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diff --git a/22800.txt b/22800.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c37bfc --- /dev/null +++ b/22800.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10692 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Mary Wollstonecraft, by Elizabeth Robins Pennell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mary Wollstonecraft + +Author: Elizabeth Robins Pennell + +Release Date: September 29, 2007 [EBook #22800] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Louise Pryor and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + + BY + + ELIZABETH ROBINS PENNELL. + + + BOSTON: + ROBERTS BROTHERS. + 1890. + + + _Copyright, 1884_, + BY ROBERTS BROTHERS. + + UNIVERSITY PRESS: + JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Comparatively little has been written about the life of MARY +WOLLSTONECRAFT. The two authorities upon the subject are Godwin and Mr. +C. Kegan Paul. In writing the following Biography I have relied chiefly +upon the Memoir written by the former, and the Life of Godwin and +Prefatory Memoir to the Letters to Imlay of the latter. I have endeavored +to supplement the facts recorded in these books by a careful analysis of +Mary Wollstonecraft's writings and study of the period in which she +lived. + +I must here express my thanks to Mr. Garnett, of the British Museum, and +to Mr. C. Kegan Paul, for the kind assistance they have given me in my +work. To the first named of these gentlemen I am indebted for the loan of +a manuscript containing some particulars of Mary Wollstonecraft's last +illness which have never yet appeared in print, and to Mr. Paul for the +gift, as well as the loan, of several important books. + + E. R. P. + LONDON, August, 1884. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + Page + + INTRODUCTION 1 + + Chapter + + I. CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH. 1759-1778 12 + + II. FIRST YEARS OF WORK. 1778-1785 30 + + III. LIFE AS GOVERNESS. 1786-1788 60 + + IV. LITERARY LIFE. 1788-1791 85 + + V. LITERARY WORK. 1788-1791 117 + + VI. "VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN" 136 + + VII. VISIT TO PARIS. 1792-1793 171 + + VIII. LIFE WITH IMLAY. 1793-1794 198 + + IX. IMLAY'S DESERTION. 1794-1795 218 + + X. LITERARY WORK. 1793-1796 248 + + XI. RETROSPECTIVE. 1794-1796 280 + + XII. WILLIAM GODWIN 290 + + XIII. LIFE WITH GODWIN: MARRIAGE. 1796-1797 314 + + XIV. LAST MONTHS: DEATH. 1797 340 + + + + + + +MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Few women have worked so faithfully for the cause of humanity as Mary +Wollstonecraft, and few have been the objects of such bitter censure. She +devoted herself to the relief of her suffering fellow-beings with the +ardor of a Saint Vincent de Paul, and in return she was considered by +them a moral scourge of God. Because she had the courage to express +opinions new to her generation, and the independence to live according to +her own standard of right and wrong, she was denounced as another +Messalina. The young were bidden not to read her books, and the more +mature warned not to follow her example, the miseries she endured being +declared the just retribution of her actions. Indeed, the infamy attached +to her name is almost incredible in the present age, when new theories +are more patiently criticised, and when purity of motive has been +accepted as the vindication of at least one well-known breach of social +laws. The malignant attacks made upon her character since her death have +been too great to be ignored. They had best be stated here, that the life +which follows may serve as their refutation. + +As a rule, the notices which were published after she was dead were +harsher and more uncompromising than those written during her lifetime. +There were happily one or two exceptions. The writer of her obituary +notice in the "Monthly Magazine" for September, 1797, speaks of her in +terms of unlimited admiration. + +"This extraordinary woman," he writes, "no less distinguished by +admirable talents and a masculine tone of understanding, than by active +humanity, exquisite sensibility, and endearing qualities of heart, +commanding the respect and winning the affections of all who were favored +with her friendship or confidence, or who were within the sphere of her +influence, may justly be considered as a public loss. Quick to feel, and +indignant to resist, the iron hand of despotism, whether civil or +intellectual, her exertions to awaken in the minds of her oppressed sex a +sense of their degradation, and to restore them to the dignity of reason +and virtue, were active and incessant; by her impassioned reasoning and +glowing eloquence, the fabric of voluptuous prejudice has been shaken to +its foundation and totters towards its fall; while her philosophic mind, +taking a wider range, perceived and lamented in the defects of civil +institutions interwoven in their texture and inseparable from them the +causes of those partial evils, destructive to virtue and happiness, which +poison social intercourse and deform domestic life." Her eulogist +concludes by calling her the "ornament of her sex, the enlightened +advocate for freedom, and the benevolent friend of humankind." + +It is more than probable, however, that this was written by a personal +friend; for a year later the same magazine, in its semi-annual +retrospect of British literature, expressed somewhat altered opinions. +This time it says: "It is not for us to vindicate Mary Godwin from the +charge of multiplied immorality which is brought against her by the +candid as well as the censorious, by the sagacious as well as the +superstitious observer. Her character in our estimation is far from being +entitled to unqualified praise; she had many faults; she had many +transcendent virtues. But she is now dead, and we shall + + 'No farther seek her merits to disclose, + Or draw her frailties from the dread abode; + There they alike in trembling hope repose, + The bosom of her father and her God!'" + +The notice in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for October, 1797, the month +after her death, is friendly, but there are limitations to its praise. +The following is the sentence it passed upon her: "Her manners were +gentle, easy, and elegant; her conversation intelligent and amusing, +without the least trait of literary pride, or the apparent consciousness +of powers above the level of her sex; and, for fondness of understanding +and sensibility of heart, she was, perhaps, never equalled. Her practical +skill in education was ever superior to her speculations upon that +subject; nor is it possible to express the misfortune sustained in that +respect by her children. This tribute we readily pay to her character, +however adverse we may be to the system she supported in politics and +morals, both by her writings and practice." + +In 1798 Godwin published his Memoir of Mary, together with her posthumous +writings. He no doubt hoped by a clear statement of the principal +incidents of her life to moderate the popular feeling against her. But he +was the last person to have undertaken the task. Outside of the small +circle of friends and sympathizers who really loved him, he was by no +means popular. There were some who even seemed to think that the greatest +hardship of Mary's life was to have been his wife. Thus Roscoe, after +reading the Memoir, expressed the sentiments it aroused in him in the +following lines:-- + + "Hard was thy fate in all the scenes of life, + As daughter, sister, mother, friend, and wife; + But harder still thy fate in death we own, + Thus mourned by Godwin with a heart of stone." + +Moreover, Godwin's views about marriage, as set forth in his "Political +Justice," were held in such abhorrence that the fact that he approved of +Mary's conduct was reason enough for the multitude to disapprove of it. +His book, therefore, was not a success as far as Mary's reputation was +concerned. Indeed, it increased rather than lessened the asperity of her +detractors. It was greeted by the "European Magazine" for April, 1798, +almost immediately after its publication, by one of the most scathing +denunciations of Mary's character which had yet appeared. + +"The lady," the article begins, "whose memoirs are now before us, appears +to have possessed good abilities, and originally a good disposition, but, +with an overweening conceit of herself, much obstinacy and self-will, and +a disposition to run counter to established practices and opinions. Her +conduct in the early part of her life was blameless, if not exemplary; +but the latter part of it was blemished with actions which must consign +her name to posterity (in spite of all palliatives) as one whose example, +if followed, would be attended with the most pernicious consequences to +society: a female who could brave the opinion of the world in the most +delicate point; a philosophical wanton, breaking down the bars designed +to restrain licentiousness; and a mother, deserting a helpless offspring +disgracefully brought into the world by herself, by an intended act of +suicide." Here follows a short sketch of the incidents recorded by +Godwin, and then the article concludes: "Such was the catastrophe of a +female philosopher of the new order, such the events of her life, and +such the apology for her conduct. It will be read with disgust by every +female who has any pretensions to delicacy; with detestation by every one +attached to the interests of religion and morality; and with indignation +by any one who might feel any regard for the unhappy woman, whose +frailties should have been buried in oblivion. Licentious as the times +are, we trust it will obtain no imitators of the heroine in this country. +It may act, however, as a warning to those who fancy themselves at +liberty to dispense with the laws of propriety and decency, and who +suppose the possession of perverted talents will atone for the well +government of society and the happiness of mankind." + +This opinion of the "European Magazine" was the one most generally +adopted. It was re-echoed almost invariably when Mary Wollstonecraft's +name was mentioned in print. A Mrs. West, who, in 1801, published a +series of "Letters to a Young Man," full of goodly discourse and moral +exhortation, found occasion to warn him against Mary's works, which she +did with as much energy as if the latter had been the Scarlet Woman of +Babylon in the flesh. "This unfortunate woman," she says in conclusion, +"has _terribly_ terminated her guilty career; terribly, I say, because +the account of her last moments, though intentionally panegyrical, proves +that she died as she lived; and her posthumous writings show that her +soul was in the most unfit state to meet her pure and holy judge." + +A writer in the "Beauties of England and Wales," though animated by the +same spirit, saw no reason to caution his readers against Mary's +pernicious influence, because of his certainty that in another generation +she would be forgotten. "Few writers have attained a larger share of +temporary celebrity," he admits. "This was the triumph of wit and +eloquence of style. To the age next succeeding it is probable that her +name will be nearly unknown; for the calamities of her life so miserably +prove the impropriety of her doctrines that it becomes a point of charity +to close the volume treating of the Rights of Women with mingled wonder +and pity." + +But probably the article which was most influential in perpetuating the +ill-repute in which she stood with her contemporaries, is the sketch of +her life given in Chalmers's "Biographical Dictionary." The papers and +many books of the day soon passed out of sight, but the Dictionary was +long used as a standard work of reference. In this particular article +every action of Mary's life is construed unfavorably, and her character +shamefully vilified. Judging from Godwin's Memoir, it decides that Mary +"appears to have been a woman of strong intellect, which might have +elevated her to the highest ranks of English female writers, had not her +genius run wild for want of cultivation. Her passions were consequently +ungovernable, and she accustomed herself to yield to them without +scruple, treating female honor and delicacy as vulgar prejudices. She was +therefore a voluptuary and sensualist, without that refinement for which +she seemed to contend on other subjects. Her history, indeed, forms +entirely a warning, and in no part an example. Singular she was, it must +be allowed, for it is not easily to be conceived that such another +heroine will ever appear, unless in a novel, where a latitude is given to +that extravagance of character which she attempted to bring into real +life." Beloe, in the "Sexagenarian," borrowed the scurrilous abuse of the +"Biographical Dictionary," which was furthermore accepted by almost every +history of English literature and encyclopaedia as the correct estimate of +Mary's character and teachings. It is, therefore, no wonder that the +immorality of her doctrines and unwomanliness of her conduct came to be +believed in implicitly by the too credulous public. + +That she fully deserved this disapprobation and contempt seemed to many +confirmed by the fact that her daughter, Mary Godwin, consented to live +with Shelley before their union could be legalized. The independence of +mother and daughter excited private as well as public animosity. There is +in the British Museum a book containing a collection of drawings, +newspaper slips, and written notes, illustrative of the history and +topography of the parish of Saint Pancras. As Mary Wollstonecraft was +buried in the graveyard of Saint Pancras Church, mention is made of her. +A copy of the painting{1} by Opie, which was supposed until very recently +to be her portrait, is pasted on one of the pages of this book, and +opposite to it is the following note, written on a slip of paper, and +dated 1821: "Mary Wollstonecraft, a disgrace to modesty, an eminent +instance of a perverted strong mind, the defender of the 'Rights of +Women,' but an ill example to them, soon terminated her life of error, +and her remains were laid in the cemetery of Saint Pancras, amidst the +believers of the papal creed. + + {1} It was engraved and published in the "Monthly Mirror," with Mary's + name attached to it, during her lifetime. When Mr. Kegan Paul + published the "Letters to Imlay," in 1879, there seemed no doubt + of its authenticity. But since then it has been proved to be the + portrait of the wife of an artist who lived in the latter part + of the eighteenth century. + +"There is a monument placed over her remains, being a square pillar." +(The inscription here follows.) "A willow was planted on each side of the +pillar, but, like the character of Mary, they do not flourish. Her +unfortunate daughters were reared by their infamous father for +prostitution,--one is sold to the wicked poet Shelley, and the other to +attend upon her. The former became Mrs. Shelley." The prejudice of the +writer of these lines against the subject of them, together with his +readiness to accept all the ill spoken of her, is at once shown in his +reference to Claire, who was the daughter of the second Mrs. Godwin by +her first husband, and hence no relation whatever to Mrs. Shelley. This +mistake proves that he relied overmuch upon current gossip. + +During all these years Mary was not entirely without friends, but their +number was small. In 1803 an anonymous admirer published a defence of her +character and conduct, "founded on principles of nature and reason as +applied to the peculiar circumstances of her case," in a series of nine +letters to a lady. But his defence is less satisfactory to his readers +than it is to be presumed it was to himself. In it he carefully repeats +those details of Godwin's Memoir which were most severely criticised, and +to some of them gives a new and scarcely more favorable construction. He +candidly admits that he does not pretend to vindicate the _whole_ of her +conduct. He merely wishes to apologize for it by demonstrating the +motives from which she acted. But to accomplish this he evolves his +arguments chiefly from his inner consciousness. Had he appealed more +directly to her writings, and thought less of showing his own ingenuity +in reasoning, he would have written to better purpose. + +Southey was always enthusiastic in his admiration. His letters are full +of her praises. "We are going to dine on Wednesday next with Mary +Wollstonecraft, of all the literary characters the one I most admire," he +wrote to Thomas Southey, on April 28, 1797. And a year or two after her +death, he declared in a letter to Miss Barker, "I never praised living +being yet, except Mary Wollstonecraft." He made at least one public +profession of his esteem in these lines, prefixed to his "Triumph of +Woman:"-- + + "The lily cheek, the 'purple light of love,' + The liquid lustre of the melting eye, + Mary! of these the Poet sung, for these + Did Woman triumph ... turn not thou away + Contemptuous from the theme. No Maid of Arc + Had, in those ages, for her country's cause + Wielded the sword of freedom; no Roland + Had borne the palm of female fortitude; + No Conde with self-sacrificing zeal + Had glorified again the Avenger's name, + As erst when Caesar perished; haply too + Some strains may hence be drawn, befitting me + To offer, nor unworthy thy regard." + +Shelley too offered her the tribute of his praise in verse. In the +dedication of the "Revolt of Islam," addressed to his wife, he thus +alludes to the latter's famous mother:-- + + "They say that thou wert lovely from thy birth, + Of glorious parents, thou aspiring child. + I wonder not; for one then left the earth + Whose life was like a setting planet mild + Which clothed thee in the radiance undefiled + Of its departing glory." + +But the mere admiration of Southey and Shelley had little weight against +popular prejudice. Year by year Mary's books, like so many other literary +productions, were less frequently read, and the prediction that in +another generation her name would be unknown bade fair to be fulfilled. +But the latest of her admirers, Mr. Kegan Paul, has, by his zealous +efforts in her behalf, succeeded in vindicating her character and +reviving interest in her writings. By his careful history of her life, +and noble words in her defence, he has re-established her reputation. As +he says himself, "Only eighty years after her death has any serious +attempt been made to set her right in the eyes of those who will choose +to see her as she was." His attempt has been successful. No one after +reading her sad story as he tells it in his Life of Godwin, can doubt her +moral uprightness. His statement of her case attracted the attention it +deserved. Two years after it appeared, Miss Mathilde Blind published, in +the "New Quarterly Review," a paper containing a briefer sketch of the +incidents he recorded, and expressing an honest recognition of this great +but much-maligned woman. + +Thus, at this late day, the attacks of her enemies are being defeated. +The critic who declared the condition of the trees planted near her grave +to be symbolical of her fate, were he living now, would be forced to +change the conclusions he drew from his comparison. In that part of Saint +Pancras Churchyard which lies between the two railroad bridges, and which +has not been included in the restored garden, but remains a dreary waste, +fenced about with broken gravestones, the one fresh green spot is the +corner occupied by the monument{1} erected to the memory of Mary +Wollstonecraft, and separated from the open space by an iron railing. +There is no sign of withering willows in this enclosure. Its trees are of +goodly growth and fair promise. And, like them, her character now +_flourishes_, for justice is at last being done to her. + + {1} Her body has been removed to Bournemouth. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH. + +1759-1778. + + +Mary Wollstonecraft was born on the 27th of April, 1759, but whether in +London or in Epping Forest, where she spent the first five years of her +life, is not quite certain. There is no history of her ancestors to show +from whom she inherited the intellectual greatness which distinguished +her, but which characterized neither of her parents. Her paternal +grandfather was a manufacturer in Spitalfields, of whom little is known, +except that he was of Irish extraction and that he himself was +respectable and prosperous. To his son, Edward John, Mary's father, he +left a fortune of ten thousand pounds, no inconsiderable sum in those +days for a man of his social position. Her mother was Elizabeth, daughter +of Mr. Dixon, of Ballyshannon, Ireland, who belonged to an eminently good +family. Mary was the second of six children. The eldest, Edward, who was +more successful in his worldly affairs than the others, and James, who +went to sea to seek his fortunes, both passed to a great extent out of +her life. But her two sisters, Eliza and Everina, and her youngest +brother, Charles, were so dependent upon her for assistance in their many +troubles that their career is intimately associated with hers. + +With her very first years Mary Wollstonecraft began a bitter training in +the school of experience, which was to no small degree instrumental in +developing her character and forming her philosophy. There are few +details of her childhood, and no anecdotes indicating a precocious +genius. But enough is known of her early life to make us understand what +were the principal influences to which she was exposed. Her strength +sprang from the very uncongeniality of her home and her successful +struggles against the poverty and vice which surrounded her. Her father +was a selfish, hot-tempered despot, whose natural bad qualities were +aggravated by his dissipated habits. His chief characteristic was his +instability. He could persevere in nothing. Apparently brought up to no +special profession, he was by turns a gentleman of leisure, a farmer, a +man of business. It seems to have been sufficient for him to settle in +any one place to almost immediately wish to depart from it. The history +of the first fifteen or twenty years of his married life is that of one +long series of migrations. The discomforts and petty miseries unavoidable +to travellers with large families in pre-railroad days necessarily +increased his irascibility. The inevitable consequence of these many +changes was loss of money and still greater loss of temper. That his +financial experiments proved to be failures, is certain from the abject +poverty of his later years. That they were bad for him morally, is shown +in the fact that his children, when grown up, found it impossible to live +under the same roof with him. His indifference in one particular to their +wishes and welfare led in the end to disregard of them in all matters. + +It is more than probable that Mary, in her "Wrongs of Woman," drew +largely from her own experience for the characters therein represented, +and we shall not err in identifying the father she describes in this +novel with Mr. Wollstonecraft himself. "His orders," she writes, "were +not to be disputed; and the whole house was expected to fly at the word +of command.... He was to be instantaneously obeyed, especially by my +mother, whom he very benevolently married for love; but took care to +remind her of the obligation when she dared in the slightest instance to +question his absolute authority." He was, in a word, an egotist of the +worst description, who found no brutality too low once his anger was +aroused, and no amount of despotism too odious when the rights and +comforts of others interfered with his own desires. When contradicted or +thwarted his rage was ungovernable, and he used personal violence not +only to his dogs and children, but even to his wife. Drink and +unrestrained selfishness had utterly degraded him. Such was Mary's +father. + +Mrs. Wollstonecraft was her husband's most abject slave, but was in turn +somewhat of a tyrant herself. She approved of stern discipline for the +young. She was too indolent to give much attention to the education of +her children, and devoted what little energy she possessed to enforcing +their unquestioning obedience even in trifles, and to making them as +afraid of her displeasure as they were of their father's anger. "It is +perhaps difficult to give you an idea of the petty cares which obscured +the morning of my life," Mary declares through her heroine,--"continual +restraint in the most trivial matters, unconditional submission to +orders, which as a mere child I soon discovered to be unreasonable, +because inconsistent and contradictory. Thus are we destined to +experience a mixture of bitterness with the recollection of our most +innocent enjoyment." Edward, as the mother's favorite, escaped her +severity; but it fell upon Mary with double force, and was with her +carried out with a thoroughness that laid its shortcomings bare, and +consequently forced Mrs. Wollstonecraft to modify her treatment of her +younger children. This concession on her part shows that she must have +had their well-being at heart, even when her policy in their regard was +most misguided, and that her unkindness was not, like her husband's +cruelty, born of caprice. But it was sad for Mary that her mother did not +discover her mistake sooner. + +When Mary was five years old, and before she had had time to form any +strong impressions of her earliest home, her father moved to another part +of Epping Forest near the Chelmsford Road. Then, at the end of a year, he +carried his family to Barking in Essex, where he established them in a +comfortable home, a little way out of the town. Many of the London +markets were then supplied from the farms around Barking, so that the +chance for his success here was promising. + +This place was the scene of Mary's principal childish recollections and +associations. Natural surroundings were with her of much more importance +than they usually are to the very young, because she depended upon them +for her pleasures. She cared nothing for dolls and the ordinary +amusements of girls. Having received few caresses and little tender +nursing, she did not know how to play the part of mother. Her recreation +led her out of doors with her brothers. That she lived much in the open +air and became thoroughly acquainted with the town and the neighborhood, +seems certain from the eagerness with which she visited it years +afterwards with Godwin. This was in 1796, and Mary with enthusiasm sought +out the old house in which she had lived. It was unoccupied, and the +garden around it was a wild and tangled mass. Then she went through the +town itself; to the market-place, which had perhaps been the Mecca of +frequent pilgrimages in the old times; to the wharves, the bustle and +excitement of which had held her spellbound many a long summer afternoon; +and finally from one street to another, each the scene of well-remembered +rambles and adventures. Time can soften sharp and rugged lines and +lighten deep shadows, and the pleasant reminiscences of Barking days made +her overlook bitterer memories. + +That there were many of the latter, cannot be doubted. Only too often the +victim of her father's cruel fury, and at all times a sufferer because of +her mother's theories, she had little chance for happiness during her +childhood. She was, like Carlyle's hero of "Sartor Resartus," one of +those children whose sad fate it is to weep "in the playtime of the +others." Not even to the David Copperfields and Paul Dombeys of fiction +has there fallen a lot so hard to bear and so sad to record, as that of +the little Mary Wollstonecraft. She was then the most deserving object of +that pity which later, as a woman, she was always ready to bestow upon +others. Her affections were unusually warm and deep, but they could find +no outlet. She met, on the one hand, indifference and sternness; on the +other, injustice and ill-usage. It is when reading the story of her +after-life, and learning from it how, despite her masculine intellect, +she possessed a heart truly feminine, that we fully appreciate the +barrenness of her early years. She was one of those who, to use her own +words, "cannot live without loving, as poets love." At the strongest +period of her strong womanhood she felt, as she so touchingly confesses +in her appeals to Imlay, the need of some one to lean upon,--some one to +give her the love and sympathy, which were to her what light and heat are +to flowers. It can therefore easily be imagined how much greater was the +necessity, and consequently the craving caused by its non-gratification, +when she was nothing but a child. Overflowing with tenderness, she dared +not lavish it on the mother who should have been so ready to receive it. +Instead of the confidence which should exist between mother and daughter, +there was in their case nothing but cold formality. Nor was there for her +much compensation in the occasional caresses of her father. Sensitive to +a fault, she could not forgive his blows and unkindness so quickly as to +be able to enjoy his smiles and favors. Moreover, she had little chance +of finding, without, the devotion and gentle care which were denied to +her within her own family. Mr. Wollstonecraft remained so short a time in +each locality in which he made his home, that his wife saw but little of +her relations and old acquaintances; while no sooner had his children +made new friends, than they were separated from them. + +To whatever town they went, the Wollstonecrafts seem to have given signs +of gentility and good social standing, which won for them, if not many, +at least respectable friends. At Barking an intimacy sprang up between +them and the family of Mr. Bamber Gascoyne, Member of Parliament. But +Mary was too young to profit by this friendship. It was most ruthlessly +interrupted three years later, when, in 1768, the restless head of the +house, whose industry in Barking had not equalled the enterprise which +brought him there, took his departure for Beverly, in Yorkshire. + +This was the most complete change that he had as yet made. Heretofore his +wanderings had been confined to Essex. But he either found in his new +home more promising occupation and congenial companionship than he had +hitherto, or else there was a short respite to his feverish restlessness, +for he continued in it for six years. It was here Mary received almost +all the education that was ever given her by regular schooling. Beverly +was nothing but a small market-town, though she in her youthful +enthusiasm thought it large and handsome, and its inhabitants brilliant +and elegant, and was much disappointed, when she passed through it many +years afterwards, on her way to Norway, to see how far the reality fell +short of her youthful idealizations. Its schools could not have been of a +very high order, and we do not need Godwin's assurance to know that Mary +owed little of her subsequent culture to them. But her education may be +said to have really begun in 1775, when her father, tired of farming and +tempted by commercial hopes, left Beverly for Hoxton, near London. + +Mary was at this time in her sixteenth year. The effect of her home +life, under which most children would have succumbed, had been to develop +her character at an earlier age than is usual with women. In spite of the +tyranny and caprice of her parents, and, indeed, perhaps because of them, +she had soon asserted her individuality and superiority. When she had +recognized the mistaken motives of her mother and the weakness of her +father, she had been forced to rely upon her own judgment and +self-command. It is a wonderful proof of her fine instincts that, though +she must have known her strength, she did not rebel, and that her keen +insight into the injustice of some actions did not prevent her realizing +the justice of others. Her mind seems to have been from the beginning too +evenly balanced for any such misconceptions. When reprimanded, she +deservedly found in the reprimand, as she once told Godwin, the one means +by which she became reconciled to herself for the fault which had called +it forth. As she matured, her immediate relations could not but yield to +the influence which she exercised over all with whom she was brought into +close contact. If there be such a thing as animal magnetism, she +possessed it in perfection. Her personal attractions commanded love, and +her great powers of sympathy drew people, without their knowing why, to +lean upon her for moral support. In the end she became an authority in +her family. Mrs. Wollstonecraft was in time compelled to bestow upon her +the affection which she had first withheld. It was the ugly duckling +after all who proved to be the swan of the flock. Mr. Wollstonecraft +learned to hold his eldest daughter in awe, and his wrath sometimes +diminished in her presence. + +Pity was always Mary's ruling passion. Feeling deeply the family +sorrows, she was quick to forget herself in her efforts to lighten them +when this privilege was allowed to her. There were opportunities enough +for self-sacrifice. With every year Mr. Wollstonecraft squandered more +money, and grew idler and more dissipated. Home became unbearable, the +wife's burden heavier. Mary, emancipated from the restraints of +childhood, no longer remained a silent spectator of her father's fits of +passion. When her mother was the victim of his violence, she interposed +boldly between them, determined that if his blows fell upon any one, it +should be upon herself. There were occasions when she so feared the +results of his drunken rage that she would not even go to bed at night, +but, throwing herself upon the floor outside her room, would wait there, +on the alert, to meet whatever horrors darkness might bring forth. Could +there be a picture more tragical than this of the young girl, a weary +woman before her time, protecting the mother who should have protected +her, fighting against the vices of a father who should have shielded her +from knowledge of them! Already before she had left her home there must +have come into her eyes that strangely sad expression, which Kegan Paul, +in speaking of her portrait by Opie, says reminds him of nothing unless +it be of the agonized sorrow in the face of Guido's Beatrice Cenci. No +one can wonder that she doubted if marriage can be the highest possible +relationship between the sexes, when it is remembered that for years she +had constantly before her, proofs of the power man possesses, by sheer +physical strength and simple brutality, to destroy the happiness of an +entire household. + +It was fortunate for her that she spent these wretched years in or very +near the country. She could wear off the effects of the stifling home +atmosphere by races over neighboring heaths, or by walks through lanes +and woods. Constant exercise in the open air is the best of stimulants. +It helped her to escape the many ills which childish flesh is heir to; it +lessened the morbid tendency of her nature; and it developed an energy of +character which proved her greatest safeguard against her sensitive and +excitable temperament. Besides this, she seems to have taken real delight +in her out-of-doors life. If at a later age she loved to sit in solitude +and listen to the singing of a robin and the falling of the leaves, she +must, as a child, have possessed much of that imaginative power which +transforms all nature into fairyland. If, in the bitter consciousness +that she was a betrayed and much-sinned-against woman, she could still +find moments of exquisite pleasure in wandering through woods and over +rocks, such haunts must have been as dear to her when she sought in them +escape from her young misery. It is probable that she refers to herself +when she makes her heroine, Maria, say, "An enthusiastic fondness for the +varying charms of nature is the first sentiment I recollect." + +Mary's existence up to 1775 