http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification720XTF Search Results (docsPerPage=100;f117-subject=fiction)
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/search?docsPerPage%3D100;f117-subject%3Dfiction
Results for your query: docsPerPage=100;f117-subject=fictionWed, 14 Jan 2009 12:00:00 GMTThe Punishment of Ridicule: A Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-07257.xml
THIS evening I called, on my
way home, at Canning's. I
found him standing within the door
of his shop, and laughing with the
utmost glee. I looked, at first, for
the object of his good-humour, but
found that his attention was occu-
pied merely with mirthful recol-
lections.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-07257.xmlWed, 01 Jul 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Household. A Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08081.xml
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08081.xmlFri, 01 Aug 1800 12:00:00 GMTOriginal Letters. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08101.xml
Sir,http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08101.xmlFri, 01 Aug 1800 12:00:00 GMTThe Rhapsodist. No. I. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-08464.xml
IN commencing a work of this
kind, it has always been usual
to give the reader some acquaint-
ance with the person of the au-
thor, and to inform him respect-
ing the cause of his thus publish-
ing his lucubrations to the world;
but it has not, I think, been con-
sidered as necessary, that the ac-
count thus given, should exactly
correspond with the truth. Where
the case is otherwise, an author
would find a disadvantage in dis-
closing his real situation, not to
be recompensed by any fame or
reputation he might derive from
his writings. For my part, were
I to comply with the uniform ex-
ample of my predecessors, I
should, I frankly confess, be un-
der the necessity of somewhat
disguising the truth; but as I in-
tend that the sincerity of my cha-
racter shall be the principal cha-
racteristic of these papers: the
public will excuse me in dispen-
sing with a rule, which owes its
sole authority to custom, without
any foundation in reason. It is
not my intention to be totally
concealed from view. I shall
from tim...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-08464.xmlSat, 01 Aug 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Rhapsodist. No. II. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-09537.xml
THE Rhapsodist, though he
not unfrequently derives half
the materials of his thoughts from
an intimate acquaintance with the
world, is an enemy to conversati-
on. It is indeed, in his fondness
for solitude, that the singularity
of his character principally con-
sists. He loves to converse with
beings of his own creation,
and every personage, and every
scene, is described with a pencil
dipt in the colours of imagination.
To his strong and vivid fancy,
there is scarcely a piece of mere
unanimated matter existing in the
universe. His presence inspires,
being, instinct, and reason into
every object, real or imagined,
and the air, the water and the
woods, wherever he directs his
steps, are thronged with innume-
rable inhabitants. The pleasures
of company and conversation con-
stitute the only happiness of some;
but the rhapsodist is incapable of
tasting pleasure, when he is in-
debted for it to the presence of a
third person. Whether the hours
be spent in mirth and pleasantry,
surrounded by a circle of the young
a...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-09537.xmlTue, 01 Sep 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Rhapsodist. No. III. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-10587.xml
IT was but two days since, that
the letter mentioned in my se-
cond number, was presented to me.
In vain the Rhapsodist announces
to his Readers, that he hates the
intrusion of a visitor. Nothing
but the rights of the strictest
friendship (for the circle of my
friends is numerous, though, my
disposition is averse to friendship)
will entitle any one to demand a
private audience from him. In
spite of my pretensions to unlimit-
ed sovereignty over my own person
and actions. In spite of my strong
original propensity to silence and
reserve, I am, in some measure,
compelled to pay obedience, tho'
grudgingly, to the laws of society.
Thus, indeed, it fares with every
one who aspires to the fame of sin-
gularity. He, who affects the man-
ners of a recluse, and demeans him-
self in the midst of a populous ci-
ty, like the lonely inhabitant of a
desert, will often incur the censure
of inveterate folly. While he feels
his imaginary rights infringed, and
the sanctity of the hermit disre-
garded; men are little prone to
sp...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-10587.xmlThu, 01 Oct 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Rhapsodist. No. IV. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-11661.xml
IT may probably be expected
that the Rhapsodist will now
proceed to gratify his reader's curi-
osity, by submitting to his critical
inspection, the rest of that curious
performance of which the purport
has already been explained in the
sequel of my former paper. I
know not whether the limits to
which reason and convenience na-
turally restrict the writer of perio-
dical essays, will admit of so diffuse
a composition.—But perhaps it will
not be absolutely necessary to com-
prise the whole in a single paper,
nor will it be less acceptable, tho'
delivered out by piece-meal. The
essay may be broken down into e-
qual though detached portions, and
by means of my judicious distribu-
tion of the several parts, the frag-
ments may be so disposed as to ren-
der a due connexion of the subject,
and a regular arrangement of my
author's critical remarks, a very
entertaining, and by no means a
laborious task.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1789-11661.xmlSun, 01 Nov 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. I. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02001.xml
I KNOW not whether my pen will
afford me any amusement in my
present condition. I have been little
accustomed to the use of it, but I
have nothing else to do, and my pre-
sent situation stands in need of being
beguiled of its cares. I am without
books, and am not permitted to leave
my chamber. I have, therefore, no
alternative. This, or nothing is my
lot. I cannot consent to pass a life
of inactivity. But what shall I write?
There is something whimsical in this
undertaking. For a man of my ha-
bits, at the age of sixty, to sit down
to the writing desk! Nothing would
have been less expected a month ago,
and nothing but the unfortunate cir-
cumstances in which I am placed
would reconcile me to it.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02001.xmlTue, 03 Feb 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. II. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02033.xml
GO thy ways for an honest crea-
ture. I cannot explain to thee,
in an intelligible way, the true nature
of my condition; or perhaps I might
be disposed to gratify thy curiosity.
I have no need to dread from thee
any imputations on the honesty of my
proceeding. Casuists have, long ago,
settled that point. By casuists such
as thou, it would never be brought
into question. That action may be
wrong, which law has thought proper
to prohibit and punish. He that per-
petrates it may be truly criminal.
The action by which we incur punish-
ment is unjust, but what is to be said
of the means by which we elude the
penalty? No doubt an highwayman
is criminal, but after the commission
of the deed, he endeavours to elude
his pursuers. Do these endeavours
enhance his guilt? When taken, and
dungeon-doomed, and fettered, does
duty restrain him from breaking his
chains, and restoring himself, by the
exertion of dexterity or strength, to
liberty?http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02033.xmlTue, 10 Feb 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. III. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02065.xml
I AM sitting here employed in this
way, from a notion that it is the
only practicable employment: It is
the only exercise, as I suppose, within
my reach. This perhaps is an error.
