With the same sincerity; with which I have written this Book of the Quaker City, I now give it to my countrymen, as an illustration of the life, mystery and crime of Philadelphia.
Before the actual narrative begins—but following the Preface—is a section title “The Origin and Object of the Book” which, it is noted has been “Inscribed to the Memory of Charles Brockden Brown.” In this section is outlined, as one may assume, the rationale for publishing the story which will commence in a few pages. This rationale is summed up in the concluding line of the section, quoted in full above. That is why the text has been called one of the first examples of the muckraking novel.
"Yes, my fellow. Descend, for we hold our meetings one story underground. It’s likely all the fellows or Monks, to speak in the slang of the club are now most royally drunk, so I can slide you in among them, without much notice. You can remain there while I go and prepare the bride--ha-ha-ha!—the bride for your visit. "
The full title of the novel is The Quaker City, or, The Monks of Monk Hall. Monk Hall is no monastery; at least, not in the positive sense with which one most often associated monks. In addition to being a muck-racking novel, it is also a Gothic tale of sorts. Rather than a haunted house, it features a gentleman’s club that holds secrets which, if made public, would surely haunt members like Gus and his newbie friend Byrnewood whom is symbolically leading down into the depths of hell.
Oh, magnificent Quaker City, with your warehouses, and your Churches, your Theatres and your brothels, your Banks and your Insane Hospitals, your Loan Companies and your Alms Houses, how delightful to all your denizens, must be the reflection that Buzby Poodle’s no living nuisance.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the all-time best-selling American novel by the time the 19th century drew to a close. It is typical in cases of all-time bestsellers that at that some point they dislodged the previous holder of the title. In the case of the 19th century, the book which the story of Uncle Tom knocked out of first place was none other than The Quaker City. One may now be wondering why everybody has heard of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but hardly anyone today is familiar with The Quaker City. It would be kind of like if everybody living in the 22nd century had heard of Avatar, but not Star Wars. After all, it is not as if a host of novels besides Uncle Tom’s Cabin surpassed the sales figures of The Quaker City. So what gives?
Part of the answer lies in this quote. More specifically, the answer lies in the abundance of chunks of the book like this passage. The Quaker City has another subtitle besides The Monks of Monk Hall: “A Romance of Philadelphia Life.” Romantic fiction in the 1800’s did not mean what it means today; this novel like others so-described are not necessarily love stories. Romance in this sense referred to a spirited imagination that in a few decades would come under assault by a new kind of writing that would soon displace romance as the fictional representation of choice: realism or naturalism. The Quaker City became a victim of precisely the elements that made it such a raging success: what was popular among readers in 1850 would be read in 1901 with a sense of derision.
I was sitting upright in bed, chilled to the very heart, afraid to move an inch, almost afraid to breathe, when, far, far down through the chambers of the old mansion, I heard a faint hushed sound, like a man endeavouring to cry out when attacked by night mare, and then great God how distinct ! I heard the cry of `Murder, murder, murder!’ far, far, far below me.
Although touching upon elements of Gothic horror, muckraking indictment of the excesses of capitalism and with more than a touch of Biblical allegory, at heart the novel delivers a story that encapsulates every aspect about what is promised at the end of the section describing its origin and object. It is a tale of crime and the mystery surrounding that crime which drives the narrative through the dark passages of romantic excess.