had been, save when disturbed by family +storms, quiet, lonely, and uneventful. As yet no special incident had +occurred in it, nor had she been awakened to intellectual activity. But +in Hoxton she contracted a friendship which, though it was with a girl of +her own age, was always esteemed by her as the chief and leading event in +her existence. This it was which first aroused her love of study and of +independence, and opened a channel for the outpouring of her too-long +suppressed affections. Her love for Fanny Blood was the spark which +kindled the latent fire of her genius. Her arrival in Hoxton, therefore, +marks the first important era in her life. + +She owed this new pleasure to Mr. Clare, a clergyman, and his wife, who +lived next to the Wollstonecrafts in Hoxton. The acquaintanceship formed +with their neighbors ripened in Mary's case into intimacy. Mr. Clare was +deformed and delicate, and, because of his great physical weakness, led +the existence of a hermit. He rarely, if ever, went out, and his habits +were so essentially sedentary that a pair of shoes lasted him for +fourteen years. It is hardly necessary to add that he was eccentric. But +he was a man of a certain amount of culture. He had read largely, his +opportunity for so doing being great. He was attracted by Mary, whom he +soon discovered to be no ordinary girl, and he interested himself in +forming and training her mind. She, in return, liked him. His deformity +alone would have appealed to her, but she found him a congenial +companion, and, as she proved herself a willing pupil, he was glad to +have her much with him. She was a friend of Mrs. Clare as well; indeed, +the latter remained true to her through later storms which wrecked many +other less sincere friendships. Mary sometimes spent days and even weeks +in the house of these good people; and it was on one of these occasions, +probably, that Mrs. Clare took her to Newington Butts, then a village at +the extreme southern end of London, and there introduced her to Frances +Blood. + +The first meeting between them, Godwin says, "bore a resemblance to the +first interview of Werter with Charlotte." The Bloods lived in a small, +but scrupulously well-kept house, and when its door was first opened for +Mary, Fanny, a bright-looking girl about her own age, was busy, like +another Lotte, in superintending the meal of her younger brothers and +sisters. It was a scene well calculated to excite Mary's interest. She, +better than any one else, could understand its full worth. It revealed to +her at a glance the skeleton in the family closet,--the inefficiency of +the parents to care for the children whom they had brought into the +world, and the poverty which prevented their hiring others to do their +work for them. And at the same time it showed her the noble unselfishness +of the daughter, who not only took upon herself the burden so easily +shifted by the parents, but who accepted her fate cheerfully. +Cheerfulness is a virtue but too lightly prized. When maintained in the +face of difficulties and unhappiness it becomes the finest heroism. The +recognition of this heroic side of Fanny's nature commanded the instant +admiration and respect of her visitor. Mary then and there vowed in her +heart eternal friendship for her new acquaintance, and the vow was never +broken. + +Balzac, in his "Cousine Bette," says that there is no stronger passion +than the love of one woman for another. Mary Wollstonecraft's affection +for Frances Blood is a striking illustration of the truth of his +statement. It was strong as that of a Sappho for an Erinna; tender and +constant as that of a mother for her child. From the moment they met +until they were separated by poor Fanny's untimely death, Mary never +wavered in her devotion and its active expression, nor could the +vicissitudes and joys of her later life destroy her loving loyalty to the +memory of her first and dearest friend. "When a warm heart has strong +impressions," she wrote in a letter long years afterwards, "they are not +to be effaced. Emotions become sentiments; and the imagination renders +even transient sensations permanent, by fondly retracing them. I cannot +without a thrill of delight recollect views I have seen, which are not to +be forgotten, nor looks I have felt in every nerve, which I shall never +more meet. The grave has closed over a dear friend, the friend of my +youth; still she is present with me, and I hear her soft voice warbling +as I stray over the heath." + +There was much to draw the two friends together. They had many miseries +and many tastes and interests in common. Fanny's parents were poor, and +her father, like Mr. Wollstonecraft, was idle and dissipated. There were +young children to be reared, and an incompetent mother to do it. Fanny +was only two years older than Mary, but was, at that time, far more +advanced mentally. Her education had been more complete. She was in a +small way both musician and artist, was fond of reading, and had even +tried her powers at writing. But her drawing had proved her most +profitable accomplishment, and by it she supported her entire family. +Mary as yet had perfected herself in nothing, and was helpless where +money-making was concerned. Her true intellectual education had but just +begun under Mr. Clare's direction. She had previously read voluminously, +but, having done so for mere immediate gratification, had derived but +little profit therefrom. As she lived in Hoxton, and Fanny in Newington +Butts, they could not see each other very often, and so in the intervals +between their visits they corresponded. Mary found that her letters were +far inferior to those of her friend. She could not spell so well; she had +none of Fanny's ease in shaping her thoughts into words. Her pride was +hurt and her ambition stirred. She determined to make herself at least +Fanny's intellectual equal. It was humiliating to know herself powerless +to improve her own condition, when her friend was already earning an +income large enough not only to meet her own wants but those of others +depending upon her. To prepare herself for a like struggle with the +world, a struggle which in all likelihood she would be obliged to make +single-handed, she studied earnestly. Books acquired new value in her +eyes. She read no longer for passing amusement, but to strengthen and +cultivate her mind for future work. It cannot be doubted that under any +circumstances she would, in the course of a few years, have become +conscious of her power and the necessity to exercise it. But to Fanny +Blood belongs the honor of having given the first incentive to her +intellectual energy. This brave, heavily burdened young English girl, +accepting toils and tribulations with stout heart, would, with many +another silent heroine or hero, have been forgotten, had it not been for +the stimulus her love and example were to an even stronger +sister-sufferer. The larger field of interests thus opened for Mary was +like the bright dawn after a long and dark night. For the first time she +was happy. + +There was therefore much in her life at Hoxton to relieve the gloomy +influence of the family troubles. Work for a definite end is in itself a +great joy. Many pleasant hours were spent with the Clares, and occasional +gala-days with Fanny. These last two pleasures, however, were +short-lived. The inexorable family tyrant, her father, grew tired of +commerce, as indeed he did of everything, and in the spring of 1776 he +abandoned it for agriculture, this time settling in Pembroke, Wales, +where he owned some little property. With a heavy heart Mary bade +farewell to her new friends. + +It is well worth recording that in 1775, while Mary Wollstonecraft was +living in Hoxton, William Godwin was a student at the Dissenting College +in that town. Godwin, in his short Memoir of his wife, pauses to +speculate as to what would have been the result had they then met and +loved. In his characteristic philosophical way he asks, "Which would have +been predominant,--the disadvantages of obscurity and the pressure of a +family, or the gratifications and improvement that might have flowed from +their intercourse?" But the vital question is: Would an acquaintanceship +formed between them at that time have ever become more than mere +friendship? She was then a wild, untrained girl, and had not reduced her +contempt for established institutions to fixed principles. Godwin, the +son of a Dissenting clergyman, was studying to be one himself, and his +opinions of the rights of man were still unformed. Neither had developed +the ideas and doctrines which afterwards were the bond of sympathy +between them. One thing is certain: while they might have benefited had +they married twenty years earlier than they did, the world would have +lost. Godwin, under the influence of a wife's tender love, would never +have became a cold, systematic philosopher. And Mary, had she found a +haven from her misery so soon, would not have felt as strongly about the +wrongs of women. Whatever her world's work under those circumstances +might have been, she would not have become the champion of her sex. + +Of external incidents the year in Wales was barren. The only one on +record is the intimacy which sprang up between the Wollstonecrafts and +the Allens. Two daughters of this family afterwards married sons of the +famous potter, Wedgwood, and the friendship then begun lasted for life. +To Mary herself, however, this year was full and fertile. It was devoted +to study and work. Hers was the only true genius,--the genius for +industry. She never relaxed in the task she had set for herself, and her +progress was rapid. The signs she soon manifested of her mental power +added to the respect with which her family now treated her. Realizing +that the assistance she could give by remaining at home was but little +compared to that which might result from her leaving it for some definite +employment, she seems at this period to have announced her intention of +seeking her fortunes abroad. But Mrs. Wollstonecraft looked upon the +presence of her daughter as a strong bulwark of defence against the +brutal attacks of her husband, and was loath to lose it. Mary yielded to +her entreaties to wait a little longer; but her sympathy and tender pity +for human suffering fortunately never destroyed her common sense. She +knew that the day must come when on her own individual exertions would +depend not only her own but a large share of her sisters' and brothers' +maintenance, and, in consenting to remain at home, she exacted certain +conditions. She insisted upon being allowed freedom in the regulation of +her actions. She demanded that she should have a room for her exclusive +property, and that, when engaged in study, she should not be interrupted. +She would attend to certain domestic duties, and after they were over, +her time must be her own. It was little to ask. All she wanted was the +liberty to make herself independent of the paternal care which girls of +eighteen, as a rule, claim as their right. It was granted her. + +At the end of another year, the demon of restlessness again attacked Mr. +Wollstonecraft. Wales proved less attractive than it had appeared at a +distance. Orders were given to repack the family goods and chattels, and +to set out upon new wanderings. On this occasion, Mary interfered with a +strong hand. Since a change was to be made, it might as well be turned to +her advantage. She had, without a word, allowed herself to be carried to +Wales away from the one person she really loved, and she now knew the +sacrifice had been useless. It was clear to her that one place was no +better for her father than another; therefore he should go where it +pleased her. It was better that one member of the family should be +content, than that all should be equally miserable. She prevailed upon +him to choose Walworth as his next resting-place. Here she would be near +Fanny, and life would again hold some brightness for her. + +It was at Walworth that she took the first step in what was fated to be a +long life of independence and work. The conditions which she had made +with her family seem to have been here neglected, and study at home +became more and more impossible. She was further stimulated to action by +the personal influence of her energetic friend, by the fact that the +younger children were growing up to receive their share of the family +sorrow and disgrace, and by her own great dread of poverty. "How writers +professing to be friends to freedom and the improvement of morals can +assert that poverty is no evil, I cannot imagine!" she exclaims in the +"Wrongs of Woman." She cared nothing for the luxuries and the ease and +idleness which wealth gives, but she prized above everything the time and +opportunity for self-culture of which the poor, in their struggle for +existence, are deprived. The Wollstonecraft fortunes were at low ebb. Her +share in them, should she remain at home, would be drudgery and slavery, +which would grow greater with every year. Her one hope for the future +depended upon her profitable use of the present. The sooner she earned +money for herself, the sooner would she be able to free her brothers and +sisters from the yoke whose weight she knew full well because of her own +eagerness to throw it off. Unselfish as her father was selfish, she +thought quite as much of their welfare as of her own. Therefore when, at +the age of nineteen, a situation as lady's companion was offered to her, +neither tears nor entreaties could alter her resolution to accept it. She +entered at once upon her new duties, and with them her career as woman +may be said to have begun. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +FIRST YEARS OF WORK. + +1778-1785. + + +Mary Wollstonecraft did not become famous at once. She began her career +as humbly as many a less gifted woman. Like the heroes of old, she had +tasks allotted her before she could attain the goal of her ambition. And +Heracles in his twelve labors, Jason in search of the Golden Fleece, +Sigurd in pursuit of the treasure, did not have greater hardships to +endure or dangers to overcome than she had before she won for herself +independence and fame. + +It is difficult for a young man without money, influential friends, or +professional education to make his way in the world. With a woman placed +in similar circumstances the difficulty is increased a hundred-fold. We +of to-day, when government and other clerkships are open to women, cannot +quite realize their helplessness a few generations back. In Mary +Wollstonecraft's time those whose birth and training had unfitted them +for the more menial occupations--who could neither bake nor scrub--had +but two resources. They must either become governesses or ladies' +companions. In neither case was their position enviable. They ranked as +little better than upper servants. Mary's first appearance on the +world-stage, therefore, was not brilliant. + +The lady with whom she went to live was a Mrs. Dawson, a widow who had +but one child, a grown-up son. Her residence was in Bath. Mary must then +have given at least signs of the beauty which did not reach its full +development until many years later, her sorrows had not entirely +destroyed her natural gayety, and she was only nineteen years old. The +mission in Bath in those days of young girls of her age was to dance and +to flirt, to lose their hearts and to find husbands, to gossip, to listen +to the music, to show themselves in the Squares and Circus and on the +Parades, or, sometimes, when they were seriously inclined, to drink the +waters. Mary's was to cater to the caprices of a cross-grained, peevish +woman. There was little sunshine in the morning of her life. She was +destined always to see the darkest side of human nature. Mrs. Dawson's +temper was bad, and her companions, of whom there seem to have been many, +had hitherto fled before its outbreaks, as the leaves wither and fall at +the first breath of winter. Mary's home-schooling was now turned to good +account. Mrs. Dawson's rage could not, at its worst, equal her father's +drunken violence; and long experience of the latter prepared her to bear +the former with apparent, if not real, stoicism. We have no particulars +of her life as companion nor knowledge of the exact nature of her duties. +But of one thing we are certain, the fulfilment of them cost her many a +heartache. Those who know her only as the vindicator of the Rights of +Women and the defiant rebel against social laws, may think her case calls +for little sympathy. But the truth is, there have been few women so +dependent for happiness upon human love, so eager for the support of +their fellow-beings, and so keenly alive to neglects and slights. In Bath +she was separated from her friends, she was alone in her struggle, and +she held a position which did not always command respect. However, her +indomitable will and unflagging energy availed her to such good purpose +that she continued with Mrs. Dawson for two years, doubtless to the +surprise of the latter, accustomed as she was to easily frightened and +hastily retreating companions. Her departure then was due, not to moral +cowardice or exhaustion, but to a summons from home. + +Mrs. Wollstonecraft's health had begun to fail. Her life had been a hard +one, and the drains upon her constitution many. She was the mother of a +large family, and had had her full share of the by no means insignificant +pains and cares of maternity. In addition to these she had had to contend +against poverty, that evil which, says the Talmud, is worse than fifty +plagues, and against the vagaries of a good-for-nothing drunken husband. +Once she fell beneath her burden, she could not rise with it again. She +had no strength left to withstand her illness. Eliza and Everina were +both at home to take care of her, but she could not rest without the +eldest daughter, upon whom experience had taught her to rely implicitly. +She sent for Mary, and the latter hastened at once to her mother's side. +Her own hopes and ambitions, her chances and prospects, all were +forgotten in her desire to do what she could for the poor patient. Fierce +and fearless as an inspired Joan of Arc, when fighting in the cause of +justice, she was tender and gentle as a sister of charity when tending +the sick. She waited upon her mother with untiring care. Mrs. +Wollstonecraft's illness was long and lingering, though it declared +itself at an early stage to be hopeless. In her pleasure at her +daughter's return she received her services with grateful thanks. But, as +she grew worse, she became more accustomed to the presence of her nurse, +and exacted as a right that which she had first accepted as a favor. She +would allow no one else to attend to her, and day and night Mary was with +her. + +Finally the end came. Mrs. Wollstonecraft died, happy to be released from +a world which had given her nothing but unkindness and sorrow. Her +parting words were: "A little patience, and all will be over!" It was not +difficult for the dying woman, so soon to have eternity to rest in, to +bear quietly time's last agony. But for the weary, heart-sick young girl, +before whom there stretched a vista of long years of toil, the lesson of +patience was less easy to learn. Mary never forgot these words, nor did +she heed their bitter sarcasm. Often and often, in her after trials, they +returned to her, carrying with them peace and comfort. + +This event occurred in 1780. The family were then living in Enfield, +which place had succeeded Walworth in their periodical migrations. After +her mother's death Mary, tired out from constant nursing, want of sleep, +and anxiety of mind, became ill. She sorely needed quiet and an interval +from work. But the necessity to depart from her father's house was +imperative. He had fallen so low that his daughters were forced to leave +him. The difficulty was to find immediate means to meet the emergency. A +return to Mrs. Dawson does not seem to have suggested itself as a +possibility. Mary's great ambition was to become a teacher and to +establish a school. But this could not be easily or at once accomplished. +She must have time to prepare herself for the venture, to make friends, +and to give proof of her ability to teach. Fortunately, at this juncture +Fanny Blood proved a true friend, and offered her at least a temporary +home at Walham Green. + +Fanny was still gaining a small income from her drawings, to which Mrs. +Blood added whatever she could make by her needle. Mary was not one to +fare upon another's bread. Too proud to become an additional charge to +these two hard-working women, she helped the latter with her sewing and +so contributed her share to the family means. It was not a congenial +occupation. But to her any work was preferable to waiting, Micawber-like, +for something better to turn up. Though she was happy because she was +with her friend, her life here was wellnigh as tragic as it had been in +her father's house. The family sorrows were great and many. Mr. Blood was +a ne'er-do-weel and a drunkard. Caroline, one of the daughters, had then +probably begun her rapid descent down-hill, moved thereto, poor girl, by +the relief which vice alone gave to the poverty and gloom of her home. +George, the brother, with whom Mary afterwards corresponded for so many +years, was unhappy because of his unrequited love for Everina +Wollstonecraft. He was an honest, good-principled young man, but his +associates were disreputable, and he was at times compromised by their +actions. But still sadder for Mary was the fact that Fanny, in addition +to domestic grievances, was tortured by the unkindness of an uncertain +lover. She had met, not long before, Mr. Hugh Skeys, a young but already +successful merchant. Attracted by her, he had been sufficiently attentive +and devoted to warrant her conclusion that his intentions were serious. +He seems to have loved her as deeply as he was capable of loving, but +discouraged perhaps by the wretched circumstances of the family, he could +not make up his mind to marry her. At one moment he was ready to desert +her, and at the next to claim her as his wife. Instead of resenting his +unpardonable conduct, as a prouder woman would have done, she bore it +with the humble patience of a Griselda. When he was kind, she hoped for +the best; when he was cold, she dreaded the worst. The consequence of +these alternate states of hope and despair was mental depression, and +finally physical ill health. Through her troubles, Mary, who had given +her the warmest and best, because the first, love of her life, was her +faithful ally and comforter. Indeed, her friendship grew warmer with +Fanny's increasing misfortunes. As she said of herself a few years later, +she was not a fair-weather friend. "I think," she wrote once in a letter +to George Blood, "I love most people best when they are in adversity, for +pity is one of my prevailing passions." She realized that she had made +herself her friend's equal, if not superior, intellectually, and that, so +far as moral courage and will power were concerned, she was much the +stronger of the two. There is nothing which so deepens a man's or a +woman's tenderness, as the knowledge that the object of it looks up to +her or to him for support, and Mary's affection increased because of its +new inspiration. + +It has been said that it was necessary for all Mr. Wollstonecraft's +daughters to leave his house. Mary was not yet in a position to help her +sisters, and they had but few friends. Their chances of self-support were +small. Their position was the trying one of gentlewomen who could not +make servants of themselves, and who indeed would not be employed as +such, and who had not had the training to fit them for higher +occupations. Everina, therefore, was glad to find an asylum with her +brother Edward, who was an attorney in London. She became his +housekeeper, for, like Mary, she was too independent to allow herself to +be supported by the charity of others. Eliza, the youngest sister, who, +with greater love of culture than Everina, had had even less education, +solved her present problem by marrying, but she escaped one difficulty +only to fall into another still greater and more serious. The history of +her married experience is important because of the part Mary played in +it. The latter's independent conduct in her sister's regard is a +foreshadowing of the course she pursued at a later period in the +management of her own affairs. + +Eliza was the most excitable and nervous of the three sisters. The family +sensitiveness was developed in her to a painful degree. She was not only +quick to take offence, but was ever on the lookout for slights and +insults even from people she dearly loved. She assumed a defensive +attitude against the world and mankind, and therefore life went harder +with her than with more cheerfully constituted women. It was almost +invariably the little rift that made her life-music mute. Her indignation +and rage were not so easily appeased as aroused. Altogether, she was a +very impossible person to live with peacefully. Mr. Bishop, the man she +married, was as quick-tempered and passionate as she, and, morally, was +infinitely beneath her. He was the original of the husband in the "Wrongs +of Woman," who is represented as an unprincipled sensualist, brute, and +hypocrite. The worst of it was that, when not carried away by his temper, +his address was good and his manners insinuating. As one of his friends +said of him, he was "either a lion or a spaniel." Unfortunately, at home +he was always the lion, a fact which those who knew him only as the +spaniel could not well believe. The marriage of two such people, needless +to say, was not happy. They mutually aggravated each other. Eliza, with +her sensitive, unforgiving nature, could not make allowances. Mr. Bishop +would not. Much as her waywardness and hastiness were at fault, he was +still more to blame in effecting the rupture between them. + +The strain upon Eliza's nervous system, caused by almost daily quarrels +and scenes of violence, was more than she could bear. Then, to add to her +misery, she found herself in that condition in which women are apt to be +peculiarly susceptible and irritable. Her pregnancy so stimulated her +abnormal emotional excitement that her reason gave way, and for months +she was insane. Though she had her intervals of passivity she was at +times very violent, and disastrous results were feared. It was necessary +for some one to keep constant guard over her, and Mary was asked to +undertake this task. + +Relentless as Fate in pursuing the hero of Greek Tragedy to his +predestined end, were the circumstances which formed Mary's prejudice +against the institution of marriage. This was the third domestic tragedy +caused by the husband's petty tyranny and the wife's slender resources of +defence, of which she was the immediate witness. Her experience was +unfortunate. The bright side of the married state was hidden from her. +She saw only its shadows, and these darkened until her soul rebelled +against the injustice, not of life, but of man's shaping of it. Sad as +was the fate of the Bloods and much as they needed her, the Bishop +household was still sadder and its appeals more urgent, and Mary hurried +thither at once. + +No one can read the life of Mary Wollstonecraft without loving her, or +follow her first bitter struggles without feeling honor, nay reverence, +for her true womanliness which bore her bravely through them. She never +shrank from her duty nor lamented her clouded youth. Without a murmur she +left Walham Green and established herself as nurse and keeper to the poor +mad sister. There could be no greater heroism than this. With a nervous +constitution not unlike that of "poor Bess," she had to watch over the +frenzied mania of the wife and to confront the almost equally insane fury +of the husband. One of the letters which she wrote at this time to +Everina describes forcibly enough her sister's sad condition and her own +melancholy:-- + + _Saturday afternoon_, Nov. 1783. + + I expected to have seen you before this, but the extreme coldness + of the weather is a sufficient apology. I cannot yet give any + certain account of Bess, or form a rational conjecture with + respect to the termination of her disorder. She has not had a + violent fit of frenzy since I saw you, but her mind is in a most + unsettled state, and attending to the constant fluctuation of it is + far more harassing than the watching these raving fits that had not + the least tincture of reason. Her ideas are all disjointed, and a + number of wild whims float on her imagination, and fall from her + unconnectedly something like strange dreams, when judgment sleeps, + and fancy sports at a fine rate. Don't smile at my language, for I + am so constantly forced to observe her, lest she run into mischief, + that my thoughts continually turn on the unaccountable wanderings + of her mind. She seems to think she has been very ill used, and, in + short, till I see some more favorable symptoms, I shall only + suppose that her malady has assumed a new and more distressing + appearance. + + One thing, by way of comfort, I must tell you, that persons who + recover from madness are generally in this way before they are + perfectly restored, but whether Bess's faculties will ever regain + their former tone, time only will show. At present I am in + suspense. Let me hear from you, or see you, and believe me to be + yours affectionately, + + M. W. + + _Sunday noon._--Mr. D. promised to call last night, and I intended + sending this by him. We have been out in a coach, but still Bess is + far from being _well_. Patience--patience. Farewell. + +To her desire to keep Everina posted as to the progress of affairs, we +are indebted, for her letters, which give a very life-like picture of +herself and her surroundings while she remained in her brother-in-law's +house. They are interesting because, by showing the difficulties against +which she had to contend, and the effect these had upon her, we can +better appreciate the greatness of her nature by which she triumphed over +them. There is another one written during this sad period which must be +quoted here because it throws still more light upon Bishop's true +character and his ingenuity in tormenting those who lived with him:-- + + _Monday morning_, Jan. 1784. + + I have nothing to tell you, my dear girl, that will give you + pleasure. Yesterday was a dismal day, long and dreary. Bishop was + very ill, etc., etc. He is much better to-day, but misery haunts + this house in one shape or other. How sincerely do I join with you + in saying that if a person has common sense, they cannot make one + completely unhappy. But to attempt to lead or govern a weak mind is + impossible; it will ever press forward to what it wishes, + regardless of impediments, and, with a selfish eagerness, believe + what it desires practicable though the contrary is as clear as the + noon-day. My spirits are hurried with listening to pros and cons; + and my head is so confused, that I sometimes say no, when I ought + to say yes. My heart is almost broken with listening to B. while he + reasons the case. I cannot insult him with advice, which he would + never have wanted, if he was capable of attending to it. May my + habitation never be fixed among the tribe that can't look beyond + the present gratification, that draw fixed conclusions from general + rules, that attend to the literal meaning only, and, because a + thing ought to be, expect that it will come to pass. B. has made a + confidant of Skeys; and as I can never speak to him in private, I + suppose his pity may cloud his judgment. If it does, I should not + either wonder at it, or blame him. For I that know, and am fixed in + my opinion, cannot unwaveringly adhere to it; and when I reason, I + am afraid of being unfeeling. Miracles don't occur now, and only a + miracle can alter the minds of some people. They grow old, and we + can only discover by their countenances that they are so. To the + end of their chapter will their misery last. I expect Fanny next + Thursday, and she will stay with us but a few days. Bess desires + her love; she grows better and of course more sad. + +Though Mary's heart was breaking and her brain reeling, her closer +acquaintance with Bishop convinced her that Eliza must not continue with +him. She determined at all hazards to free her sister from a man who was +slowly but surely killing her, and she knew she was right in her +determination. "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist," Emerson +says. Mary, because she was a true woman, was ruled in her conduct not by +conventionalities or public opinion, but by her sense of righteousness. +In her own words, "The sarcasms of society and the condemnation of a +mistaken world were nothing to her, compared with acting contrary to +those feelings which were the foundation of her principles." For some +months Eliza's physical and mental illness made it impossible to take a +decided step or to form definite plans. But when her child was born, and +she returned to a normal, though at the same time sadder, because +conscious, state, Mary felt that the time for action had arrived. That +she still thought it advisable for her sister to leave her husband, +though this necessitated the abandonment of her child, conclusively +proves the seriousness of Bishop's faults. It was no easy matter to +effect the separation. Bishop objected to it. It is never unpleasant for +a man to play the tyrant, and he was averse to losing his victim. +Pecuniary assistance was therefore not to be had from him, and the +sisters were penniless. Mary applied to Edward, though she was not sure +it was desirable for Eliza to take refuge with him. However, he does not +seem to have responded warmly, for Mary's suggestion was never acted +upon. Theirs was a situation in which friends are not apt to interfere, +and besides, Bishop's plausibility had won over not a few to his side. +Furthermore, the chance was that if he worked successfully upon Mr. +Skeys' sympathies, the Bloods would be influenced. There was absolutely +no one to help them, but Mary knew that it was useless to wait, and that +the morrow would not make easier what seemed to her the task of the +present day. When there was work to be done she never could rest with +"unlit lamp and ungirt loin." What she now most wanted for her sister was +liberty, and she resolved to secure this at once, and then afterwards to +look about her to see how it was to be maintained. + +Accordingly, one day, Bishop well out of the way, the sisters left his +house forever. There was a mad, breathless drive, Bess, with her insanity +half returned, biting her wedding ring to pieces, a hurried exchange of +coaches to further insure escape from detection, a joyful arrival at +modest lodgings in Hackney, a giving in of false names, a hasty locking +of doors, and then--the reaction. Eliza, whose excitement had exhausted +itself on the way, became quiet and even ready for sleep. Mary, now that +immediate necessity for calmness and courage was over, grew nervous and +restless. With strained ears she listened to every sound. Her heart beat +time to the passing carriages, and she trembled at the lightest knock. + +That night, in a wild, nervous letter to Everina, she wrote:-- + + I hope B. will not discover us, for I would sooner face a lion; yet + the door never opens but I expect to see him, panting for breath. + Ask Ned how we are to behave if he should find us out, for Bess is + determined not to return. Can he force her? but I'll not suppose + it, yet I can think of nothing else. She is sleepy, and going to + bed; my agitated mind will not permit me. Don't tell Charles or any + creature! Oh! let me entreat you to be careful, for Bess does not + dread him now as much as I do. Again, let me request you to write, + as B.'s behavior may silence my fears. You will