In one sense my sphere is a small one.
My observation is limited to an area
of twelve feet square; but surely it
becomes me to examine every thing
within this space. If it be small, the
examination is proportionably easy.
If our means are few, the motives
seem to be enhanced for making the
best use of them of which they are
capable.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02065.xmlTue, 17 Feb 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. IV. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02099.xml
I HAVE talked with Kate upon the
subject of this chest. Her infor-
mation, as I expected, is not very
satisfactory. When she first applied
for this house it was untenanted. Its
recent inhabitants had been destroyed
by the reigning malady. The scanty
furniture that was possessed by them,
had been partly sold by the landlord
for the payment of arrears. The rest,
such as beds and clothes, had been
buried or burnt, on account of the in-
fection which they were supposed to
have imbibed. The seeming worth-
lessness of this trunk, and the difficulty
of removing it, had rescued it from
the general wreck. In the terms which
he made with Kate, the landlord al-
lowed her to act, with regard to this
piece of furniture, as she thought
proper.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-02099.xmlTue, 24 Feb 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. V. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03133.xml
BAXTER, after taking some re-
freshment, retired to rest. In no
long time, however, he was awakened
by his wife, who desired him to notice
a certain glimmering on the ceiling.
It seemed the feeble and flitting ray
of a distant and moving light, coming
through the window. It did not
proceed from the street, for the cham-
ber was lighted from the side, and
not from the front of the house. A
lamp borne by a passenger, or the
attendants of an hearse, could not be
discovered in this situation. Besides,
in the latter case, it would be accom-
panied by the sound of the vehicle,
and, probably, by weeping and ex-
clamations of despair. His employ-
ment, as the guardian of property,
naturally suggested to him the idea of
robbery. He started from his bed,
and went to the window.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03133.xmlTue, 03 Mar 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. VI. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03167.xml
PAGES have been filled with ideas
suggested by a broom-stick. I
have a volume, under that title, in
my possession. The writer follows
the train of ideas suggested by the
sight of this useful instrument, and is
led by it on many an instructive and
amusing ramble. His speculations,
indeed, are bound together by no
other affinity than this. It is curious
to observe what various and momen-
tous themes take their rise in his un-
derstanding, from this humble source.
He first discusses the nature of that
principle, by which the sight of a
broom-stick is made productive of a
series of thoughts in the mind. In
the course of this speculation he raises
a scheme of his own on the ruins of
that system which changes man into a
pair of bag-pipes, and makes out the
contexture of his body to be nothing
more than a congeries of fiddle-strings.
He endeavours to prove, that the
hand is lifted and planets impelled by
the same power, and that this power
is thought. Having settled this point,
he proceeds to describe the thoughts
t...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03167.xmlTue, 10 Mar 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. VII. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03193.xml
I AM disappointed, though the cha-
grin of disappointment has perhaps
been justly incurred by me, since my
expectations were set on irrational
foundations. I have opened, and find
—nothing! I will take, however, a
child's vengeance on the cause of my
vexation. I will hew the chest to
pieces, and convert the fragments into
fuel. Henceforth it shall be my busi-
ness to forget it.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03193.xmlTue, 17 Mar 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home. No. VIII. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03225.xml
WELL, old as I am, I find I am
reserved for an extraordinary
fate. “Nil desperandum” was ever
my motto; and yet, in the present
case, I suffered appearances to snatch
it from me. For a time, I thought
my search was at an end—that the
trunk was useless for any purpose but
that of kindling a blaze. When
black Will came to cut my wood, I
desired my good woman to bring me
up his axe for three minutes, and I
proceeded to break up the chest. It is
nothing, thought I, but useless lumber.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03225.xmlTue, 24 Mar 1970 12:00:00 GMTExtract from the 'Sky-Walk.'. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03228.xml
[In our last number notice was given
of a New Work of Invention and
Reflection, which is ready to be
offered to public patronage. The
nature of its design, the singularity
of its title, the circumstance of its
being written by a native citizen
of Philadelphia, and of its being on
the point of soliciting the encourage-
ment of the public, have induced us,
for the satisfaction of our readers,
to solicit, from the author, the
privilege of making an extract
from his manuscript. Although
unable to fix on any part capable of
conveying a perfect idea of the
whole, we trust the following may
serve as a specimen of the work.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03228.xmlTue, 24 Mar 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home, No. IX. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03257.xml
MISS De Moivre did not fail to
remind me of my promise when
I next saw her. I repeated that the
task which she assigned to me, was
arduous. It was perhaps impossible
to say what species of employment
was most beneficial. Some might be
mentioned from which unquestionable
benefits would flow. It is worthy of
a rational being to weigh with scru-
pulous exactness; to chuse that only
which is intrinsically preferable. This,
however, is your own province, not
mine. I will point out one method,
and state the recommendations that
belong to it. Judge you whether it
outgoes in excellence all others.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-03257.xmlTue, 31 Mar 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home, No. X. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04289.xml
THE second period of Miss De
Moivre's life was still more worthy
to be exhibited. She was now become
a woman, and was preparing to return
to her father, when a letter from him
informed her of a change in his plans.
He was considerably capricious, and
had roamed about so much, that he
found it impossible to remain long in
one place. Add to this, a sudden
scheme that occurred to him of ex-
ploring the southern side of mount
Jura, as a botanist. Every thing
must yield to the gratification of his
darling passion. He immediately re-
solved to sell his property in St. Do-
mingo and return to France, and of
this, timely information was received
by his daughter.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04289.xmlTue, 07 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home, No. XI. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04320.xml
WHAT a series of calamities is
the thread of human existence?
I have heard of men who, though
free themselves from any uncommon
distress, were driven to suicide by
reflecting on the misery of others.
They employed their imagination in
running over the catalogue of human
woes, and were so affected by the
spectacle, that they willingly resorted
to death to shut it from their view.
