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 SECRET WITNESS.

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dition. It calls for no gratitude or recompense. Its
suitable attendant is remorse. That he is a thief, I
know but too well; that my father died by his hand is
incredible. No motives or means --
"Why so?" interrupted Ormond. "Does not sleep
seal up the senses? Cannot closets be unlocked at midnight? Cannot adjoining houses communicate by doors?
Cannot these doors be hidden from suspicion by a sheet
of canvas?"
These words were of startling and abundant import.
They reminded her of circumstances in her father's
chamber, which sufficiently explained the means by
which his life was assailed. The closet, and its canvascovered wall; the adjoining house untenanted and shut
up-but this house, though unoccupied, belonged to
Ormond. From the inferences which flowed hence,
her attention was withdrawn by her companion, who
continued:"Do these means imply the interposal of a miracle?
His motives? What scruples can be expected from a
man inured from infancy to cunning and pillage? Will
he abstain from murder when urged by excruciating
poverty, by menaces of persecution, by terror of expiring on the gallows?"
Tumultuous suspicions were now awakened in the mind
of Constantia. Her faltering voice scarcely allowed her
to ask, "How know you that Craig was thus guilty?that these were his incitements and means?"
Ormond's solemnity now gave place to a tone of
sarcasm and looks of exultation:-" Poor Constantia!
Thou art still pestered with incredulity and doubts!
My veracity is still in question! My knowledge, girl,
is infallible. That these were his means of access I
cannot be ignorant, for I pointed them out. He was
urged by these motives, for they were stated and enforced by me. His was the deed, for I stood beside
him when it was done."
These, indeed, were terms that stood in no need of
further explanation. The veil that shrouded this formidable being was lifted high enough to make him be
regarded with inexplicable horror. What his future
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