Early Reviews of English Poets | Page 4

of the Gentleman's Journal and Dodsley's Museum, rarely ventured into
the domain of belles-lettres. An occasional erudite dissertation on
classical poetry or on the French canons of taste suggested a literary
intent, but the bulk of the journals was supplied by articles on natural
history, curious experiments, physiological treatises and historical
essays. During the latter half of the eighteenth century theological and
political writings, and accounts of travels in distant lands became the
staple offering of the reviews.
A new era in the history of English periodicals was marked by the
publication, on May 1, 1749, of the first number of the Monthly Review,
destined to continue through ninety-six years of varying fortune and to
reach its 249th volume. It bore the subtitle: A Periodical Work giving
an Account, with Proper Abstracts of, and Extracts from, the New
Books, Pamphlets, etc., as they come out. By Several Hands. The
publisher was Ralph Griffiths, who continued to manage the review
until his death in 1803. It seems remarkable that this periodical which
set the norm for half a century should have appeared not only without
preface or advertisement, but likewise without patronage or support of
any kind. From the first it reviewed poetry, fiction and drama as well as
the customary classes of applied literature, and thus appealed primarily
to the public rather than, like most of its predecessors, to the learned.
Its politics were Whig and its theology Non-conformist. Griffiths was
not successful at first, but determined to achieve popularity by enlisting
Ruffhead, Kippis, Langhorne and several other minor writers on his
critical staff. In 1757 Oliver Goldsmith became one of those
unfortunate hacks as a result of his well-known agreement with

Griffiths to serve as an assistant-editor in exchange for his board,
lodging and "an adequate salary." About a score of miscellaneous
reviews from Goldsmith's pen--including critiques of Home's Douglas,
Burke's On the Sublime and the Beautiful, Smollett's History of
England and Gray's Odes--appeared in the Monthly Review during
1757-58. The contract with Griffiths was soon broken, probably on
account of incompatibility of temper. Goldsmith declared that he had
been over-worked and badly treated; but it is quite likely that his
idleness and irregular habits contributed largely to the
misunderstanding.
Meanwhile, a Tory rival and a champion of the Established Church had
appeared on the field. A printer named Archibald Hamilton projected
the Critical Review: or, Annals of Literature. By a Society of
Gentlemen, which began to appear in February, 1756, under the
editorship of Tobias Smollett and extended to a total of 144 volumes
when it ceased publication in 1817. Its articles were of a high order for
the time and the new review soon became popular. The open rivalry
between the reviews was fostered by an exchange of editorial
compliments. Griffiths published a statement that the Monthly was not
written by "physicians without practice, authors without learning, men
without decency, gentlemen without manners, and critics without
judgment." Smollett retorted that "the Critical Review is not written by
a parcel of obscure hirelings, under the restraint of a bookseller and his
wife, who presume to revise, alter and amend the articles occasionally.
The principal writers in the Critical Review are unconnected with
booksellers, unawed by old women, and independent of each other."
Such literary encounters did not fail to stimulate public interest in both
reviews and to add materially to their circulation.
When the first volume of the Critical Review was complete, the
"Society of Gentlemen" enriched it with an ornate, self-congratulatory
Preface in which they said of themselves:
"However they may have erred in judgment, they have declared their
thoughts without prejudice, fear, or affectation; and strove to forget the
author's person, while his works fell under their consideration. They

have treated simple dulness as the object of mirth or compassion,
according to the nature of its appearance. Petulance and self-conceit
they have corrected with more severe strictures; and though they have
given no quarter to insolence, scurrility and sedition, they will venture
to affirm, that no production of merit has been defrauded of its due
share of applause. On the contrary, they have cherished with
commendation, the very faintest bloom of genius, even when vapid and
unformed, in hopes of its being warmed into flavour, and afterwards
producing agreeable fruit by dint of proper care and culture; and never,
without reluctance disapproved, even of a bad writer, who had the least
title to indulgence. The judicious reader will perceive that their aim has
been to exhibit a succinct plan of every performance; to point out the
most striking beauties and glaring defects; to illustrate their remarks
with proper quotations; and to convey these remarks in such a manner,
as might best conduce to the entertainment of the public."
Moreover, these high ideals were entertained under the most
unfavorable