The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-01-20
The Parsuits OF Literature

From Chambers Journal.
The PsFsaits Of Literature.
johnson says Of Pope that it is pleasan
to remark how soon he learned the cant c
an author, and began 10 treat critics wit
contempt This, however, was before b
suffered in his own person; for no one fel
the lash more keenly than Pope, OF knew
better how to inhct it upon Others. Hi
own 'Dunciad' proved the power of crit
cism TO extend much father Than mere irri
tstion; for Ralph, one OF its subordinate
heroes, had no sooner obtained that unluck,
eminence, than the booksellers suddenly
discovered his incompetence, and the poet
aster was in danger Of starvation. Thi
catastrophe was brought shout by two lines
Silence, ye wOlvesi while Ralph TO Cynih
hOwls,
Making night hideOus; answer him, ye owls
In our own day, John keats-himself IN
victim of savage party criticism, though no
to the extent usually supposed-attackec
IN still more bitter manner some Of tn,
classical poets Of our language, the follow
ers of the school of Pope
But We were dead
TO things ye knew not of-WeTe closely wed
To musty laws lined out with wTetched rule
And compass vile; so that ye taught a school
Ut dOts &c smooth, inlay, and chip, ana fl,
Til, like the certain wand of Jacobs VIII
Their verses Tailed. Easy was the task:
A thousand handicraftsmen wore the mask
OF pOesy. Inflated, impious race,
That blasphemed the bnght lyTist to his face.
And did not know 1t; no, they went about
Holding poor decTepit standard out,
Marked with most flmy notices, and in large
The name Of one Boileaur
Who were these mechanic-poets? Byron
answers, johnson, Goldsmith, Campbell,
Rogers, Crabbe. And who moref He
goes on: Clifford, Matthias, Hayley, Thomas
Brown, Richards, Heber, Bland, Hodgson,
NTangham, MeTivsle. and Others who have
not had their foil fame, because the race is
not always to the swift, nor the battle to
the strong, ard because there is a fortune
in fame as in all other things This is a
curious catalogue Goldsmith; Crabbe-
Hayley and Others, like the mortals and
immortals jostling in the Had Byron is
scarcely cold in his grave when the very
names Of most Of his poetical heroes are
forgotten, while that of one Keats, the pre-
sumptuous tadpole Of the Lakes, is in
scribed in the same enduring scroll (above
or below itO with that Of the author of
Childe Harold HIMSELF
1t is curious to observe the impartiality
of time, and the utter utility of any at
temp! to sway its judgment. Critics are
the opponents Of their own opinions-it
may be even of those of the day ia which
they live; but another generstion-perhaps
another year-reverses the decree without
ceremony. Critics themselves change with
the changing time. In 1916 Byron wrote
'sEJUa' under the most prominent Of the
literary portraits he had drawn in 1909;
such as
That mild spostste from poetic mle
The simple Woodwork
Who both by precept and example shows
That prose Is verse, and verse is merely prose.
So close ON each pathetic part he dwells,
And each adventure so sublmely tells
That all who view the idiot in his glorv,'
Conceive the band the hero OF the story
ID is TO be regretted that the noble bard did
not live long enough to do like Justice in
the case Of another poet. His Vision OF
Judgment having been published only two
years before his death, Southey remains in
it renegade and an ass to this day; ter
rifying both seraphim and cherubim, and
the shade Of George Ill. himself, with his
spawned dsctyls'
The monarch, mute hll then, exclsims, "Whati
what
Pye come againl No moreno more Of that!"'
The imitation of Peter Pinder here may
serve to connect these odd judgments with
he last satire OF the last century. Byron,
ike Pope, and before him Dryden, was in.
'tigated by personal malice or revenge; bot
Matthias seems TO have been political en-.
busiest, who ran full tilt at Revolution,
md had so little physical courage to sup |
port him, that he passed all his afier-liie in |
agonies Of terror. The Pursuits of Litera. |
ure' was first published ia 1894, lust after
he French had decreed by lap that there
vas no future existence; and so well did il
Mt the time, that six editions were sold in
he next four years. Among the first notes
s one on Peter Pindar, not meant 10 iIlos-
rate the text, but brought in, head and
shoulders, on a mention of his Tbeban
lsmesake. Mr.. Matthias scorns to waste
verse on such character, but tells Us in
lonely prose that Peters rooted depravity
md malignity Of heart are beyond modern
attire, and that posterity-if il can be sup
posed that such trash as his works shall |,
'xist-'will be astonished that the present
'ge could look with patience on such ma.