No doubt their minds were consti-
tuted after a singular manner. We are
generally prone, when objects chance
to present to us their gloomy side, to
change their position, till we hit upon
the brightest of its aspects.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04320.xmlTue, 14 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home, No. XII. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04352.xml
IT is amusing to remark in what va-
rious points of view the passion of
love has been considered. I was lately
perusing an author*, whose theory
* Darwin's Zoonomia. Eratomania.
had more novelty, and wore an air of
greater paradox than I have hitherto
met with. He is a physician who
makes a threefold classification of
diseases. The two first classes are
fashioned on a new, but on no fantasti-
cal model. If there be any truth in the
customary distinctions, these are suf-
ficiently within the province of the
medical art. Many of the articles
that constitute the third class have
hitherto been assigned to the mo-
ralist. This writer, however, very
gravely arranges them in his cata-
logue, annexes a technical descrip-
tion, and prescribes the “modus
medendi.”http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04352.xmlTue, 21 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters – Letter I. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04364.xml
THE series of original letters, enclo-
sed, came by chance into my possession.
I send them to you with permission to
publish them, though without the con-
currence of the writers. Their consent
I have reason to believe would be given
if it were asked; but the distance of their
present abode, rendering that impossible,
we must dispense with it. The only
liberty I have taken is to substitute, in
some cases, fictitious for real names.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04364.xmlTue, 21 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTThe Man at Home, No. XIII. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04383.xml
TO be sure! Yet retire for a
while: I shall not leap out of
the window to escape you. I am
weary of my present habitation, and
should, in a few days, have put myself
within your power. I have not the
least objection to this visit, though,
I must own, it was somewhat unex-
pected.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04383.xmlTue, 28 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters. – Letter II. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04389.xml
Burlington, May
* 7, 1794.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04389.xmlTue, 28 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters. – Letter III. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04391.xml
Philada. May 10, 1794.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-04391.xmlTue, 28 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters [Nos. 4-5]. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05008.xml
Burlington, May 14, 1794.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05008.xmlTue, 05 May 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters. – Letter VI. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05046.xml
Burlington, May 21, 1794.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05046.xmlTue, 12 May 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters. – Letter VII. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05069.xml
Philadelphia, May 25, 1794.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05069.xmlTue, 19 May 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Lesson on Sensibility. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05071.xml
ARCHIBALD was a youth of very
lively parts. His sensibility had be-
come diseased by an assiduous study of
those Romancers and Poets, who
make love the basis of their fictions.
He had scarcely grown up, when he
contracted a passion for a woman,
whose chief merit consisted in her
beauty. A new object quickly suc-
ceeded: Though he loved for a time
with every appearance of ardour, it
was perceived that his affections were
easily transferred to a new object,
and easily dissolved by absence. Love
however, was his element: He could
not exist without it. To sigh, to
muse, to frame elegies, was the busi-
ness of his life. Provided there was
some object to receive his amorous
devoirs, it seemed nearly indifferent
what the real qualifications of the
object were.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05071.xmlTue, 19 May 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters – Letter IX. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05103.xml
Philadelphia, May 30, 1794.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-05103.xmlTue, 26 May 1970 12:00:00 GMTA Series of Original Letters. – Letter X. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-06135.xml
Philadelphia, June 3d, 1794.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-06135.xmlTue, 02 Jun 1970 12:00:00 GMTWieland; or The Transformation. An American Tale. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-09000.xml
I Feel little reluctance in complying with your
request. You know not fully the cause of my
sorrows. You are a stranger to the depth of my
distresses. Hence your efforts at consolation must
necessarily fail. Yet the tale that I am going to tell
is not intended as a claim upon your sympathy. In
the midst of my despair, I do not disdain to con-
tribute what little I can to the benefit of mankind.
I acknowledge your right to be informed of the
events that have lately happened in my family.
Make what use of the tale you shall think proper.
If it be communicated to the world, it will incul-
cate the duty of avoiding deceit. It will exemplify
the force of early impressions, and show the im-
measurable evils that flow from an erroneous or
imperfect discipline.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1798-09000.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTOrmond; or The Secret Witness. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-01000.xml
STEPHEN DUDLEY was a native of New-
York. He was educated to the profession of a
painter. His father's trade was that or an apo-
thecary. But this son, manifesting an attachment
to the pencil, he was resolved that it should be
gratified. For this end Stephen was sent at an
early age to Europe, and not only enjoyed the in-
structions of Fuzeli and Bartolozzi, but spent a
considerable period in Italy, in studying the Au-
gustan and Medicean monuments. It was intend-
ed that he should practise his art in his native city,
but the young man, though reconciled to this
scheme by deference to paternal authority, and by
a sense of it...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-01000.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTEdgar Huntly: A Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-03021.xml
Mr. Editor,http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-03021.xmlWed, 01 Apr 1970 12:00:00 GMTArthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-05000.xml
I WAS resident in this city during the year 1793.
Many motives contributed to detain me, though departure
was easy and commodious, and my friends were generally
solicitous for me to go. It is not my purpose to enumerate
these motives, or to dwell on my present concerns and trans-
actions, but merely to compose a narrative of some incidents
with which my situation made me acquainted.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-05000.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTPortrait of An Emigrant. Extracted from a Letter. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-06161.xml
I CALLED, as you desired, on
Mrs. K——. We had consi-
derable conversation. Knowing,
as you do, my character and her's,
you may be somewhat inquisitive
as to the subject of our conversa-
tion. You may readily suppose
that my inquiries were limited to
domestic and every-day incidents.
The state of her own family, and
her servants and children being dis-
cussed, I proceeded to inquire into
the condition of her neighbours.
It is not in large cities as it is in
villages. Those whose education
does not enable and accustom them
to look abroad, to investigate the
character and actions of beings of a
distant age and country, are gene-
rally attentive to what is passing
under their own eye. Mrs. K—
never reads, not even a newspaper.