soon hear from me + again. Fanny carried many things to Lear's, brush-maker in the + Strand, next door to the White Hart. + + Yours, + MARY. + + Miss Johnston--Mrs. Dodds, opposite the Mermaid, Church Street, + Hackney. + + She looks now very wild. Heaven protect us! + + I almost wish for an husband, for I want somebody to support me. + +The Rubicon was crossed. But the hardships thereby incurred were but just +beginning. The two sisters were obliged to keep in hiding as if they had +been criminals, for they dared not risk a chance meeting with Bishop. +They had barely money enough to pay their immediate expenses, and their +means of making more were limited by the precautions they had to take. It +had only been possible in their flight to carry off a few things, and +they were without sufficient clothing. Then there came from their friends +an outcry against their conduct. The general belief then was, as indeed +it unfortunately continues to be, that women should accept without a +murmur whatever it suits their husbands to give them, whether it be +kindness or blows. Better a thousand times that one human soul should be +stifled and killed than that the Philistines of society should be +scandalized by its struggles for air and life. Eliza's happiness might +have been totally sacrificed had she remained with Bishop; but at least +the feelings of her acquaintances, in whom respectability had destroyed +the more humane qualities, would have been saved. Her scheme, Mary wrote +bitterly to Everina, was contrary to all the rules of conduct that are +published for the benefit of new married ladies. Many felt forced to +forfeit the friendship of these two social rebels, though it grieved them +to the heart to do it. Mrs. Clare, be it said to her honor, remained +stanch, but even she only approved cautiously, and Mary had her +misgivings that she would advise a reconciliation if she once saw Bishop. +To add to the hopelessness of their case, the deserted husband restrained +his rage so well, and made so much of Eliza's heartlessness in abandoning +her child, that he drew to himself the sympathy which should have been +given to her. Mary feared the effect his pleadings and representations +would have upon Edward, the extent of whose egotism she had not yet +measured, and she commissioned Everina to keep him firm. As for Eliza, +she was so shaken and weak, and so unhappy about the poor motherless +infant, that she could neither think nor act. The duty of providing for +their wants, immediate and still to come, fell entirely upon Mary. She +felt this to be just, since it was chiefly through her influence that +they had been brought to their present plight; but the responsibility was +great, and it is no wonder that, brave as she was, she longed for some +one to share it with her. + +Her one source of consolation and strength at this time was her religion. +This will seem strange to many, who, knowing but few facts of her life, +conclude from her connection with Godwin and her social radicalism that +she was an atheist. But the sincerest spirit of piety breathes through +her letters written during her early troubles. When the desertion of her +so-called friends made her most bitter, she wrote to Everina:-- + + "Don't suppose I am preaching when I say uniformity of conduct + cannot in any degree be expected from those whose first motive of + action is not the pleasing the Supreme Being, and those who humbly + rely on Providence will not only be supported in affliction but + have peace imparted to them that is past describing. This state is + indeed a warfare, and we learn little that we don't smart for in + the attaining. The cant of weak enthusiasts has made the + consolations of religion and the assistance of the Holy Spirit + appear ridiculous to the inconsiderate; but it is the only solid + foundation of comfort that the weak efforts of reason will be + assisted and our hearts and minds corrected and improved till the + time arrives when we shall not only see _perfection_, but see every + creature around us happy." + +The consolation she found was sufficient to make her advise her friends +to seek for it from the same quarter. She wrote to George Blood at a time +when he was in serious difficulties:-- + + "It gives me the sincerest satisfaction to find that you look for + comfort where only it is to be met with, and that Being in whom you + trust will not desert you. Be not cast down; while we are + struggling with care life slips away, and through the assistance of + Divine Grace we are obtaining habits of virtue that will enable us + to relish those joys that we cannot now form any idea of. I feel + myself particularly attached to those who are heirs of the + promises, and travel on in the thorny path with the same Christian + hopes that render my severe trials a cause of thankfulness when I + _can_ think." + +These passages, evangelical in tone, occur in private letters, meant to +be read only by those to whom they were addressed, so that they must be +counted as honest expressions of her convictions and not mere cant. Just +as she wrote freely to her sisters and her intimate friends about her +temporal matters, so without hesitation she talked to them of her +spiritual affairs. Her belief became broader as she grew older. She never +was an atheist like Godwin, or an unbeliever of the Voltaire school. But +as the years went on, and her knowledge of the world increased, her +religion concerned itself more with conduct and less with creed, until +she finally gave up going to church altogether. But at the time of which +we are writing she was regular in her attendance, and, though not +strictly orthodox, clung to certain forms. The mere fact that she +possessed definite ideas upon the subject while she was young shows the +naturally serious bent of her mind. She had received the most superficial +religious education. Her belief, such as it was, was wholly the result of +her own desire to solve the problems of existence and of the world beyond +the senses. It is this fact, and the inferences to be drawn from it, +which make her piety so well worth recording. + +There seem to have been several schemes for work afoot just then. One was +that the two sisters and Fanny Blood, who, some time before, had +expressed herself willing and anxious to leave home, should join their +fortunes. Fanny could paint and draw. Mary and Eliza could take in +needlework until more pleasant and profitable employment could be +procured. Poverty and toil would be more than compensated for by the joy +which freedom and congenial companionship would give them. There was +nothing very Utopian in such a plan; but Fanny, when the time came for +its accomplishment, grew frightened. Her hard apprenticeship had given +her none of the self-confidence and reliance which belonged to Mary by +right of birth. Her family, despite their dependence upon her, seemed +like a protection against the outer world. And so she held back, pleading +the small chances of success by such a partnership, her own poor health, +which would make her a burden to them, and, in fact, so many good reasons +that the plan was abandoned. She, then, with greater aptitude for +suggestion than for action, proposed that Mary and Eliza should keep a +haberdashery shop, to be stocked at the expense of the much-called-upon +but sadly unsusceptible Edward. There is something grimly humorous in the +idea of Mary Wollstonecraft, destined as she was from all eternity to +sound an alarum call to arouse women from their lethargy, spending her +days behind a counter attending to their trifling temporal wants! A +Roland might as well have been asked to become cook, a Sir Galahad to +turn scullion. Honest work is never disgraceful in itself. Indeed, +"Better do to no end, than nothing!" But one regrets the pain and the +waste when circumstances force men and women capable of great work to +spend their energies in ordinary channels. A greater misery than +indifference to the amusement in which one seeks to take part, which +Hamerton counts as the most wearisome of all things, is positive dislike +for the work one is bound to do. Fortunately, Fanny's project was never +carried out. Probably Edward, as usual, failed to meet the proposals made +to him, and Mary realized that the chains by which she would thus bind +herself would be unendurable. + +The plan finally adopted was that dearest to Mary's heart. She began her +career as teacher. She and Eliza went to Islington, where Fanny was then +living, and lodged in the same house with her. Then they announced their +intention of receiving day pupils. Mary was eminently fitted to teach. +Her sad experience had increased her natural sympathy and benevolence. +She now made her own troubles subservient to those of her +fellow-sufferers, and resolved that the welfare of others should be the +principal object of her life. Before the word had passed into moral +philosophy, she had become an altruist in its truest sense. The task of +teacher particularly attracted her because it enabled her to prepare the +young for the struggle with the world for which she had been so ill +qualified. Because so little attention had been given to her in her early +youth, she keenly appreciated the advantage of a good practical +education. But her merits were not recognized in Islington. Like the man +in the parable, she set out a banquet of which the bidden guests refused +to partake. No scholars were sent to her. Therefore, at the end of a few +months, she was glad to move to Newington Green, where better prospects +seemed to await her. There she had relatives and influential friends, and +the encouragement she received from them induced her to begin work on a +large scale. She rented a house, and opened a regular school. Her efforts +met with success. Twenty children became her pupils, while a Mrs. +Campbell, a relative, and her son, and another lady, with three children, +came to board with her. Mary was now more comfortable than she had +heretofore been. She was, comparatively speaking, prosperous. She had +much work to do, but by it she was supporting herself, and at the same +time advancing towards her "clear-purposed goal" of self-renunciation. +Then she had cause for pleasure in the fact that Eliza was now really +free, Bishop having finally agreed to the separation. Mary +Wollstonecraft, at the head of a house, and mistress of a school, was a +very different person from Mary Wollstonecraft, simple companion to Mrs. +Dawson or dependent friend of Fanny Blood. Her position was one to +attract attention, and it was sufficient for her to be known, to be loved +and admired. Her social sphere was enlarged. No one could care more for +society than she did, when that society was congenial. At Newington Green +she already began to show the preference for men and women of +intellectual tastes and abilities that she manifested so strongly in her +life in London. Foremost among her intimate acquaintances at this time +was Dr. Richard Price, a clergyman, a Dissenter, then well known because +of his political and mathematical speculations. He was an honest, +upright, simple-hearted man, who commanded the respect and love of all +who knew him, and whose benevolence was great enough to realize even +Mary's ideals. She became deeply attached to him personally, and was a +warm admirer of his religious and moral principles. His sermons gave her +great delight, and she often went to listen to them. He in return seems +to have felt great interest in her, and to have recognized her +extraordinary mental force. Mr. John Hewlet, also a clergyman, was +another of her friends, and she retained his friendship for many years +afterwards. A third friend, mentioned by Godwin in his Memoirs, was Mrs. +Burgh, widow of a man now almost forgotten, but once famous as the author +of "Political Disquisitions." In sorrows soon to come, Mrs. Burgh gave +practical proof of her affection. If a man can be judged by the character +of his associates, then the age, professions, and serious connections of +Mary's friends at Newington Green are not a little significant. + +Much as she cared for these older friends, however, they could not be so +dear to her as Fanny and George Blood. She had begun by pitying the +latter for his hopeless passion for Everina, and had finished by loving +him for himself with true sisterly devotion. To brother and sister both, +she could open her heart as she could to no one else. They were young +with her, and that in itself is a strong bond of union. They, too, were +but just beginning life, and they could sympathize with all her +aspirations and disappointments. It was, therefore, an irreparable loss +to her when they, at almost the same time, but for different reasons, +left England. Fanny's health had finally become so wretched that even her +uncertain lover was moved to pity. Mr. Skeys seems to have been one of +the men who only appreciate that which they think they cannot have. Not +until the ill-health of the woman he loved warned him of the possibility +of his losing her altogether did he make definite proposals to her. Her +love for him had not been shaken by his unkindness, and in February, +1785, she married him, and went with him to Lisbon, where he was +established in business. A few years earlier he might, by making her his +wife, have secured her a long life's happiness. Now, as it turned out, +he succeeded but in making her path smooth for a few short months. Mary's +love for Fanny made her much more sensitive to Mr. Skeys' shortcomings as +a lover than Fanny had been. Shortly after the marriage she wrote +indignantly to George:-- + + "Skeys has received congratulatory letters from most of his friends + and relations in Ireland, and he now regrets that he did not marry + sooner. All his mighty fears had no foundation, so that if he had + had courage to brave the world's opinion, he might have spared + Fanny many griefs, the scars of which will never be obliterated. + Nay, more, if she had gone a year or two ago, her health might have + been perfectly restored, which I do not now think will ever be the + case. Before true passion, I am convinced, everything but a sense + of duty moves; true love is warmest when the object is absent. How + Hugh could let Fanny languish in England, while he was throwing + money away at Lisbon, is to me inexplicable, if he had a passion + that did not require the fuel of seeing the object. I much fear he + loves her not for the qualities that render her dear to my heart. + Her tenderness and delicacy are not even conceived of by a man who + would be satisfied with the fondness of one of the general run of + women." + +George Blood's departure was due to less pleasant circumstances than +Fanny's. One youthful escapade which had come to light was sufficient to +attach to his name the blame for another, of which he was innocent. Some +of his associates had become seriously compromised; and he, to avoid +being implicated with them, had literally taken flight, and had made +Ireland his place of refuge. + +Mary's friends left her just when she most needed them. Unfortunately, +the interval of peace inaugurated by the opening of the school was but +short-lived. Encouraged by the first success of her enterprise, she +rented a larger house, hoping that in it she would do even better. But +this step proved the _Open Sesame_ to an inexhaustible mine of +difficulties. The expense involved by the change was greater than she had +expected, and her means of meeting it smaller. The population at +Newington Green was not numerous or wealthy enough to support a large +first-class day-school, and more pupils were not forthcoming to avail +themselves of the new accommodations provided for them. It was a second +edition of the story of the wedding feast, and again highways and by-ways +were searched in vain. Moreover, her boarders neglected to pay their +bills regularly. Instead of being a source of profit, they were an +additional burden. Her life now became unspeakably sad. Her whole day was +spent in teaching. This in itself would not have been hard. She always +interested herself in her pupils, and the consciousness of good done for +others was her most highly prized pleasure. Had the physical fatigue +entailed by her work been her only hardship, she would have borne it +patiently and perhaps gayly. But from morning till night, waking and +sleeping, she was haunted by thoughts of unpaid bills and of increasing +debts. Poverty and creditors were the two unavoidable evils which stared +her in the face. Then, when she did hear from Fanny, it was to know that +the chances for her recovery were diminishing rather than increasing. +Reports of George Blood's ill-conduct, repeated for her benefit, hurt and +irritated her. On one occasion, her house was visited by men sent thither +in his pursuit by the girl who had vilely slandered him. Mrs. Campbell, +with the meanness of a small nature, reproached Mary for the +encouragement which she had given his vices. She loved him so truly that +this must have been gall and wormwood to her sensitive heart. Mr. and +Mrs. Blood continued poor and miserable, he drinking and idling, and she +faring as it must ever fare with the wives of such men. Mary saw nothing +before her but a dreary pilgrimage through the wide Valley of the Shadow +of Death, from which there seemed no escape to the Mount Zion beyond. If +she dragged herself out of the deep pit of mental despondency, it was to +fall into a still deeper one of physical prostration. The bleedings and +blisters ordered by her physician could help her but little. What she +needed to make her well was new pupils and honest boarders, and these the +most expert physician could not give her. Is it any wonder that she came +in time to hate Newington Green,--"the grave of all my comforts," she +called it,--to lose relish for life, and to feel cheered only by the +prospect of death? She had nothing to reproach herself with. In sorrow +and sickness alike she had toiled to the best of her abilities. That +which her hand had found to do, she had done with all her might. The +result of her labors and long-sufferance had hitherto been but misfortune +and failure. Truly could she have called out with the Lady of Sorrows in +the Lamentations: "Attend, all ye who pass by, and see if there be any +sorrow like unto mine." Because we know how great her misery was, we can +more fully appreciate the extent of her heroism. Though, as she confessed +to her friends in her weariest moments, her heart was broken, she never +once swerved from allegiance to the heaven-given mandate, as Carlyle +calls it, "Work thou in well-doing!" She never faltered in the +accomplishment of the duty she had set for herself, nor forgot the +troubles of others because of her own. Though her difficulties +accumulated with alarming rapidity, there was no relaxation in her +attentions to Mr. and Mrs. Blood, in her care for her sister, nor in the +sympathy she gave to George Blood. + +Perhaps the greatest joy that came to her during this year was the news +that Mr. Skeys had found a position for his brother-in-law in Lisbon. But +this pleasure was more than counterbalanced by the discouraging bulletins +of Fanny's health. Mr. Skeys was alarmed at his wife's increasing +weakness, and was anxious to gratify her every desire. Fanny expressed a +wish to have Mary with her during her confinement. The latter, with +characteristic unselfishness, consented, when Mr. Skeys asked her to go +to Lisbon, though in so doing she was obliged to leave school and house. +This shows the sincerity of her opinion that before true passion +everything but duty moves. To her, Fanny's need seemed greater than her +own; and she thought to fulfil her duty towards her sister, and to +provide for her welfare by giving her charge of her scholars and boarders +while she was away from them. Mary's decision was vigorously questioned +by her friends. Indeed, there were many reasons against it. It was feared +her absence from the school for a necessarily long period would be +injurious to it, and this eventually proved to be the case. The journey +was a long one for a woman to make alone. And last, but not least, she +had not the ready money to pay her expenses. But, despite all her +friends could say, she could not be moved from her original resolution. +When they saw their arguments were useless, they manifested their +friendship in a more practical manner. Mrs. Burgh lent her the necessary +sum of money for the journey. Godwin, however, thinks that in doing this +she was acting in behalf of Dr. Price, who modestly preferred to conceal +his share in the transaction. All impediments having thus been removed, +Mary, in the autumn of 1785, started upon the saddest, up to this date, +of her many missions of charity. + +The reunion of the friends was a joyless pleasure. When Mary arrived in +Lisbon, she found Fanny in the last stages of her illness, and before she +had time to rest from her journey she began her work as sick-nurse. Four +hours after her arrival Fanny's child was born. It had been sad enough +for Mary to watch her mother's last moments and Eliza's insanity; but +this new duty was still more painful. She loved Fanny Blood with a +passion whose depth is beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals. Her +affection for her was the one romance of her youth, and she lavished upon +it all the sweetness and tenderness, the enthusiasm and devotion of her +nature, which make her seem to us lovable above all women. And now this +friend, the best gift life had so far given her, was to be taken from +her. She saw Fanny grow weaker and weaker day by day, and knew that she +was powerless to avert the coming calamity. Yet whatever could be done, +she did. There never has been, and there never can be, a more faithful, +gentle nurse. The following letter gives a graphic description of her +journey, of the sad welcome which awaited her at its termination, and +the still sadder duties she fulfilled in Lisbon:-- + + LISBON, Nov. or Dec. 1785. + + MY DEAR GIRLS,--I am beginning to awake out of a terrifying dream, + for in that light do the transactions of these two or three last + days appear. Before I say more, let me tell you that, when I + arrived here, Fanny was in labor, and that four hours after she was + delivered of a boy. The child is alive and well, and considering + the _very, very_ low state to which Fanny was reduced she is better + than could be expected. I am now watching her and the child. My + active spirits have not been much at rest ever since I left + England. I could not write to you on shipboard, the sea was so + rough; and we had such hard gales of wind, the captain was afraid + we should be dismasted. I cannot write to-night or collect my + scattered thoughts, my mind is so unsettled. Fanny is so worn out, + her recovery would be almost a resurrection, and my reason will + scarce allow me to think it possible. I labor to be resigned, and + by the time I am a little so, some faint hope sets my thoughts + again afloat, and for a moment I look forward to days that will, + alas! never come. + + I will try to-morrow to give you some little regular account of my + journey, though I am almost afraid to look beyond the present + moment. Was not my arrival providential? I can scarce be persuaded + that I am here, and that so many things have happened in so short a + time. My head grows light with thinking on it. + + _Friday morning._--Fanny has been so alarmingly ill since I wrote + the above, I entirely gave her up, and yet I could not write and + tell you so: it seemed like signing her death-warrant. Yesterday + afternoon some of the most alarming symptoms a little abated, and + she had a comfortable night; yet I rejoice with trembling lips, and + am afraid to indulge hopes. She is very low. The stomach is so weak + it will scarce bear to receive the slightest nourishment; in short, + if I were to tell you all her complaints you would not wonder at my + fears. The child, though a puny one, is well. I have got a + wet-nurse for it. The packet does not sail till the latter end of + next week, and I send this by a ship. I shall write by every + opportunity. We arrived last Monday. We were only thirteen days at + sea. The wind was so high and the sea so boisterous the water came + in at the cabin windows; and the ship rolled about in such a + manner, it was dangerous to stir. The women were sea-sick the whole + time, and the poor invalid so oppressed by his complaints, I never + expected he would live to see Lisbon. I have supported him for + hours together gasping for breath, and at night, if I had been + inclined to sleep, his dreadful cough would have kept me awake. You + may suppose that I have not rested much since I came here, yet I am + tolerably well, and calmer than I could expect to be. Could I not + look for comfort where only 'tis to be found, I should have been + mad before this, but I feel that I am supported by that Being who + alone can heal a wounded spirit. May He bless you both. + + Yours, + MARY. + +Her state of uncertainty about poor Fanny did not last long. Shortly +after the above letter was written, the invalid died. Just as life was +beginning to smile upon her, she was called from it. She had worked so +long that when happiness at length came, she had no strength left to bear +it. The blessing her wrestling had wrought was but of short duration. + +Godwin, in his Memoirs, says that Mary's trip to Portugal probably +enlarged her understanding. "She was admitted," he writes, "to the very +best company the English colony afforded. She made many profound +observations on the character of the natives and the baleful effects of +superstition." But it seems doubtful whether she really saw many people +in Lisbon, or gave great heed to what was going on around her. Arrived +there just in time to see her friend die, she remained but a short time +after all was over. There was no inducement for her to make a longer +stay. Her feelings for Mr. Skeys were not friendly. She could not forget +that had he but treated Fanny as she, for example, would have done had +she been in his place, this early death might have been prevented. Her +school, intrusted to Mrs. Bishop's care, was a strong reason for her +speedy return to England. The cause which had called her from it being +gone, she was anxious to return to her post. + +An incident highly characteristic of her is told of the journey home. She +had nursed a poor sick man on the way to Portugal; on the way back she +was instrumental in saving the lives of many men. The ship in which she +sailed met at mid-sea a French vessel so dismantled and storm-beaten that +it was in imminent risk of sinking, and its stock of provisions was +almost exhausted. Its officers hailed the English ship, begging its +captain to take them and their entire crew on board. The latter +hesitated. This was no trifling request. He had his own crew and +passengers to consider, and he feared to lay such a heavy tax on the +provisions provided for a certain number only. This was a case which +aroused Mary's tenderest sympathy. It was impossible for her to witness +it unmoved. She could not without a protest allow her fellow-creatures to +be so cruelly deserted. Like another Portia come to judgment, she +clinched the difficulty by representing to the captain that if he did not +yield to their entreaties she would expose his inhumanity upon her return +to England. Her arguments prevailed. The sufferers were saved, and the +intercessor in their behalf added one more to the long list of her good +deeds. Never has there been a woman, not even a Saint Rose of Lima or a +Saint Catherine of Siena, who could say as truly as Mary +Wollstonecraft,-- + + "... I sate among men + And I have loved these." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +LIFE AS GOVERNESS. + +1786-1788. + + +There was little pleasure for Mary in her home-coming. The school, whose +difficulties had begun before her departure, had prospered still less +under Mrs. Bishop's care. Many of the pupils had been taken away. Eliza, +her quick temper and excitability aggravated at that time by her late +misfortunes, was not a fitting person to have the control of children. +She had thoughtlessly quarrelled with their most profitable boarder, the +mother of the three boys, who had in consequence given up her rooms. As +yet no one else had been found to occupy them. The rent of the house was +so high that these losses left the sisters without the means to pay it. +They were therefore in debt, and that deeply, for people with no +immediate, or even remote, prospects of an addition to their income. Then +the Bloods during Mary's absence had fallen further into the Slough of +Despond, out of which, now their daughter was dead, there was no one to +help them. George could not aid them, because, though they did not know +it, he was just then without employment. Unable to live amicably with his +brother-in-law after Fanny's death, he had resigned his position in +Lisbon and gone to Ireland, where for a long while he could find nothing +to do. Mr. Skeys simply refused to satisfy the never-ceasing wants of his +wife's parents. He cannot be severely censured when their shiftlessness +is borne in mind. He probably had already received many appeals from +them. But Mary could not accept their troubles so passively. + +To add to her distress, she was weakened by the painful task she had just +completed. She was low-spirited and broken-hearted, and really ill. Her +eyes gave out; and no greater inconvenience could have just then befallen +her. Her mental activity was temporarily paralyzed, and yet she knew that +prompt measures were necessary to avert the evils crowding upon her. She +had truly been anointed to wrestle and not to reign. + +There was no chance of relief from her own family. Her father had married +again, but his second marriage had not improved him. He had descended to +the lowest stage of drunkenness and insignificance. His home was in +Laugharne, Wales, where he barely managed to exist. James, the second +son, had gone to sea in search of better fortune. Charles, the youngest, +was not old enough to seek his, and hence had to endure as best he could +the wretchedness of the Wollstonecraft household. Instead of Mary's +receiving help from this quarter, she was called upon to give it. Kinder +to her father than he had ever been to her, she never ignored his +difficulties. When she had money, she shared it with him. When she had +none, she did all she could to force Edward, the one prosperous member of +the family, to send his father the pecuniary assistance which, it seems, +he had promised. + +In whatever direction she looked, she saw misery and unhappiness. The +present was unendurable, the future hopeless. For a brief interval she +was almost crushed by her circumstances. To George Blood, now even dearer +to her than he had been before, she laid bare the weariness of her heart. +Shortly after her return she wrote him this letter, pathetic in its +despair: + + NEWINGTON GREEN, Feb. 4, 1786. + + I write to you, my dear George, lest my silence should make you + uneasy; yet what have I to say that will not have the same effect? + Things do not go well with me, and my spirits seem forever flown. I + was a month on my passage, and the weather was so tempestuous we + were several times in imminent danger. I did not expect ever to + have reached land. If it had pleased Heaven to have called me + hence, what a world of care I should have missed! I have lost all + relish for pleasure, and life seems a burden almost too heavy to be + endured. My head is stupid, and my heart sick and exhausted. But + why should I worry you? and yet, if I do not tell you my vexations, + what can I write about? + + Your father and mother are tolerably well, and inquire most + affectionately concerning you. They do not suspect that you have + left Lisbon, and I do not intend informing them of it till you are + provided for. I am very unhappy on their account, for though I am + determined they shall share my last shilling, yet I have every + reason to apprehend extreme distress, and of course they must be + involved in it. The school dwindles to nothing, and we shall soon + lose our last boarder, Mrs. Disney. She and the girls quarrelled + while I was away, which contributed to make the house very + disagreeable. Her sons are to be whole boarders at Mrs. Cockburn's. + Let me turn my eyes on which side I will, I can only anticipate + misery. Are such prospects as these likely to heal an almost broken + heart? The loss of Fanny was sufficient of itself to have thrown a + cloud over my brightest days; what effect, then, must it have when + I am bereft of every other comfort? I have, too, many debts. I + cannot think of remaining any longer in this house, the rent is so + enormous; and where to go, without money or friends, who can point + out? My eyes are very bad and my memory gone. I am not fit for any + situation; and as for Eliza, I don't know what will become of her. + My constitution is impaired. I hope I shan't live long, yet I may + be a tedious time dying. + + Well, I am too impatient. The will of heaven be done! I will labor + to be resigned. