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.

51

apothecaries were shut. No carriage but the hearse was
seen, and this was employed, night and day, in the removal of the dead. The customary sources of subsistence were cut off. Those whose fortunes enabled them
to leave the city, but who had deferred till now their retreat, were denied an asylum by the terror which pervaded the adjacent country, and by the cruel prohibitions
which the neighbouring towns and cities thought it necessary to adopt. Those who lived by the fruits of their
daily labour were subjected, in this total inactivity, to
the alternative of starving or of subsisting upon public
charity.
The meditations of Constantia suggested no alternative but this. The exactions of M'Crea had reduced
her whole fortune to five dollars. This would rapidly
decay, and her utmost ingenuity could discover no means
of procuring a new supply. All the habits of their life
had combined to fill both her father and herself with
aversion to the acceptance of charity. Yet this avenue,
opprobrious and disgustful as it was, afforded the only
means of escaping from the worst extremes of famine.
In this state. of mind, it was obvious to consider in
what way the sum remaining might be most usefully expended. Every species of provision was not equally
nutritious or equally cheap. Her mind, active in the
pursuit of knowledge and fertile of resources, had lately
been engaged in discussing with her father the best means
of retaining health in a time of pestilence. On occasions when the malignity of contagious diseases has been
most signal, some individuals have escaped. For their
safety, they were doubtless indebted to some peculiarities
in their. constitution or habits. Their diet, their dress,
their kind and degree of exercise, must somewhat have
contributed to their exemption from the common destiny.
These, perhaps, could be ascertained, and when known
it was surely proper to conform to them.
In discussing these ideas, Mr. Dudley introduced the
mention of a Benedictine of Messina, who, during the
prevalence of the plague in that city, was incessantly
engaged in administering assistance to those who needed.
Notwithstanding his perpetual hazards, he retained per