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.

TIIE SECRET WITNESS.

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ceived, but it was highly probable that her punctuality,
in the performance of the first part of her engagement,
had been equal to my own.
What, I asked, had become of these precious memorials? In the wreck of her property were these irretrievably engulfed? It was not probable that they had
been wantonly destroyed. They had fallen, perhaps, into
hands careless or unconscious of their value, or still lay,
unknown and neglected, at the bottom of some closet or
chest. Their recovery might be effected by vehement
exertions, or by some miraculous accident. Suitable inquiries, carried on among those who were active in those
scenes of calamity, might afford some clue by which the
fate of the Dudleys, and the disposition of their property,
might come into fuller light. These inquiries could be
made only in Philadelphia, and thither, for that purpose,
I now resolved to repair. There was still an interval of
some weeks before the departure of the packet in which
I proposed to embark.
Having returned to the capital, I devoted all my zeal
to my darling project. My efforts, however, were without success. Those who administered charity and succour during that memorable season, and who survived,
could remove none of my doubts, nor answer any of my
inquiries. Innumerable tales, equally disastrous with
those which Miss Ridgeley had heard, were related; but,
for a considerable period, none of their circumstances were
sufficiently accordant with the history of the Dudleys.
It is worthy of remark, in how many ways, and by
what complexity of motives, human curiosity is awakened
and knowledge obtained. By its connection with my
darling purpose, every event in the history of this memorable pest was earnestly sought and deeply pondered.
The powerful considerations which governed me made
me slight those punctilious impediments which, in other
circumstances, would have debarred me from intercourse
with the immediate actors and observers. I found none
who were unwilling to expatiate on this topic, or to communicate the knowledge they possessed. Their details
isere copious in particulars and vivid in minuteness.
They exhibited the state of manners, the diversified