New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-10-20

The public should and perhaps the public docs
understand the pnrport aud upshot of certain
kind of literary criticism. 1t was, thank Heaven
in higher fashion fifty years ago than 1t now Il. II
in of the kind vulgarly called smasfing,' or
"slashing.' 1t is quite independent Of the merit
Of the writer who is reviewed. Dexterously mau-
AIRED. il will make any author however meritori.
% hing stock. The defendant
is not in court and the other Sit, "' -
way. The poor victim is butchered to make
few readers holiday. The authors work
is twisted, perverted, converted and reverted,
sliced, minced, disntegrated and discolored,
with such rare ingenuity that all who have
not read him pronounce him to be a
fool, and all who have read and admired hun begin
to doubt the accuracy of their Judgment Against
such manly, honorable and generous assaults, no
writer can be psnopued. Milton may be travestied
Shakespeare ludcrcusly described, and Homer
picked to pieces Frivolous men can and will have
the laugh against men who are in earnest aud those
whose thick oozng malice by its strong odor saves
them from the charge of weakness often im.
part little of their scent to those whom
they may jostle. Whether Mr.. Henry W.
Iongfelow is or IS not good or great poet
may not be- rs 10 the final decision, of much
consequence; but it iscf moment, at least to him.
sell, if not to the pubic, that he should have fair
play. And in The London Athenaym he is very
unfairly treated. We may not be passionate adj
mrers of ''Hiawatha," and may not consider The
Voices of the Night, to De orscular; but we think
we should found our objections upon good, honest,
serious and sober grounds, and express them in
straightforward and downright way. 1t is very
easy to laugh, as The Athenaum does at Mr.. Long
fellows Excelsior" 1t is easy to call the title
bad Latin. II is easy TO grin at the young gentle
man who carries banner with a stcsuge device.
This is Just what is done by all parcdists. He
must be pretty shallow who does not see that the
faults of the poem, if II has faults, are too grave
and thorough to be affected by such criticism.
And what is true of this. is true OF all Mr. Long
fellows poetry. He is not surely beyond criticism
but he is very far ahead Of such criticism as this
Our readers perhaps know the cant and keynote
of it. When it is said Of "Evsngeline that she is
"a young lady" the critic is funny when it is said
that she is always swooDDg or under the ihhu.
ence of moonlight the critic is funnier when il,
said that this character is drawn BY ''Mr. Prctrsct
edfellow. the critic is funniest People may may
not ike "EyanGeline;" but people who dislike
her because she swoons, must dislike several of
Shakespeare heroines for the same reason. 1t is
drol TO say that she is in perpetual distress Of
"miud." But the same thing may be said Of
Lady Macbeth or Juliet. 1t is waggish 10 say
that Mr. Longfellow " solcits public emotion
Other poets, We suppose, the real genuine, un-
mistaksbe fellows do not. II is easy to say that
Mr.. Longfelow lays upon US "a burden Of sor-
"rows,r although it would be very false to say so,
because if his poems have any tone, it is cheer
ful and invigorstug one 1t is easy to say thatMr
Lonpiellow "misleads us into world Of things
pale and cold and CHASTITY full Of ruins, Of fires
and graves and wrecks" All great poets, of
course. are Jolly. Dante never signs Milton never
sheds tear, and Wordsworth is in perpetual
grin. To cite work in point: There 10 q certain
poem by a certain Alexander Pope, supposed to
be the ioless and funniest and greatest in exis-
tence. In it, humorous fellow named Abelard
skips uimbIy In il jolly woman named Heloise
ouiyers with laughter Our readers may remeul-
Der the festive couPlet;
Then - kissed the eo:secrs.sd vef.
The shrin-s ~ .reusoed ana The iAmps '-'Hea Ps's
Quite q Fourth of July. Then there is the
comic weneI, juliet; tho ~sggish boy, Hsmlcti