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." I + scarce know what I write, yet my writing at all when my mind is so + disturbed is a proof to you that I can never be lost so entirely in + misery as to forget those I love. I long to hear that you are + settled. It is the only quarter from which I can reasonably expect + pleasure. I have received a very short, unsatisfactory letter from + Lisbon. It was written to apologize for not sending the money to + your father which he promised. It would have been particularly + acceptable to them at this time; but he is prudent, and will not + run any hazard to serve a friend. Indeed, delicacy made me conceal + from him my dismal situation, but he must know how much I am + embarrassed.... + + I am very low-spirited, and of course my letter is very dull. I + will not lengthen it out in the same strain, but conclude with what + alone will be acceptable, an assurance of love and regard. + + Believe me to be ever your sincere and affectionate friend, + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +"There is but one true cure for suffering, and that is action," Dr. +Maudsley says. The first thing Mary did in her misery was to undertake +new work, this time a literary venture, not for herself, but for the +benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Blood. Their son-in-law having refused to +contribute from his plenty, their daughter's friend came forward and gave +from her nothing. + +At the instigation of Mr. Hewlet, one of her friends already mentioned, +she wrote a small pamphlet called "Thoughts on the Education of +Daughters." This gentleman rated her powers so high that he felt sure of +her success as a writer. As he was well acquainted with Mr. Johnson, a +prominent bookseller in Fleet Street, he could promise that her +manuscript would be dealt with fairly. Her choice of subject was, in one +way, fortunate. Being a teacher she could speak on educational matters +with authority. But this first work is not striking or remarkable. +Indeed, it is chiefly worth notice because it was the means of +introducing her to Mr. Johnson, who was a true friend to her through her +darkest, as well as through her brightest, days, and whose influence was +strong in shaping her career. He paid her ten guineas for her pamphlet, +and these she at once gave to Mr. and Mrs. Blood, who were thereby +enabled to leave England and go to Dublin. There, they thought, because +they and their disgrace were not yet known, the chances of their starting +in life afresh were greater. + +It was now time for Mary to turn her attention to her own affairs. It was +absolutely necessary to give up the school. Her presence could not recall +the pupils who had left it, and her debts were pressing. The success of +the sisters had been too slight to tempt them to establish a similar +institution in another town. They determined to separate, and each to +earn her livelihood alone. Mary was not loath to do this. Because of her +superior administrative ability, too large a share of the work in the +school had devolved upon her, while her sisters' society was a hindrance +rather than a comfort. She was ready to sacrifice herself for others, but +she had enough common sense to realize that too great unselfishness in +details would in the end destroy her power of aiding in larger matters. +She could do more for Eliza and Everina away from them, than if she +continued to live with them. + +What she desired most earnestly was to devote all her time to literary +work. Mr. Hewlet had represented to her that she would be certain to make +an ample support by writing. Mr. Johnson had received her pamphlet +favorably, and had asked for further contributions. But her present want +was urgent, and she could not wait on a probability. She had absolutely +no money to live upon while she made a second experiment. She had learned +thoroughly the lesson of patience and of self-restraint, and she resolved +for the present to continue to teach. By doing this, she could still find +a few spare hours for literary purposes, while she could gradually save +enough money to warrant her beginning the life for which she longed. One +plan, abandoned, however, before she attempted to put it into execution, +she describes in the following letter to George Blood. The tone in which +she writes is much less hopeless than that of the letter last quoted. +Already the remedy of activity was beginning to have its effect:-- + + NEWINGTON GREEN, May 22, 1787. + + By this time, my dear George, I hope your father and mother have + reached Dublin. I long to hear of their safe arrival. A few days + after they set sail, I received a letter from Skeys. He laments + his inability to assist them, and dwells on his own embarrassments. + How glad I am they are gone! My affairs are hastening to a + crisis.... Some of my creditors cannot afford to wait for their + money; as to leaving England in debt, I am determined not to do + it.... Everina and Eliza are both endeavoring to go out into the + world, the one as a companion, and the other as a teacher, and I + believe I shall continue some time on the Green. I intend taking a + little cheap lodging, and living without a servant; and the few + scholars I have will maintain me. I have done with all worldly + pursuits and wishes; I only desire to submit without being + dependent on the caprice of our fellow-creatures. I shall have many + solitary hours, but I have not much to hope for in life, and so it + would be absurd to give way to fear. Besides, I try to look on the + best side, and not to despond. While I am trying to do my duty in + that station in which Providence has placed me, I shall enjoy some + tranquil moments, and the pleasures I have the greatest relish for + are not entirely out of my reach.... I have been trying to muster + up my fortitude, and laboring for patience to bear my many trials. + Surely, when I could determine to survive Fanny, I can endure + poverty and all the lesser ills of life. I dreaded, oh! how I + dreaded this time, and now it is arrived I am calmer than I + expected to be. I have been very unwell; my constitution is much + impaired; the prison walls are decaying, and the prisoner will ere + long get free.... Remember that I am your truly affectionate friend + and sister, + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +Perhaps the uncertainty of keeping her pupils, or the double work +necessitated by this project, discouraged her. At all events, it was +relinquished when other and seemingly better proposals were made to her. +Some of her friends at Newington Green recommended her to the notice of +Mr. Prior, then Assistant Master at Eton, and his wife. Through them she +was offered the situation of governess to the children of Lord +Kingsborough, an Irish nobleman. If she accepted it, she would be spared +the anxiety which a school of her own had heretofore brought her. The +salary would be forty pounds a year, out of which she calculated she +could pay her debts and then assist Mrs. Bishop. But she would lose her +independence, and would expose herself to the indifference or contempt +then the portion of governesses. "I should be shut out from society," she +explained to George Blood, "and be debarred the pleasures of imperfect +friendship, as I should on every side be surrounded by unequals. To live +only on terms of civility and common benevolence, without any interchange +of little acts of kindness and tenderness, would be to me extremely +irksome." The prospect, it must be admitted, was not pleasant. But still +the advantages outweighed the drawbacks, and Mary agreed to Lady +Kingsborough's terms. + +Mr. and Mrs. Prior intended taking a trip to Ireland, and they suggested +that she should accompany them. Travelling was not easy in those days, +and she decided to wait and go with them. But, for some reason, they did +not start as soon as they had expected. She had already joined them in +their home at Eton, in which place their delay detained her for some +time. This gave her the opportunity to study the school and the +principles upon which it was conducted. The entire system met with her +disapprobation, and afterwards, in her "Rights of Women," she freely and +strongly expressed her unfavorable opinion. Judging from what she there +saw, she concluded that schools regulated according to the same rules +were hot-beds of vice. Nothing disgusted her so much in this institution +as the false basis upon which religion was established. The slavery to +forms, demanded of the boys, seemed to her to at once undermine their +moral uprightness. What, indeed, could be expected of a boy who would +take the sacrament for no other reason than to avoid the fine of half a +guinea imposed upon those who would not conform to this ceremony? Her +visit did much towards developing and formulating her ideas on the +subject of education. + +Mrs. Prior seems to have given her every chance to become acquainted not +only with the school, but with the social life at Eton. But her interest +in the gay world, as there represented, was lukewarm. Its shallowness +provoked her. She, looking upon life as real and earnest, and not as a +mere playground, could not sympathize with women who gave themselves up +to dress, nor with men who expended their energies in efforts to raise a +laugh. Wit of rather an affected kind was the fashion of the day. At its +best it was odious, but when manufactured by the weaklings of society, it +was beyond endurance. Heine says that there is no man so crazy that he +may not find a crazier comrade who will understand him. And it may be +said as truly, that there is no man so foolish that he will not meet +still greater fools ready to admire his folly. To Mary Wollstonecraft it +was doubtful which was most to be despised, the affectation itself or the +applause which nourished it. The governess elect, whose heart was heavy +laden, saw in the flippant gayeties of Eton naught but vanity and +vexation of spirit. + +She wrote to Everina on the 9th of October,-- + + The time I spend here appears lost. While I remained in England I + would fain have been near those I love.... I could not live the + life they lead at Eton; nothing but dress and ridicule going + forward, and I really believe their fondness for ridicule tends to + make them affected, the women in their manners and the men in their + conversation; for witlings abound, and puns fly about like + crackers, though you would scarcely guess they had any meaning in + them, if you did not hear the noise they create. So much company + without any sociability would be to me an insupportable fatigue. I + am, 'tis true, quite alone in a crowd, yet cannot help reflecting + on the scene around me, and my thoughts harass me. Vanity in one + shape or other reigns triumphant.... My thoughts and wishes tend to + that land where the God of love will wipe away all tears from our + eyes, where sincerity and truth will flourish, and the imagination + will not dwell on pleasing illusions which vanish like dreams when + experience forces us to see things as they really are. With what + delight do I anticipate the time when neither death nor accidents + of any kind will interpose to separate me from those I love.... + Adieu; believe me to be your affectionate friend and sister, + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +Finally the time came for her departure. In October, 1787, she set out +with Mr. and Mrs. Prior for Ireland, and towards the end of the month +arrived at the castle of Lord Kingsborough in Mitchelstown. Her first +impressions were gloomy. But, indeed, her depression and weakness were so +great, that she looked at all things, as if through a glass, darkly. Her +sorrows were still too fresh to be forgotten in idle curiosity about the +inhabitants and customs of her new home. Even if she had been in the best +of spirits, her arrival at the castle would have been a trying moment. It +is never easy for one woman to face alone several of her sex, who, she +knows, are waiting to criticise her. There were then staying with Lady +Kingsborough her step-mother and her three unmarried step-sisters and +several guests. Governesses in this household had fared much as +companions in Mrs. Dawson's. They had come and gone in rapid succession. +Therefore Mary was examined by these ladies much as a new horse is +inspected by a racer, or a new dog by a sportsman. She passed through the +ordeal successfully, but it left her courage at low ebb. Her first report +to her sister is not cheerful:-- + + THE CASTLE, MITCHELSTOWN, Oct. 30, 1787. + + Well, my dear girl, I am at length arrived at my journey's end. I + sigh when I say so, but it matters not, I must labor for content, + and try to reconcile myself to a state which is contrary to every + feeling of my soul. I can scarcely persuade myself that I am awake; + my whole life appears like a frightful vision, and equally + disjointed. I have been so very low-spirited for some days past, I + could not write. All the moments I could spend in solitude were + lost in sorrow and unavailing tears. There was such a solemn kind + of stupidity about this place as froze my very blood. I entered the + great gates with the same kind of feeling as I should have if I was + going into the Bastille. You can make allowance for the feelings + which the General would term ridiculous or artificial. I found I + was to encounter a host of females,--My Lady, her step-mother and + three sisters, and Mrses. and Misses without number, who, of + course, would examine me with the most minute attention. I cannot + attempt to give you a description of the family, I am so low; I + will only mention some of the things which particularly worry me. I + am sure much more is expected from me than I am equal to. With + respect to French, I am certain Mr. P. has misled them, and I + expect in consequence of it to be very much mortified. Lady K. is a + shrewd, clever woman, a great talker. I have not seen much of her, + as she is confined to her room by a sore throat; but I have seen + half a dozen of her companions. I mean not her children, but her + dogs. To see a woman without any softness in her manners caressing + animals, and using infantine expressions, is, you may conceive, + very absurd and ludicrous, but a fine lady is a new species to me + of animal. I am, however, treated like a gentlewoman by every part + of the family, but the forms and parade of high life suit not my + mind.... I hear a fiddle below, the servants are dancing, and the + rest of the family are diverting themselves. I only am melancholy + and alone. To tell the truth, I hope part of my misery arises from + disordered nerves, for I would fain believe my mind is not so very + weak. The children are, literally speaking, wild Irish, unformed + and not very pleasing; but you shall have a full and true account, + my dear girl, in a few days.... + + I am your affectionate sister and sincere friend, + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +It was at least fortunate that she escaped, with Lady Kingsborough, the +indignities which she had feared she, as governess, would receive. +Instead of being placed on a level with the servants, as was often the +fate of gentlewomen in her position, she was treated as one of the +family, but she had little else to be thankful for. There was absolutely +no congeniality between herself and her employers. She had no tastes or +views in common with them. Lady Kingsborough was a thorough woman of the +world. She was clever but cold, and her natural coldness had been +increased by the restraints and exactions of her social rank. If she +rouged to preserve her good looks, and talked to exhibit her cleverness, +she was fulfilling all the requirements of her station in life. Her +character and conduct were in every way opposed to Mary's ideals. The +latter, who was instinctively honest, and who never stooped to curry +favor with any one, must have found it difficult to treat Lady +Kingsborough with a deference she did not feel, but which her subordinate +position obliged her to show. The struggle between impulse and duty thus +caused was doubtless one of the chief factors in making her experiences +in Ireland so painful. How great this struggle was can be best estimated +when it is known what she thought of the mother of her pupils. She was +never thrown into such intimate relations with any other woman of +fashion, and therefore it is not illogical to believe that many passages +in the "Rights of Women," relating to women of this class, are +descriptions of Lady Kingsborough. The allusion to pet dogs in the +following seems to establish the identity beyond dispute:-- + + "... She who takes her dogs to bed, and nurses them with a parade + of sensibility when sick, will suffer her babes to grow up crooked + in a nursery. This illustration of my argument is drawn from a + matter of fact. The woman whom I allude to was handsome, reckoned + very handsome by those who do not miss the mind when the face is + plump and fair; but her understanding had not been led from female + duties by literature, nor her innocence debauched by knowledge. No, + she was quite feminine according to the masculine acceptation of + the word; and so far from loving these spoiled brutes that filled + the place which her children ought to have occupied, she only + lisped out a pretty mixture of French and English nonsense, to + please the men who flocked round her. The wife, mother, and human + creature were all swallowed up by the factitious character which an + improper education and the selfish vanity of beauty had produced. + + "I do not like to make a distinction without a difference, and I + own that I have been as much disgusted by the fine lady who took + her lap-dog to her bosom, instead of her child, as by the ferocity + of a man, who beating his horse, declared that he knew as well when + he did wrong as a Christian." + +If Lady Kingsborough was a representative lady of fashion, her husband +was quite as much the typical country lord. Tom Jones was still the ideal +hero of fiction, and Squire Westerns had not disappeared from real life. +Lord Kingsborough was good-natured and kind, but, like the rest of the +species, coarse. "His countenance does not promise more than good humor +and a little _fun_, not refined," Mary told Mrs. Bishop. The three +step-sisters were too preoccupied with matrimonial calculations to +manifest their character, if indeed they had any. Clearly, in such a +household Mary Wollstonecraft was as a child of Israel among the +Philistines. + +The society of the children, though they were "wild Irish," was more to +her taste than that of the grown-up members of the family. Three were +given into her charge. At first she thought them not very pleasing, but +after a better acquaintance she grew fond of them. The eldest, Margaret, +afterwards Lady Mountcashel, was then fourteen years of age. She was very +talented, and a "sweet girl," as Mary called her in a letter to Mrs. +Bishop. She became deeply attached to her new governess, not with the +passing fancy of a child, but with a lasting devotion. The other children +also learned to love her, but being younger there was less friendship in +their affection. They were afraid of their mother, who lavished her +caresses upon her dogs, until she had none left for them. Therefore, when +Mary treated them affectionately and sympathized with their interests and +pleasures, they naturally turned to her and gave her the love which no +one else seemed to want. That this was the case was entirely Lady +Kingsborough's fault, but she resented it bitterly, and it was later a +cause of serious complaint against the too competent governess. The +affection of her pupils, which was her principal pleasure during her +residence in Ireland, thus became in the end a misfortune. + +A more prolific source of trouble to her was, strangely enough, her +interest in them. Lady Kingsborough had very positive ideas upon the +subject of her children's education, and by insisting upon adherence to +them she made Mary's task doubly hard. Had she not been interfered with, +her position would not have been so unpleasant. She could put her whole +soul into her work, whatever it might be, and find in its success one of +her chief joys. She wished to do her utmost for Margaret and her sisters, +but this was impossible, since she knew the system Lady Kingsborough +exacted to be vicious. The latter cared more for a show of knowledge than +for knowledge itself, and laid the greatest stress upon the acquirement +of accomplishments. This was not in accord with Mary's theories, who +prized reality and not appearances. A less conscientious woman might have +contented herself with the thought that she was carrying out the wishes +of her employer. But Mary could not quiet her scruples in this way. She +was tormented by the sense of duty but half fulfilled. She realized, by +her own sad experience, how much depends upon the training received in +childhood, and yet she was powerless to bring up her pupils in the way +she knew to be best. She had, besides, constantly before her in Lady +Kingsborough and her sisters a, to her, melancholy example of the result +of the methods she was asked to adopt. They had been carefully taught +many different languages and much history, but had been as carefully +instilled with the idea that their studies were but means to social +success and to a brilliant marriage. The consequence was that their +education, despite its thoroughness, had made them puppets, self-interest +being the wire which moved them. She did not want this to be the fate of +her pupils, but she could see no escape for them. + +In addition to her honest anxiety for their future, she must have been +worried by the certainty that, if she remained with them, she would be +held responsible for their character and conduct in after-life. Though +she had charge of them only for a year, this eventually proved to be the +case. Margaret's reputation as Lady Mountcashel was not wholly unsullied, +and when it was remembered that she had, at one time, been under the +influence of Mary Wollstonecraft, author of the "Rights of Women," the +fault was attributed to the immoral and irreligious teaching of the +latter. Never was any woman so unjustly condemned. In the first place, +Mary was not her governess long enough to actually change her nature, or +to influence her for life; and, in the second place, she was not allowed +to have her own way with her pupils. Had she been free she would have +been more apt to encourage a spirit of piety, and inculcate a fine moral +sense. For she was at that period in a deeply religious frame of mind, +while she did all she could to counteract what she considered the +deteriorating tendencies of the children's home training. As Kegan Paul +says, "Her whole endeavor was to train them for higher pursuits and to +instil into them a desire for a wider culture than fell to the lot of +most girls in those days. Her sorrow was deep that her pupils' lives were +such as to render sustained study and religious habits of mind alike +difficult." + +This caused her much unhappiness. Her worriment developed into positive +illness. After she had been with them some months, the strain seemed more +than she could bear, as she confessed to Mr. Johnson, to whom she wrote +from Dublin on the 14th of April,-- + + I am still an invalid, and begin to believe that I ought never to + expect to enjoy health. My mind preys on my body, and, when I + endeavor to be useful, I grow too much interested for my own peace. + Confined almost entirely to the society of children, I am anxiously + solicitous for their future welfare, and mortified beyond measure + when counteracted in my endeavors to improve them. I feel all a + mother's fears for the swarm of little ones which surround me, and + observe disorders, without having power to apply the proper + remedies. How can I be reconciled to life, when it is always a + painful warfare, and when I am deprived of all the pleasures I + relish? I allude to rational conversations and domestic affections. + Here, alone, a poor solitary individual in a strange land, tied to + one spot, and subject to the caprice of another, can I be + contented? I am desirous to convince you that I have _some_ cause + for sorrow, and am not without reason detached from life. I shall + hope to hear that you are well, and am yours sincerely, + + WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +The family troubles followed Mary to Ireland. The news which reached her +from home was discouraging. Edward Wollstonecraft at this period declared +he would do nothing more for his father. Prudent, and with none of his +sister's unselfishness, he grew tired of the drain upon his purse. There +was also difficulty about some money which Mary and her sisters +considered theirs by right, but which the eldest brother, with shameless +selfishness, refused to give up. What the exact circumstances were is not +certain; but it could have been no light tax upon Mary to contribute the +necessary amount for her father's support, and no small disappointment to +be deprived of money which she thought to be legally hers. Money cares +were to her what the Old Man of the Sea was to Sinbad. They were a burden +from which she was never free. When from forty pounds a year she had to +take half to pay her debts, and then give from the remainder to her +father, her share of her earnings was not large. And yet she counted upon +her savings to purchase her future release from a life of dependence. + +Though she wrote to Mr. Johnson that she was almost entirely confined to +the society of children, she really did see much of the family, often +taking part in their amusements. Judging from the attractions and +conversational powers which made her a favorite in London society, it is +but natural to conclude that she was an addition to the household. She +seems at times to have exerted herself to be agreeable. Godwin records +the extreme discomfiture of a fine lady of quality, when, on one +occasion, after having singled her out and treated her with marked +friendliness, she discovered that she had been entertaining the +children's governess! Mary cared nothing for these people, but as they +were civil to her, she returned their politeness by showing them she was +well worth being polite to. Low-spirited as she was, she mustered up +sufficient courage to discuss the husband-hunts of the young ladies and +even to notice the dogs. This was, indeed, a concession. To Everina she +sent a bulletin--not untouched with humor--of her wonderful and +praiseworthy progress with the inmates of the castle:-- + + MITCHELSTOWN, Nov. 17, 1787. + + ... Confined to the society of a set of silly females, I have no + social converse, and their boisterous spirits and unmeaning + laughter exhaust me, not forgetting hourly domestic bickerings. The + topics of matrimony and dress take their turn, not in a very + sentimental style,--alas! poor sentiment, it has no residence here. + I almost wish the girls were novel-readers and romantic. I declare + false refinement is better than none at all; but these girls + understand several languages, and have read _cartloads_ of history, + for their mother was a prudent woman. Lady K.'s passion for animals + fills up the hours which are not spent in dressing. All her + children have been ill,--very disagreeable fevers. Her ladyship + visited them in a formal way, though their situation called forth + my tenderness, and I endeavored to amuse them, while she lavished + awkward fondness on her dogs. I think now I hear her infantine + lisp. She rouges, and, in short, is a fine lady, without fancy or + sensibility. I am almost tormented to death by dogs. But you will + perceive I am not under the influence of my darling passion--pity; + it is not always so. I make allowance and adapt myself, talk of + getting husbands for the _ladies_--and the _dogs_, and am + wonderfully entertaining; and then I retire to my room, form + figures in the fire, listen to the wind, or view the Gotties, a + fine range of mountains near us, and so does time waste away in + apathy or misery.... I am drinking asses' milk, but do not find it + of any service. I am very ill, and so low-spirited my tears flow in + torrents almost insensibly. I struggle with myself, but I hope my + Heavenly Father will not be extreme to mark my weakness, and that + He will have compassion upon a poor bruised reed, and pity a + miserable wretch, whose sorrows He only knows.... I almost wish my + warfare was over. + +The religious tone of this letter calls for special notice, since it was +written at the very time she was supposed to be imparting irreligious +principles to her pupils. + +Mary had none of the false sentiment of a Sterne, and could not waste +sympathy over brutes, when she felt that there were human beings who +needed it. Her ladyship's dogs worried her because of the contrast +between the attention they received and the indifference which fell to +the lot of the children. Besides, the then distressing condition of the +laboring population in Ireland made the luxuries and silly affectations +of the rich doubly noticeable. Mary saw for herself the poverty of the +peasantry. Margaret was allowed to visit the poor, and she accompanied +her on her charitable rounds. The almost bestial squalor in which these +people lived was another cruel contrast to the pampered existence led by +the dogs at the castle. She had none of Strap's veneration for the +epithet of gentleman. Eliza owned to a "sneaking kindness for people of +quality." But Mary cared only for a man's intrinsic merit. His rank could +not cover his faults. Therefore, with the misery and destitution of so +many men and women staring her in the face, the amusements and +occupations of the few within Lady Kingsborough's household continually +grated upon her finer instincts. + +In the winter of 1788 the family went to Dublin, and Mary accompanied +them. She liked the society of the capital no better than she had that of +the country. She, however, occasionally shared in its frivolities, her +relations to Lady Kingsborough obliging her to do this. She was still +young enough to possess the capacity for enjoyment, though her many +hardships and sorrows had made her think this impossible, and she was +sometimes carried away by the gayety around her. But, as thorough a hater +of shams as Carlyle, she was disgusted with herself once the passing +excitement was over. From Dublin she wrote to Everina giving her a +description of a mask to which she had gone, and of which she had +evidently been a conspicuous feature:-- + + DUBLIN, March 14, 1788. + + ... I am very weak to-day, but I can account for it. The day before + yesterday there was a masquerade; in the course of conversation + some time before, I happened to wish to go to it. Lady K. offered + me two tickets for myself and Miss Delane to accompany me. I + refused them on account of the expense of dressing properly. She + then, to obviate that objection, lent me a black domino. I was out + of spirits, and thought of another excuse; but she proposed to take + me and Betty Delane to the houses of several people of fashion who + saw masks. We went to a great number, and were a tolerable, nay, a + much-admired, group. Lady K. went in a domino with a smart + cockade; Miss Moore dressed in the habit of one of the females of + the new discovered islands; Betty D. as a forsaken shepherdess; and + your sister Mary in a black domino. As it was taken for granted the + stranger who had just arrived could not speak the language, I was + to be her interpreter, which afforded me an ample field for satire. + I happened to be very melancholy in the morning, as I am almost + every morning, but at night my fever gives me false spirits; this + night the lights, the novelty of the scene, and all things together + contributed to make me _more_ than half mad. I gave full scope to a + satirical vein, and suppose ... + +Unfortunately, the rest of the letter is lost. + +In the midst of her duties and dissipations she managed to find some +little time for more solid pleasures and more congenial work. In her +letters she speaks of nothing with so much enthusiasm as of Rousseau, +whose "Emile" she read while she was in Dublin. She wrote to Everina, on +the 24th of March,-- + + I believe I told you before that as a nation I do not admire the + Irish; and as to the great world and its frivolous ceremonies, I + cannot away with them; they fatigue me. I thank Heaven I was not so + unfortunate as to be born a lady of quality. I am now reading + Rousseau's "Emile," and love his paradoxes. He chooses a common + capacity to educate, and gives as a reason that a genius will + educate itself. However, he rambles into that chimerical world in + which I have too often wandered, and draws the usual conclusion + that all is vanity and vexation of spirit. He was a strange, + inconsistent, unhappy, clever creature, yet he possessed an + uncommon portion of sensibility and penetration.... + + Adieu, yours sincerely, + MARY. + +It was also during this period that she wrote a novel called "Mary." It +is a narrative of her acquaintance and friendship with Fanny Blood,--her +_In Memoriam_ of the friend she so dearly loved. In writing it she sought +relief for the bitter sorrow with which her loss had filled her heart. + +The Irish gayeties lasted through the winter. In the spring the family +crossed over to England and went to Bristol, Hotwells, and Bath. In all +these places Mary saw more of the gay world, but it was only to deepen +the disgust with which it inspired her. Those were the days when men +drank at dinner until they fell under the table; when young women thought +of nothing but beaux, and were exhibited by their fond mothers as so much +live-stock to be delivered to the highest bidder; and when dowagers, +whose flirting season was over, spent all their time at the card-table. +Nowhere were the absurdities and emptiness of polite society so fully +exposed as at these three fashionable resorts. Even the frivolity of +Dublin paled in comparison. Mary's health improved in England. The Irish +climate seems to have specially disagreed with her. But notwithstanding +the much-needed improvement in her physical condition, and despite her +occasional concessions to her circumstances, her life became more +unbearable every day, while her sympathies and tastes grew farther apart +from those of her employers. + +But while even the little respect she felt for Lord and Lady Kingsborough +lessened, her love for the children increased. This they returned with +interest. Once, when one of them had to go into the country with her +mother and without her governess, she cried so bitterly that she made +herself ill. The strength of Margaret's affection can be partly measured +by the following passage from a letter written by Mary shortly after +their separation:-- + + "I had, the other day, the satisfaction of again receiving a letter + from my poor dear Margaret. With all the mother's fondness, I could + transcribe a part of it. She says, every day her affection to me, + and dependence on heaven, increase, etc. I miss her innocent + caresses, and sometimes indulge a pleasing hope, that she may be + allowed to cheer my childless age if I am to live to be old. At any + rate, I may hear of the virtues I may not contemplate." + +Lady Kingsborough made no effort to win her children's affection, but she +was unwilling that they should bestow it upon a stranger. She could not +forgive the governess who had taken her place in their hearts. She and +her eldest daughter had on this account frequent quarrels. Mary's +position was therefore untenable. Her surroundings were uncongenial, her +duties distasteful, and she was disapproved of by her employer. Nothing +was needed but a decent pretext for the latter to dismiss her. This she +before long found when, Mary being temporarily separated from her pupils, +Margaret showed more regret than her mother thought the occasion +warranted. Lady Kingsborough seized the opportunity to give the governess +her dismissal. This was in the autumn of 1788, and the family were in +London. Mary had for some weeks known that this end was inevitable, but +still her departure, when the time came, was sudden. It was a trial to +her to leave the children, but escape from the household was a joyful +emancipation. Again she was obliged to face the world, and again she +emerged triumphant from her struggles. With each new change she advanced +a step in her intellectual progress. After she left Lady Kingsborough she +began the literary life which was to make her famous. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LITERARY LIFE. + +1788-1791. + + +During her residence with the family of Lady Kingsborough in Ireland, +Mary, as has been seen, corresponded with Mr. Johnson the publisher. In +her hour of need she went to him for advice and assistance. He strongly +recommended, as he had more than once before, that she should give up +teaching altogether, and devote her time to literary work. + +Mr. Johnson was a man of considerable influence and experience, and he +was enterprising and progressive. He published most of the principal +books of the day. The Edgeworths sent him their novels from Ireland, and +Cowper his poetry from Olney. One day he gave the reading world Mrs. +Barbauld's works for the young, and the next, the speculations of +reformers and social philosophers whose rationalism deterred many another +publisher. It was for printing the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield's too +plain-spoken writings that he was, at a later date, fined and imprisoned. +Quick to discern true merit, he was equally prompt in encouraging it. As +Mary once said of him, he was a man before he was a bookseller. His kind, +generous nature made him as ready to assist needy and deserving authors +with his purse as he was to publish their works. From the time he had +seen Mary's pamphlet on the "Education of Daughters," he had been deeply +and honestly interested in her. It had convinced him of her power to do +something greater. Her letters had sustained him in this opinion, and her +novel still further confirmed it. He now, in addition to urging her to +try to support herself by writing, promised her continual employment if +she would settle in London. + +To-day there would seem no possible reason for any one in her position to +hesitate before accepting such an offer. But in her time it was an +unusual occurrence for a woman to adopt literature as a profession. It is +true there had been a great change since Swift declared that "not one +gentleman's daughter in a thousand has been brought to read or understand +her own natural tongue." Women had learned not only to read, but to +write. Miss Burney had written her novels, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu her +Letters, and Mrs. Inchbald her "Simple Story" and her plays, before Mary +came to London. Though the Amelias and Lydia Melfords of fiction were +still favorite types, the blue-stocking was gaining ascendency. Because +she was such a _rara avis_ she received a degree of attention and +devotion which now appears extraordinary. Mrs. Inchbald and Mrs. Opie, +Maria Edgeworth and Mrs. Barbauld, at the end of the last and beginning +of this century, were feted and praised as seldom falls to the lot of +their successors of the present generation. But, despite this fact, they +were not quite sure that they were keeping within the limits of feminine +modesty by publishing their writings. