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.

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ORMIOND; OR,

Constantia could not but accept this bequest. Had it
been her wish to decline, it was not in her power; but she
justly regarded the leisure and independence thus conferred upon her as inestimable benefits. It was a source
of unbounded satisfaction on her father's account, who was
once more seated in the bosom of affluence. Perhaps, in
a rational estimate, one of the most fortunate events that
could have befallen those persons was that period of adversity through which they had been doomed to pass.
Most of the defects that adhered to the character of Mr.
Dudley had, by this means, been exterminated. He was
now cured of those prejudices which his early prosperity
had instilled, and which had flowed from luxurious indulgences. He had learned to estimate himself at his
true value, and to sympathize with sufferings which he
himself had partaken.
It was easy to perceive in what light Constantia was
regarded by her father. He never reflected on his
relation to her without rapture. Her qualities were
the objects of his adoration. He resigned himself with
pleasure to her guidance. The chain of subordination
and duties was reversed. By the ascendency of her
genius and wisdom, the province of protection and the
tribute of homage had devolved upon her. This had resulted from incessant experience of the wisdom of her
measures, and the spectacle of her fortitude and skill in
every emergency.
It seemed as if but one evil adhered to the condition
of this man. His blindness was an impediment to
knowledge and enjoyment, of which the utmost to be
hoped was, that he should regard it without pungent regret, and that he should sometimes forget it; that his
mind should occasionally stray into foreign paths, and
lose itself in sprightly conversations or benign reveries.
This evil, however, was by no means remediless.
A surgeon of uncommon skill had lately arrived from
Europe. He was one of the numerous agents and dependants of Ormond, and had been engaged to abdicate
his native country for purposes widely remote from his
profession. The first use that was made of him was to
introduce him to Mr. Dudley. The diseased organs were