BEHN, Apura, an English authoress of some celebrity, was born of a good family in Canterbury in the reign of Charles I., probably in 1642. Her father, whose name was Johnson, having received the appointment of lieutenant-general of Surinam, proceeded to the West Indies, taking with him his whole family. Mr Johnson died on the voyage; but his family reached Surinam, and resided there for some years. Here Aphra learned the history, and acquired a personal knowledge, of the American prince Oroonoco and his beloved Imoinda, whose adventures she has related in her novel Oroonoco. On her return to London she is said to have married Mr Behn, a merchant of Dutch extraction residing in that city, of whom nothing but the name has ever been known, if anything more even existed. The wit and abilities of Mrs Behn brought her into high estimation at court, and Charles II. employed her to transact some affairs of importance abroad during the Dutch war. For this purpose she went to Antwerp, where she skilfully contrived to penetrate so far into the secrets of state as to accomplish the objects of her mission; and in the latter end of 1666, by means of the influence she had gained over one Van der Albert, she wormed out of him the design formed by De Ruyter, in conjunction with the family of the De Witts, of sailing up the Thames and burning the English ships in their harbours. This she communicated to the English court, but although the event proved her intelligence to have been well founded, it was at the time disregarded,—which circumstance, together with the disinclination shown to reward her for her services, determined her to drop all further thoughts of political affairs. She returned to England, and had a narrowescape on the voyage home, the vessel in which she sailed having ...