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu had +considered it necessary to apologize for having translated Epictetus. +Miss Burney shrank from publicity, and preferred the slavery of a court +to the liberty of home life, which meant time for writing. Good Mrs. +Barbauld feared she "stepped out of the bounds of female reserve" when +she became an author. They all wrote either for amusement or as a last +resource to eke out a slender income. But Mary would, by agreeing to Mr. +Johnson's proposition, deliberately throw over other chances of making a +livelihood to rely entirely upon literature. She was young, unmarried, +and, to all intents and purposes, alone in the world. Such a step was +unprecedented in English literary annals. She would really be, as she +wrote to her sister, the first of a new genus. Her conduct would +unquestionably be criticised and censured. She would have to run the +gauntlet of public opinion, a much more trying ordeal than that through +which she had passed at the castle in Mitchelstown. + +But, on the other hand, she would thereby gain freedom and independence, +for which she had always yearned above all else; her work would be +congenial; and, what to her was even more important, she would obtain +better means to further the welfare of her sisters and brothers, and to +assist her father. Compared to these inducements, the fact that people +would look upon her askance was a very insignificant consideration. She +believed in a woman's right to independence; and, the first chance she +had, she acted according to her lights. + +But, at the same time, she knew that if her friends heard of her +determination before she had carried it into effect, they would try to +dissuade her from it. She was firmly resolved not to be influenced in +this matter by any one; and therefore, to avoid the unpleasant +discussions and disputes that might arise from a difference of opinion, +she maintained strict secrecy as to her plans. From her letters it seems +probable that she had made definite arrangements with Mr. Johnson before +her formal dismissal by Lady Kingsborough. In September of 1788 she +stayed at Henley for a short time with Mrs. Bishop; and it was doubtless +this visit that caused Margaret's unhappiness and hence her mother's +indignation. At Henley Mary enjoyed a short interval of rest. The quiet +of the place and temporary idleness were the best of tonics for her +disordered nerves, and an excellent preparation for her new labors. That +she was at that time determined to give up teaching for literature, but +that she did not take her sister into her confidence, is shown by this +letter written to Mr. Johnson, containing a pleasant description of her +holiday:-- + + HENLEY, Thursday, Sept. 13. + + MY DEAR SIR,--Since I saw you I have, literally speaking, _enjoyed_ + solitude. My sister could not accompany me in my rambles; I + therefore wandered alone by the side of the Thames, and in the + neighboring beautiful fields and pleasure grounds: the prospects + were of such a placid kind, I _caught_ tranquillity while I + surveyed them; my mind was _still_, though active. Were I to give + you an account how I have spent my time, you would smile. I found + an old French Bible here, and amused myself with comparing it with + our English translation; then I would listen to the falling leaves, + or observe the various tints the autumn gave to them. At other + times, the singing of a robin or the noise of a water-mill engaged + my attention; for I was at the same time, perhaps, discussing some + knotty point, or straying from this _tiny_ world to new systems. + After these excursions I returned to the family meals, told the + children stories (they think me _vastly_ agreeable), and my sister + was amused. Well, will you allow me to call this way of passing my + days pleasant? + + I was just going to mend my pen; but I believe it will enable me to + say all I have to add to this epistle. Have you yet heard of an + habitation for me? I often think of my new plan of life; and lest + my sister should try to prevail on me to alter it, I have avoided + mentioning it to her. I am determined! Your sex generally laugh at + female determinations; but let me tell you, I never yet resolved to + do anything of consequence, that I did not adhere resolutely to it, + till I had accomplished my purpose, improbable as it might have + appeared to a more timid mind. In the course of near nine and + twenty years I have gathered some experience, and felt many + _severe_ disappointments; and what is the amount? I long for a + little peace and _independence_! Every obligation we receive from + our fellow-creatures is a new shackle, takes from our native + freedom, and debases the mind, makes us mere earthworms. I am not + fond of grovelling! + + I am, Sir, yours, etc., + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +When she parted from Lady Kingsborough, and the time arrived for +beginning her new life, she thought it best to communicate her prospects +to Everina; but she begged the latter not to mention them to any one +else. She seems for some time to have wished that her family at least +should know nothing of her whereabouts or her occupations. + +She wrote from London on the 7th of November to Everina,-- + + I am, my dear girl, once more thrown on the world. I _have_ left + Lord K.'s, and they return next week to Mitchelstown. I long since + imagined that my departure would be sudden. I have not _seen_ Mrs. + Burgh, but I have informed her of this circumstance, and at the + same time mentioned to her, that I was determined not to see any of + my friends till I am in a way to earn my own subsistence. And to + this determination I _will_ adhere. You can conceive how + disagreeable pity and advice would be at this juncture. I have two + other cogent reasons. Before I go on will you pause, and if, after + deliberating, you will promise not to mention to any one what you + know of my designs, though you may think my requesting you to + conceal them unreasonable, I will trust to your honor, and proceed. + Mr. Johnson, whose uncommon kindness, I believe, has saved me from + despair and vexation I shrink back from, and fear to encounter, + assures me that if I exert my talents in writing, I may support + myself in a comfortable way. I am then going to be the first of a + new genus. I tremble at the attempt; yet if I fail _I_ only suffer; + and should I succeed, my dear girls will ever in sickness have a + home and a refuge, where for a few months in the year they may + forget the cares that disturb the rest. I shall strain every nerve + to obtain a situation for Eliza nearer town: in short, I am once + more involved in schemes. Heaven only knows whether they will + answer! Yet while they are pursued life slips away. I would not on + any account inform my father or Edward of my designs. You and Eliza + are the only part of the family I am interested about; I wish to be + a mother to you both. My undertaking would subject me to ridicule + and an inundation of friendly advice to which I cannot listen; I + must be independent. I wish to introduce you to Mr. Johnson. You + would respect him; and his sensible conversation would soon wear + away the impression that a formality, or rather stiffness of + manners, first makes to his disadvantage. I am sure you would love + him, did you know with what tenderness and humanity he has behaved + to me.... + + I cannot write more explicitly. I have indeed been very much + harassed. But Providence has been very kind to me, and when I + reflect on past mercies, I am not without hope with respect to the + future; and freedom, even uncertain freedom, is dear.... This + project has long floated in my mind. You know I am not born to + tread in the beaten track; the peculiar bent of my nature pushes me + on. Adieu; believe me ever your sincere friend and affectionate + sister, + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + + Seas will not now divide us, nor years elapse before we see each + other. + +Thus, hopeful for herself and her sisters, she started out upon a new +road, which, smoother than any she had yet trodden, was not without its +many thorns and pitfalls. For a little while she stayed with Mr. Johnson, +whose house was then, as ever, open to her. But as soon as possible she +moved to lodgings he found for her in George Street, in the neighborhood +of Blackfriars' Bridge. Here she was near him, and this was an important +consideration, as the work he proposed to give her necessitated frequent +intercourse between them, and it was also an advantage for her to be +within reasonable distance of the only friend she possessed in London. + +Mr. Johnson made her his "reader;" that is to say, he gave her the +manuscripts sent to him to read and criticise; he also required that she +should translate for him foreign works, for which there was then a great +demand, and that she should contribute to the "Analytical Review," which +had just been established. Her position was a good one. It is true it +left her little time for original work, and Godwin thought that it +contracted rather than enlarged her genius for the time being. But it +gave her a certain valuable experience and much practice which she would +not otherwise have obtained, and it insured her steady employment. She +was to the publisher what a staff contributor is to a newspaper. Whenever +anything was to be done, she was called upon to do it. Therefore, there +was no danger of her dying of starvation in a garret, like Chatterton, or +of her offering her manuscripts to one unwilling bookseller after +another, as happened to Carlyle. + +She did not disappoint Mr. Johnson's expectations. She worked well and +diligently, being thoroughly conscientious in whatever she did. The +office of "reader" is no mere sinecure; it requires a keen critical +sense, an impartial mind, and not a little moral courage. The first of +these qualifications Mary possessed naturally, and her honesty enabled +her to cultivate the two last. She was as fearless in her criticisms as +she was just; she praised and found fault with equal temerity. This +disagreeable duty was the indirect cause of the happiest event of her +life. The circumstance in question belongs to a later date, but it may +more appropriately be mentioned here in connection with this branch of +her work. On one occasion she had to read a volume of Essays written by +Miss Hayes. The preface displeased her, and this she told the author, +stating her reasons with unhesitating frankness. Miss Hayes was a woman +capable of appreciating such candor of speech; and the business +transaction led to a sincere and lasting friendship. Miss Hayes was the +mutual friend who succeeded in producing a better feeling between Godwin +and Mary, who, as the sequel will show, were not very friendly when they +first met. This fact adds a personal interest to Mary's letter. She +writes,-- + + "I yesterday mentioned to Mr. Johnson your request, and he + assented, desiring that the titlepage might be sent to him. I + therefore can say nothing more, for trifles of this kind I have + always left to him to settle; and you must be aware, madam, that + the _honor_ of publishing, the phrase on which you have laid a + stress, is the cant of both trade and sex; for if really equality + should ever take place in society, the man who is employed and + gives a just equivalent for the money he receives will not behave + with the servile obsequiousness of a servant. + + "I am now going to treat you with still greater frankness. I do not + approve of your preface, and I will tell you why: if your work + should deserve attention, it is a blur on the very face of it. + Disadvantages of education, etc., ought, in my opinion, never to be + pleaded with the public in excuse for defects of any importance, + because if the writer has not sufficient strength of mind to + overcome the common difficulties that lie in his way, nature seems + to command him, with a very audible voice, to leave the task of + instructing others to those who can. This kind of vain humility has + ever disgusted me; and I should say to an author, who humbly sued + for forbearance, If you have not a tolerably good opinion of your + own production, why intrude it on the public? We have plenty of bad + books already, that have just gasped for breath and died. The last + paragraph I particularly object to, it is so full of vanity. Your + male friends will still treat you like a woman; and many a man, for + instance Dr. Johnson, Lord Littleton, and even Dr. Priestley have + insensibly been led to utter warm eulogiums in private that they + would be sorry openly to avow without some cooling explanatory ifs. + An author, especially a woman, should be cautious, lest she too + hastily swallows the crude praises which partial friend and polite + acquaintance bestow thoughtlessly when the supplicating eye looks + for them. In short, it requires great resolution to try rather to + be useful than to please. With this remark in your head, I must beg + you to pardon my freedom whilst you consider the purport of what I + am going to add,--rest on yourself. If your essays have merit, + they will stand alone; if not, the _shouldering up_ of Dr. this or + that will not long keep them from falling to the ground. The vulgar + have a pertinent proverb, 'Too many cooks spoil the broth;' and let + me remind you that when weakness claims indulgence, it seems to + justify the despotism of strength. Indeed, the preface, and even + your pamphlet, is too full of yourself. Inquiries ought to be made + before they are answered; and till a work strongly interests the + public, true modesty should keep the author in the background, for + it is only about the character and life of a _good_ author that + curiosity is active. A blossom is but a blossom." + +It is a pity that most of Mary's contributions to the "Analytical +Review," being unsigned, cannot be credited to her. She wrote for it many +reviews and similar articles, and they probably were characterized by her +uncompromising honesty and straightforwardness of speech. "If you do not +like the manner in which I reviewed Dr. J----'s S---- on his wife," she +wrote in a note to Mr. Johnson, "be it known unto you, I _will_ not do it +any other way. I felt some pleasure in paying a just tribute of respect +to the memory of a man, who, spite of all his faults, I have an affection +for." From this it appears, that to tell the truth in these matters was +not always an uncongenial duty. + +She was principally occupied in translating. Following Mr. Johnson's +advice, she had while in Ireland perfected her French. She was tolerably +familiar with Italian; and she now devoted all her spare minutes, and +these could not have been many, to mastering German. Her energy was +unflagging, and her determination to succeed in the calling she had +chosen, indomitable. By studying she was laying up the only capital she +knew how to accumulate, and she feared her future loss should she not +make use of present opportunities. She wrote to Mr. Johnson, who was +materially interested in her progress,-- + + I really want a German grammar, as I intend to attempt to learn + that language, and I will tell you the reason why. While I live, I + am persuaded, I must exert my understanding to procure an + independence and render myself useful. To make the task easier, I + ought to store my mind with knowledge. The seed-time is passing + away. I see the necessity of laboring now, and of that necessity I + do not complain; on the contrary, I am thankful that I have more + than common incentives to pursue knowledge, and draw my pleasures + from the employments that are within my reach. You perceive this is + not a gloomy day. I feel at this moment particularly grateful to + you. Without your humane and _delicate_ assistance, how many + obstacles should I not have had to encounter! Too often should I + have been out of patience with my fellow-creatures, whom I wish to + love. Allow me to love you, my dear sir, and call friend a being I + respect. Adieu. + + MARY W. + +She had indeed reason to be grateful to Mr. Johnson, and she expressed +her gratitude in a more practical way than by protestations. The German +grammar was not wasted. Before long Mary undertook for practice to +translate Salzmann's "Elements of Morality," and her exercise proved so +masterly that she, with a few corrections and additions, published it. +This gave rise to a correspondence between the author and herself; and +after several years the former returned the compliment by translating the +"Rights of Women" into German. Some idea will be given of her industry +when it is stated that during the five years of her London life, she, in +addition to the work already mentioned, rewrote a translation from the +Dutch of "Young Grandison;" translated from the French "Young Robinson," +Necker on "Religious Opinions," and Lavater's "Physiognomy;" wrote a +volume of "Original Stories from Real Life for Children," and compiled a +"Female Reader." As these works were undertaken for money rather than for +fame, she did not through them exert any personal influence on +contemporary thought, or leave any impression on posterity. + +She never degenerated, however, into a mere hack writer, nor did she +accept the literary tasks which came in her way, unless she felt able to +accomplish them. She was too conscientious to fall into a fault +unfortunately common among men and women in a similar position. She did +not shrink from any work, if she knew she was capable of doing it +justice. When it was beyond her powers, she frankly admitted this to be +the case. Thus, she once wrote to Mr. Johnson:-- + + "I return you the Italian manuscript, but do not hastily imagine + that I am indolent. I would not spare any labor to do my duty; that + single thought would solace me more than any pleasures the senses + could enjoy. I find I could not translate the manuscript well. If + it were not a manuscript I should not be so easily intimidated; but + the hand, and errors in orthography or abbreviations, are a + stumbling-block at the first setting out. I cannot bear to do + anything I cannot do well; and I should lose time in the vain + attempt." + +When she settled in London, she was in no humor for social pleasures. Her +sole ambition was to be useful, and she worked incessantly. She at first +hid herself from almost everybody. When she expected her sisters to stay +with her, she begged them beforehand, "If you pay any visits, you will +comply with my whim and not mention my place of abode or mode of life." +She lived in very simple fashion; her rooms were furnished with the +merest necessities. Another warning she had to give Everina and Mrs. +Bishop was, "I have a room, but not furniture. J. offered you both a bed +in his house, but that would not be pleasant. I believe I must try to +purchase a bed, which I shall reserve for my poor girls while I have a +house." It has been recorded that Talleyrand visited her in her lodgings +on George Street, and that while the two discussed social and political +problems, they drank their tea and then their wine from tea-cups, +wine-glasses being an elegance beyond Mary's means. Her dress was as +plain as her furniture. Her gowns were mean in material and often shabby, +and her hair hung loosely on her shoulders, instead of being twisted and +looped as was then fashionable. Knowles, in his "Life of Fuseli," finds +fault with her on this account. She was not, however, a _philosophical +sloven_, with _romantic_ ideas of benevolence, as he intimates. Either he +or Fuseli strangely misjudged her. The reason she paid so little heed to +the luxuries and frivolities which custom then exacted, was because other +more pressing demands were made upon her limited income. Then, as usual, +she was troubled by the wretched complications and misfortunes of her +family. The entire care and responsibility fell upon her shoulders. None +of the other members seemed to consider that she was as destitute as they +were,--that what she _did_ was literally her one source of revenue. +Assistance would have been as welcome to her as it was to them. But they +accepted what she had to give, and were never deterred by reflecting upon +the difficulty with which she responded to their needs. This is always +the way. The strong are made to bear the burdens of the weak. + +The amount of practical help she gave them is almost incredible. Eliza +and Everina had, when the school at Newington Green failed, become +governesses, but their education had been so sadly neglected that they +were not competent for their work. Mary, knowing this, sent Everina to +France, that she might study to be a good French teacher. The tide of +emigration caused by the Revolution had only just begun, and French +governesses and tutors were not the drug on the market they became later. +Everina remained two years in France at her eldest sister's expense. Mary +found a place for Eliza, first as parlor boarder, and then as assistant, +in an excellent school near London. For most of the time, however, both +sisters were birds of passage. Everina was for a while at Putney, and +then in Ireland, where she probably learned for herself the discomforts +which Mary had once endured. Eliza was now at Market Harborough and +Henley, and again at Putney, and finally she obtained a situation in +Pembrokeshire, Wales, which she retained longer than any she had hitherto +held. During these years there were occasional intermissions when both +sisters were out of work, and there were holiday seasons to be provided +for. To their father's house it was still impossible for them to go. Its +wretchedness was so great, it could no longer be called a home. Eliza, +soon to see it, found it unbearable. Edward, it appears, was willing to +give shelter to Everina; but this brother, of whom less mention is made +in the sisters' letters, was never a favorite, and residence with him was +an evil to be avoided. The one place, therefore, where they were sure of +a warm welcome was the humble lodging near Blackfriars' Bridge. Mary +fulfilled her promise of being a mother to them both. She stinted herself +that she might make their lot more endurable. + +When Eliza went to begin her Welsh engagement at Upton Castle, she spent +a night on the way with her father. Her report of this visit opened a new +channel for Mary's benevolence. Mr. Wollstonecraft was then living at +Laugharne, where he had taken his family many years before, and where his +daughters had made several very good friends. But Eliza, as she lamented +to Everina, went sadly from one old beloved haunt to another, without +meeting an eye which glistened at seeing her. Old acquaintances were +dead, or had sought a home elsewhere. The few who were left would not, +probably because of the father's disgrace, come to see her. The +step-mother, the second Mrs. Wollstonecraft, was helpful and economical; +but her thrift availed little against the drunken follies of her husband. +The latter had but just recovered from an illness. He was worn to a +skeleton, he coughed and groaned all night in a way to make the +listener's blood run cold, and he could not walk ten yards without +pausing to pant for breath. His poverty was so abject that his clothes +were barely decent, and his habits so low that he was indifferent to +personal cleanliness. For days and weeks after she had seen him, Eliza +was haunted by the memory of his unkempt hair and beard, his red face +and his beggarly shabbiness. Poor unfortunate Charles, the last child +left at home, was half-naked, and his time was spent in quarrelling with +his father. Eliza, who knew how to be independent, was irritated by her +brother's idleness. "I am very cool to Charles, and have said all I can +to rouse him," she wrote to Everina; but then immediately she added, +forced to do him justice, "But where can he go in his present plight?" It +scarcely seems possible that such misery should have befallen a +gentleman's family. Mr. Wollstonecraft's one cry, through it all, was for +money. He threatened to go to London in his rags, and compel the obdurate +Edward to comply with his demands. When Eliza told him of the sacrifices +Mary made in order to help him, he only flew into a rage. + +It was not long before Mary had brought Charles to London. The first +thing to be done for him was much what Mr. Dick had advised in the case +of ragged David Copperfield, and her initiatory act in his behalf was to +clothe him. She took him to her house, where he lived, if not elegantly +and extravagantly, at least decently, a new experience for the poor lad. +She then had him articled to Edward, the attorney; but this experiment, +as might have been expected, proved a failure. Mary next consulted with +Mr. Barlow about the chances of settling him advantageously on a farm in +America; and to prepare him for this life, which seemed full of promise, +she sent him to serve a sort of apprenticeship with an English farmer. +About this time James, the second son, who had been at sea, came home, +and for him also Mary found room in her lodgings until, through her +influence, he went to Woolwich, where for a few months he was under the +instruction of Mr. Bonnycastle, the mathematician, as a preparation to +enter the Royal Navy. He eventually went on Lord Hood's fleet as a +midshipman, and was then promoted to the rank of lieutenant, after which +he appears to have been able to shift for himself. + +Mary, as if this were not enough, also undertook the care of her father's +estate, or rather of the little left of it. Mr. Wollstonecraft had long +since been incapable of managing his own affairs, and had intrusted them +to some relations, with whose management Mary was not satisfied. She +consequently took matters into her own hands, though she could ill afford +to spare the time for this new duty. She did all that was possible to +disembarrass the estate so that it might produce sufficient for her +father's maintenance. She was ably assisted by Mr. Johnson. "During a +part of this period," he wrote of her residence in George Street, "which +certainly was the most active part of her life, she had the care of her +father's estate, which was attended with no little trouble to both of us. +She could not," he adds, "during this time, I think, expend less than +L200 on her brothers and sisters." Their combined efforts were in vain. +Mr. Wollstonecraft had succeeded too well in ruining himself; and for the +remainder of her life all Mary could do for him was to help him with her +money. Godwin says that, in addition to these already burdensome duties, +she took charge, in her own house, of a little girl of seven years of +age, a relation of Mr. Skeys. + +She struggled bravely, but there were times when it required superhuman +efforts to persevere. She was subject to attacks of depression which +usually resulted in physical illness. She gives a graphic description of +the mental and bodily weakness against which she had to fight, in a note +written at this period and addressed to Mr. Johnson:-- + + "I am a mere animal, and instinctive emotions too often silence the + suggestions of reason. Your note, I can scarcely tell why, hurt me, + and produced a kind of winterly smile, which diffuses a beam of + despondent tranquillity over the features. I have been very ill; + Heaven knows it was more than fancy. After some sleepless, + wearisome nights, towards the morning I have grown delirious. Last + Thursday, in particular, I imagined ---- was thrown into his great + distress by his folly; and I, unable to assist him, was in an + agony. My nerves were in such a painful state of irritation I + suffered more than I can express. Society was necessary, and might + have diverted me till I gained more strength; but I blush when I + recollect how often I have teased you with childish complaints and + the reveries of a disordered imagination. I even _imagined_ that I + intruded on you, because you never called on me though you + perceived that I was not well. I have nourished a sickly kind of + delicacy, which gave me as many unnecessary pangs. I acknowledge + that life is but a jest, and often a frightful dream, yet catch + myself every day searching for something serious, and feel real + misery from the disappointment. I am a strange compound of weakness + and resolution. However, if I must suffer, I will endeavor to + suffer in silence. There is certainly a great defect in my mind; my + wayward heart creates its own misery. Why I am made thus, I cannot + tell; and, till I can form some idea of the whole of my existence, + I must be content to weep and dance like a child,--long for a toy, + and be tired of it as soon as I get it. + + "We must each of us wear a fool's cap; but mine, alas! has lost its + bells and grown so heavy I find it intolerably troublesome. + Good-night! I have been pursuing a number of strange thoughts since + I began to write, and have actually both laughed and wept + immoderately. Surely I am a fool." + +In these dark days it was always to Mr. Johnson she turned for sympathy +and advice. She had never been on very confidential terms with either of +her sisters, and her friendship with George Blood had grown cooler. Their +paths in life had so widely diverged that this was unavoidable. The +following extract from a letter Mary wrote to him in the winter of 1791 +shows that the change in their intimacy had not been caused by +ill-feeling on either side. He apparently had, through her, renewed his +offer of marriage to Everina, as he was now able to support a wife:-- + + "... Now, my dear George, let me more particularly allude to your + own affairs. I ought to have done so sooner, but there was an + awkwardness in the business that made me shrink back. We have all, + my good friend, a sisterly affection for you; and this very morning + Everina declared to me that she had more affection for you than for + either of her brothers; but, accustomed to view you in that light, + she cannot view you in any other. Let us then be on the old + footing; love us as we love you, but give your heart to some worthy + girl, and do not cherish an affection which may interfere with your + prospects when there is no reason to suppose that it will ever be + returned. Everina does not seem to think of marriage. She has no + particular attachment; yet she was anxious when I spoke explicitly + to her, to speak to you in the same terms, that she might + correspond with you as she has ever done, with sisterly freedom and + affection." + +But good friends as they continued to be, he was far away in Dublin, with +different interests; and Mary craved immediate and comprehensive +sympathy. Mr. Johnson was ever ready to administer to her spiritual +wants; he was a friend in very truth. He evidently understood her nature +and knew how best to deal with her when she was in these moods. "During +her stay in George Street," he says in a note referring to her, "she +spent many of her afternoons and most of her evenings with me. She was +incapable of disguise. Whatever was the state of her mind, it appeared +when she entered, and the tone of conversation might easily be guessed. +When harassed, which was very often the case, she was relieved by +unbosoming herself, and generally returned home calm, frequently in +spirits." Sometimes her mental condition threatened to interfere +seriously with her work, and then again Mr. Johnson knew how to stimulate +and encourage her. When she was writing her answer to Burke's +"Reflections on the French Revolution," and when the first half of her +paper had been sent to the printer, her interest in her subject and her +power of writing suddenly deserted her. It was important to publish all +that was written in the controversy while public attention was still +directed to it. And yet, though Mary knew this full well, it was simply +impossible for her to finish what she had eagerly begun. In this frame of +mind she called upon Mr. Johnson and told him her troubles. Instead of +finding fault with her, he was sympathetic and bade her not to worry, for +if she could not continue her pamphlet he would throw aside the printed +sheets. This roused her pride. It was a far better stimulus than abuse +would have been, and it sent her home to write the second half +immediately. That she at times reproached herself for taking undue +advantage of Mr. Johnson's kindness appears from the following apologetic +little note:-- + + You made me very low-spirited last night by your manner of talking. + You are my only friend, the only person I am _intimate_ with. I + never had a father or a brother; you have been both to me ever + since I knew you, yet I have sometimes been very petulant. I have + been thinking of those instances of ill-humor and quickness, and + they appear like crimes. + + Yours sincerely, + MARY. + +The dry morsel and quietness which were now her portion were infinitely +better than the house full of strife which she had just left. She was +happier than she had ever been before, but she was only happy by +comparison. Solitude was preferable to the society of Lady Kingsborough +and her friends, but for any one of Mary's temperament it could not be +esteemed as a good in itself. Her unnatural isolation fortunately did not +last very long. Her friendship with Mr. Johnson was sufficient in itself +to break through her barrier of reserve. She was constantly at his house, +and it was one of the gayest and most sociable in London. It was the +rendezvous of the _literati_ of the day. Persons of note, foreigners as +well as Englishmen, frequented it. There one could meet Fuseli, +impetuous, impatient, and overflowing with conversation; Paine, somewhat +hard to draw out of his shell; Bonnycastle, Dr. George Fordyce, Mr. +George Anderson, Dr. Geddes, and a host of other prominent artists, +scientists, and literary men. Their meetings were informal. They +gathered together to talk about what interested them, and not to simper +and smirk, and give utterance to platitudes and affectations, as was the +case with the society to which Mary had lately been introduced. The +people with whom she now became acquainted were too earnest to lay undue +stress on what Herbert Spencer calls the _non-essentials_ of social +intercourse. Sincerity was more valued by them than standard forms of +politeness. When Dr. Geddes was indignant with Fuseli, he did not +disguise his feelings, but in the face of the assembled company rushed +out of the room to walk two or three times around Saint Paul's +Churchyard, and then, when his rage had diminished, to return and resume +the argument. This indifference to conventionalities, which would have +been held by the polite world to be a fault, must have seemed to Mary, +after her late experience, an incomparable virtue. It is no wonder that +Mrs. Barbauld found the evenings she spent with her publisher lively. "We +protracted them sometimes till ----" she wrote to her brother in the +course of one of her visits to London. "But I am not telling tales. Ask +---- at what time we used to separate." Mary was also a welcome guest at +Mrs. Trimmer's house, which, like