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Brown, Charles Brockden

author, was born Jan. 17, 1771, in Philadelphia, Pa. He was a novelist of Philadelphia, and the first of native authors who adopted literature as a profession. In his novels probability plays a very small part, the local color 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 possesses undeniable power of a very high order, and does not deserve the neglect into which it has fallen. Wieland; Ormond, or the Secret Witness; and Arthur Mervyn, are in some respects the most powerful of his works.

He is the author of Edgar Huntley, or the Memories of a Sleep Walker; Clara Howard, reprinted in England as Philip Stanley; and Jane Talbot. He died Feb. 22, 1810.