She is unacquainted with what hap-
pened before she was born. She is
equally a stranger to the events that
are passing in distant nations, and
to those which ingross the atten-
tion and shake the passions of the
statesmen and politicians of her
own country; but her mind, ne-
vertheless, is ...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-06161.xmlMon, 01 Jun 1970 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-06191.xml
YES, my friend, I admit the
justice of your claim. There
is but one mode of appeasing your
wonder at my present condition,
and that is the relation of the events
of my life. This will amply justify
my choice of an abode in these
mountainous and unvisited recesses,
and explain why I thus anxiously
shut out from my retreat the foot-
steps and society of men.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-06191.xmlMon, 01 Jun 1970 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-07267.xml
[Continued from p. 215]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-07267.xmlWed, 01 Jul 1970 12:00:00 GMTEdgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-08000.xml
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-08000.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-08350.xml
[Continued from p. 282.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-08350.xmlSat, 01 Aug 1970 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-09424.xml
[Continued from p. 359.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-09424.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-12424.xml
[Continued from p. 359.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-12424.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-01017.xml
[Continued from p. 434 of vol. i.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-01017.xmlWed, 01 Jan 1800 12:00:00 GMTA Lesson on Concealment; or, Memoirs of Mary Selwyn. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-03174.xml
YOU will return, Harry, to an
house of sorrow. Your pre-
sence will contribute to make my
solitude less painful. I would, there-
fore, intreat you to come back im-
mediately: but there is something to
be first settled before I can meet you
with satisfaction, or even before I
can permit you to return to me. I
have had something on my mind
to disclose, which I have brooded
over occasionally ever since we
parted, but which it is now abso-
lutely necessary to mention.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-03174.xmlSat, 01 Mar 1800 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-04256.xml
[Continued from page 30.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-04256.xmlTue, 01 Apr 1800 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-05330.xml
[Continued from p. 284.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-05330.xmlThu, 01 May 1800 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Stephen Calvert. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-06413.xml
[Continued from p. 340 and concluded.]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-06413.xmlSun, 01 Jun 1800 12:00:00 GMTThe Trials of Arden. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-07019.xml
New-York, April, 1800.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-07019.xmlTue, 01 Jul 1800 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler.—No. I.. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002a.xml
What name is this? And to be conferred
by a man on himself! Yet this is frequently
the best policy. The surest way to preclude,
is to anticipate censure, for no one will think
it worth while, to call a poor culprit by names
which the culprit has liberally and uncere-
moniously given himself. If Tom says—“I am
a fool and an oddity”—his worst enemies
can only add—“So you are.”http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002a.xmlFri, 01 Aug 1800 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler.—No. II.. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002b.xml
Ah! Jenny! these are hard times, but
ours is no extraordinary lot. Heavy as the
burden is on us, there are thousands on whom
the load is heavier still, while the shoulders
on which it is laid, are far less able to sus-
tain it than ours.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002b.xmlFri, 01 Aug 1800 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler.—No. III.. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002c.xml
Why truly, Sister, I have no objection, but
first, I must despatch my daily scribble. Con-
tent thyself for a while with a look out from
thy window. This is a more amusing em-
ployment than I thought it would prove.
What importance does it give, to have one's
idle reveries clothed with the typographical
vesture, multiplied some thousand fold, and
dispersed far and wide among the race of
readers! I wonder the scheme never occur-
red to me before.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002c.xmlFri, 01 Aug 1800 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler.—No. IV.. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002d.xml
Methinks I blush to mention what is just
now the subject of my thoughts. Even to
trust it to paper, when the name of the wri-
ter is invisible, as mine shall always be, is
somewhat difficult. Whence does this reluct-
ance to acknowledge our poverty arise?http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002d.xmlFri, 01 Aug 1800 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler.—No. V.. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002e.xml
'Tis a sad thing to be without a friend.
To pass to and fro, through a busy crowd and
no eye be caught at your approach; no coun-
tenance expand into smiles, no hand be
stretched forth and while it grasps yours,
be accompanied by the friendly greeting of
“How d'ye.”http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-08002e.xmlFri, 01 Aug 1800 12:00:00 GMTArthur Mervyn; Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793, part 2. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-09000.xml
Here ended the narrative of Mervyn. Surely its in-
cidents were of no common kind. During this season
of pestilence, my opportunities of observation had been
numerous, and I had not suffered them to pass unim-
proved. The occurrences which fell within my own
experience bore a general resemblance to those which
had just been related, but they did not hinder the latter
from striking on my mind with all the force of novelty.
They served no end, but as vouchers for the truth of
the tale.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-09000.xmlWed, 01 Jan 1800 12:00:00 GMTFor the Monthly Magazine. Case of Long Life in Gaspard Courtrai. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-10247.xml
I SHOULD not write to you,
at present, my friend, but be-
cause I have some leisure, and be-
cause I have something to write
about which may possibly amuse
you. I know your disposition, and
would willingly assist you in your
favourite pursuits.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-10247.xmlWed, 01 Oct 1800 12:00:00 GMTClara Howard; In a Series of Letters. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1801-06000.xml
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1801-06000.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1801 12:00:00 GMTJane Talbot, A Novel. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1801-12000.xml
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1801-12000.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1801 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1803-11100.xml
I was the second son of a farmer,
whose place of residence was a wes-
tern district of Pennsylvania. My eld-
est brother seemed fitted by nature
for the employment to which he
was destined. His wishes never
led him astray from the hay-stack
and the furrow. His ideas never
ranged beyond the sphere of his
vision, or suggested the possibility
that to-morrow could differ from to-
day. He could read and write, be-
cause he had no alternative between
learning the lesson prescribed to
him, and punishment. He was di-
ligent, as long as fear urged him
forward, but his exertions ceased
with the cessation of this motive.
The limits of his acquirements con-
sisted in signing his name, and spel-
ling out a chapter in the bible.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1803-11100.xmlTue, 01 Nov 1803 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Carwin the Biloquist [No. II]. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1803-12181.xml
My father's sister was an ancient
lady, resident in Philadelphia, the
relict of a merchant, whose decease
left her the enjoyment of a frugal
competence. She was without
children, and had often expressed
her desire that her nephew Frank,
whom she always considered as a
sprightly and promising lad, should
be put under her care. She offered
to be at the expense of my educa-
tion, and to bequeath to me at her
death her slender patrimony.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1803-12181.xmlThu, 01 Dec 1803 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-01255.xml
I had taken much pains to im-
prove the sagacity of a favourite
Spaniel. It was my purpose, indeed,
to ascertain to what degree of im-
provement the principles of reason-
ing and imitation could be carried in
a dog. There is no doubt that the
animal affixes distinct ideas to
sounds. What are the possible
limits of his vocabulary no one can
tell. In conversing with my dog
I did not use English words, but
selected simple monosyllables. Ha-
bit likewise enabled him to compre-
hend my gestures. If I crossed my
hands on my breast he understood
the signal and laid down behind me.
