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.

THE ENTHUSIASM OF LOVE.

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maturer age and more cautious judgment shall be counsellors and guides to thy inexperienced youth. While I
love thee and cherish thee as a wife, I shall assume
some of the prerogatives of an elder sister, and put my
circumspection and forethought in the balance against
thy headlong confidence.
I revere thy genius and thy knowledge. With the
improvements of time, very far wilt thou surpass the
humble Clara; but in moral discernment much art thou
still deficient; here I claim to be more than equal. But
the difference shall not subsist long. Our modes of
judging and our maxims shall be the same; and this
resemblance shall be purchased at the cost of all my
patience, my skill, and my love.
Alas! this rain is heavy. The gale whistles more
loudly than ever. Would to Heaven thou wast safely
seated near me, at this quiet fireside!
CLARA HOWARD.
LETTER XXXIII.
To Mary Wilmot.
New York, May 21.
REJOICE with me, my friend; Stanley is arrived, and
has been little incommoded by his journey. He has
brought with him your letter. Will you pardon me for
omitting to answer it immediately, and as fully as it deserves? As soon as the tumults of my joy settle down
into calm, unruffled felicity, I will comment upon every
sentence: at present, I must devote myself to console
this good lad for his sufferings, incurred, as he presumes
to say, entirely on my account.
And so you have deferred the happiness of your Sedley for a whole month. I wonder he has any patience
with you; but he that has endured, without much discontent, the delay of six or eight years (is it not so
long?) ought to be ashamed of his impatience at a new
delay of a few weeks.
Dear Mary, shall I tell you a secret? If you add