that of Mr. Johnson, was a centre of +attraction for clever people. This Mrs. Trimmer had acquired some little +literary reputation, and had secured the patronage of the royal family +and the clergy. She and Mary differed greatly, both in character and +creed, but they became very good friends. "I spent a day at Mrs. +Trimmer's, and found her a truly respectable woman," was the verdict the +latter sent to Everina; nor had she ever reason to alter it. Her intimacy +with Miss Hayes also brought her into contact with many of the same +class. + +As soon as she began to be known in London, she was admired. She was +young,--being only twenty-nine when she came there to live--and she was +handsome. Her face was very striking. She had a profusion of auburn hair; +her eyes were brown and beautiful, despite a slight droop in one of them; +and her complexion, as is usually the case in connection with her +Titianesque coloring of hair and eyes, was rich and clear. The strength +and unutterable sadness of her expression combined with her other charms +to make her face one which a stranger would turn to look at a second +time. She possessed to a rare degree the power of attracting people. Few +could resist the influence of her personality. Added to this she talked +cleverly, and even brilliantly. The tone of her conversation was at times +acrid and gloomy. Long years of toil in a hard, unjust world had borne +the fruit of pessimism. She was too apt to overlook the bright for the +dark side of a picture. But this was a fault which was amply +counterbalanced by her talents. For the first time she made friends who +were competent to justly measure her merits. She was recognized to be a +woman of more than ordinary talents, and she was treated accordingly. +Mean clothes and shabby houses were no drawbacks to clever women in those +days. Mrs. Inchbald, in gowns "always becoming, and very seldom worth so +much as eight-pence," as one of her admirers described them, was +surrounded as soon as she entered a crowded room, even when powdered and +elegantly attired ladies of fashion were deserted. And Mary, though she +had not glasses out of which to drink her wine, and though her coiffure +was unfashionable, became a person of consequence in literary circles. + +Under the influence of congenial social surroundings, she gave up her +habits of retirement. She began to find enjoyment in society, and her +interest in life revived. She could even be gay, nor was there so much +sorrow in her laughter as there had been of yore. Among the most intimate +of her new acquaintances were Mr. and Mrs. Fuseli; and the account has +been preserved of at least one pleasure party to which she accompanied +them. This was a masked ball, and young Lavater, then in England, was +with them. Masquerades were then at the height of popularity. All sorts +and conditions of men went to them. Beautiful Amelia Opie, in her poorest +days, spent five pounds to gain admittance to one given to the Russian +ambassadors. Mrs. Inchbald, when well advanced in years, could enter so +thoroughly into the spirit of another as to beg a friend to lend her a +faded blue silk handkerchief or sash, that she might represent her real +character of a _passee_ blue-stocking. Mary's gayety on the present +occasion was less artificial than it had been at the Dublin mask. But +Fuseli's hot temper and fondness for a joke brought their amusement to a +sudden end. They were watching the masks, when one among the latter, +dressed as a devil, danced up to them, and, with howls and many mad +pranks, made merry at their expense. Fuseli, when he found he could not +rid himself of the tormentor, called out half angrily, half facetiously, +"Go to Hell!" The devil proved to be of the dull species, and instead of +answering with a lively jest, broke out into a torrent of hot abuse, and +refused to be appeased. Fuseli, wishing to avoid a scene, literally +turned and fled, leaving Mary and the others to save themselves as best +they could. + +At this period a man, whose name, luckily for himself, is now forgotten, +wished to make Mary his wife. Her treatment of him was characteristic. He +could not have known her very well, or else he would not have been so +foolish as to represent his financial prosperity as an argument in his +favor. For a woman to sell herself for money, even when the bargain was +sanctioned by the marriage ceremony, was, in her opinion, the +unpardonable sin. Therefore, what he probably intended as an honor, she +received as an insult. She declared that it must henceforward end her +acquaintance not only with him, but with the third person through whom +the offer was sent, and to whom Mary gave her answer. Her letters in +connection with this subject are among the most interesting in her +correspondence. They bear witness to the sanctity she attached to the +union of man and wife. Her views in this relation cannot be too +prominently brought forward, since, by manifesting the purity of her +principles, light is thrown on her subsequent conduct. In her first burst +of wrath she unbosomed herself to her ever-sympathetic confidant, Mr. +Johnson:-- + + "Mr. ---- called on me just now. Pray did you know his motive for + calling? I think him impertinently officious. He had left the house + before it had occurred to me in the strong light it does now, or I + should have told him so. My poverty makes me proud. I will not be + insulted by a superficial puppy. His intimacy with Miss ---- gave + him a privilege which he should not have assumed with me. A + proposal might be made to his cousin, a milliner's girl, which + should not have been mentioned to me. Pray tell him that I am + offended, and do not wish to see him again. When I meet him at your + house, I shall leave the room, since I cannot pull him by the nose. + I can force my spirit to leave my body, but it shall never bend to + support that body. God of heaven, save thy child from this living + death! I scarcely know what I write. My hand trembles; I am very + sick,--sick at heart." + +Then she wrote to the man who had undertaken in an evil moment to deliver +the would-be lover's message: + + SIR,--When you left me this morning, and I reflected a moment, your + _officious_ message, which at first appeared to me a joke, looked + so very like an insult, I cannot forget it. To prevent, then, the + necessity of forcing a smile when I chance to meet you, I take the + earliest opportunity of informing you of my sentiments. + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +This brief note seems to have called forth an answer, for Mary wrote +again, and this time more fully and explicitly:-- + + Sir,--It is inexpressibly disagreeable to me to be obliged to enter + again on a subject that has already raised a tumult of _indignant_ + emotions in my bosom, which I was laboring to suppress when I + received your letter. I shall now _condescend_ to answer your + epistle; but let me first tell you that, in my _unprotected_ + situation, I make a point of never forgiving a _deliberate + insult_,--and in that light I consider your late officious conduct. + It is not according to my nature to mince matters. I will tell you + in plain terms what I think. I have ever considered you in the + light of a _civil_ acquaintance,--on the word friend I lay a + peculiar emphasis,--and, as a mere acquaintance, you were rude and + _cruel_ to step forward to insult a woman whose conduct and + misfortunes demand respect. If my friend Mr. Johnson had made the + proposal, I should have been severely hurt, have thought him unkind + and unfeeling, but not _impertinent_. The privilege of intimacy you + had no claim to, and should have referred the man to myself, if you + had not sufficient discernment to quash it at once. I am, sir, poor + and destitute; yet I have a spirit that will never bend, or take + indirect methods to obtain the consequences I despise; nay, if to + support life it was necessary to act contrary to my principles, the + struggle would soon be over. I can bear anything but my own + contempt. + + In a few words, what I call an insult is the bare supposition that + I could for a moment think of _prostituting_ my person for a + maintenance; for in that point of view does such a marriage appear + to me, who consider right and wrong in the abstract, and never by + words and local opinions shield myself from the reproaches of my + own heart and understanding. + + It is needless to say more; only you must excuse me when I add that + I wish never to see, but as a perfect stranger, a person who could + so grossly mistake my character. An apology is not necessary, if + you were inclined to make one, nor any further expostulations. I + again repeat, I cannot overlook an affront; few indeed have + sufficient delicacy to respect poverty, even when it gives lustre + to a character; and I tell you, sir, I am _poor_, yet can live + without your benevolent exertions. + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. + +Her struggles with work wearied her less than her struggles with the +follies of men, of which the foregoing is an example. Indeed, while she +was eminently fitted to enjoy society, she was also peculiarly +susceptible to the many slings and arrows from which those who live in +the world cannot escape. The very tenderness of her feelings for +humanity, which was a blessing in one way, was almost a curse in +another. For, just as the conferring of a benefit on one in need gave her +intense pleasure, so, if she was the chance cause of pain to friend or +foe, she suffered acutely. Intentionally she could not have injured any +man. But often a word or action, said or done in good faith, will involve +others in serious difficulties. The misery she endured under such +circumstances was greater than that aroused by her own individual +troubles. The thought that she had added to a fellow-sufferer's +life-burden cut her to the quick, and she was unsparing in her +self-reproaches. She then reached the very acme of mental torture, as is +seen by this letter to Mr. Johnson:-- + + "I am sick with vexation, and wish I could knock my foolish head + against the wall, that bodily pain might make me feel less anguish + from self-reproach! To say the truth, I was never more displeased + with myself, and I will tell you the cause. You may recollect that + I did not mention to you the circumstance of ---- having a fortune + left to him; nor did a hint of it drop from me when I conversed + with my sister, because I knew he had a sufficient motive for + concealing it. Last Sunday, when his character was aspersed, as I + thought unjustly, in the heat of vindication I informed ---- that + he was now independent; but, at the same time, desired him not to + repeat my information to B----; yet last Tuesday he told him all, + and the boy at B----'s gave Mrs. ---- an account of it. As Mr. + ---- knew he had only made a confidant of me (I blush to think of + it!) he guessed the channel of intelligence, and this morning came, + not to reproach me,--I wish he had,--but to point out the injury I + have done him. Let what will be the consequence, I will reimburse + him, if I deny myself the necessaries of life, and even then my + folly will sting me. Perhaps you can scarcely conceive the misery I + at this moment endure. That I, whose power of doing good is so + limited, should do harm, galls my very soul. ---- may laugh at + these qualms, but, supposing Mr. ---- to be unworthy, I am not the + less to blame. Surely it is hell to despise one's self! I did not + want this additional vexation. At this time I have many that hang + heavily on my spirits. I shall not call on you this month, nor stir + out. My stomach has been so suddenly and violently affected, I am + unable to lean over the desk." + +The sequel of the affair is not known, but this letter, because it is so +characteristic, is interesting. + +The advantages social intercourse procured for her were, however, more +than sufficient compensation for the heart-beats it caused her. If there +is nothing so deteriorating as association with one's intellectual +inferiors, there is, on the other hand, nothing so improving as the +society of one's equals or superiors. Stimulated into mental activity by +her associates in the world in which she now moved, Mary's genius +expanded, and ideas but half formed developed into fixed principles. As +Swinburne says of Blake, she was born into the church of rebels. Her +present experience was her baptism. The times were exciting. The effect +of the work of Voltaire and the French philosophers was social upheaval +in France. The rebellion of the colonies and the agitation for reform at +home had encouraged the liberal party into new action. Men had fully +awakened to a realization of individual rights, and in their first +excitement could think and talk of nothing else. The interest then taken +in politics was general and wide-spread to a degree now unknown. Every +one, advocates and opponents alike, discussed the great social problems +of the day. + +As a rule, the most regular frequenters of Mr. Johnson's house, and the +leaders of conversation during his evenings, were Reformers. Men like +Paine and Fuseli and Dr. Priestley were, each in his own fashion, seeking +to discover the true nature of human rights. As the Reformation in the +sixteenth century had aimed at freeing the religion of Christ from the +abuses and errors of centuries, and thus restoring it to its original +purity, so the political movement of the latter half of the eighteenth +century had for object the destruction of arbitrary laws and the +re-establishment of government on primary principles. The French +Revolution and the American Rebellion were but means to the greater end. +Philosophers, who systematized the dissatisfaction which the people felt +without being able to trace it to its true source, preached the necessity +of distinguishing between right and wrong _per se_, and right and wrong +as defined by custom. This was the doctrine which Mary heard most +frequently discussed, and it was but the embodiment of the motives which +had invariably governed her actions from the time she had urged her +sister to leave her husband. She had never, even in her most religious +days, been orthodox in her beliefs, nor conservative in her conduct. As +she said in a letter just quoted, she considered right and wrong in the +abstract, and never shielded herself by words or local opinions. +Hitherto, owing chiefly to her circumstances, she had been content to +accept her theory as a guide for herself in her relations to the world +and her fellow-beings. But now that her scope of influence was extended, +she felt compelled to communicate to others her moral creed, which had +assumed definite shape. + +Her first public profession of her political and social faith was her +answer to Burke's "Reflections on the French Revolution," which had +summoned all the Liberals and Reformers in England to arms. Many came +forward boldly and refuted his arguments in print. Mary was among the +foremost, her pamphlet in reply to his being the first published. Later +authorities have given precedence to Dr. Priestley's, but this fact is +asserted by Godwin in his Memoirs, and he would hardly have made the +statement at a time when there were many living to deny it, had it not +been true. These answers naturally were received with abuse and sneers by +the Tories. Burke denounced his female opponents as "viragoes and English +_poissardes_;" and Horace Walpole wrote of them as "Amazonian allies," +who "spit their rage at eighteen-pence a head, and will return to +Fleet-ditch, more fortunate in being forgotten than their predecessors, +immortalized in the 'Dunciad.'" Peter Burke, in his "Life of Burke," says +that the replies made by Dr. Price, Mrs. Macaulay, and Mary +Wollstonecraft were merely attempts and nothing more. Yet all three were +writers of too much force to be ignored. They were thrown into the shade +because Paine's "Rights of Man," written for the same purpose, was so +much more startling in its wholesale condemnation of government that the +principal attention of the public was drawn to it. + +Mary's pamphlet, however, added considerably to her reputation, +especially among the Liberals. It was her first really important work. +Her success encouraged her greatly. It increased her confidence in her +powers and possibilities to influence the reading public. It therefore +proved an incentive to fresh exertions in the same field. Much as she was +interested in the rights of men, she was even more concerned with the +rights of women. The former had obtained many able defenders, but no one +had as yet thought of saying a word for the latter. Her own experience +had been so bitter that she realized the disadvantages of her sex as +others, whose path had been easier, never could. She saw that women were +hindered and hampered in a thousand and one ways by obstacles created not +by nature, but by man. And she also saw that long suffering had blinded +them to their, in her estimation, humiliating and too often painful +condition. A change for the better must originate with them, and yet how +was this possible, if they did not see their degradation? + + "Can the sower sow by night, + Or the ploughman in darkness plough?" + +Clearly, since she had found the light, it was her duty to illuminate +with it those who were groping in darkness. She could not with a word +revolutionize womankind, but she could at least be the herald to proclaim +the dawn of the day during which the good seed was to be sown. She had +discovered her life's mission, and, in her enthusiasm, she wrote the +"Vindication of the Rights of Women." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +LITERARY WORK. + +1788-1791. + + +As has been stated, Mary Wollstonecraft began her literary career by +writing a small pamphlet on the subject of education. Its title, in full, +is "Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: with Reflections on Female +Conduct in the more Important Duties of Life." It is interesting as her +first work. Otherwise it is of no great value. Though Mr. Johnson saw in +it the marks of genius, there is really little originality in its +contents or striking merit in the method of treating them. The ideas it +sets forth, while eminently commendable, are remarkable only because it +was unusual in the eighteenth century for women, especially the young and +unmarried, to have any ideas to which to give expression. + +The pamphlet consists of a number of short treatises, indicating certain +laws and principles which Mary thought needed to be more generally +understood and more firmly established. That a woman should not shirk the +functions, either physical or moral, of maternity; that artificial +manners and exterior accomplishments should not be cultivated in lieu of +practical knowledge and simplicity of conduct; that matrimony is to be +considered seriously and not entered into capriciously; that the +individual owes certain duties to humanity as well as to his or her own +family,--all these are truths which it is well to repeat frequently. But +if their repetition be not accompanied by arguments which throw new light +on ethical science, or else if it be not made with the vigor and power +born of a thorough knowledge of humanity and its wants and shortcomings, +it will not be remembered by posterity. The "Education of Daughters" +certainly bears no relation to such works as the "Imitation" on the one +hand, or the "Data of Ethics" on the other. It is not a book for all +time. + +However, much in it is significant to readers interested in the study of +Mary Wollstonecraft's life and character. Every sentence reveals the +earnestness of her nature. Many passages show that as early as 1787 she +had seriously considered the problems which, in 1791, she attempted to +solve. She was even then perplexed by the unfortunate situation of women +of the upper classes who, having received but the pretence of an +education, eventually become dependent on their own exertions. Her sad +experience probably led her to these thoughts. Reflection upon them made +her the champion of her sex. Already in this little pamphlet she declares +her belief that, by a rational training of their intellectual powers, +women can be prepared at one and the same time to meet any emergencies of +fortune and to fulfil the duties of wife and mother. She demonstrates +that good mental discipline, instead of interfering with feminine +occupations, increases a woman's fitness for them. Thus she writes:-- + + "No employment of the mind is a sufficient excuse for neglecting + domestic duties; and I cannot conceive that they are incompatible. + A woman may fit herself to be the companion and friend of a man of + sense, and yet know how to take care of his family." + +The intense love of sincerity in conduct and belief which is a leading +characteristic in the "Rights of Women" is also manifested in these early +essays. Mary exclaims in one place,-- + + "How many people are like whitened sepulchres, and careful only + about appearances! Yet if we are too anxious to gain the + approbation of the world, we must often forfeit our own." + +And again she says, as if in warning:-- + + "... Let the manners arise from the mind, and let there be no + disguise for the genuine emotions of the heart. + + "Things merely ornamental are soon disregarded, and disregard can + scarcely be borne when there is no internal support." + +Another marked feature of the pamphlet is the extremely puritanical +tendency of its sentiments. It was written at the period when Mary was +sending sermon-like letters to George Blood, and breathes the same spirit +of stern adherence to religious principles, though not to special dogma. + +But perhaps the most noteworthy passage which occurs in the treatise is +one on love, and in which, strangely enough, she establishes a belief +which she was destined some years later to confirm by her actions. When +the circumstances of her union with Godwin are remembered, her words seem +prophetic. + + "It is too universal a maxim with novelists," she says, "that love + is felt but once; though it appears to me that the heart which is + capable of receiving an impression at all, and can distinguish, + will turn to a new object when the first is found unworthy. I am + convinced it is practicable, when a respect for goodness has the + first place in the mind, and notions of perfection are not affixed + to constancy." + +Though not very wonderful in itself, the "Education of Daughters" is, in +its choice of subject and the standards it upholds, a worthy prelude to +the riper work by which it was before very long followed. + +The next work Mary published was a volume called "Original Stories from +Real Life; with Conversations calculated to regulate the Affections and +form the Mind to Truth and Goodness." This was written while her +experience as school-mistress and governess was still fresh in her +memory. As she explains in her Preface, her object was to make up in some +measure for the defective education or moral training which, as a rule, +children in those days received from their parents. + + "Good habits," she writes, "are infinitely preferable to the + precepts of reason; but as this task requires more judgment than + generally falls to the lot of parents, substitutes must be sought + for, and medicines given, when regimen would have answered the + purpose much better. + + "... To wish that parents would, themselves, mould the ductile + passions is a chimerical wish, as the present generation have their + own passions to combat with, and fastidious pleasures to pursue, + neglecting those nature points out. We must then pour premature + knowledge into the succeeding one; and, teaching virtue, explain + the nature of vice." + +In addressing a youthful audience, Mary was as deeply inspired by her +love of goodness _per se_, and her detestation of conventional +conceptions of virtue, as she was afterwards in appealing to older +readers. She represents, in her book, two little girls, aged respectively +twelve and fourteen, who have been sadly neglected during their early +years, but who, fortunately, have at this period fallen under the care of +a Mrs. Mason, who at once undertakes to form their character and train +their intellect. This good lady, in whose name Mary sermonizes, seizes +upon every event of the day to teach her charges a moral lesson. The +defects she attacks are those most common to childhood. Cruelty to +animals, peevishness, lying, greediness, indolence, procrastination, are +in turn censured, and their opposite virtues praised. Some of the +definitions of the qualities commended are excellent. For example, Mrs. +Mason says to the two children:-- + + "Do you know the meaning of the word goodness? I see you are + unwilling to answer. I will tell you. It is, first, to avoid + hurting anything; and then to contrive to give as much pleasure as + you can." + +Again, she warns them thus:-- + + "Remember that idleness must always be intolerable, as it is the + most irksome consciousness of existence." + +This latter definition is a little above the comprehension of children of +twelve and fourteen. But then Mary is careful to explain in the Preface +that she writes to assist teachers. She wishes to give them hints which +they must apply to the children under their care as they think best. The +religious tone of the "Stories" is even more pronounced than that of the +"Education of Daughters." The following is but one of many proofs of +Mary's honest endeavors to make children understand the importance of +religious devotion. In one of her conversational sermons Mrs. Mason says: + + "Recollect that from religion your chief comfort must spring, and + never neglect the duty of prayer. Learn from experience the comfort + that arises from making known your wants and sorrows to the wisest + and best of Beings, in whose hands are the issues, not only of this + life, but of that which is to come." + +To strengthen the effect of Mrs. Mason's words, an example or story is in +every chapter added to her remarks. They are all appropriate, and many of +the tales are beautiful. As the book is so little known, one of these may +with advantage be given here. The story selected is that of Crazy Robin. +Mrs. Mason tells it to Mary and Caroline, the two little girls, to +explain to them how much wretchedness can be produced by unkindness to +men and beasts. It is interesting because it shows the quality of the +mental food which Mary thought best fitted for the capacity of children. +She was evidently an advocate for strong nourishment. Besides, the story, +despite some unpleasant defects of style, is very powerful. It is full of +dramatic force, and is related with great simplicity and pathos:-- + + "In yonder cave lived a poor man, who generally went by the name of + Crazy Robin. In his youth he was very industrious, and married my + father's dairy-maid, a girl deserving of such a good husband. For + some time they continued to live very comfortably; their daily + labor procured their daily bread; but Robin, finding it was likely + he should have a large family, borrowed a trifle to add to the + small pittance they had saved in service, and took a little farm + in a neighboring county. I was then a child. + + "Ten or twelve years after, I heard that a crazy man, who appeared + very harmless, had by the side of the brook piled a great number of + stones; he would wade into the river for them, followed by a cur + dog, whom he would frequently call his Jacky, and even his Nancy; + and then mumble to himself, 'Thou wilt not leave me. We will dwell + with the owl in the ivy.' A number of owls had taken shelter in it. + The stones he waded for he carried to the mouth of the hole, and + only left just room enough to go in. Some of the neighbors at last + recollected him; and I sent to inquire what misfortune had reduced + him to such a deplorable state. + + "The information I received from different persons I will + communicate to you in as few words as I can. + + "Several of his children died in their infancy; and, two years + before he came to his native place, he had been overwhelmed by a + torrent of misery. Through unavoidable misfortunes he was long in + arrears to his landlord; who, seeing that he was an honest man, and + endeavored to bring up his family, did not distress him; but when + his wife was lying-in of her last child, the landlord died, and his + heir sent and seized the stock for the rent; and the person he had + borrowed some money of, exasperated to see all gone, arrested him, + and he was hurried to jail. The poor woman, endeavoring to assist + her family before she had gained sufficient strength, found herself + very ill; and the illness, through neglect and the want of proper + nourishment, turned to a putrid fever, which two of the children + caught from her, and died with her. The two who were left, Jacky + and Nancy, went to their father, and took with them a cur dog that + had long shared their frugal meals. + + "The children begged in the day, and at night slept with their + wretched father. Poverty and dirt soon robbed their cheeks of the + roses which the country air made bloom with a peculiar freshness. + Their blood had been tainted by the putrid complaint that destroyed + their mother; in short, they caught the small-pox, and died. The + poor father, who was now bereft of all his children, hung over + their bed in speechless anguish; not a groan or a tear escaped from + him while he stood, two or three hours, in the same attitude, + looking at the dead bodies of his little darlings. The dog licked + his hands, and strove to attract his attention; but for a while he + seemed not to observe his caresses; when he did, he said + mournfully, 'Thou wilt not leave me;' and then he began to laugh. + The bodies were removed; and he remained in an unsettled state, + often frantic; at length the frenzy subsided, and he grew + melancholy and harmless. He was not then so closely watched; and + one day he contrived to make his escape, the dog followed him, and + came directly to his native village. + + "After I received this account, I determined he should live in the + place he had chosen, undisturbed. I sent some conveniences, all of + which he rejected except a mat, on which he sometimes slept; the + dog always did. I tried to induce him to eat, but he constantly + gave the dog whatever I sent him, and lived on haws and + blackberries and every kind of trash. I used to call frequently on + him; and he sometimes followed me to the house I now live in, and + in winter he would come of his own accord, and take a crust of + bread. He gathered water-cresses out of the pool, and would bring + them to me, with nosegays of wild thyme, which he plucked from the + sides of the mountain. I mentioned before, that the dog was a cur; + it had the tricks of curs, and would run after horses' heels and + bark. One day, when his master was gathering water-cresses, the dog + ran after a young gentleman's horse, and made it start, and almost + throw the rider. Though he knew it was the poor madman's dog, he + levelled his gun at it, shot it, and instantly rode off. Robin came + to him; he looked at his wounds, and, not sensible that he was + dead, called him to follow him; but when he found that he could + not, he took him to the pool, and washed off the blood before it + began to clot, and then brought him home and laid him on the mat. + + "I observed that I had not seen him pacing up the hills, and sent + to inquire about him. He was found sitting by the dog, and no + entreaties could prevail on him to quit it, or receive any + refreshment. I went to him myself, hoping, as I had always been a + favorite, that I should be able to persuade him. When I came to + him, I found the hand of death was upon him. He was still + melancholy; but there was not such a mixture of wildness in it. I + pressed him to take some food; but, instead of answering me, or + turning away, he burst into tears, a thing I had never seen him do + before, and, in inarticulate accents, he said, 'Will any one be + kind to me? You will kill me! I saw not my wife die--no!