ABSTRACT
Rules of every useful art may be divided into two kinds. Some are necessary to the accomplishment of the end proposed by the artist, and are therefore denominated Essential Rules; while others, called Ornamental or Mechanical, have no better foundation than the practice of some great performer, whom it has become the fashion to imitate. True Poetry is a thing perfectly rational and regular; and nothing can be more strictly philosophical, than that part of criticism may and ought to be, which unfolds the general characters that distinguish it from other kinds of composition. Beattie makes the distinction between art as a phenomenon and the exemplifications of art. Whereas the latter tolerate changes of style and a variety of tastes, the former has its own dictates which manifest themselves in the differences among the various arts.