If I joined my hands and lifted them
to my breast, he returned home. If
I grasped one arm above the elbow
he ran before me. If ...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-01255.xmlSun, 01 Jan 1804 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Carwin the Biloquist [No. 4]. (Continued from page 259.). Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-02332.xml
My visits gradually became more
frequent. Meanwhile my wants
increased, and the necessity of
some change in my condition be-
came daily more urgent. This in-
cited my reflections on the scheme
which I had formed. The time
and place suitable to my design,
were not selected without much
anxious inquiry and frequent wa-
verings of purpose. These being
at length flexed, the interval, to
elapse, before the carrying of my
design into effect, was not without
perturbation and suspense. These
could not be concealed from my
new friend and at length prompted
him to inquire into the cause.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-02332.xmlWed, 01 Feb 1804 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Carwin the Biloquist [No. 5]. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-03412.xml
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-03412.xmlThu, 01 Mar 1804 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Carwin the Biloquist [No. 6]. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-04003.xml
IN answer to the reveries and spe-
culations which I sent to him re-
specting this subject, Ludloe inform-
ed me, that they had led his mind
into a new sphere of meditation. He
had long and deeply considered in
what way he might essentially pro-
mote my happiness. He had enter-
tained a faint hope that I would one
day be qualified for a station like
that to which he himself had been
advanced. This post required an
elevation and stability of views which
human beings seldom reach, and
which could be attained by me only
by a long series of heroic labours.
Hitherto every new stage in my in-
tellectual progress had added vigour
to his hopes, and he cherished a
stronger belief than formerly that
my career would terminate auspi-
ciously. This, however, was neces-
sarily distant. Many preliminaries
must first be settled; many arduous
accomplishments be first obtained;
and my virtue be subjected to severe
trials. At present it was not in his
power to be more explicit; but if
my reflections suggested no better
plan, h...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-04003.xmlSun, 01 Apr 1804 12:00:00 GMTMemoirs of Carwin the Biloquist [No. 6]. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-05089.xml
MEANWHILE, in a point of so
much moment, I was not hasty to
determine. My delay seemed to be,
by no means, unacceptable to Lud-
loe, who applauded my discretion,
and warned me to be circumspect.
My attention was chiefly absorb-
ed by considerations connected with
this subject, and little regard was
paid to any foreign occupation or
amusement.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-05089.xmlTue, 01 May 1804 12:00:00 GMTFor the Literary Magazine. Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. Continued. [No.7]. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-07248b.xml
LUDLOE'S remarks on the se-
ductive and bewitching powers of
women, on the difficulty of keeping
a secret which they wish to know,
and to gain which they employ the
soft artillery of tears and prayers,
and blandishments and menaces,
are familiar to all men, but they had
little weight with me, because they
were unsupported by my own ex-
perience. I had never had any in-
tellectual or sentimental connection
with the sex. My meditations and
pursuits had all led a different way,
and a bias had gradually been
given to my feelings, very unfavour-
able to the refinements of love. I
acknowledge, with shame and re-
gret, that I was accustomed to re-
gard the physical and sensual con-
sequences of the sexual relation as
realities, and every thing intellec-
tual, disinterested, and heroic, which
enthusiasts connect with it as idle
dreams. Besides, said I, I am yet
a stranger to the secret, on the pre-
servation of which so much stress is
laid, and it will be optional with
me to receive it or not. If, in
the progress of...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1804-07248b.xmlSun, 01 Jul 1804 12:00:00 GMTRichard the Third and Perkin Warbeck. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02108.xml
THE folly and the fallacy of fame
is an old theme of observation; but
there are few instances of its absur-
dity and injustice more memorable
than in relation to the character of
Richard the third. Happening to
be unfortunate in battle, and a rival
king and family stepping into his
place, his character has been ma-
ligned and mangled without mercy.
One historian after another has re-
peated the tale of his murders, per-
juries, and usurpations; and what
the grave historian relates to a few,
the poet has rendered familiar to
all mankind.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02108.xmlFri, 01 Feb 1805 12:00:00 GMTFor the Literary Magazine. Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. Continued from vol. II, page 252. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02110.xml
THE books which composed this
little library were chiefly the voya-
ges and travels of the missionaries
of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. Added to these were
some works upon political economy
and legislation. Those writers who
have amused themselves with re-
ducing their ideas to practice, and
drawing imaginary pictures of na-
tions or republics, whose manners
or government came up to their
standard of excellence, were, all of
whom I had ever heard, and some
I had never heard of before, to be
found in this collection. A transla-
tion of Aristotle's republic, the poli-
tical romances of sir Thomas
Moore, Harrington, and Hume,
appeared to have been much read,
and Ludlow had not been sparing of
his marginal comments. In these
writers he appeared to find nothing
but error and absurdity; and his
notes were introduced for no other
end than to point out groundless
principles and false conclusions…..
The style of these remarks was al-
ready familiar to me. I saw no-
thing new in them, or different from
the ...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02110.xmlFri, 01 Feb 1805 12:00:00 GMTFor the Literary Magazine. Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. Continued from page 114. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-03210.xml
I RETIRED accordingly to my
apartment, and spent the prescribed
hour in anxious and irresolute re-
flections. They were no other than
had hitherto occurred, but they oc-
curred with more force than ever.
Some fatal obstinacy, however, got
possession of me, and I persisted in
the resolution of concealing one
thing. We become fondly attached
to objects and pursuits, frequently
for no conceivable reason but the
pain and trouble they cost us. In
proportion to the danger in which
they involve us do we cherish them.
