_Clearness_, nor _Strength_;--And if the _Length_of this Piece to an
_Essay_ so _short_ shall happen at first to _disturb_ any _Critic_,
I beg leave to inform him, that all, which can be fairly collected
from it, is only, that it may have cost _me_ the more Trouble;--But
upon mentioning the _Length_ of this Piece, what behoves me the most,
is, to return my Thanks to two _Gentlemen_, who suffered me to read to
them the whole, as it was gradually written; And by whose _judicious_
and _friendly Instructions_ in the Course of it, my own _Imagination_
was often prevented from running into _Riots_.

However, I am far from imagining, that I have always been reduced
within just Bounds; And now feel a sufficient Share of _Concern_ and
_Anxiety_, for the _Fate_ of this Work;--Yet, I humbly apprehend, that
_this_ must freely be allowed me, that I have not been a _Plagiary_;
But have constantly delivered my own _original_ Sentiments, without
_purloining_ or _disfiguring_ the Thoughts of others; An _Honesty_,
which, I hope, is laudable in an _Author_; And as I have not _stolen_,
neither have I _concealed_, the _Merit_ of other Writers.

It will also be found, as I humbly apprehend, that I have never
_shunned_ the Subject: I mention this particularly, because it is
the Practice of many eminent Writers, after much _curvetting_ and
_prauncing_, suddenly to wheel, and retire, when they are expected
to make their most full Attack.--These Gentlemen, it is true, very
happily avoid _Danger_, and advance and retreat in _excellent Order_:
But, with their Leave, I must observe that they never do any
_Execution_; For Subjects, which have not been surveyed, and laid
open, are like _fortified Places_; and it is the Business of a
_Writer_, as well as of a _Soldier_, to make an Attack;--This has been
the Conduct I have held in the following _Essay_; and however I may