolent contempt at our feeble
assaults.
THE LONDON REVIEW ON THE ROYAL MARRIAGE
ACT.—Gossip which in this case is at least not
Scandal, has of late made often mention of the names
of an " illustrious lady of the Royal House," and of
a " gallant nobleman." As thenames of both have
been for months in everybody's mouth, and have,
indeed, already appeared in print, we shall take the
liberty of discarding the penny-a-liner paraphra,sis,
and speak of the Princess Mary and Viscount Hood.
We do not, indeed, profess to give to our readers
any fresh information on this interesting topic.
Taking the Times' denial of a marriage as authentic,
there still remains a thousand possible situations in
which the affair may stand, and we shall not pre-
sume
to speculate as to which of them is really true.
But it is at least certain that the marriage has been
desired and intended by the parties principally con-
cerned, and though, as a general rule, it would be
impertinent to discuss the nature of the impediments
which prevent the course of true love from running
smooth, there is in this instance not merely a reason
an obligation imposed on the public to enter into
• --te question. For the impediment is one
' 14e. and maintained, it is said, for the
• the prohibition of a cruel
It is the opera-
-et might

the delis.,_
made by the
public benefit. It is nen..—
parent nor of a tyrannical brotne..
tion of an Act of Parliament whichParliani,—
repeal, but which, while it remains in force, is om ,