Our darling potion is the poison that
scorches our vitals.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-03210.xmlFri, 01 Mar 1805 12:00:00 GMTKotan Husbandry. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-04303.xml
HUSBANDRY, the most import-
ant of all arts, has been reduced to
very simple principles, and been
brought within a very narrow com-
pass, by this nation. There is no
art susceptible of greater variety in
its operations than this, and none in
which the western nations have ac-
tually adopted a greater number and
diversity of modes. This obviously
arises from the dispersed and un-
connected situation of the cultivators,
and from their stupidity and igno-
rance. The learned and curious
have laid out their wealth and their
curiosity on different objects, and
the art of extracting human subsist-
ence from the earth has been treat-
ed with contempt and negligence.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-04303.xmlMon, 01 Apr 1805 12:00:00 GMTSomnambulism. A fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-05335.xml
The following fragment will require no
other preface or commentary than an
extract from the Vienna Gazette of
June 14, 1784. “At Great Glogau,
in Silesia, the attention of physi-
cians, and of the people, has been
excited by the case of a young man,
whose behaviour indicates perfect
health in all respects but one. He
has a habit of rising in his sleep, and
performing a great many actions with
as much order and exactness as when
awake. This habit for a long time
showed itself in freaks and achieve-
ments merely innocent, or, at least,
only troublesome and inconvenient,
till about six weeks ago. At that
period a shocking event took place
about three leagues from the town,
and in the neighbourhood where the
youth's family resides. A young
lady, travelling with her father by
night, was shot dead upon the road,
by some person unknown. The offi-
cers of justice took a good deal of
pains to trace the author of the
crime, and at length, by carefully
comparing circumstances, a suspicion
was fixed upon this youth. Afte...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-05335.xmlWed, 01 May 1805 12:00:00 GMTPestilence and Bad Government Compared. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1806-12448.xml
WHAT a series of calamities is
the thread of human existence! I
have heard of men who, though free
themselves from any uncommon dis-
tress, were driven to suicide by re-
flecting on the misery of others.
They employed their imagination in
running over the catalogue of human
woes, and were so affected by the
spectacle, that they willingly resort-
ed to death to shut it from their view.
No doubt their minds were consti-
tuted after a singular manner, for
we are generally prone, when ob-
jects chance to present to us their
gloomy side, to change their position,
till we hit upon the brightest of its
aspects.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1806-12448.xmlMon, 01 Dec 1806 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler. No. I. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-01057.xml
I have often been struck by the different value which men
annex to their own literary productions, and to those of others. It
is not simply that the fame and success of our own performance
is dear to us, that we wish it to be read, studied and admired for
the sake of being extolled or revered by others, as the authors of
so much eloquence or wisdom. We feel unspeakable compla-
cency and satisfaction in the survey of the work; review it fre-
quently and with new pleasure, and when it has been laid aside
or disappeared so long as to be nearly forgotten, we fasten upon
in anew with the utmost eagerness, and give it a dozen succes-
sive readings without satiety or weariness.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-01057.xmlSun, 01 Jan 1809 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler. No. II. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-02162.xml
Those who write without affording any pleasure except to them-
selves may be aptly distinguished by the name of Scribblers, but what
name shall we confer on those who read with the same limited effects;
without being inclined or enabled by their reading to please or benefit
others?http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-02162.xmlWed, 01 Feb 1809 12:00:00 GMTInsanity: A Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-02165.xml
—He is an unfortunate kinsman of ours (said Mrs. Ellen) who has
been, for some years, a lunatic. She related his story, on my manifest-
ing a curiosity to know the particulars, at some length. This was
the substance of it.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-02165.xmlWed, 01 Feb 1809 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler. No. III. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-04338.xml
Ridicule, says some one, is the test of truth. If we judge by the
ordinary practice of mankind, this opinion seems to be generally
adopted, for nothing is more common than to use this weapon against
those whose conduct or opinions, we disapprove; yet, why this opinion
has been sanctioned by the approbation of all, and the practice of as
many as are qualified for the undertaking, I am quite at a loss to con-
ceive. The purpose which ridicule designs to effect is laughter, and
the means adopted for this end are universally, an aggravation, dis-
tortion, or concealment of the truth. It is absolutely necessary to heigh-
ten the natural colours of most objects, to enlarge their proper linea-
ments and features, or to show some of them disconnected with others,
which are their genuine attendants, in order to render them ridiculous.
If we examine any instance of ridicule, either in books, or conversa-
tion, we shall not fail to find it such as I have mentioned. If we are
acquainted with the original of which the lu...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-04338.xmlSat, 01 Apr 1809 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler. No. IV. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-05421.xml
There are a great many wise sayings current on the worthless-
ness of wealth and power; or rather on their positive and universal
tendency to injure the possessor, to deprave his morals and subvert his
happiness. Judging from the invectives of the teachers of mankind,
one would think that rank, office, and riches would be as sedulously
avoided, by those who desire to be happy, as any other road to ruin.
