critics .
or reasonable . The mutual relations of Poe and Griswold are
still under discussion and the pros and cons of the controversy well illustrate how far that period was from a genuine theory of
criticism .30 The controversy must also illustrate of how com
paratively little service to the historian is, in and of itself, the literary criticism of the periodical literature of that day. The situation was scarcely improved when later an eminent con noisseur of literature could imply that criticism is to be tempered
by the temporal distress of the person whose work is to be reviewed.31 Even in France where the high -water mark of criti cism has been reached , it was possible for an eminent Frenchman
to be credited with discriminating against Sainte- Beuve as a
critic on the ground that " he was not a gentleman.” 32 It is evident that the historian must also take into accountthe personal characteristics of the periodical in which the review
appears. The Edinburgh Review under the influence of Francis Jeffrey, who was its editor for twenty -seven years and contri
buted to it for nearly forty -six years, apparently made it a point of honor to find little worthy of commendation in any of the
works submitted to it for review .33 The Quarterly Review did not 30 W . M . Griswold , Passages from the Correspondence of Rufus W .Griswold ; Graham 's Magazine during the editorship of both Griswold and Poe .
31 J. T . Fields, “ To a Malignant Critic,' Poems, pp. 119 – 120. — It is possible that this is only a legitimate protest against spiteful criticism , though the poem itself does not indicate it.
Akin to this is the implication that works by unknown authors are to be neglected . W . C . Bryant wrote R . W . Griswold in 1852 commending the poetry of a friend of Griswold' s but adds, “ Yet I doubt its success with the public if it appears as Mr. Hetherwold ' s. I fully believe that the best verses in the world published in a volume by an author not yet known to fame,
would be inevitably neglected .” — Correspondence of R . W . Griswold , p . 282.
32 “ Le hasard m 'a fait un jour assister à une discussion animée entre gens qui comparaient, au point de vue de la valeur morale, Sainte-Beuve avec Mérimée. La controverse était vive : les uns tenaient pour Mérimée, les
autres pour Sainte- Beuve. Tout à coup un des interlocuteurs, qui avait gardé jusque- là (et ce n 'était guère son habitude ) un profond silence , s 'écria
en commençant à arpenter la chambre à grands pas: 'Savez -vous la véritable
supériorité de Mérimée sur Sainte-Beuve? Je vais vous la dire : Mérimée est gentilhomme, Sainte-Beuve n 'est pas gentilhomme.
Je n 'aurais jamais
osé traduire ma pensée sous une forme aussi aristocratique, si je n 'avais entendu tomber ce jugement de la bouche de M . Cousin .” — G . P . O . d 'Haus sonville , C . A . Sainte -Beuve-- sa vie et ses auvres, pp . 334 - 335.
33 Samuel Smiles says benignly of the Edinburgh: “ In its early days the criticism was rude, and wanting in delicate insight; for the most part too dictatorial, and often unfair. . . . Jeffrey could never appreciate the merits
