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RHOWN. 



ami Great Britain. The first of these was the novel 

 called Wieland, which appeared in 1798. It soon 

 acquired the reputation of a powerful OIK! original 

 romance. The next published, in the following year, 

 \vasOrniond, or the Secret \Vitne-s, which hail neither 

 the success nor tin- merit of the oilier, but still exhi- 

 bits uncommon powers of invention and description. 

 At this time, B. had hejjnn no less than five novels, 

 two of which - Arthur Slcrvyn and Edgar Huntley 

 were completed and sent forth almost immediately. 

 In Arthur Mervyn, the ravages of the yellow fever, 

 which the author had witnessed in New York and 

 Philadelphia, are painted with terrific truth. All 

 the-e cimipovfons abound both with excellencies and 

 faults, and bear a diameter of originality. In 1801, 

 he published another novel Clara Howard less 

 open to exception, but also less deserving of praise. 

 Its form is different from that of the others, being 

 epistolary. The last of his novels was Jane Talbot, 

 originally pnhlMicd in London, in 1804. It is defi- 

 cient in interest, and, indeed, in all respects, inferior 

 to its predecessors. In April, 1799, B. published the 

 first number of the Monthly Magazine and American 

 Review. This work he continued with great industry 

 and ability until the end of the year 1800. He wrote 

 abundantly for it. Circumstances compelled him to 

 relinquish it ; but, in 1805, he commenced another 

 journal, with the title of the Literary Magazine and 

 American Register ; and, in this undertaking, he 

 persevered for five years. His prolific pen gave birth 

 to three large political pamphlets in the same interval. 

 Their respective titles ore, an Address to the Govern- 

 ment of the United States on the Cession of Louisiana 

 to the French, and on the late Breach of Treaty by 

 the Spaniards ; the British Treaty ; and an Address 

 to the Congress of the United States on the Utility 

 and Justice of Restrictions on Foreign Commerce, 

 with Reflections on Foreign Trade in general, and 

 the future Prospects of America. In 1804, B. mar- 

 ried Miss Linn, a sister of the amiable and popular 

 poet, the reverend doctor John Blair Linn. The 

 match proved eminently happy. In 1806, he entered 

 npon a new work, a semi-annual American Register, 

 five volumes of which he lived to complete and pub- 

 lish. It is now and must long be consulted as a 

 valuable body of annals. We have already men- 

 tioned the delicacy of B.'s constitution. It had a 

 tendency to consumption of the lungs, which his 

 sedentary and studious habits unfortunately aggra- 

 vated. In 1809, it was discovered that his lungs 

 were seriously affected, and he then consented to 

 travel for the recovery of his health. The remedy, 

 however, was applied too late. In November of that 

 year, after an excursion into the states of New Jer- 

 sey and New York, he betook himself to his chamber, 

 as he thought, for a few days ; but his confinement 

 lasted until February, and ended only with his life. 

 He expired on the 22d of that month, at the age of 

 thirty-nine. Among his manuscripts, an unfinished 

 system of geography was found, to which his friends 

 have ascribed rare merit. He was widely and critically 

 conversant with geography and history, and, there- 

 fore, particularly qualified to produce a superior sys- 

 tem of this kind. His knowledge of the French 

 language is evinced in his accurate translation of 

 Volney's Travels in the United States. B. was a 

 man of romantic temper, benevolent heart, pregnant 

 invention, extensive attainments, and prodigious 

 industry. His colloquial powers were considerable, 

 but rarely indulged in mixed society. He was re- 

 served, but not unsocial. He could be taxed with 

 no excess, save that of application. His moral cha- 

 racter has no stain. He was one of the gentlest of 

 human beings. In person, he was of the middle 

 s*e, and bore the marks of a valetudinarian and 



literary devotee. The writings of B. were admired 

 and current during his life. Even his novels, how- 

 e\er, fell after his death, into comparative oblivion 

 at home, and remained so until they began, not long 

 since, to be read and praised in Britain. An edition 

 of them in 6 vols. 8vo, was printed in Boston in 1828. 

 Their leading traits are, a rich and correct diction, 

 variety of incident, vivid scenes of joy and sorrow, a 

 minute development and strong display of emotion, 

 and a powerful use of wonderful phenomena in the 

 physical faculties and habits of man. Almost all is 

 new and strange in his machinery and situations ; 

 but he,deals too much in the horrible and criminal. 

 Extravagant and consummate depravity actuates too 

 many ofJiis characters. His scenes may rivet atten- 

 tion, and his plots excite the keenest curiosity ; yet 

 they pain the heart beyond the privilege of fiction, 

 and leave in the imagination only a crowd of terrific 

 phantasms. None oflus novels can be said to possess 

 unity in the details, or to be finished in the general 

 design and execution. These merits were incompa- 

 tible with the extreme rapidity of his workmanship, 

 and the number of distinct performances in which his 

 fancy and pen were engaged at the same time. 



BKOWN, George, count, an Irishman, who rose to 

 considerable distinction in Russia, was born in 1698, 

 studied at Limerick, and entered the Russian service, 

 in 1730, as lieutenant, where he distinguished himself 

 in several wars, and was three times made prisoner 

 and sold as a slave by the Turks. In reward for the 

 discovery of some secrets of the divan, he was made 

 major-general in the Russian army. In the battle of 

 Zorndorf, he was taken prisoner by the Prussians, 

 and disabled, by wounds, for future military services. 

 Notwithstanding his bold remonstrances against the 

 Danish war, Peter III. made him governor of Livonia, 

 in which post he remained thirty years, and was not 

 less honoured by Catharine II. He died in 1792. 



BROWN, John, M. D., the author of the Brunonian 

 system in medicine, was born in the parish of Buncle, 

 in the county of Berwick, in the year 1735, of parents 

 in a very humble sphere in life, his father being 

 merely a day labourer, and his mother a poor dairy 

 woman. Like the children of other Scottish cotters, 

 however, he received the advantage of being educated 

 at the parish school, where he was very soon distin- 

 guished for his abilities, and the rapid progress he made 

 in his studies. His father having died, his mother mar- 

 ried a weaver, and young Brown was bound an ap- 

 prentice to that business ; but the distaste he evinced 

 for it was so great as to induce his father-in-law to 

 cancel his indentures, and remove him to the grammar- 

 school of Dunse, where he was looked upon as quite 

 a prodigy; reading all the Latin authors with the 

 greatest facility ; and soon making considerable pro- 

 gress in Greek. So early as the age of thirteen, he 

 was received into the house of a neighbouring laird. 

 as a tutor to his sons, but being soon after disgusted 

 with his situation, he removed, in 1755, to Edinburgh, 

 with the intention of studying divinity and entering the 

 church. Having been invited, however, by his former 

 master to return to the school at Dunse, he abandoned 

 his theological studies to become an usher. After 

 spending one- year in this situation, he returned to 

 Edinburgh, with the hopes of succeeding to the situa- 

 tion of a mastership in the high school. However, 

 in this he was disappointed. Soon after, having been 

 employed by a medical student to translate his thesis 

 into Latin, he succeeded so well, that the elegance 

 and purity of the language attracted the notice and 

 encomiums of the professors. This induced him to 

 commence the study of medicine ; and, having ad- 

 dressed to the professors individually, a Latin letter, 

 they generously presented him with tickets to attend 

 their lectures. Dr Culle.n, in particular, was so<n 



