ay hated Brougham, and was,
perhaps, a little unjust to him. But what are we to say of the writings
upon which this panegyric is pronounced?

Jeffrey's collected articles include about eighty out of two hundred
reviews, nearly all contributed to the 'Edinburgh' within its first
period of twenty-five years. They fill four volumes, and are distributed
under the seven heads--general literature, history, poetry, metaphysics,
fiction, politics, and miscellaneous. Certainly there is versatility
enough implied in such a list, and we may be sure that he has ample
opportunity for displaying whatever may be in him. It is, however, easy
to dismiss some of these divisions. Jeffrey knew history as an English
gentleman of average cultivation knew it; that is to say, not enough to
justify him in writing about it. He knew as much of metaphysics as a
clever lad was likely to pick up at Edinburgh during the reign of Dugald
Stewart; his essays in that kind, though they show some aptitude and
abundant confidence, do not now deserve serious attention. His chief
speculative performance was an essay upon Beauty contributed to the
'Encyclopaedia Britannica,' of which his biographer says quaintly that it
is 'as sound as the subject admits of.' It is crude and meagre in
substance. The principal conclusion is the rather unsatisfactory one for
a professional critic, that there are no particular rules about beauty,
and consequently that one taste is about as good as another. Nobody,
however, could be less inclined to apply this over-liberal theory to
questions of literary taste. There, he evidently holds there is most
decidedly a right and wrong, and everybody is very plainly in the wrong
who differs from himself.

Jeffrey's chief fame--or, should we say, notoriety?--was gained, and his
merit should be tested by his success in this department. The greatest
triumph that a literary critic can win is the early recognition of
genius not yet appreciated by his contemporaries. The next test of his
merit is his capacity for pronouncing sound judgment upon controversies
which are fully before the public; and, finally, no inconsiderable merit
must be allowed to any critic who has a vigorous taste of his own--not
hopelessly eccentric or silly--and expresses it with true literary
force. If not a judge, he may in that case be a useful advocate.

What can we say for Jeffrey upon this understanding? Did he ever
encourage a rising genius? The sole approach to s