The Sun.
London, England, 1807-09-04 00:00:00

BILITISH- REP !ETV'

EA Reply VI t to Strielnres of toe' Edinhvgh Revieoi, on the
,i i•rw l'oli •y. of Martinis W FAL LtOr's Adrtiiniutration
; Jraprisit% Examinsiion ut t11e404; yrant:ac-
irons in the By i. t)u nse.,o'4P.A•r.r..t, Esti.).

The freedom which eharaectertze-s, the' Political' j
R.tablistiment of this Country, atirisits•Creisequeet
operatio., upon the temper of 'theleople, have
ilLituraily a 1,04,2111 n ifhint:tic:eon the •Pirblie
so strong is this iefluence on our Literature,
that though our enemies have thought proper to &-
no nit ate us a nation of Sliopkeep..y.t-,' we seem to bave
a.s right to be designated as- a nation of
writers. With such a general propensity to liter try
pursuits it may, of course, be expeded that every
day gives birth to Works in every branch of
•turs ; and iierice book-making may be considered as •
One, of the mast a&ve and lucrative pursuits of.the
present times. In order to put some check upon '
the efforts of those who would kir, sl pear. in the
character of Authors, without posses4img Atte re-
apisitequalificatitins, the institution of Itnstmws he-
came a necessary •means to stop the course 4yiguo-
ranee, chillness, and-prostiniption. Reviews,. ihere-
fere, under the guidance of men of learning, itidg.
gent, and candour, are not only well calculated to
obviate the attempts ofofitrusive rashness, and, folly,
but to. di dime true principles of composition,. anti to
itnprove 'the national taste. Many Works Of this
kind have appeared which 'have been eopdtiCied by
men of great talent's andetenseive information, but
they have for niany mlr.kbeen upon the decline„and
have in a great measqe "degenerated into Mere..
vehicles of sedarian or Oernoeratical artifice.'
The appearance-of The'Ediirbutth neviewtoustitta•
ed a ft ...N.. sera in the' annals of British"Literathre, and
the spirit with which it 'was coiitnEted.ccinf-erred on
it lentil a charaCter of comparative superiority as en-
abled it to obtain,. considerable repute, It must be
acknowledged, however, bat though this Review ha's
et times eibibited ample information and gr6t acu-
men, it has also been distinguished by a degree of pert-
mess, arrogance, and acrimony that exciteeditigusf,
even in those who were struck by its saga City and
gratified,by its humour. It is evident that in' under.
takings of this kind there must be many persons en-
gaged, and hence ,we' • may infer that those parts of
the Review alluded to. which afforded satisfaCtion by
the knowledge andgeodleuse they‘contained, were
written by men of experience- and refledin, and
that those parts which were intended'" to devote and
surprise," as Mr. Bayei'ha4 it, were left -to their
juvenile confederates. But the Oat objec-
tion to The Edinburgh ReView in general, whether •
composed by: the - veteran or, the youthfill co.
adjutors, 'has been that superabundance of origi-
nal obsertfcitibto with which thi-y have 'favoured
their Readers, insomuch that serneiiiiies they seen
wholly to have forgotten that they bad .any work
before them which demanded their notice, and the
qualities of which, according
_to',•the clutraCter
they assumed, it was their duty to describe. On
Asiatic subjetts; in particular, these Reviewers- haVe
Indulged themselves .in the most copious animadvd-
ions 'and while employed in the agreeable amuse.
Minit of detailing their own speculations,.. they have
entirely lost sight Of the works which they have
avowedly come forward to investigate. But as
we are now involuntarily imitatiertheir exam-
ple, while we are expressing-our condemnation of
it, we shall adyert to the work before usi psrticu—
laly as it supports .our own setitirnents in this ras
spett, and ably convicts .the' anonymous critics al-
•lisded to, 'of
,advancing opinions wholly unwarranted '
by•the.state 'of fiats; and of arraigning that sy sten(
ib the management of Our Eastern concerns, • which
forcibly demands the admiration • and gratitude "of
..very man 'capable of entering into the principles of
*comprehensive and. enlightened policy. -

" In proport ion to the degree of reputation which
any writer has acquired, his, opinions ought •to be
Cautiously weighed, and attentively eit6mined. It
is natural to the pride of lit eiiiiyiiiktits to sport
with the farours of th ; and; unless- the
judgment of a popular author be much strOuger. than
his pride, tie will bey, prone to indulge •in all the
Caprices of hi, itnaAlnation, and to cxert his inlitlonce
in the •drisert iinatioo of sl ecitlatiye. notions in litera-
ture, or in politics, which, may be adapted to the
'exercise of philosophical' ingen9ity, or to, the pur-
poheg of political contention;, 'without any .regard to
tbd OCCIiI'AL )1.
ti• 1001 S), •or to the justness of the
principit.s u (liege notioncare fotinded;' and
mindful only of those striking expreglon's., and of
that imposing sophistry, by which •Vhd fOnefalitY" of
his readers will be re.idily captivated and tiiisled. To
the; molly inous writers of literary periodiatil 'JOU rnals
14,1ticii have attained celehiity, this observation will, in
zany instances; be found to' apply; and the &lin.'
burgh fit view has recently exhibited sortie eminent
il.ustriltions of its truth.

‘‘ The first number of this critital 13ornal nt-
,
traded tke notice, and obtained the apProbation, of
men of judgment and taste, bribe severe jUS‘;
tke of its criticisms, and by the real talents and
learning which it displayed. But the 'writers of
this work, having thus at once acsuireo a high re-
putation as critics, were no longer content to con-
tine the exertions of their abilities to their own pro-
per province. Public praise predliced in their minds
its usual intoxicating effeas and the more Bober
judgment and
,discretion of
.these Gentlemen yield-
ed to the desire of rendering their publication a con 7.
venient vehicle for the display of, their powers in
elaborate disquisition, anti for the protoulgatilln, of
their viewa in philosophy and in polities. :Hence
the review of some. new theories .in metaphysics,
furnished occa,,ions for gratifying iloeirt readers with
very full expositiOns of their own n?,efapkysical ripe.
enhttions. Hence the celebratC4l work of Segni.,
on the' Politics of Enrppean Courts,. during a parti-
cular period :of time, served to introduce a, prolix
dissertation of their own, on the 6.4 principles
of the law of nations, and op the progressive ad-,
vancenient of that science in ,rnadern times,, whilst
the work kiell is lacopi&uity described and
in a few sentences. And, hence these discursive
critics, in exposing the plagiarisms of an illiterate.
scribbler, who has published a book on India, urge.
niously discovered;---" a most favourable occasion".
to speculaie at great length on the state of the &I-
wo Possessions in that Country, to- iinsinum their