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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ORMOND; OR,

and rectitude. That Ormond was apprized of all that
had passed, I by no means inferred from the tenor of
his conversation with Constantia; nor, if this had been
incontestably proved, should I have experienced any
trepidation or anxiety on that account.
His obscure and indirect menaces of evil were of more
importance. His discourse on this topic seemed susceptible only of two constructions. Either he intended some
fatal mischief, and was willing to torment her by fears,
while he concealed from her the nature of her danger,
that he might hinder her from guarding her safety by
suitable precautions; or, being hopeless of rendering her
propitious to his wishes, his malice was satisfied with
leaving her a legacy of apprehension and doubt.
Constantia's unacquaintance with the doctrines of
that school in which Ormond was probably instructed
led her to regard the -conduct of this man with more
curiosity and wonder' than fear. She saw nothing but
a disposition to sport with her ignorance and bewilder
her with doubts.
I do not believe myself destitute of courage. Rightly
to estimate the danger and encounter it with firmness
are worthy of a rational being; but to place our security
in thoughtlessness and blindness is only less ignoble than
cowardice. I could not forget the proofs of violence
which accompanied the death of Mr. Dudley. I could
not overlook, in the recent conversation with Constantia,
Ormond's allusion to her murdered father. It was possible that the nature of this death had been accidentally
imparted.to him; but it was likewise possible that his
was the knowledge of one who performed the act.
The enormity of this deed appeared by no means incongruous with the sentiments of Ormond. Human life
is momentous or trivial in our eyes, according to the
course which our habits and opinions have taken. Passion greedily accepts, and habit readily offers, the sacrifice of another's life, and reason obeys the impulse of
education and desire.
A youth of eighteen, a volunteer in a Russian army
encamped in Bessarabia, made prey of a Tartar girl,
found in the field of a recent battle. Conducting her