"I take upon me absolutely to condemn the fashionable and prevailing
custom of inveighing against CRITICs, as the common enemies, the pests,
and incendiaries of the Commonwealth of Wit and Letters. I assert,
on the contrary, that they are the Props and Pillars of this Building;
and that, without the Encouragement and Propagation of such a Race,
we should remain as GOTHIC Architects as ever.'
SHAFTESBURY.
LONDON:
Printed for R. GRIFFITHS;
BY T. BECKET,
M DCC XCIX.