Brown, Charles Brockden

Pa., 1771-1810. A novelist of Philadelphia, and the first of native authors who adopted literature as a profe ion. In his novels probability plays a very small part, the local colour is faint, though the scenes are American, and all are overshadowed by an overpowering element of mystery. In spite of extravagances and faults, his work po e es undeniable power of a very high order, and does not deserve the neglect into which it has fallen. Wiel and; Ormond, or the Secret Witne ; Arthur Mervyn, in some respects the most powerful of his works; Edgar Huntley, or the Memories of a Sleep Walker; Clara Howard, reprinted in England as Philip Stanley; Jane Talbot. See Lives by Dunlap, 1815, Pre scott, 1831; Atlantic Monthly, vol. 61; Nichol’s American Literature. My.