American politics soon claimed Franklin as an ideal diplomatist. English and Scottish universities honored him with degrees for his discoveries and writings. In Paris he became the most popular man of the period, and was overwhelmed with attention from all classes. He was one of the first signers of the Declaration of Independence; and he rounded out his political career as governor of Pennsylvania and one of the framers of the Constitution. He died in Philadelphia in April, 1790, in some respects the greatest of Americans. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 6, SERIAL No. 106 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN] American Pioneer Prose Writers CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN Monograph Number Three in The Mentor Reading Course Charles Brockden Brown has often been called the earliest American novelist; but today his books are very rarely read. All of them are romantic and weird, with incidents bordering on the supernatural. They are typical of the kind of novel general at the time Brown lived. He was born on January 17, 1771, in Philadelphia. His parents were Quakers. As a boy his health was bad, and since he was not able to join with other boys in outdoor sports he spent most of his time in study. His principal amusement was the invention of ideal architectural designs, planned on the most extensive and elaborate scale. Later this bent for construction developed into schemes for ideal commonwealths. Still later it showed itself in the elaborate plots of his novels. Brown planned in the early part of his life to study law; but his constitution was too feeble for this arduous work. He had his share of the youthful dreams of great literary conquests. He planned a great epic on the discovery of America, with Columbus as his hero; another with the adventures of Pizarro for the subject; and still another upon the conquests of Cortes. However, as with the case of many great dreams, they were given up. When he was still a boy he wrote a romance called “Carsol,” which was not published, however, until after his death. The next thing he wrote was an essay on the question of women’s rights and liberties. This question was already becoming an important one in England, where William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft were publishing their writings. Brown was much influenced by the works of both. Although Brown’s books make heavy reading, yet his companionships were of the liveliest. It was said that no man ever had truer friends or loved these friends better. One of his closest friends was Dr. Eli Smith, a literary man. It was through him that Brown was introduced into the Friendly Club of New York City, where he met many other workers in the literary field. And it was under their influence that he produced his first, important work.