Its  political  offences  all  resolve  into  its  despair  of  the
war,  and  its  recommendation  of  popular  and  economical
reforms. It  would  be  idle  to  answer  objections  which
merely  amount  to  this,  that  the  objectors  differ  from  the
party  objected  to. For  every  man  by  whom  the  public
opinions  of  the  Edinburgh  Review  were  condemned,  there
was  one  other  man,  if  not  ten,  by  whom  they  were  ap-
plauded. Discounting  zealots  on  both  sides,  and  appealing
to  those  of  impartial  judgment,  the  great  majority  will
concur  in  regretting  occasional  error,  but  in  admiring
general  wisdom ;  and  in  acknowledging  that  the  political
improprieties  of  the  Review  were  only  such  as  always  ad-


CHARACTER    OF   THE    REVIEW. 231

here  to  controversy,  and  that  no  party  work  ever  urged
its  views  with  greater  intelligence  and  purity. Since  the
editor  and  his  associates  thought  the  war  hopeless,  it  was
their  duty  to  do  what  they  could,  hy  argument,  to  convince
the  public  that  it  ought  to  be  brought  to  a  close. Their
opinion  was  that  of  many  of  the  wisest  men,  and  the  best
patriots,  that  we  had. They  must  be  judged  of  as  at  the
time,  and  not  after  the  bubble  of  Napoleon's  ambition
burst  by  its  own  expansion. Since  they  believed  that  the
success  of  the  Whigs  was  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the
country,  ought  they  to  have  concealed  this  conviction,  in-
stead of  advancing  and  anticipating  the  wisdom  of  coming
parliaments  ?

In  judging  of  the  value  of  all  such  charges,  as  against
the  editor  of  a  review,  too  little  consideration  is  commonly
given  to  the  very  peculiar  position  that  he  occupies. He
is  responsible  for  all  that  the  work  may  contain,  in  certain
senses,  and  to  certain  effects  ;  but  not  at  all  in  the  same
way  that  any  honourable  writer  is  for  what  he  gives  forth
as  his  own  composition,  and  as  the  expression  of  his  own
thoughts. No  editor,  depending  on  the  co-operation  of
numerous  contributors,  can  be  so. For  even  as  controlling
others,  though  armed  with  a  pretty  strong  discretion,  he
is  never  altogether  absolute. "  We  are  growing  (to  Hor-
ner, 20th  July,  1810)  too  factious. I  admit  it,  and  it  mor-
tifies me  as  much  as  any  one  to  think  that  we  are. But
you  judge  rightly  of  my  limited  power,  and  of  the  over-
grown privileges  of  some  of  my  subjects. 