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confufion and miftake. Different habits of thinking in like 

 manner diftinguifh different authors from each other, prevent 

 the poffibility of iffuing literary forgeries, or by borrowed 

 names gaining credit with the world. The dignity attached 

 to the profeffion of an author will not fuffer him to travel 

 incognito. Varieties in the difpofitions of mind give to fociety: 

 all its charms, and recommend its duties. They enfure an 

 attentive reception to the flranger who ftands in need of it ; 

 for they introduce him to us as a new character, and they 

 fend us from the flattery and the indolence of domeflic en- 

 dearment to more extended benevolence, and an acflive inter- 

 courfe with a chequered world, where the varieties of difpo- 

 fition relieve varieties of want, and receive reciprocal gratifi- 

 cations. From thefe varieties, as peculiarly fhewn in literary 

 works, fome important advantages will be found to arife. 

 There is no dull uniformity to difgufl and fatigue him who 

 wiflies to acquire extenfive and various information : every 

 thing worth being diffufed through the world, or tranfmitted 

 to pofterity, finds fome perfon whofe habits lead him to take 

 notice of and qualify him for recording it ; and every man 

 of whatever difpofition will meet fome author or other whofe 

 powers of mind and ftyle of thought will interefl his attention, 

 and feduce him to information. 



Two obfervations of acknowledged truth in criticlfm eftablifli 

 beyond all doubt the powerful influence of peculiar difpofition 

 of mind in each individual author. The firfl is, that the Cimc 

 perfon is rarely found to excel in more than one fpecies of 



(Fa) compoiition. 



