The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-02-23
From The Philadelphia Public Ledger

PoLITIcAL RANcOR.-The partialities, malignities,
piques spites, and injustice Of protested critics or
those whose business is the cutting up of literary
publications, have long been proyerbial, and have
long ceased to excite among readers any sentiment
mingled in the least with respect Every one OF
them existing, in any Of our cities, well known
to be partisan of some kind, to belong to some
clique or association in politics, hnanclering, PRINT
ing, publishing, or something else, who seek to pro-
mote an exclusive interest by wagng war against
every body else. Hence discovery in science, no
improvement in art, no effort in literature, is to be
sustained treated with justice, unless 1t can be
made subservent to the interests of the clique. our
own city has several of these associations, each OF
which daily trots in circle of small diameter, re-
solved upon seeing no merit beyond IT, and upon mis-
representing and abusing every thing which cannot
be brought within it. But such mhchlevous little
things are not confined to the Quaker city, for they
as numerous, active, as unjust and As pallg-
nant, in the literary emporium G! and the
commercial emporium as they arc in the enpo-
rum" of fnancierng.
In one of the periodicals belonging 10 some Of
these cliques, neighbhring city, is what it ca'
criticism upon MIR. Tyler's poem And to wIat
does it amount To an effusion of vulgar spite, that
would have disgraeed even pipe layer or some
members of Congress. 1t is in the following words
1.-The dynasty Of Chance ends not, we perceive,
in the elder ! yler The son succeeds to write, as
he father reigns, by accident. Into larger lnherl-
ance Of folly no young gentleman ever came. En-
,arging he has done, by this production, he may
Jet up separate dominion, duncedom OF his own.
And reign through all the realms of nonsense abso
Lutte"
Nobody can fail to Ierceive,in this ,obulnon, ii
vulgar maligny of the low POLITICIAN who belongs ..
Clique IN pursuit Of spols, and which wages n
unrelentng war upon all who too honest TO INIT
insolent pretensons and resist its corrupt practices
1t is malignant libel of author prompted by dig
appointed rage against the political movements OF has
father in public tIusl. The President of the u M
ted States has not bestowed the emoluments OF office
upon certain politicians who however hard may have
been their labor in elections worked only Tor spolls,
and ale incapable, politicians, of entertaining
honest thought or performing an honest acton; and
because the Presden, of the nted States has dsap
pointed the corrupt aspirations of such persons
tain poem, written by another person. is tissue of
nonsense, and its author is Ounce w e really cam
not perceive any connec ion between the President
official appointments and the literary merits of another
man. OF the character Of his works We take for
granted that Mr.. Tyler would have written and pub
li,hed "Ahasuerus if his father had never been
President, either by "accideni design; and thal
neither the election Of the father any of his
official movements has had the slightest influence
over any one thought Of the son in the whole poem
How ridiculous then is this attempt to make the p5I
tican responsible for the poet the poet Tor the poll
tican
And this is called criticism And person thus
rabid with political malignitlcs induced by dsap-
poinment in political schemes of profit, and too rabd
10 see an, thing through any other medium than lis
political interests anmostes, undertakes to reuelc
a literary effort If the public will encourage such
outrages upon common sense and common honesty
by sustaining the periodicals in which they appear
then is that public deficient in both candor and Iud
ment The author of this respectable etuson probably
supposes that the influence OF the LITERARY press over
the public mind is irresistible, and that he viii com
mand the polls in presidential election by command
ing the public judgment about poetry. lie is not the
first oice-seker who has set up duncedom Of his
own" by attempting TO force partisan politics into il.
legitimate connections, TO subject literature
science to political standard We advise him to
abdicate for in this :" duncedom of his own he will
not have subjects enough to supply his throne witha
cotporas guard. People will he no more deferred
from reading Mr. Tylers poem by partisan dcnuncla
OF his father, than by quotation OF stocks and
its rca will decide upon its merits, whether right
or wrong, without even asking what pipe layers
fill custom house, or whether Tyler man, or !,
Cha, man, or a'W ebser man, or Van Buren, man
is to pocket the salary of post Office With much
for the spirit Of this criticism, will offer wqrd
upon its merits and begin with saying that whoever
could have written this spciul paragraph IS mcapo
BILE OF approaching the merits dement's Of this poem
say that 1t is highly creditabe to It's author, and
contains passages which, for beauty and gran
deur Of imagery, would not lose all claim to praise ia
comparison with of the finest passages OF those
great masters of the beautiful the sublime IN de-
scripon, Dante and Milton, We are far from say
ing that any thing 1t equals the highest efforts Of
either of these giants in poetry But we do say that
neither OF them would have been ashamed TO own and
glory in some Of It's passages. And yet they ale
utterly contemplate literary efforts and their au-
thor is a Ounce because his father happens TO- To-
President of the United States, and to have disaP
pointed clique of ignorant and vulgar proiga'e-
in making Official appointments This may be very
good criticism for the commercial emporium, iof
is thoroughly mbued with the lowest spirit OF trade
Blu, viii not satisfy those whose thoughts can no
vel beyond the dominion OF dollars