doubts of the cautious, and the terrors of the

fearful, for to such the shortness of every single paper is a powerful encouragement. He that questions his abilities to arrange the dissimilar parts of an extensive plan, or fears to be lost in a complicated system, may yet hope to adjust a few pages without perplexity ; and if, when he turns over the repositories of his memory, he finds his collection too small for a volume, he may yet have enough to furnish out an essay. He that would fear to lay out too much time upon an experiment of which he knows not the event, persuades him- self that a few days will show him what he is to expect from his learning and his genius. If he thinks his own judgment not sufficiently enlightened, he may, by attending to the re- marks which every paper will produce, rectify his opinions. If he should with too little pre- meditation encumber himself by an unwieldy subject, he can quit it without confessing his ignorance, and pass to other topics less dan- gerous, or more tractable. And if he finds, with all his industry, and all his artifices, that he cannot deserve regard, or cannot attain it, he may let the design fall at once, and, with- out injury to others or himself, retire to amusements of greater pleasure, or to studies of better prospect.

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