The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-04-11
ABOUT CRITICS.
IHiIary Bell, m the Journal,s,,l

absurd CrudeneSS as ID that audaCtouSiy presenting itself before us under the head of criticism. Critics, s MT. Venus said about Bones, is various" They are the walters who serve up to us the drama, music, art and literature, but have such Ill manners as to taste tfS dishes hgSi and regulate our appetite aflerward. We are all familiar with the eau stiS Se5a;,;on of this genius given by wit incenSed at the dullAess of those tha judged the work of greater minds than ther own, and presui ed to value wh at they did not comprehend. It was an arraignment not less truthful than s2rdonic. For u the beautiful mind contemns those who eSti- mate in nveisation a matter about which they have no knowledge, what rid :, icule shall 1t withhold from a person th a& thruSts his ignorance into print, and lour's shes before the world an imbeciiity which might have been forgiven in pri- vate litet
 Among the ancient writers the critics were those that not only excelled in the arts upon which they passed opinion, but also possessed such an agreeable mastery of language that the arguments presented by them were al once convlnc- ing to the logical nind and graceful to the fastidious. And the great critics of Paris and London ln the present age are men who, by reason of natural sympathy for their special branch of art, and a careful study of its requirements, have entitled themselves to the consideration of bath it and the world. NosS dv0Hs change kont ceIa. We are young peo pie, and we have all the vanity of youth. So we cast aside the rules of the present day and forget the traditions of a past one, and having a pleasing belief in our own ability, grow into the fancy that 1t Is accepted by others. Out of this satisfied humor is born your critic. If through the limitations of nature he is not able to create, there is ne reason why he should not dissect nor does his entire ignorance ot anything deter him from slashiHg wig. orously in his search for the hear; and brain of b ody. A farmer does not be- gin to consider what his land will pro- duce until he has studied the difference between carrots and cabbages. But the most inexperienced critic, forsooth, can tell you to nicety wha, picture an artist should bring forth, and how poet should be delivered of a rondeau. The art judges of a paper have s;arce toiled through volume of Ruskin, have but discovered the distinction between water colors and oils, when they are ready to discourse with amusing learnedness upon tone and feeling aEd atmosphere. The book reviewers are something better, but SO little advanced in critical discernment that the passion for literature must lie al v..,hl,ehA1c Su.Nt,lA perish. With the exception of three or four men in the country who have be- come possessed of wide knowledge and educated taste, the reviewers are unfit to direct popular reading. For it is no, enough that a man should read a book in order to judge of its merits. The finely critical mind is not only careful in its relish, but clear and logical in its de- auctions. It separates the style from the thought, the epigram from the metaphor, and considers the work not alone as a whole, but also in its minute parts. A dull thinker can never acquaint us with the airiness of new volume of Austin Dobson, nor can one without love for philosophy tempt the reader to reflect over fresh work by Herbert Spencer An injudicious and untrained newspaper critic is a psrnicious thing in the world. For by certain plausibility in his lan- guage the reviewer often persuades peo- pie into esteem for him as a judge, so that the vulgar frequently eschew an author when they should condemn the critic. It is a case of the blind leading the blind but one falls into the ditch, while the other continues in a pitiful chuckling of self-congratulatioD.
 But of all forms of criticism with us, perhaps, that upon the drama is furthest removed from discernment and reliabil- ity. The stage is an enjoyment that is universal. People of ali conditions in life, of all tastes and all temperaments, view the playhouse as an element of pleasure And with the general circula- ton of newspapers in this country it were an easy matter for journalism to hold censorship over the theatres, to render unsuccessful poor play and make pop ular good one. But nobody is guided by the dram atic critiques. We read in the morning that a certain play is excel lent, and in the evening we 6nd 1t execra- ble. We are bidden to consider the marvellous art of some fair creature, and having considered it, we discover that her finest charm consists in the diplomacy Of her smiles on the critic. One newspaper suffers the daily chronicle of a young gentleman who is more noted for a want of wit than a wealth of it, and who gives fresh evidence every morning that the stage is still as mystic to his mind ss the pantomime vas to his childhood. Another sends to first nights raw report CTS wbo know a little less about histrionic matters than they do concerning the pol ishing of paragraph who detail the un- folding of a drama us they would the burning of a cotbler's shop who discuss the delicacy of the comedian by the same robustness of rhetoric with which they are won't to desc1ibe the prize-6ghter. Some of our dramatic critics are susceptible to the genial influence of suppers after the performance some arc not wholly free from imputations of bribery and some honest, worthy judges are hampered by the government of the business depart ment of the paper.