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. 217
cannot find him; into unwholesome climates; through
dangerous elements; among savagesAlas! I have no hope. Among so many perils, it cannot be expected that he should escape. And did he not
say that he meant not to return?
Yet one thing consoles me. He left not his curses or
reproaches on my head. Kindly, generously, and justly
didst thou judge of my fidelity, Henry. While thou
livest, and as long as I live, will I cherish thy image.
I am coming to pass the winter in your city. I adopt
this scheme merely because it will give me your company.
I feel as if you were the only friend I have in the world.
Do not think me forward or capricious. I will not deny
that you owe your place in my affections chiefly to your
relation to the wanderer; but no matter whence my attachment proceeds. I feel that it is strong; merely selfish, perhaps; the child of a distracted fancy; the prop on
which a sinking heart relies in its uttermost extremity.
Reflection stings me to the quick, but it does not deny
me some consolation. The memory of my mother calls
forth tears, but they are not tears of bitterness. To her,
at least, I haye not been deficient in dutiful observance.
I have sacrificed my friend and myself, but it was to her
peace. The melancholy of her dying scene will ever be
cheered in my remembrance by her gratitude and blessing. Her last words were these:-'"Thou hast done much for me, my child. I begin to
fear that I have exacted too much. Your sweetness, your
patience, have wrung my heart with compunction.
" I have wronged thee, Jane. I have wronged the absent; I greatly fear, I have. Forgive me. If you ever
meet, entreat Aim to forgive me, and recompense yourself and him for all your mutual sufferings.
"I hope all, though sorrowful, has been for the best.
I hope that angelic sweetness which I have witnessed will
continue when I am gone. That belief only can make
my grave peaceful.
"I leave you affluence and honour at least, I leave
you the means of repairing mzy injury, That is my comfort; but forgive me, Jane. Say, my child, you forgive
me for what has passed."
19h