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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ORMON'D; OR,

acts should be, how his omens of ill were to be solved,
were still involved in uncertainty.
In the midst of fears for her own safety, by which Constantia was now assailed, the image of her father was
revived; keen regret and vehement upbraiding were conjured up.
"Craig, then, was the instrument, and yours the instigation, that destroyed my father! In what had he
offended you? What cause had he given for resentment?"
"Cause!" replied he, with impetuous accents. "Resentinent! None. My motive was benevolent; my deed
conferred a benefit. I gave him sight and took away his
life, from motives equally wise. Know you not that Ormond was fool enough to set value on the affections of a
woman? These were sought with preposterous anxiety
and endless labour. Among other facilitators of his purpose, he summoned gratitude to his aid. To snatch you
from poverty, to restore his sight to your father, were
expected to operate as incentives to love.
"But here I was the dupe of error. A thousand prejudices stood in my way. These, provided our intercourse
* were not obstructed, I hoped to subdue. The rage of
innovation seized your father: this, blended with a mortal
antipathy to me, made him labour to seduce you from the
bosom of your peaceful country; to make you enter on a
boisterous sea; to visit lands where all is havoc and hostility; to snatch you from the influence of my arguments.
"This new obstacle I was bound to remove. While
revolving the means, chance and his evil destiny threw
Craig in my way. I soon convinced him that his reputation and his life were in my hands. His retention of
these depended upon my will, on the performance of
conditions which I prescribed.
"My happiness and yours depended on your concurrence with my wishes. Your father's life was an obstacle to your concurrence. For killing him, therefore,
I may claim your gratitude. His death was a due and
disinterested offering at the altar of your felicity and
mine.
"My deed was not injurious to him. At his age, death,
whose coming at some period is inevitable, could not be