Yet no one seems to be the better for these admonitions. People tug at
the oar as strenuously, they manage the helm as vigilantly as ever,
of that bark, by which they expect to gain the haven of riches and
power.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-05421.xmlMon, 01 May 1809 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler. No. V. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-07029.xml
Your countrymen, said a splenetic friend of mine, who has travel-
led a good deal in America, are a nation of readers. Taking one with
another, a far greater number of the people devote some of their time
to reading, than of any other nation of the world. In Great Britain,
France, and Germany, those who do, or who can read, bear a very
small proportion to the rest. They are scarcely one in twenty; but in
America almost every man is a student.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-07029.xmlSat, 01 Jul 1809 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler, No. VI. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-08124.xml
The writers of periodical essays frequently confess themselves very
much at a loss for a subject. This is a little surprising to those who
consider the essential and unlimited variety of human thought, and
even those who prescribe to themselves a task of this kind, while they
are often sensible of this difficulty, cannot but wonder that it should
ever prove to be such. Even when they narrow their view, from the
consideration of subjects in general, to that of subjects proper for
them to discuss, the variety is still inexhaustible.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1809-08124.xmlTue, 01 Aug 1809 12:00:00 GMTCannot you come to me Jessy?.... Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1811-00108.xml
“Cannot you come to me Jessy? I want you much. I long
for you. Nay, I cannot do without you; so, at all events, you
must come. That is no objection, my dear, for methinks I hear
you plead, good girl, as you are, your mother's infirmities. I tell
you that is no objection; she can spare you for a week or two
surely: at least, a day or two. She will not miss you for so short
a time. Besides, Jessy, do not be partial,. Recollect you have
a friend as well as a mother, and some attention is due to the first
as well as the last; and I want you more than your mother can
want you. You will be of more service to me than to her; quite
as much, at any rate. I have a better, or an equal claim to have
you with me altogether; but you see I urge not my claim, and I
hope you will give me some credit for moderation. I do not ask
you to come and stay with me constantly, but a week or two, at
this delightful season, I must have.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1811-00108.xmlTue, 01 Jan 1811 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1815-02264.xml
WHAT a name is this! And to be conferred by a man on
himself! Yet this is frequently the best policy. The surest
way to preclude, is to anticipate, censure, for no one will think
it worth while, to call a poor culprit by names which the culprit
has liberally and unceremoniously given himself. If Tom says,
“I am a fool and an oddity,” his worst enemies can only add,
“so you are.”http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1815-02264.xmlSun, 01 Jan 1815 12:00:00 GMTSelected for the Cabinet. The Scribbler—No. 1. By Charles Brockden Brown. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-09155a.xml
What name is this? And to be confer-
red by a man on himself! Yet this is
frequently the best policy. The surest
way to preclude, is to anticipate censure,
for no one will think it worth while, to
call a poor culprit by names which the
culprit has liberally and unceremonious-
ly given himself. If Tom says—“I am
a fool and an oddity” —his worst ene-
mies can only add—“So you are.”http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-09155a.xmlSat, 21 Sep 1822 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler—No. 2. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-09155b.xml
Ah! Jenny! these are hard times,
but ours is no extraordinary lot. Heavy
as the burden is on us, there are thou-
sands on whom the load is heavier still,
while the shoulders on which it is laid
are far less able to sustain it than ours.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-09155b.xmlSat, 21 Sep 1822 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler—No. 3. By Charles Brockden Brown. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-09162.xml
Why truly, Sister, I have no objection,
but first, I must despatch my daily scrib-
ble. Content thyself for a while with a
look out from thy window. This is a
more amusing employment than I
thought it would prove. What impor-
tance does it give, to have one's idle
reveries clothed with the typographical
vesture, multiplied some thousand fold,
and dispersed far and wide among the
race of readers! I wonder the scheme
never occurred to me before.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-09162.xmlSat, 28 Sep 1822 12:00:00 GMTSelected for the Cabinet. The Scribbler—No. 4. By Charles Brockden Brown. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-10169.xml
[We have failed in receiving the copy of the
Marauder from the author, who is now in the
country. —The Tale will be resumed in the next
Cabinet]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-10169.xmlSat, 05 Oct 1822 12:00:00 GMTThe Scribbler—No. 5. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-10170.xml
'Tis a sad thing to be without a friend.
To pass to and fro, through a busy
crowd and no eye be caught at your ap-
proach; no countenance expand into
smiles, no hand be stretched forth and
while it grasps yours, be accompanied
by the friendly greeting of “How d'ye.”http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1822-10170.xmlSat, 05 Oct 1822 12:00:00 GMTHenrietta Letters. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1790-MM002.xml
I am never so happy as when employed in writing to my friend; and I am
willing to perswade myself that he recieves no less pleasure from answering
than I from the composition of my letters. What a scribbler have I suddenly
become! and how many of those hours do I now devote to the pen which
were formerly engrossed by the needle, and the book. It is true that your
performances have be made me more attached to my Music, than I have
formerly been. I pay more attention to it than is, perhaps, consistent with
a prudent distribution of my time, but that is of small importance
when compared to the time which I dedicate to our correspondence
I protest I think, that, if we proced, for a considerable period, in this manner
I shall begin to imagine myself your rival in composition. I know you
value yourself extreemly, and with justice, on the ease and vigour and
correctness of your Style. Be assured my friend I never shall be able to contend
with
you in those quallifications, but in th...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1790-MM002.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTEllendale Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1793-MM003.xml
arrived as speedily as thou could wish it. If thy ingagements would
I should insist upon thy presence with us; Thy fancy has not been
to the truth: The Scienc of our several operations are indeed sufficiently
t this letter is a proof that the elements in which our minds
ly the same:http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1793-MM003.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTMedwaye Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1793-MM004.xml
[recto side of page:]http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1793-MM004.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTGodolphin Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1793-MM005.xml
Thou hast a generous correspondent my Susan. I wish thy engagements would
suffer thee to vye with him in generosity: Yet would thou be more laudably
employed then than now: if time made not those demands on thy attention
and activity which it now makes, would it not furnish ‸thee with more useful employ
-ment than that of writing league-long letters ‸to me That is a question: but if
I should be obliged to answer yes: I must add, that I ‸can conceive an hundred occupa
=tions, all specious and grave, which would be of less Utility than ‸that of furnishing
R.H. with new motives to virtue and diligencehttp://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1793-MM005.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTAlloa Fragment no. 1. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1796-MM007.xml
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1796-MM007.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTAlloa Fragment no. 2. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1796-MM008.xml
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1796-MM008.xmlThu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 GMTThessalonica: A Roman Story. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-05099.xml
THESSALONICA, in conse-
quence of its commercial si-
tuation, was populous and rich. Its
fortifications and numerous garri-
son had preserved it from injury
during the late commotions,* and
the number of inhabitants was great-
ly increased, at the expense of the
defenceless districts and cities. Its
place, with relation to Dalmatia, the
Peloponnesus, and the Danube, was
nearly centrical. Its security had
been uninterrupted for ages, and no
city in the empire of Theodosius
exhibited so many monuments of
its ancient prosperity. It had been,
for many years, the residence of the
prince, and had thence become the
object of a kind of filial affection.