--they + dragged me from her, but I saw Jacky and Nancy die; and who pitied + me, but my dog?' He turned his eyes to the body. I wept with him. + He would then have taken some nourishment, but nature was + exhausted, and he expired." + +The book is, on the whole, well written, and was popular enough in its +day. The first edition, published in 1788, was followed by a second in +1791, and a third in 1796. To make it still more attractive, Mr. Johnson +engaged Blake, whom he was then befriending, to illustrate it. But +children of the present day object to the tales with a moral which were +the delight of the nursery in Mary's time. They have lost all faith in +the bad boy who invariably meets with the evil fate which is his due; and +they are sceptical as to the good little girl who always receives the +cakes and ale--metaphorically speaking--her virtues deserve. And so it +has come to pass that the "Original Stories" are remembered chiefly on +account of their illustrations. + +The drawings contributed by Blake were more in number than were required, +and only six were printed. A copy of one of those rejected is given in +Gilchrist's Life of the artist. None of them rank with his best work. +"The designs," his biographer says, "can hardly be pronounced a +successful competition with Stothard, though traces of a higher feeling +are visible in the graceful female forms,--benevolent heroine, or +despairing, famishing peasant group. The artist evidently moves in +constraint, and the accessories of these domestic scenes are simply +generalized as if by a child: the result of an inobservant eye for such +things." But of those published there are two at least which, as Mr. +Kegan Paul has already pointed out, make a deep impression on all who see +them. One is the frontispiece, which illustrates this sentence of the +text: "Look what a fine morning it is. Insects, birds, and animals are +all enjoying existence." The posing of the three female figures standing +in reverential attitudes, and the creeping vine by the doorway, are +conceived and executed in Blake's true decorative spirit. The other +represents Crazy Robin by the bedside of his two dead children, the +faithful dog by his side. The grief, horror, and despair expressed in the +man's face cannot be surpassed, while the pathos and strength of the +scene are heightened by the simplicity of the drawing. + +Of the several translations Mary made at this period, but the briefest +mention is necessary. It often happens that the book translated is in a +great degree indicative of the mental calibre of its translator. Thus it +is characteristic of Carlyle that he translated Goethe, of Swinburne that +he selected the verses of Villon or Theophile Gautier for the same +purpose. But Mary's case was entirely different. The choice of foreign +works rendered into English was not hers, but Mr. Johnson's. By adhering +to it she was simply fulfilling the contract she had entered into with +him. There were times when she had but a poor opinion of the books he put +into her hands. Thus of one of the principal of these, Necker on the +"Importance of Religion," she says in her "French Revolution:"-- + + "Not content with the fame he [Necker] acquired by writing on a + subject which his turn of mind and profession enabled him to + comprehend, he wished to obtain a higher degree of celebrity by + forming into a large book various metaphysical shreds of arguments, + which he had collected from the conversation of men fond of + ingenious subtilties; and the style, excepting some declamatory + passages, was as inflated and confused as the thoughts were far + fetched and unconnected." + +But though she was so far from approving of the original, her +translation, published in London in 1788, was declared by the "European +Magazine" to be just and spirited, though apparently too hastily +executed; and it was sufficiently appreciated by the English-speaking +public to be republished in Philadelphia in 1791. There was at least one +book, the translation of which must have been a pleasure to her. This was +the Rev. C. G. Salzmann's "Elements of Morality, for the Use of +Children." Its object, like that of the "Original Stories," was to teach +the young, by practical illustration, why virtue is good, why vice is +evil. It was written much in the same style, and was for many years +highly popular. Johnson brought out the first edition in 1790 and a +second in 1793. It was published in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1811, and in +Edinburgh in 1821, and a still newer edition was prepared for the +present generation by Miss Yonge. The "Analytical Review" thought it upon +its first appearance worthy of two notices. + +Mary never pretended to produce perfectly literal translations. Her +version of Lavater's "Physiognomy," now unknown, was but an abridgment. +She purposely "naturalized" the "Elements of Morality," she explains, in +order not to "puzzle children by pointing out modifications of manners, +when the grand principles of morality were to be fixed on a broad basis." +She made free with the originals that they might better suit English +readers, and this she frankly confesses in her Prefaces. Her translations +are, in consequence, proofs of her industry and varied talents and not +demonstrations of her own mental character. + +The novel "Mary," like Godwin's earlier stories, has disappeared. There +are a few men and women of the present generation who remember having +seen it, but it is now not to be found either in public libraries or in +bookstores. It was the record of a happy friendship, and to write it had +been a labor of love. As Mary always wrote most eloquently on subjects +which were of heartfelt interest, its disappearance is to be regretted. + +However, after she had been in London about two years, constant writing +and translating having by that time made her readier with her pen, she +undertook another task, in which her feelings were as strongly +interested. This was her answer to Burke's "Reflections on the French +Revolution." Love of humanity was an emotion which moved her quite as +deeply as affection for individual friends. Burke, by his disregard for +the sufferings of that portion of the human race which especially +appealed to her, excited her wrath. Carried away by the intensity of her +indignation, she at once set about proving to him and the world that the +reasoning which led to such insensibility was, plausible as it might +seem, wholly unsound. She never paused for reflection, but her chief +arguments, the result of previous thought, being already prepared, she +wrote before her excitement had time to cool. As she explains in the +Advertisement to her "Letter" to Burke, the "Reflections" had first +engaged her attention as the transient topic of the day. Commenting upon +it as she read, her remarks increased to such an extent that she decided +to publish them as a short "Vindication of the Rights of Man." + +A sermon preached by Dr. Richard Price was the immediate reason which +moved Burke to write the "Reflections." The Revolutionists were in the +habit of meeting every 4th of November, the anniversary of the arrival of +the Prince of Orange in England, to commemorate the Revolution of 1688. +Dr. Price was, in 1789, the orator of the day. He, on this occasion, +expressed his warm approbation of the actions of the French Republicans, +in which sentiment he was warmly seconded by all the other members of the +society. Burke seized upon these demonstrations as a pretext for +expounding his own views upon the proceedings in France. The sermon and +orations were really not of enough importance to evoke the long essay +with which he favored them. But though he began by denouncing the English +Revolutionists in particular, the subject so inflamed him that before he +had finished, he had written without restraint his opinion of the social +struggle of the French people, and given his definition of the word +Liberty, then in everybody's mouth. As he wrote, news came pouring into +England of later political developments in France which increased instead +of lessening his hatred and distrust of the Revolution. It was a year +before he had finished his work, and it had then grown into a lengthy and +elaborate treatise. + +The "Reflections" gives a careful exposition of the errors of the French +Republican party, and the shortcomings of the National Assembly; and, to +add to this the force of antithesis, it extols the merits and virtues of +the English Constitution. Furthermore, it points out the evil +consequences which must follow the realization of the French attempts at +reform. But the real question at issue is the nature of the rights of +men. It was to gain for their countrymen the justice which they thought +their due, that the revolutionary leaders curtailed the power of the +king, lowered the nobility, and disgraced the clergy. If it could be +proved that their conception of human justice was wholly wrong, the very +foundation of their political structure would be destroyed. Burke's +arguments, therefore, are all intended to achieve this end. + +In her detestation of his insensibility to the natural equality of +mankind, Mary was too impatient to consider the minor points of his +reasoning. She announces in her Advertisement that she intends to confine +her strictures, in a great measure, to the grand principles at which he +levels his ingenious arguments. Her object, therefore, as well as +Burke's, is to demonstrate what are the rights of men, but she reasons +from a very different stand-point. Burke defends the claims of those who +inherit rights from long generations of ancestors; Mary cries aloud in +defence of men whose one inheritance is the deprivation of all rights. +Burke is moved by the misery of a Marie Antoinette, shorn of her +greatness; Mary, by the wretchedness of the poor peasant woman who has +never possessed even its shadow. The former knows no birthright for +individuals save that which results from the prescription of centuries; +the latter contends that every man has a right, as a human being, to +"such a degree of liberty, civil and religious, as is compatible with the +liberty of the other individuals with whom he is united in social +compact." Burke asserts that the present rights of man cannot be decided +by reason alone, since they are founded on laws and customs long +established. But Mary asks, How far back are we to go to discover their +first foundation? Is it in England to the reign of Richard II., whose +incapacity rendered him a mere cipher in the hands of the Barons; or to +that of Edward III., whose need for money forced him to concede certain +privileges to the commons? Is social slavery to be encouraged because it +was established in semi-barbarous days? Does Burke, she continues,-- + + "... recommend night as the fittest time to analyze a ray of light? + + "Are we to seek for the rights of men in the ages when a few marks + were the only penalty imposed for the life of a man, and death for + death when the property of the rich was touched?--when--I blush to + discover the depravity of our nature--a deer was killed! Are these + the laws that it is natural to love, and sacrilegious to invade? + Were the rights of men understood when the law authorized or + tolerated murder?--or is power and right the same?" + +Burke's contempt for the poor, which Mary thought the most conspicuous +feature of his treatise, was the chief cause of her indignation. She +could not endure silently his admonitions to the laboring class to +respect the property which they could not possess, and his exhortations +to them to find their consolation for ill-rewarded labor in the "final +proportions of eternal justice." "It is, sir, possible," she tells him +with some dignity, "to render the poor happier in this world, without +depriving them of the consolation which you gratuitously grant them in +the next." To her mind, the oppression which the lower classes had +endured for ages, until they had become in the end beings scarcely above +the brutes, made the losses of the French nobility and clergy seem by +comparison very insignificant evils. The horrors of the 6th of October, +the discomforts and degradation of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and +the destitution to which many French refugees had been reduced, blinded +Burke to the long-suffering of the multitude which now rendered the +distress of the few imperative. But Mary's feelings were all stirred in +the opposite cause. + + "What," she asks in righteous indignation,--"what were the outrages + of the day to these continual miseries? Let those sorrows hide + their diminished heads before the tremendous mountain of woe that + thus defaces our globe! Man preys on man, and you mourn for the + idle tapestry that decorated a Gothic pile, and the dronish bell + that summoned the fat priest to prayer. You mourn for the empty + pageant of a name, when slavery flaps her wing, and the sick heart + retires to die in lonely wilds, far from the abodes of man. Did the + pangs you felt for insulted nobility, the anguish which rent your + heart when the gorgeous robes were torn off the idol human weakness + had set up, deserve to be compared with the long-drawn sigh of + melancholy reflection, when misery and vice thus seem to haunt our + steps, and swim on the top of every cheering prospect? Why is our + fancy to be appalled by terrific perspectives of a hell beyond the + grave? Hell stalks abroad: the lash resounds on a slave's naked + sides; and the sick wretch, who can no longer earn the sour bread + of unremitting labor, steals to a ditch to bid the world a long + good-night, or, neglected in some ostentatious hospital, breathes + its last amidst the laugh of mercenary attendants." + +Occasionally Mary interrupts the main drift of her "Letter" to refute +some of the incidental statements in the "Reflections." But in doing this +she is more eager to show the evils of English political and social laws, +which Burke praises so unreservedly, than to prove that many existed in +the old French government, a fact which he obstinately refuses to +recognize. This may have been because she then knew little more than +Burke of the real state of affairs in France, and would not take the time +to collect her proofs. This is very likely, for the chief fault of her +"Letter" is undue haste in its composition. It was written on the spur of +the moment, and is without the method indispensable to such a work. There +is no order in the arguments advanced, and too often reasoning gives +place to exhortation and meditation. Another serious error is the +personal abuse with which her "Letter" abounds. She treats Burke in the +very same manner with which she reproves him for treating Dr. Price. +Instead of confining herself to denunciation of his views, she attacks +his character, she accuses him of vanity and susceptibility to the charms +of rank, of insincerity and affectation. She calls him a slave of +impulse, and tells him he is too full of himself, and even compares his +love for the English Constitution to the brutal affection of weakness +built on blind, indolent tenderness, rather than on rational grounds. +Sometimes she grows eloquent in her sarcasm. + + "... On what principle you, sir," she observes, "can justify the + Reformation, which tore up by the roots an old establishment, I + cannot guess,--but I beg your pardon, perhaps you do not wish to + justify it, and have some mental reservation to excuse you to + yourself, for not openly avowing your reverence. Or, to go further + back, had you been a Jew, you must have joined in the cry, 'Crucify + him! Crucify him!' The promulgator of a new doctrine, and the + violator of old laws and customs, that did not, like ours, melt + into darkness and ignorance, but rested on Divine authority, must + have been a dangerous innovator in your eyes, particularly if you + had not been informed that the Carpenter's Son was of the stock and + lineage of David." + +But vituperation is not argument, and abuse proves nothing. This is a +fault, however, into which youth readily falls. Mary was young when she +wrote the "Vindication of the Rights of Man," and feeling was still too +strong to be forgotten in calm discussion. It was a mistake, too, to +dwell, as she did, on the inconsistency between Burke's earlier and +present policy. This was a powerful weapon against him at the time, but +posterity has recognized the consistency which, in reality, underlay his +seemingly diverse political creeds. Besides, the demonstration that +sentiments in the "Reflections" were at variance with others expressed +some years previously, did not prove them to be unsound. + +Because of these faults of youth and haste, Mary's "Letter" is not very +powerful when considered as a reply to Burke; but its intrinsic merits +are many. It is a simple, uncompromising expression of honest opinions. +It is noble in its fearlessness, and it manifests a philosophical insight +into the meaning and basis of morality wonderful in a woman of Mary's +age. It really deserves the praise bestowed upon it in the "Analytical +Review," where the critic says that, "notwithstanding it may be the +'effusion of the moment,' [it] yet evidently abounds with just sentiments +and lively and animated remarks, expressed in elegant and nervous +language, and which may be read with pleasure and improvement when the +controversy which gave rise to them is over." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +"VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN." + + +The "Vindication of the Rights of Women" is the work on which Mary +Wollstonecraft's fame as an author rests. It is more than probable that, +but for it, her other writings would long since have been forgotten. In +it she speaks the first word in behalf of female emancipation. Her book +is the forerunner of a movement which, whatever may be its results, will +always be ranked as one of the most important of the nineteenth century. +Many of her propositions are, to the present advocates of the cause, +foregone conclusions. Hers was the voice of one crying in the wilderness +to prepare the way. Her principal task was to demonstrate that the old +ideals were false. + +The then most exalted type of feminine perfection was Rousseau's Sophia. +Though this was an advance from the conception of the sex which inspired +Congreve, when he made the women of his comedies mere targets for men's +gallantries, or Swift, when he wrote his "Advice to a Young Married +Lady," it was still a low estimate of woman's character and sphere of +action. According to Rousseau, and the Dr. Gregorys and Fordyces who +re-echoed his doctrines in England, women are so far inferior to men that +their contribution to the comfort and pleasure of the latter is the sole +reason for their existence. For them virtue and duty have a relative and +not an absolute value. What they _are_ is of no consequence. The +essential point is what they _seem_ to men. That they are human beings is +lost sight of in the all-engrossing fact that they are women. + +It is strange that Rousseau, who would have had men return to a state of +nature that they might be freed from shams and conventionalities, did not +see that the sacrifice of reality to appearances was quite as bad for +women. Mary Wollstonecraft, farther-sighted than he, discovered at once +the flaw in his reasoning. What was said of Schopenhauer by a Frenchman +could with equal truth be said of her: "Ce n'est pas un philosophe comme +les autres, c'est un philosophe qui a vu le monde." She had lived in +woman's world, and consequently, unlike the sentimentalists who were +accepted authorities on the subject, she did not reason from an outside +stand-point. This was probably what helped her not only to recognize the +false position of her sex, but to understand the real cause of the +trouble. She referred it, not to individual cases of masculine tyranny or +feminine incompetency, but to the fundamental misconception of the +relations of the sexes. Therefore, what she had to do was to awaken +mankind to the knowledge that women are human beings, and then to insist +that they should be given the opportunity to assert themselves as such, +and that their sex should become a secondary consideration. It would have +been useless for her to analyze their rights in detail until she had +established the premises upon which their claims must rest. It is true +she contends for their political emancipation. "I really think," she +writes, "that women ought to have representatives instead of being +arbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them in the +deliberations of government." And she also maintains their ability for +the practice of many professions, especially of medicine. But this she +says, as it were, in parenthesis. These necessary reforms cannot be even +begun until the equality of the sexes as human beings is proved beyond a +doubt. The object of the "Vindication" is to demonstrate this equality, +and to point out the preliminary measures by which it may be secured. + +The book is now seldom read. Others of later date have supplanted it. +Conservative readers are prejudiced against it because of its title. The +majority of the liberal-minded have not the patience to master its +contents because they can find its propositions expressed more +satisfactorily elsewhere. Yet, as a work which marks an epoch, it +deserves to be well known. A comprehensive analysis of it will therefore +not be out of place. + +It begins strangely, as it appears to this generation, with a dedication +to Talleyrand. Mary had seen him often when he had been in London, and +only knew what was best in him. She admired his principles, being +ignorant of his utter indifference to them. He had lately published a +pamphlet on National Education, and this was a subject upon which, in +vindicating women's rights, she had much to say. He had, in pleading the +cause of equality for all men, approached so closely to the whole truth +that she thought, once this was pointed out to him, he could not fail to +recognize it as she did. If he believed that, in his own words, "to see +one half of the human race excluded by the other from all participation +in government was a political phenomenon that, according to abstract +principles, it was impossible to explain," he could not logically deny +that prescription was unjust when applied to women. Therefore, as a new +constitution--the first based upon reason--was about to be established in +France, she reminds him that its framers would be tyrants like their +predecessors if they did not allow women to participate in it. In order +to command his interest, she explains briefly and concisely the truth +which she proposes to prove by her arguments, and thus she gives +immediately the keynote to her book. + + "Contending for the rights of woman, my main argument," she tells + him, "is built on this simple principle, that if she be not + prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop + the progress of knowledge; for truth must be common to all, or it + will be inefficacious with respect to its influence on general + practice. And how can woman be expected to co-operate unless she + know why she ought to be virtuous; unless freedom strengthen her + reason till she comprehend her duty, and see in what manner it is + connected with her real good? If children are to be educated to + understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a + patriot; and the love of mankind, from which an orderly train of + virtues spring, can only be produced by considering the moral and + civil interests of mankind; but the education and situation of + woman, at present, shuts her out from such investigations. + + "In this work I have produced many arguments, which to me were + conclusive, to prove that the prevailing notion respecting a sexual + character was subversive of morality; and I have contended, that to + render the human body and mind more perfect, chastity must more + universally prevail, and that chastity will never be respected in + the male world till the person of a woman is not, as it were, + idolized, when little virtue or sense embellish it with the grand + traces of mental beauty or the interesting simplicity of + affection." + +In her Introduction Mary further states the object and scope of her work. +She advances the importance of bringing to a more healthy condition +women, who, like flowers nourished in over-luxuriant soil, have become +beautiful at the expense of strength. She attributes their weakness to +the systems of education which have aimed at making them alluring +mistresses rather than rational wives, and taught them to crave love, +instead of exacting respect. But, to prevent misunderstanding, she +explains that she does not wish them to seek to transform themselves into +men by cultivating essentially masculine qualities. They are inferior +physically, and must be content to remain so. Enthusiasm never carried +her to the absurd and exaggerated extremes which have made later +champions of the cause laughing-stocks. She also expresses her intention +of steering clear of an error into which most writers upon the subject, +with the exception perhaps of the author of "Sandford and Merton," have +fallen; namely, that of addressing their instruction to women of the +upper classes. But she intends, while including all ranks of society, to +give particular attention to the middle class, who appear to her to be in +a more natural state. Then, warning her sex that she will treat them like +rational creatures, and not as beings doomed to perpetual childhood, she +tells them:-- + + "... I wish to show that elegance is inferior to virtue, that the + first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character as a + human being, regardless of the distinction of sex, and that + secondary views should be brought to this simple touchstone." + +The Introduction is important because, as she says, it is the "very +essence of an introduction to give a cursory account of the contents of +the work it introduces." Having learnt from it what she intends to do, it +remains to be seen how she accomplishes her task. + +For the convenience of readers, the treatise may be divided into three +parts, though the author does not make this division, and was probably +unconscious of its possibility. The first chapters give a general +statement of the case. The second part is an elaboration of the first, +and is more concerned with individual forms of the evil than with it as a +whole. The third part suggests the remedy by which women are to be +delivered from social slavery. + +Mary assumes as the basis of her entire argument that "the more equality +there is established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign +in society." The moral value of equality she demonstrates by the +wretchedness and wickedness which result whenever there is a substitution +of arbitrary power for the law of reason. The regal position, for +example, is gained by vile intrigues and unnatural crimes and vices, and +maintained by the sacrifice of true wisdom and virtue. Military +discipline, since it demands unquestioning submission to the will of +others, encourages thoughtless action. Even the clergy, because of the +blind acquiescence required from them to certain forms of belief, have +their faculties cramped. This being the case, it follows that society, +"as it becomes more enlightened, should be very careful not to establish +bodies of men who must necessarily be made foolish or vicious by the very +constitution of their profession." Now women, that is to say, one half of +the human race, have hitherto, on account of their sex, been absolutely +debarred from the exercise of reason in forming their conduct. As women +it has been supposed that they cannot have the same ideals as men. What +is vice for the latter is for them virtue. Their duty is to acquire +"cunning, softness of temper, _outward_ obedience, and a scrupulous +attention to a puerile kind of propriety." They are to render themselves +"gentle domestic brutes." In their education the training of their +understanding is to be neglected for the cultivation of corporeal +accomplishments. They are bidden to obey no laws save those of behavior, +to which they are as complete slaves as soldiers are to the commands of +their general, or the clergy to the _ex cathedra_ utterances of their +church. Fondness for dress, habits of dissimulation, and the affectation +of a sickly delicacy are recommended for their cultivation as essentially +feminine qualities; yet if virtue have but one eternal standard, it +should be the same in quality for the two sexes, even if there must be a +difference in the degree acquired by each. If women be moral beings, they +should aim at unfolding all their faculties, and not, as Rousseau and his +disciples would have them do, labor only to make themselves pleasing +sexually. Even if this be counted a praiseworthy end, and they succeed +in it, to what or how long will it avail them? The result proves the +unsoundness of such doctrines:-- + + "The woman who has only been taught to please will soon find that + her charms are oblique sunbeams, and that they cannot have much + effect on her husband's heart when they are seen every day, when + the summer is past and gone. Will she then have sufficient native + energy to look into herself for comfort, and cultivate her dormant + faculties; or is it not more rational to expect, that she will try + to please other men, and, in the emotions raised by the expectation + of new conquests, endeavor to forget the mortification her love or + pride has received? When the husband ceases to be a lover--and the + time will inevitably come--her desire of pleasing will then grow + languid, or become a spring of bitterness; and love, perhaps the + most evanescent of all passions, give place to jealousy or vanity. + + "I now speak of women who are restrained by principle or prejudice; + such women, though they would shrink from an intrigue with real + abhorrence, yet, nevertheless, wish to be convinced by the homage + of gallantry, that they are cruelly neglected by their husbands; or + days and weeks are spent in dreaming of the happiness enjoyed by + congenial souls, till the health is undermined and the spirits + broken by discontent. How, then, can the great art of pleasing be + such a necessary study? It is only useful to a mistress; the chaste + wife and serious mother should only consider her power to please as + the polish of her virtues, and the affection of her husband as one + of the comforts that render her task less difficult, and her life + happier." + +Coquettish arts triumph only for a day. Love, the most transitory of all +passions, is inevitably succeeded by friendship or indifference. + +The arguments which have been advanced to support this degrading system +of female education are easily proved to have no foundation in reason. +Women, it is said, are not so strong physically as men. True; but this +does not imply that they have no strength whatsoever. Because they are +weak relatively, it does not follow that they should be made so +absolutely. The sedentary life to which they are condemned weakens them, +and then their weakness is accepted as an inherent, instead of an +artificial, quality. Rousseau concludes that a woman is naturally a +coquette, and governed in all matters by the sexual instinct, because her +earliest amusements consist in playing with dolls, dressing them and +herself, and in talking. These conclusions are almost too puerile to be +refuted:-- + + "That a girl, condemned to sit for hours listening to the idle chat + of weak nurses or to attend at her mother's toilet, will endeavor + to join the conversation, is indeed very natural; and that she will + imitate her mother or aunts, and amuse herself by adorning her + lifeless doll, as they do in dressing her, poor innocent babe! is + undoubtedly a most natural consequence. For men of the greatest + abilities have seldom had sufficient strength to rise above the + surrounding atmosphere; and if the page of genius has always been + blurred by the prejudices of the age, some allowance should be made + for a sex, who, like kings, always see things through a false + medium." + +The truth is, were girls allowed the same freedom in the choice of +amusements as boys, they would manifest an equal fondness for out-of-door +sports, to the neglect of dolls and frivolous pastimes. But it is denied +to them. Directors of their education have, as a rule, been blind +adherents to the doctrine that whatever is, is right, and hence have +argued that because women have always been brought up in a certain way +they should continue to be so trained. + +The worst of it is that the artificial delicacy of constitution thus +produced is the cause of a corresponding weakness of mind; and women are +in actual fact _fair defects_ in creation, as they have been called. And +yet, after having been unfitted for action, they are expected to be +competent to take charge of a family. The woman who is well-disposed, and +whose husband is a sensible man, may act with propriety so long as he is +alive to direct her. But if he were to die how could she alone educate +her children and manage her household with discretion? The woman who is +ill-disposed is not only incapacitated for her duties, but, in her desire +to please and to have pleasure, she neglects dull domestic cares. + + "It does not require a lively pencil, or the discriminating outline + of a caricature, to sketch the domestic miseries and petty vices + which such a mistress of a family diffuses. Still, she only acts as + a woman ought to act, brought up according to Rousseau's system. + She can never be reproached for being masculine, or turning out of + her sphere; nay, she may observe another of his grand rules, and, + cautiously preserving her reputation free from spot, be reckoned a + good kind of woman. Yet in what respect can she be termed good? She + abstains, it is true, without any great struggle, from committing + gross crimes; but how does she fulfil her duties? Duties--in truth, + she has enough to think of to adorn her body and nurse a weak + constitution. + + "With respect to religion, she never presumes to judge for herself; + but conforms, as a dependent creature should, to the ceremonies of + the church which she was brought up in, piously believing that + wiser heads than her own have settled that business; and not to + doubt is her point of perfection. She therefore pays her tithe of + mint and cummin, and thanks her God that she is not as other women + are. These are the blessed effects of a good education! these the + virtues of man's helpmate!" + +At this point Mary, after having given the picture of woman as she is +now, describes her as she ought to be. This description is worth quoting, +but not because it contains any originality of thought or charm of +expression. It is interesting as showing exactly what the first sower of +the seeds of female enfranchisement expected to reap for her harvest. +People who are frightened by a name are apt to suppose that women who +defend their rights would have the world filled with uninspired Joans of +Arc, and unrefined Portias. Those who judge Mary Wollstonecraft by her +conduct, without inquiring into her motives or reading her book, might +conclude that what she desired was the destruction of family ties and, +consequently, of moral order. Therefore, in justice to her, the purity of +her ideals of feminine perfection and her respect for the sanctity of +domestic life should be clearly established. This can not be better done +than by giving her own words on the subject:-- + + "Let fancy now present a woman with a tolerable understanding,--for + I do not wish to leave the line of mediocrity,--whose constitution, + strengthened by exercise, has allowed her body to acquire its full + vigor, her mind at the same time gradually expanding itself to + comprehend the moral duties of life, and in what human virtue and + dignity consist. Formed thus by the relative duties of her + station, she marries from affection, without losing sight of + prudence; and looking beyond matrimonial felicity, she secures her + husband's respect before it is necessary to exert mean arts to + please him, and feed a dying flame, which nature doomed to expire + when the object became familiar, when friendship and forbearance + take the place of a more ardent affection. This is the natural + death of love, and domestic peace is not destroyed by struggles to + prevent its extinction. I also suppose the husband to be virtuous; + or she is still more in want of independent principles. + + "Fate, however, breaks this tie. She is left a widow, perhaps + without a sufficient provision; but she is not desolate. The pang + of nature is felt; but after time has softened sorrow into + melancholy resignation, her heart turns to her children with + redoubled fondness, and, anxious to provide for them, affection + gives a sacred, heroic cast to her maternal duties. She thinks that + not only the eye sees her virtuous efforts from whom all her + comfort now must flow, and whose approbation is life; but her + imagination, a little abstracted and exalted by grief, dwells on + the fond hope that the eyes which her trembling hand closed may + still see how she subdues every wayward passion to fulfil the + double duty of being the father as well as the mother of her + children. Raised to heroism by misfortunes, she represses the first + faint dawning of a natural inclination before it ripens into love, + and in the bloom of life forgets her sex, forgets the pleasure of + an awakening passion, which might again have been inspired and + returned. She no longer thinks of pleasing, and conscious dignity + prevents her from priding herself on account of the praise which + her conduct demands. Her children have her love, and her highest + hopes are beyond the grave, where her imagination often strays. + + "I think I see her surrounded by her children, reaping the reward + of her care. The intelligent eye meets hers, whilst health and + innocence smile on their chubby cheeks, and as they grow up the + cares of life are lessened by their grateful attention. She lives + to see the virtues which she endeavored to plant on principles, + fixed into habits, to see her children attain a strength of + character sufficient to enable them to endure adversity without + forgetting their mother's example. + + "The task of life thus fulfilled, she calmly waits for the sleep of + death, and rising from the grave may say, Behold, thou gavest me a + talent, and here are five talents." + +Truly, if this be the result of the vindication of their rights, even the +most devoted believer in Rousseau must admit that women thereby will +gain, and not lose, in true womanliness. + +From the primal source of their wrongs,--that is, the undue importance +attached to the sexual character,--Mary next explains that minor causes +have arisen to prevent women from realizing this ideal. The narrowness of +mind engendered by their vicious education hinders them from looking +beyond the interests of the present. They consider immediate rather than +remote effects, and prefer to be "short-lived queens than to labor to +attain the sober pleasures that arise from equality." Then, again, the +desire to be loved or respected for something, which is instinctive in +all human beings, is gratified in women by the homage paid to charms born +of indolence. They thus, like the rich, lose the stimulus to exertion +which this desire gives to men of the middle class, and which is one of +the chief factors in the development of rational creatures. A man with a +profession struggles to succeed in it. A woman struggles to marry +advantageously. With the former, pleasure is a relaxation; with the +latter, it is the main purpose of life. Therefore, while the man is +forced to forget himself in his work, the woman's attention is more and +more concentrated upon her own person. The great evil of this +self-culture is that the emotions are developed instead of the intellect. +Women become a prey to what is delicately called sensibility. They feel +and do not reason, and, depending upon men for protection and advice, the +only effort they make is to give their weakness a graceful covering. They +require, in the end, support even in the most trifling circumstances. +Their fears are perhaps pretty and attractive to men, but they reduce +them to such a degree of imbecility that they will start "from the frown +of an old cow or the jump of a mouse," and a rat becomes a serious +danger. These fair, fragile creatures are the objects of Mary +Wollstonecraft's deepest contempt, and she gives a good wholesome +prescription for their cure, which, despite modern co-education and Women +Conventions, female doctors and lawyers, might still be more generally +adopted to great advantage. It is in such passages as the following that +she proves the practical tendency of her arguments:-- + + "I am fully persuaded that we should hear of none of these + infantine airs if girls were allowed to take sufficient exercise + and not confined in close rooms till their muscles are relaxed and + their powers of digestion destroyed. To carry the remark still + further, if fear in girls, instead of being cherished, perhaps + created, was treated in the same manner as cowardice in boys, we + should quickly see women with more dignified aspects. It is true + they could not then with equal propriety be termed the sweet + flowers that smile in the walk of man; but they would be more + respectable members of society, and discharge the important duties + of life by the light of their own reasons. 