SOURCE: Walser, Richard. “More About the First American Novel.” American Literature 24, no. 3 (1933): 352-57.

In the following essay, Walser traces the connections between Brown's The Power of Sympathy and two dramas, Occurrences of the Times and The Better Sort, concluding that the latter was probably written by Brown himself in order to vindicate his authorship of the novel.

Former accounts of the first American novel, William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy,¹ have not fully taken into account two peculiar dramatic pieces, Occurrences of the Times and The Better Sort, which have some connection with the novel. Both, it is true, have been briefly mentioned in relation to Brown; but it may be illuminating now to explore more thoroughly the known facts of their publication and the instances of their relevancy. The two pieces were issued in the fifth week following the appearance of the novel. Occurrences of the...