He had laboured to render it im-
pregnable, by erecting bulwarks,
and guarding it with the bravest of
his troops; he had endowed the ci-
tizens with new revenues and privi-
leges, had enhanced the frequency
of their shows, and the magnificence
of their halls and avenues, and made
it the seat of government of Illyria
and Greece.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1799-05099.xmlFri, 01 May 1970 12:00:00 GMTDeath of Cicero, A Fragment. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-00000.xml
The task of relating the last
events in the life of my beloved master,
has fallen upon me. His last words
reminded me of the obligation, which I
had long since assumed, of conveying
to his Atticus a faithful account of his
death. Having performed this task, life
will cease to be any longer of value.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-00000.xmlWed, 01 Jan 1800 12:00:00 GMTJessy Fragments. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-MM010.xml
Jessy fragment 1http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1800-MM010.xmlWed, 01 Jan 1800 12:00:00 GMTA Specimen of Agricultural Improvement. Extracted from the correspondence of a traveller in Scotland. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02086.xml
——THE northern estate called
C——, contains about twenty-five
thousand acres, and consists of a
roundish piece of land, jutting out
into the Irish sea, connected, by a
narrow peninsula, with the main
land of ———shire. The won-
ders wrought in this little territory,
by the genius of the proprietor, are
still more remarkable than those ef-
fected in W——, because its condi-
tion was far more desolate and for-
lorn, when it came into his possession.
Its general aspect was that of sterile
mountains, whose summits were
roughened with rocks, and whose
sides were covered with bog and
moss, and overrun with heath and
fern. Scarcely a fruit or timber
tree was any where to be seen…..
Near the coast a species of negli-
gent and slovenly cultivation took
place. About ten thousand acres,
or two-fifths of the whole, was di-
vided into two hundred farms, each,
on an average, consisting of fifty
acres, and containing, on the whole,
about fourteen hundred persons…..
Four hamlets, or villages, composed
of cottagers and petty tra...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02086.xmlFri, 01 Feb 1805 12:00:00 GMTSpecimen of Political Improvement. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02120.xml
Continued from page 86.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-02120.xmlFri, 01 Feb 1805 12:00:00 GMTSpecimen of Political Improvement. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-03201.xml
EVERY district in Great Britain,
of any considerable extent, contains
at least the vestiges of an ancient
castle and abbey. The ruinous con-
dition of these edifices is more ow-
ing to the neglect and violence of
men, than to the frailty of their
structure or materials. The fero-
cious avarice and barbarous tyranny
of Henry VIII, in England, and the
wild fury of a fanatical populace, in
Scotland, were the causes of the
destruction of abbeys; while the
change of manners, which rendered
a fortress no longer necessary to
personal safety, has occasioned the
ruin of castles. In some few instan-
ces the abbey, though with a multi-
tude of alterations, has become a
private dwelling, and the castle,
rendered sacred by the images of
ancient grandeur and power, has, at
an immense expense, been convert-
ed to the same use. In general,
however, both are reduced to their
foundations, and are cherished mere-
ly as mementos of past ages.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-03201.xmlFri, 01 Mar 1805 12:00:00 GMTA Specimen of Political Improvement. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-03214.xml
I AM much mistaken if the castle
of C—— be not, in many respects,
the most extraordinary monument
of its kind to be found in Great Bri-
tain, and perhaps in Europe. It is
true, my acquaintance with build-
ings of this sort is extremely limit-
ed, and the model of this castle may
be common in Italy and Germany,
but these, the vestiges of which are
scattered over the British islands,
seem to be constructed on a plan
widely different from this. You
must indulge me in giving you some
description of it, though I am aware
no description, in such cases, can be
very clear or satisfactory.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-03214.xmlFri, 01 Mar 1805 12:00:00 GMTThe Romance of Real Life. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-11392.xml
AT a general half-yearly meeting
of the society for the support and
encouragement of Sunday schools in
England and Wales, the committee
reported, that since the last general
meeting, in October, 1804, they had
added fifty-one schools, with the ad-
dition of more than 6000 scholars, to
the statement then delivered; and
that from the commencement of this
institution, in 1785, the society had
afforded aid, either in books or mo-
ney, to 2380 schools, containing
213,011 scholars, for whose use they
had distributed 200,974 spelling-
books, 46,465 testaments, and 6935
bibles, besides a sum of 41421. 4s. 5d.
granted to such schools as stood in
need of pecuniary assistance. The
effect of that attention which the
committee paid to petitions for assist-
ance from the principality of Wales
begins now to display itself in a man-
ner which promises the most exten-
sive and happy results. It is alrea-
dy ascertained that 115 schools have
been established by the society in
the counties of Flint, Denbigh, An-
glesey, Merione...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-11392.xmlFri, 01 Nov 1805 12:00:00 GMTThe Ivizan Cottager. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-12428.xml
WHEN we read the account
which travellers give of the mode
of living among savages, and even
among the class of peasantry in civil-
ized nations, we are prompted to
exclaim, How little is necessary to
human sustenance! When we hear
described the habitation of a single
room, whose floor is the damp bare
earth; whose roof is straw or moss;
eight or ten feet high, and ten or
twelve in diameter; where the fire
is kindled in the middle; whose
smoke finds no other outlet, and
whose light finds no other entrance,
than the door-way; we can scarcely
credit the tale. Our credulity is still
more shocked, when it is added, that
these mansions frequently swarm
with young children, who are plump,
buxom, and robust. If our own edu-
cation has been soft and delicate, our
minds are crowded with the number-
less wants and perils which are in-
cident to matrimonial life, to chil-
dren and their mothers, and are at
a loss to conceive how these desti-
tute wretches are able to exist, or to
preserve their progeny in such drea-
ry...http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1805-12428.xmlSun, 01 Dec 1805 12:00:00 GMTSketches of Carsol. Brown, Charles Brockden
http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1811-00170.xml
“THE funds of Carsol amount to an annual payment of two
and an half million of ducats, or 612,500l. sterling. They con-
sist of shares of 100 ducats each; the number of shares is, con-
sequently, 25,000. Cards of the shape and size of a ducat, the
edges hardened by a species of glue, represent this property, and
are transferable like pieces of money. The production of the
card, at the proper office in the capital, entitles it to payment five
times in the year, or twenty dollars at a time, on each share. As
all payments are recorded, the numbers being creditors, pay-
ments may be declined, and the money left to accumulate. This
may happen in consequence of the loss or destruction of a card;
of the absence of the holder, or his voluntary reservation of the
claim. In case of loss or destruction, due proof will be received
by the office, and new cards issued. Old, defaced or torn cards
may be renewed at pleasure.http://brockdenbrown.cah.ucf.edu/xtf3/view?docId=1811-00170.xmlTue, 01 Jan 1811 12:00:00 GMT