Arthur Mervyn; Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793

Set against the harrowing summer of 1793, the narrative follows a young Philadelphia resident as the city grapples with a devastating yellow fever outbreak. Through his eyes we witness the frantic scramble of doctors, politicians, and ordinary citizens trying to understand a disease that seems to strike without mercy. The author uses these events to probe deeper questions of charity, fear, and the fragile balance between self‑preservation and communal responsibility.

One night, returning home later than usual, he discovers a fever‑stricken stranger collapsed against a cellar wall, a silent testament to the epidemic’s reach. Torn between his own family’s safety and the urge to help a fellow sufferer, he must decide whether to bring the man inside, risking contagion, or to obey his wife’s cautions. This tense moment introduces the moral crossroads that will drive his subsequent adventures.