The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-04-19
FOR THE MADIsoNIAN.
FOR THE MADI5UNIAN'
THE PROVINCE OF CRITICIsM-THE PRESS
--AHASUERUS, sc. &c.

| dignity and her power The works Of Art, the me-
MORALS Of Genius and the achievements OF intellec'
tua excellence even amidst the defects which some
times mar their beauties, demand from the empire oil
criticism not only unprejudiced and impartial de-
cison, but the language Of courtesy and the homage
| of respect.
The legitimate object of criticism is TO anayse the
labors of genius by patient investigation, profound
learning, cultivated taste, and correct judgment.
| Its province is to decide with an exact mpartality,
as to the merits defects the beauty deformy of
style, language and sentiment, to trace out in compo-
son the slow and measured steps of reason, to fol-
low in the train of logical arrangement and to pre-
sent to the eye Of taste the ornaments and gaces Of
simple and fervid eloquence. II its peculiar office,
Also to mark the bemishes to detect the and
point out the defects in which ignorance, vanity and
egotism too often array themselves There Is, sir,
solemn dignity, an acknowledged majesty nsepara-
BILE fromthe censorship of literature. The sword Of
Danoces is often there suspended over the heads of
the votaries Of the MUSES., and personal and
rbadry and harsh nvectiye should not by their
rudeness the brittle thread of that hope which ami
mates the aspiring candidate for the fame Of literary
distinctions and honors. Such is the Philosophy of
Criticism, and such the duties of its high and
noblng functions in the several departments of the
great republic of letters.
The great moralst, and scholar Of his day, the
Z" Magnus Apollo of writers, DIR. Johnson, swayed
the sceptre of Criticism with that stern and infexible
spirit Of independence which forms the true attribute
of Justice If he sometimes displayed an apparent
severity in the pungency of his assaults pedantc
L +. 49,, e 49,.
full necessity which forced him to expose that folly
which, as an impartial censor, it was his object to
Danish from the arstocracy of learning If, with the
piancy of wit, he sometimes rendered yugarty dis
gushing and presumption udicrous--it was " the wit
which loved to play, not wound, and which, like
Ithurie's spear was bright and burnshed-not seel'd
nor warlike.
could wish for the honor of the metropolis as well
as that of sound learning that the ,couldbe Critics"
who figure so prominently in some of our political
papers would initiate at least the of the great
moralist 1t i, possible that under the sober influence
of the true modesty of science, they might acquire
somewhat of his manner as Critics but sure am
they could never by any innate skill or mental acu-
men, rise even to the sembance of his judgment, or
even figure in the shadow of his greatness
As an American citizen, Mr. Editor, ! am filled
with the deepest modification at the unwarrantable
illberal and unmanly course which has been pursued
by certain individuals who control the press in our
city against the President and his family, will say
nothing of those foul and unnatural aspersions of
character which, in the darkness of their designs,
semble so infinitely those inky stains which are the
natural elements Of disappointed editor anda de-
b,,f tho nd
tegence-the grovelling wit, the unblushing obsce-
nifty, that hideous abortion of mental degradation-l
will avoid the disgusting exhibition of those personal
illusions which issue from the pen of the diurnal
scribbler who, in the vanity of an affected impor-
lance fondly imagines that ignominious notorety is
an attribute of editorial greatness is proper that
they should descend to the impure and gloomy abodes
to which they justly belong.
The Press is indeed noble engine. Through its
channels thought survives in the beauty of language
and language bequeathes to genius to science and to
virtue, their Immortality. Over the streams Of
civilization it dfuses knowledge, and knowledge be-
gets virtue and the yirtuous are always brave, and
the brave are always free" Thus it becomes the de-
pository of freedom and the nursery Of genius and in
its legitimate and proper uses, patriotism is strength
the National Epis, should be adamantne in its sup
port of government just and honorable in the disse
minalion Of truth, chase in the ornament of its Ian
guage, and pure in the principles that are to give
worth and value to the institutions of great and
free people 1t should never be made pander TO the
vile purposes Of personal detraction, invade the
sanctity Of domestic tranquility by single impress of
Misrepresentation or falsehood 1t may be considered
blessing of Divine Providence decreed to the immortal
franklin the father of the American Press, that he
did not live to witness in these days of political excite
ment the base uses to which that great moral and pc
ca engine prostituted by the disappointed and the
factious The sober charlottesville grave decorum
the calm deliberations, and the compromising spirit
of that generous acquiescence which distinguished
his course as printer and patriot have descended
with him to the tomb
Permit me, in conclusion Of these remarks to say
one word to the critic, as well as the editor who has
so pofuseIy shed his Hudbrasc salles the late
productions of the of the President. 1t is indeed,
difficult task | must own, to change mans OPT
mons who is SO fortunate as well as happy to be on
/" GOOD terms with himself" In other words, it is
a homeless task, TO convince director of public
press, and writer for public newspaper, that
other important literary qualifications are necessary
to constitute an able and udicous critic than those
which centre in mere editor 1t not the fippancy
of language, the well turned periods of an Addso
man style, the epgramatic saes of initiative wit and
the harlequin exhibitions of mimicry, that constitute
the proper materials for sound criticism II so, the
editor in question might claim the prerogative of a
funny reviewer Personal rancor, low buff onery,
and the savage barbarity of dcep-seated revenge,
are weapons that the high chivary and intellectual
warfare of criticism disdains to employ. advise that
such be thrown away. They are inglorous wea.
oons-and those who use them, will find in the end,
that they inlict deeper wounds on those who WELD,
than those against whom they employed. To be