$50,000 to charitable institutions in Rhode Island. A full account of this family is given in the “Life, Times, and Correspondence of James Manning, and the Early History of Brown University,” by Reuben Aldridge Guild (Boston, 1864). See, also, “Historical Sketch of the Library of Brown University,” by the same author (New Haven, 1861).
|
|
BROWN, Charles Brockden, author, b. in
Philadelphia, 17 Jan., 1771; d. there, 22 Feb., 1810.
His ancestors were Quakers, who came over in the
ship with William Penn. Before he was ten years
old he was thoroughly acquainted with geography,
his favorite study, and had read every book he could
obtain. From his
eleventh till his
sixteenth year he
was at the school
of Robert Proud,
the historian, then
a noted teacher,
and studied so
assiduously that he
was often obliged
to leave his books
for a walking trip
through the country.
He was always
physically weak,
and, in a letter
written just before
his death, said that
he never had been
in perfect health
for more than half
an hour at a time.
On leaving school, Brown took to verse-writing,
and planned three epics on subjects connected
with American history, but no fragments of these
remain. At this time he sent to a periodical a
poetical “Address to Franklin,” throughout which
the editor substituted the name of Washington
for that of the philosopher, without regard to the
context. Brown began with very little ardor the
study of law, and determined to abandon it for
literature. Although this change was contrary to
the wishes of his family, it was the result of careful
thought. He had tested his powers as a writer
by contributing to the “Columbus Magazine,” by
a carefully kept diary, and by numerous essays read
before a “Belles-Lettres Club,” of which he had
been the leader. He was the first American to
adopt literature as a profession. Soon after making
this decision he visited his friend, Dr. Elihu H.
Smith, of New York, and, becoming acquainted
with many literary and scientific men of that city,
virtually made it his residence after that time. In
1797 he wrote a work entitled “Alcuin: a
Dialogue,” discussing with some boldness the topic of
divorce, but it attracted little attention. Soon
after this he projected a new magazine, which
never appeared, and in 1798 he contributed to the
“Weekly Magazine” a series of reflections on men
and society, entitled “The Man at Home.” In this
year he also began the publication of his novels,
which are his best-known works. He had already
made two abortive attempts at novel-writing. The
first was never finished, and the death of his printer
put a stop to the publication of the second. This
was entitled “Sky Walk; or, the Man Unknown to
Himself,” and portions of it were incorporated in
“Edgar Huntley,” a later work. Between 1798
and 1801 he published six novels, which attained
immediate success, and were the finest American
fictions until the appearance of Cooper's novels.
In April, 1799, Mr. Brown established, in New
York, the “Monthly Magazine and American
Review,” but it lasted only until the close of 1800.
In 1803 he made a second attempt, issuing, in
Philadelphia, the “Literary Magazine and American
Register,” which continued about five years.
In 1806 he began publishing semi-annually “The
American Register,” the first publication of the
kind in the country, and, ably edited, it was brought
to a close only by his death. In person, Mr. Brown
was tall, thin, and pale, had black hair, and a
melancholy expression of countenance. He intensely
enjoyed the society of intimate friends, but was
reserved with all others. His death was caused by
consumption, against which he had been struggling
from early boyhood. His novels are “Wieland, or
the Transformation,” an improbable though
fascinating tale of a ventriloquist, who by personating
a supernatural being, persuades the hero to kill
his wife and children (1798; London, 1811);
“Ormond, or the Secret Witness” (New York, 1799;
London, 1811): “Arthur Mervyn,” containing a
graphic description of Philadelphia as it was during
the yellow-fever plague of 1793 (Philadelphia,
1799-1800; London, 1803); “Jane Talbot” (1801);
“Edgar Huntley, or the Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker”
(1799; London, 1804); and “Clara Howard”
(1801), republished as “Philip Stanley” (London,
1806). These were published collectively (7 vols.,
Boston, 1827; new ed., 6 vols., Philadelphia, 1857).
Mr. Brown also published several political
pamphlets (1803-'9). including an “Address to
Congress on the Utility and Justice of Restrictions on
Foreign Commerce”; a translation of Volney's
“Travels in the United States” (1804); a memoir
of his brother-in-law, Dr. John B. Linn, prefixed to
the latter's poem “Valerian” (1805); “Memoirs of
Stephen Calvert,” a serial story. At the time of
his death he had nearly completed a fine system
of general geography, which has not been
published; and he also left unfinished literary works.
Several elaborate architectural drawings were
made as a recreation in the midst of his literary
labors. His life was unsatisfactorily written by
William Dunlap (Philadelphia, 1815). A sketch
of it is prefixed to the 1827 edition of his novels
(1815). One by William H. Prescott occurs in the
first series of Sparks's “American Biographies”
(1834; reprinted in Prescott's “Miscellanies,”
1855); a fuller sketch, by Charles Dudley Warner,
will be found in his volume “Washington Irving,”
in the “American Men of Letters” series (Boston,
1881); a large number of articles in the older
periodicals discuss the novelist; and a new life,
by E. Irenaeus Stevenson, is completed (1897), but
not yet published.
BROWN, David, Cherokee preacher, b. about
1806; d. in Creek Path, Miss., 14 Sept., 1829. He
was educated, with his sister Catharine, at the
school of Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, in what was then
the Cherokee territory, in northern Alabama and
Mississippi, and engaged with her in educating
and Christianizing their native tribe. He was a
preacher and interpreter, and also acted as secretary
of the Indian government. In November,
1819, he assisted John Arch in the preparation of
a Cherokee spelling-book, which was printed.
Through his agency a mission was established at
Creek Path town in 1820. David Brown united
with the church at this time, and in the spring of
the same year went to Cornwall, Conn., to attend
school. After two years there he spent a year at
Andover, fitting himself for the ministry.
Returning to his birth-place, he began his missionary
work, and made many converts to Christianity
among the Cherokees. According to a letter writ-
