ABSTRACT
There exists a notion that critics, as a general rule, are ill-natured persons, fond of imagining faults, and that “They who write ill, and they who ne’er durst write, Turn critics out of mere revenge and spite.” Into the truth of this assumption it is not author's present purpose to enter; but the character of the several matters touched upon by critics is, perhaps, a more interesting theme. For the present they shall confine their attention to dramatic or theatrical criticism. Dramatic criticism is one of those arts that have no recognised position nor principles, but plenty of professors. Of the intelligence and wisdom, the delicacy of perception, and liberalism of thought, that should be the dowry of such a writer, it would be difficult to speak with exaggeration. Critics of acting wield much more immediate if not much greater power than critics of the other arts.
