The novels of Charles Brockden Brown, consisting of Wieland;or, The transformation. Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the year 1793. Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a sleep-walker. Jane Talbot. Ormond; or, The secret witness. Clara Howard; or, The enthusiasm of love. With a memoir of the author.

JANE TALBOT. 203
tionate, tender, passionately loving her brother; convinced, from the hour of her first arrival, that his disease
was a hopeless one, yet exerting a surprising command
over her feelings, and performing every office of a nurse
with skill and firmness.
Insensibly the distance between us grew less. A participation in the same calamity, and the counsel and aid
which her situation demanded, forced her to lay aside
some of her reserve. Still, however, it seemed but a
submission to necessity; and all advances were made
with an ill grace.
She was often present when her brother turned the discourse upon religious subjects. I have long since abjured
the vanity of disputation. There is no road to truth but by
meditation,-severe, intense, candid, and dispassionate.
What others say on doubtful subjects, I shall henceforth
lay up as materials for meditation.
I listened to my dying friend's arguments and admonitions, I think I may venture to say, with a suitable spirit.
The arrogant or disputatious passions could not possibly
find place in a scene like this. Even if I thought him
in the wrong, what but brutal depravity could lead me to
endeavour to shake his belief at a time when sickness had
made his judgment infirm, and when his opinion supplied
his sinking heart with confidence and joy?
But, in truth, I was far from thinking him in the wrong.
At any time I should have allowed infinite. plausibility and
subtlety to his reasonings, and at this time I confessed
them to. be weighty. Whether they were gmost weighty
in the scale could be only known by a more ample and
deliberate view and comparison than it was possible, with
the spectacle of a dying friend before me, and with so
many solicitudes and suspenses about me respecting Jane,
to bestow on therm. Meanwhile, I treasured them up, and
determined, as I told him, that his generous efforts for
my good should not be thrown away.
At first, his sister was very uneasy when her brother
entered on the theme nearest to his friendly heart. She
seemed apprehensive of dispute and contradiction. This
apprehension was quickly removed, and she thenceforth
encouraged the discourse. She listened with delight and