aw; but a visit to New York, where he was
cordially received by the members of the "Friendly Club," opened up
avenues of literary work to him, and he removed to New York in 1796 to
devote himself to it.

The first important work he produced was 'Wieland: or the
Transformation' (1798). It shows at the outset Brown's characteristic
traits--independence of British materials and methods. It is in
substance a powerful tale of ventriloquism operating on an unbalanced
and superstitious mind. Its psychology is acute and searching; the
characterization realistic and effective. His second book, 'Ormond: or
the Secret Witness' (1799), does not reach the level of 'Wieland.' It is
more conventional, and not entirely independent of foreign models,
especially Godwin, whom Brown greatly admired. A rapid writer, he soon
had the MS. of his next novel in the hands of the publisher. The first
part of 'Arthur Mervyn: or Memoirs of the Year 1793' came out in 1799,
and the second part in 1800. It is the best known of his six novels.
Though the scene is laid in Philadelphia, Brown embodied in it his
experience of the yellow fever which raged in New York in 1799. The
passage describing this epidemic can stand beside Defoe's or Poe's or
Manzoni's similar descriptions, for power in setting forth the horrors
of the plague.

In the same year with the first volume of 'Arthur Mervyn' appeared
'Edgar Huntly: or Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker.' Here he deals with the
wild life of nature, the rugged solitudes, and the redskins, the field
in which he was followed by Cooper. A thrilling scene in which a
panther is chief actor was long familiar to American children in their
school reading-books.

In 1801 came out his last two novels, 'Clara Howard: In a Series of
Letters,' and 'Jane Talbot.' They are a departure from his previous
work: instead of dealing with uncanny subjects they treat of quiet
domestic and social life. They show also a great advance on his previous
books in constructive art. In 1799 Brown became editor of the Monthly
Magazine and American Review, and contributed largely to it.

In the autumn of 1801 he returned to Philadelphia, to assume the
editorship of Conrad's Literary Magazine and American Review. The duties
of this office suspended his own creative work, and he did not live to
take up again the novelist's stylus. In 1806 he became editor of the
Annual Register. His genuine literary force is best proved by the fact
that whatever per