Whomsoever  the  remorseless  arm  slings  aloft,  or  whirls  along
with  it  in  the  air,  he  has  himself  alone  to  blame ;  though
when  the  same  arm  throws  him  from  it,  it  will  more  often
double  than  break  the  force  of  his  fall.  20

Putting  aside  the  too  manifest  and  too  frequent  interfer-
ence of  national  party,  and  even  personal  predilection  or
aversion,  and  reserving  for  deeper  feelings  those  worse  and
more  criminal  intrusions  into  the  sacredness  of  private  life,
which  not  seldom  merit  legal  rather  than  literary  chastise-  25
ment,  the  two  principal  objects  and  occasions  which  I  find
for  blame  and  regret  in  the  conduct  of  the  review  in  question
are,  first,  its  unfaithfulness  to  its  own  announced  and  excel-
lent plan,  by  subjecting  to  criticism  works  neither  indecent
or  immoral,  yet  of  such  trifling  importance  even  in  point  of  30
size,  and,  according  to  the  critic's  own  verdict,  so  devoid  of


138  PRINCIPLES   OF  CRITICISM.
all  merit,  as  must  excite  in  the  most  candid  mind  the  suspi-
cion either  that  dislike  or  vindictive  feelings  were  at  work ;
or  that  there  was  a  cold  prudential  pre-determination  to  in-
crease the  sale  of  the  Review  by  flattering  the  malignant
5  passions  of  human  nature.  That  I  may  not  myself  become
subject  to  the  charge,  which  I  am  bringing  against  others,  by
an  accusation  without  proof,  I  refer  to  the  article  on  Dr.
Rennell's  sermon  in  the  very  first  number  of  the  Edinburgh
Review  as  an  illustration  of  my  meaning.  If  in  looking

10  through  all  the  succeeding  volumes  the  reader  should  find
this  a  solitary  instance,  I  must  submit  to  that  painful  forfeit-
ure of  esteem  which  awaits  a  groundless  or  exaggerated
charge.
