into their beloved offspring all that simplicity of manners and benevolence of sentiment which so honourably character ize the religious society to which they belonged.
He was born in the city of Philadelphia, on the 17th day of January, 1771. He had three brothers older than himself, to whom, as well as to every other member of his family, he was from his earliest years an object of deep interest and fond affection.
Of those incidents and circumstances which in childhood either control the development or indicate the character of the moral and intellectual powers of men distinguished for their talents, and which are not only interesting in themselves, but valuable as contributions to the great cause of education, it is always desirable to hear; but, when he whose life they would illustrate modestly leaves them unnoticed, the biographer can only have recourse to conjecture or to the recollections of friends. From the facts which they furnish he may deduce and infer, but he cannot establish with certainty. His narrative of these may therefore be brief without subjecting him to censure.
Of the first ten years of Mr. Brown's life the memorials are few but sufficient. His constitution was unusually delicate and frail and his frame slender. Life opened upon him with a wan and sickly aspect, and disclosed but doubtful prospects of a healthy manhood. The weakness of his body was, however, his only weakness: his mind was not enervated. There all was activity and strength.
Debility of body does not necessarily lead to vigour of mind. The reverse of this may perhaps be maintained. But he whom nature had rendered incapable of much corporeal exertion would almost necessarily be thrown upon his intellectual resources for enjoyment.
This was the case with the lamented subject of this memoir. From his earliest years he was devoted to books and reflection. Maps, books, and prints were to him even in childhood objects irresistibly attractive. The study and examination of these were the constant and invariable occu-
