The Conservative (Lovecraft)/July 1915/The Conservative and His Critics
The Conservative and His Critics.
It was remarked by Dr. Johnson in The Idler, that "No genius was ever blasted by the breath of criticism; the poison which, if confined, would have burst the heart, fumes away in empty hisses, and malice is sot at ease with very little danger to merit". Thus fortified in mind and soothed in temper by the precept of the great lexicographer, The Conservative turns to the sneers of "Bab Bell," whose anonymous remarks against his first effort at publishing appear in The Lake Breeze for April. Since the whole principle of anonymous censure is so ignoble, the position of "Bab Bell" robs his "submarine warfare" of its greatest force, and renders further notice unnecessary. If "Bab" has a proper sense of fairness in his composition, he will unmask before committing any more backbiting of this sort.
From such journalistic sneaking it is a relief to pass on to William B. Stoddard's frankly signed and frankly supercilious review in The Brooklynite, Mr. Stoddard is a man of intensely negative nature, who cannot bear the positive philosophy and definite dogmatism of The Conservative, and who must therefore be excused for his slighting allusions. However, he is a little premature in predicting the evolution of The Conservative into a careless writer of his own type.
Rheinhart Kleiner is a critic whose keenest censure may be accepted without resentment, since his honest and serious attitude raises him far above the suspicion of petty teasing and attempted cynicism. His strictures on the "art-shot" rhyme in "The Simple Speller's Tale" are just, and the fault is herewith acknowledged by The Conservative. Of Mr. Kleiner's general opinions concerning "allowable" rhymes, more may later be said, yet it must be emphasized that his position, however fundamentally erroneous, has much to sustain it.
It has been asserted by some biographers, that the poet Keats "died of an article". If, however, the contemporaries of The Conservative hope thus to kill off the object of their censure, they sadly mistake their man. As Horace hath it:
"Fragili quaerens illidere dentem,
Offendet solido".
To his favourable reviewers, The Conservative must express his sincerest gratitude. They have received in a truly fraternal and wisely lenient fashion the first production of a beginner, and have given him that wholesome stimulation without which the present and future issues would never have appeared. That he may improve under their kindly and encouraging suggestions, and at length become really worthy of their generous commendation, is The Conservative's cherished ambition.