'Educate women like + men,' says Rousseau, 'and the more they resemble our sex, the less + power will they have over us.' This is the very point I aim at. I + do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves." + +Some philosophers have asserted with contempt, as evidence of the +inferiority of the female understanding, that it arrives at maturity long +before the male, and that women attain their full strength and growth at +twenty, but men not until they are thirty. But this Mary emphatically +denies. The seeming earlier precocity of girls she attributes to the fact +that they are much sooner treated as women than boys are as men. Their +more speedy physical development is assumed because with them the +standard of beauty is fine features and complexion, whilst male beauty is +allowed to have some connection with the mind. But the truth is, that +"strength of body and that character of countenance which the French term +a _physionomie_, women do not acquire before thirty any more than men." + +There are some curious remarks in reference to polygamy as a mark of the +inferiority of women, but they need not be given here, since this evil is +not legally recognized by civilized people, with the exception of the +Mormons. But there is a polygamy, not sanctioned by law, which exists in +all countries, and which has done more than almost anything else to +dishonor women. Mary's observations in this connection are among the +strongest in the book. She understands the true difficulty more +thoroughly than many social reformers to-day, and offers a better +solution of the problem than they do. Justice, not charity, she declares, +is wanted in the world. Asylums and Magdalens are not the proper remedies +for the abuse. But women should be given the same chance as men to rise +after their fall. The first offence should not be made unpardonable, +since good can come from evil. From a struggle with strong passions +virtue is often evolved. + +To sum up in a few words Mary's statement of her subject, woman having +always been treated as an irrational, inferior being, has in the end +become one. Her acquiescence to her moral and mental degradation springs +from a want of understanding. But "whether this arises from a physical or +accidental weakness of faculties, time alone can determine." Women must +be allowed to exercise their understanding before it can be proved that +they have none. + +While each individual man is much to blame in encouraging the false +position of women, inconsistently degrading those from whom they pretend +to derive their chief pleasure, still greater fault lies with writers who +have given to the world in their works opinions which, seemingly +favorable, are in reality of a derogatory character to the entire sex. +Having set themselves up as teachers, they are doubly responsible. They +add to their personal influence that of their written doctrine. They +necessarily become leaders, since the majority of men are more than +willing to be led. There were several writers of the eighteenth century +who had dogmatized about women and their education and the laws of +behavior. Rousseau was to many as an inspired prophet. No woman's library +was then considered complete which did not include Dr. Fordyce's Sermons +and Dr. Gregory's "Legacy to His Daughters." Mrs. Piozzi and Madame de +Stael were minor authorities, and Lord Chesterfield's Letters had their +admirers and upholders. These writers Mary treats separately, after she +has shown the result of the tacit teaching of men, taken collectively; +and here what may be called the second part of the book begins. + +As Mary says, the comments which follow can all be referred to a few +simple principles, and "might have been deduced from what I have already +said." They are a mere elaboration of what has gone before, and it would +be therefore useless to repeat them. She exposes the folly of Rousseau's +ideal, the perfect Sophia who unites the endurance of a Griselda to the +wiles of a Vivien, and whose principal mission seems to be to make men +wonder, with the French cynic, of what use women over forty are in the +world. She objects to Dr. Fordyce's eulogium of female purity and his +Rousseau-inspired appeals to women to make themselves all that is +desirable in men's eyes, expressed in "lover-like phrases of pumped-up +passion." The sensuous piety of his Sermons, suggestive of the erotic +religious poems of the East, were particularly offensive to her. She next +regrets that Dr. Gregory, at such a solemn moment as that of giving last +words of advice to his daughters, should have added the weight of his +authority to the doctrine of dissimulation; she is indignant that Mrs. +Piozzi and Madame de Stael should have so little realized the dignity of +true womanhood as to have confirmed the fiat their tyrants had passed +against them; and she vigorously condemns Lord Chesterfield's vicious +system, which tends to the early acquirement of knowledge of the world +and leaves but little opportunity for the free development of man's +natural powers. These writers, no matter how much they differ in detail, +agree in believing external behavior to be of primary importance; and +Mary's criticisms of their separate beliefs may therefore be reduced to +one leading proposition by which she contradicts their main assertions. +Right and wrong, virtue and vice, must be studied in the abstract and not +by the measure of weak human laws and customs. This is the refrain to all +her arguments. + +These remarks are followed by four chapters which, while they really +relate to the subject, add little to the force of the book. Introduced as +they are, they seem like disconnected essays. There is a dissertation +upon the effect of early associations of ideas to prove what has already +been asserted in an earlier chapter, that "females, who are made women of +when they are mere children, and brought back to childhood when they +ought to leave the go-cart forever," will inevitably have a sexual +character given to their minds. Modesty is next considered, not as a +sexual virtue but comprehensively, to show that it is a quality which, +regardless of sex, should always be based on humanity and knowledge, and +never on the false principle that it is a means by which women make +themselves pleasing to men. To teach girls that reserve is only necessary +when they are with persons of the other sex is at once to destroy in +their minds the intrinsic value of modesty. Yet this is usually the +lesson taught them. As a natural consequence, women are free and +confidential with each other to a fault, and foolishly prudent and +squeamish with men. They are never for a moment unconscious of the +difference of sex, and, in affecting the semblance of modesty, the true +virtue escapes them altogether. In their neglect of what _is_ for what +_seems_, they lose the substance and grasp a shadow. This consideration +of behavior, arbitrarily regulated, rather than of conduct ruled by +truth, leads women to care much more for their reputation than for their +actual chastity or virtue. They gradually learn to believe that the sin +is in being found out. "Women mind not what only Heaven sees." If their +reputation be safe, their consciences are satisfied. A woman who, despite +innumerable gallantries, preserves her fair name, looks down with +contempt upon another who perhaps has sinned but once, but who has not +been as clever a mistress of the art of deception. + + "This regard for reputation, independent of its being one of the + natural rewards of virtue, however, took its rise from a cause that + I have already deplored as the grand source of female depravity, + the impossibility of regaining respectability by a return to + virtue, though men preserve theirs during the indulgence of vice. + It was natural for women then to endeavor to preserve what, once + lost, was lost forever, till, this care swallowing up every other + care, reputation for chastity became the one thing needful for the + sex." + +As pernicious as the effects of distorted conceptions of virtue are those +which arise from unnatural social distinctions. This is a return to the +proposition relating to the necessity of equality with which the book +opens. In treating it in detail the question of woman's work is more +closely studied. The evils which the difference of rank creates are +aggravated in her case. Men of the higher classes of society can, by +entering a political or military life, make duties for themselves. Women +in the same station are not allowed these channels of escape from the +demoralizing idleness and luxury to which their social position confines +them. On the other hand, women of the middle class, who are above menial +service but who are forced to work, have the choice of a few despised +employments. Milliners and mantua-makers are respected only a little more +than prostitutes. The situation of governess is looked upon in the light +of a degradation, since those who fill it are gentlewomen who never +expected to be _humiliated_ by work. Many women marry and sacrifice their +happiness to fly from such slavery. Others have not even this pitiful +alternative. "Is not that government then very defective, and very +unmindful of the happiness of one half of its members, that does not +provide for honest, independent women, by encouraging them to fill +respectable stations?" It is a melancholy result of civilization that the +"most respectable women are the most oppressed." + +The next chapter, on Paternal Affection, leads to the third part of the +treatise. It is not enough for a reformer to pull down. He must build up +as well, or at least lay the foundation stone of a new structure. The +missionary does not only tell the heathen that his religion is false, but +he instructs him in the new one which is to take its place. The +scientist, besides maintaining that old theories are exploded, explains +to the student new facts which have superseded them. Mary, after +demonstrating the viciousness of existing educational systems, suggests +wherein they may be improved, so that women, their understandings trained +and developed, may have the chance to show what they really are. + +Family duties necessarily precede those of society. As the "formation of +the mind must be begun very early, and the temper, in particular, +requires the most judicious attention," a child's training should be +undertaken, not from the time it is sent to school, but almost from the +moment of its birth. Therefore a few words as to the relations between +parents and children are an indispensable introduction to the larger +subject of education, properly so called, which prepares the young for +social life. + +Father and mother are rightful protectors of their child, and should +accept the charge of it, instead of hiring a substitute for this purpose. +It is not even enough for them to be regulated in this matter by the +dictates of natural affection. They must be guided by reason. For there +are the two equally dangerous extremes of tyrannical exercise of power +and of weak indulgence to be avoided. Unless their understanding be +strengthened and enlightened, they will not know what duties to exact +from their children. In their own disregard of reason as a guide to +conduct, they "demand blind obedience," and, to render their demand +binding, a "mysterious sanctity is spread around the most arbitrary +principle." Parents have a right to expect their children throughout +their lives to pay them due respect, give heed to their advice, and take +care of them should illness or old age make it impossible for them to do +this for themselves; but they should never desire to subjugate their sons +and daughters to their own will, after they have arrived at years of +discretion and can answer for their actions. To obey a parent, "only on +account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it for a +slavish submission to any power but reason." These remarks are +particularly applicable to girls, who "from various causes are more kept +down by their parents, in every sense of the word, than boys," though in +the case of the latter there is still room for improvement. That filial +duty should thus be reduced to slavery is inexcusable, since children can +very soon be made to understand why they are requested to do certain +things habitually. This, of course, necessitates trouble; but it is the +only way to qualify them for contact with the world, and the active life +which must come with their maturity. + +Once this rational foundation has been laid for the formation of a +child's character, more immediate attention can be given to the +development of its mental faculties and social tendencies. + +The first step in solving the great problem of education--and here both +sexes are referred to--is to decide whether it should be public or +private. The objections to private education are serious. It is not good +for children to be too much in the society of men and women; for they +then "acquire that kind of premature manhood which stops the growth of +every vigorous power of mind or body." By growing accustomed to have +their questions answered by older people instead of being obliged to seek +the answers for themselves, as they are forced to do when thrown with +other children, they do not learn how to think for themselves. The very +groundwork of self-reliance is thus destroyed. "Besides, in youth the +seeds of every affection should be sown, and the respectful regard which +is felt for a parent is very different from the social affections that +are to constitute the happiness of life as it advances." "Frank +ingenuousness" can only be attained by young people being frequently in +society where they dare to speak what they think. To know how to live +with their equals when they are grown up, children must learn to +associate with them when they are young. + +The evils which result from the boarding-school system are almost as +great as those of private education. The tyranny established among the +boys is demoralizing, while the acquiescence to the forms of religion +demanded of them, encourages hypocrisy. Children who live away from home +are unfitted for domestic life. "Public education of every denomination +should be directed to form citizens, but if you wish to make good +citizens, you must first exercise the affections of a son and a brother." +Home-training on the one hand, and boarding-schools on the other, being +equally vicious, the only way out of the difficulty is to combine the two +systems, retaining what is best in each, and doing away with what is +evil. This combination could be obtained by the establishment of national +day-schools. + +They must be supported by government, because the school-master who is +dependent upon the parents of children committed to his charge, +necessarily caters to them. In schools for the upper classes, where the +number of pupils is small and select, he spends his energies in giving +them a show of knowledge wherewith they may startle friends and relations +into admiration of his superior system. In common schools, where the +charges are small, he is forced, in order to support himself, to multiply +the number of pupils until it is impossible for him to do any one of +them justice. But if education were a national affair, school-masters +would be responsible to a board of directors, whose interest would be +given to the boys collectively and not individually, while the number of +pupils to be received would be strictly regulated. + +To perfect national schools the sexes must be educated together. By this +means only can they be prepared for their after relations to each other, +women thus becoming enlightened citizens and rational companions for men. +The experiment of co-education is at all events worth making. Even should +it fail, women would not be injured thereby, "for it is not in the power +of man to render them more insignificant than they are at present." + +Mary is very practical in this branch of her subject, and suggests an +admirable educational scheme. In her levelling of rank among the young, +she shows the influence of Plato; in her hint as to the possibility of +uniting play and study in elementary education, she anticipates Froebel. +Her ideas can be best appreciated by giving them in her own words:-- + + "To render this [that is, co-education] practicable, day-schools + for particular ages should be established by government, in which + boys and girls might be educated together. The school for the + younger children, from five to nine years of age, ought to be + absolutely free and open to all classes. A sufficient number of + masters should also be chosen by a select committee, in each + parish, to whom any complaint of negligence, etc., might be made, + if signed by six of the children's parents. + + "Ushers would then be unnecessary: for I believe experience will + ever prove that this kind of subordinate authority is particularly + injurious to the morals of youth.... + + "But nothing of this kind [that is, amusement at the expense of + ushers] would occur in an elementary day-school, where boys and + girls, the rich and poor, should meet together. And to prevent any + of the distinctions of vanity, they should be dressed alike, and + all obliged to submit to the same discipline, or leave the school. + The schoolroom ought to be surrounded by a large piece of ground, + in which the children might be usefully exercised, for at this age + they should not be confined to any sedentary employment for more + than an hour at a time. But these relaxations might all be rendered + a part of elementary education, for many things improve and amuse + the senses when introduced as a kind of show, to the principles of + which, dryly laid down, children would turn a deaf ear. For + instance, botany, mechanics, and astronomy, reading, writing, + arithmetic, natural history, and some simple experiments in natural + philosophy, might fill up the day; but these pursuits should never + encroach on gymnastic plays in the open air. The elements of + religion, history, the history of man, and politics might also be + taught by conversations in Socratic form. + + "After the age of nine, girls and boys intended for domestic + employments or mechanical trades ought to be removed to other + schools, and receive instruction in some measure appropriated to + the destination of each individual, the two sexes being still + together in the morning; but in the afternoon the girls should + attend a school where plain work, mantua-making, millinery, etc., + would be their employment. + + "The young people of superior abilities or fortune might now be + taught, in another school, the dead and living languages, the + elements of society, and continue the study of history and politics + on a more extensive scale, which would not exclude polite + literature. 'Girls and boys still together?' I hear some readers + ask. Yes; and I should not fear any other consequence than that + some early attachment might take place.... + + "Besides, this would be a sure way to promote early marriages, and + from early marriages the most salutary physical and moral effects + naturally flow.... + + "... Those (youths) who were designed for particular professions + might attend, three or four mornings in the week, the schools + appropriated for their immediate instruction.... + + "My observations on national education are obviously hints; but I + principally wish to enforce the necessity of educating the sexes + together to perfect both, and of making children sleep at home, + that they may learn to love home; yet to make private ties support, + instead of smothering, public affections, they should be sent to + school to mix with a number of equals, for only by the jostlings of + equality can we form a just opinion of ourselves.... + + "... The conclusion which I wish to draw is obvious: make women + rational creatures and free citizens, and they will quickly become + good wives and mothers; that is, if men do not neglect the duties + of husbands and fathers." + +This is no place to enter into a discussion as to whether Mary +Wollstonecraft's theories were right or wrong. National education and +co-education are still subjects of controversy. But even those who object +most strongly to her conclusions must admit that they were the logical +results of her premises. Equality! was her battle-cry. All men and women +are equal inasmuch as they are human. Her scheme is the only possible one +by which this fundamental equality can be maintained. It covers the whole +ground, too, by its recognition of the secondary distinctions of rank and +sex, and the necessary division of labor. Mary was not a communist in her +social philosophy. She knew such differences must always exist, and she +allowed for them. + +In the remaining chapter she cites instances of folly generated by +women's ignorance, and makes reflections upon the probable improvement to +be produced by a revolution in female manners. Some of the evils with +which she deals are trifling, as, for example, the prevailing mania for +mesmerism and fortune-telling. Others are serious, as, for instance, the +incapacity of ignorant women to rear children. But all which are of real +weight have already been more than amply discussed. She here merely +repeats herself, and these last pages are of little or no consequence. + +A plainness of speech, amounting in some places to coarseness, and a +deeply religious tone, are to many modern readers the most curious +features of the book. A just estimate of it could not be formed if these +two facts were overlooked. A century ago men and women were much more +straightforward in their speech than we are to-day. They were not +squeamish. In real life Amelias listened to raillery from Squire Westerns +not a whit more refined than Fielding's good country gentlemen. +Therefore, when it came to serious discussions for moral purposes, there +was little reason for writers to be timid. It was impossible for Mary to +avoid certain subjects not usually spoken of in polite conversation. Had +she done so, she would but have half stated her case. She was not to be +deterred because she was a woman. Such mock-modesty would at once have +undermined her arguments. According to her own theories, there was no +reason why she should not think and speak as unhesitatingly as men, when +her sex was as vitally interested as theirs. And therefore, with her +characteristic consistency, she did so. But while her language may seem +coarse to our over-fastidious ears, it never becomes prurient or +indecent. In her Dedication she expresses very distinctly her disgust for +the absence of modesty among contemporary Frenchwomen. Hers is the +plain-speaking of the Jewish law-giver, who has for end the good of man; +and not that of an Aretino, who rejoices in it for its own sake. + +Even more remarkable than this boldness of expression is the strong vein +of piety running through her arguments. Religion was to her as important +as it was to a Wesley or a Bishop Watts. The equality of man, in her +eyes, would have been of small importance had it not been instituted by +man's Creator. It is because there is a God, and because the soul is +immortal, that men and women must exercise their reason. Otherwise, they +might, like animals, yield to the rule of their instincts and emotions. +If women were without souls, they would, notwithstanding their +intellects, have no rights to vindicate. If the Christian heaven were +like the Mahometan paradise, then they might indeed be looked upon as +slaves and playthings of beings who are worthy of a future life, and +hence are infinitely their superiors. But, though sincerely pious, she +despised the meaningless forms of religion as much as she did social +conventionalities, and was as free in denouncing them. The clergy, who +from custom cling to old rites and ceremonies, were, in her opinion, +"indolent slugs, who guard, by liming it over, the snug place which they +consider in the light of an hereditary estate," and "idle vermin who two +or three times a day perform, in the most slovenly manner, a service +which they think useless, but call their duty." She believed in the +spirit, but not in the letter of the law. The scriptural account of the +creation is for her "Moses' poetical story," and she supposes that very +few who have thought seriously upon the subject believe that Eve was, +"literally speaking, one of Adam's ribs." She is indignant at the +blasphemy of sectarians who teach that an all-merciful God has instituted +eternal punishment, and she is impatient of the debtor and creditor +system which was then the inspiration of the religion of the people. She +believes in God as the life of the universe, and she accepts neither the +theory of man's innate wickedness nor that of his natural perfection, the +two then most generally adopted, but advocates his power of +development:-- + + "Rousseau exerts himself to prove that all _was_ right originally; + a crowd of authors that all _is_ now right; and I, that all _will + be_ right." + +She, in fact, teaches the doctrine of evolution. But where its modern +upholders refer all things to an unknowable source, she builds her belief +"on the perfectibility of God." + +Even the warmest admirers of Mary Wollstonecraft must admit that the +faults of the "Vindication of the Rights of Women" are many. Criticised +from a literary stand-point, they exceed its merits. Perfection of style +was not, it is true, the aim of the writer, as she at once explains in +her Introduction. She there says, that being animated by a far greater +end than that of fine writing,-- + + "... I shall disdain to cull my phrases or polish my style. I aim + at being useful, and sincerity will render me unaffected; for + wishing rather to persuade by the force of my arguments than to + dazzle by the elegance of my language, I shall not waste my time in + rounding periods, nor in fabricating the turgid bombast of + artificial feelings, which, coming from the head, never reach the + heart. I shall be employed about things, not words! and, anxious to + render my sex more respectable members of society, I shall try to + avoid that flowery diction which has slided from essays into + novels, and from novels into familiar letters and conversation." + +Yet she errs principally from the fault she determines to avoid, as the +very sentence in which she announces this determination proves. Despite +her sincerity, she is affected, and her arguments are often weakened by +meretricious forms of expression. No one can for a moment doubt that her +feelings are real, but neither can the turgidity and bombast of her +language be denied. She borrows, unconsciously perhaps, the "flowery +diction" which she so heartily condemns. Her style, instead of being +clear and simple, as would have best suited her subject, is disfigured by +the euphuism which was the fashion among writers of the last century. +When she is enthusiastic, her pen "darts rapidly along" and her "heart +bounds;" if she grows indignant at Rousseau's ideal of feminine +perfection, "the rigid frown of insulted virtue effaces the smile of +complacency which his eloquent periods are wont to raise, when I read his +voluptuous reveries." When she wants to prove that men of genius, as a +rule, have good constitutions, she says:-- + + "... Considering the thoughtless manner in which they lavished + their strength when, investigating a favorite science, they have + wasted the lamp of life, forgetful of the midnight hour, or when, + lost in poetic dreams, fancy has peopled the scene, and the soul + has been disturbed, till it shook the constitution by the passions + that meditation had raised, whose objects, the baseless fabric of a + vision, faded before the exhausted eye, they must have had iron + frames." + +In her praise of the virtue of modesty, she exclaims: + + "... It is the pale moon-beam that renders more interesting every + virtue it softens, giving mild grandeur to the contracted horizon. + Nothing can be more beautiful than the poetical fiction which makes + Diana, with her silver crescent, the goddess of chastity. I have + sometimes thought that, wandering in sedate step in some lonely + recess, a modest dame of antiquity must have felt a glow of + conscious dignity, when, after contemplating the soft, shadowy + landscape, she has invited with placid fervor the mild reflection + of her sister's beams to turn to her chaste bosom." + +She is too ready to moralize, and her moralizing degenerates +unfortunately often into commonplace platitudes. She is even at times +disagreeably pompous and authoritative, and preaches rather than argues. +This was due partly to a then prevailing tendency in literature. Every +writer--essayist, poet, and novelist--preached in those days. Mary +frequently forgets she has a cause to prove in her desire to teach a +lesson. She exhorts her sisters as a minister might appeal to his +brethren, and this resemblance is made still more striking by the +oratorical flights or prayers with which she interrupts her argument to +address her Creator. Moreover, the book is throughout, as Leslie Stephen +says, "rhetorical rather than speculative." It is unmistakably the +creation of a zealous partisan, and not of a calm advocate. It reads +more like an extempore declamation than a deliberately written essay. +Godwin says, as if in praise, that it was begun and finished within six +weeks. It would have been better had the same number of months or years +been devoted to it. Because of the lack of all method it is so full of +repetition that the argument is weakened rather than strengthened. She is +so certain of the truth of abstract principles from which she reasons, +that she does not trouble herself to convince the sceptical by concrete +proofs. Owing to this want of system, the "Vindication" has little value +as a philosophical work. Women to-day, with none of her genius, have +written on the same subject books which exert greater influence than +hers, because they have appreciated the importance of a definite plan. + +Great as are these faults, they are more than counterbalanced by the +merits of the book. All the flowers of rhetoric cannot conceal its +genuineness. As is always the case with the work of honest writers, it +commands respect even from those who disapprove of its doctrine and +criticise its style. Despite its moralizing it is strong with the +strength born of an earnest purpose. It was written neither for money nor +for amusement, too often the inspiration to book-making. The one she had +not time to seek; the other she could have obtained with more certainty +by translating for Mr. Johnson, or by contributing to the "Analytical +Review." She wrote it because she thought it her duty to do so, and hence +its vigor and eloquence. All her pompous platitudes cannot conceal the +earnestness of her denunciation of shams. The "Rights of Women" is an +outcry against them. The age was an artificial one. Ladies played at +being shepherdesses, and men wept over dead donkeys. Sensibility was a +cultivated virtue, and philanthropy a pastime. Women were the +arch-sufferers from this evil; but, pleased at being likened unto angels, +they failed to see that the ideal set up for them was false. It is to +Mary's glory that she could penetrate the mists of prevailing prejudices +and see the clear unadulterated truth. The excess of sentimentalism had +given rise to the other extreme of naturalism. In France the reaction +against arbitrary laws, empty forms, and the unjust privileges of rank, +led to the French Revolution. In England its outcome was a Wesley in +religious speculation, a Wilkes in political action, and a Godwin and a +Paine in social and political theorizing. But those who were most eager +to uphold reason as a guide to the conduct of men, had nothing to say in +behalf of women. Even the reformers, by ignoring their cause, seemed to +look upon them as beings belonging to another world. Day, in his +"Sandford and Merton," was the only man in the least practical where the +weaker sex was concerned. Mary knew that no reform would be complete +which did not recognize the fact that what is law and truth for man must +be so for women also. She carried the arguments for human equality to +their logical conclusion. Her theories are to the philosophy of the +Revolutionists what modern rationalism is to the doctrine of the right of +private judgment. She saw the evil to which greater philosophers than she +had been indifferent. The same contempt for conventional standards which +characterized her actions inspired her thoughts. Once she had evolved +this belief, she felt the necessity of proclaiming it to the world at +large; and herein consists her greatness. "To believe your own thought," +Emerson says, "to believe that what is true for you in your private heart +is true for all men,--that is genius." The "Vindication of the Rights of +Women" will always live because it is the work of inspiration, the words +of one who speaketh with authority. + +Furthermore, another and very great merit of the book is that the ideas +expressed in it are full of common sense, and eminently practical. Mary's +educational theories, far in advance of her time, are now being to a +great extent realized. The number of successful women physicians show how +right she was in supposing medicine to be a profession to which they are +well suited. The ability which a few women have manifested as school +directors and in other minor official positions confirms her belief in +the good to be accomplished by giving them a voice in social and +political matters. But what is especially to her credit is her +moderation. Apostles of a new cause or teachers of a new doctrine are, as +a rule, enthusiasts or extremists who lose all sense of the fitness of +things. A Diogenes, to express his contempt for human nature, must needs +live in a tub. A Fox knows no escape from the shams of society, save +flight to the woods and an exchange of linen and cloth covering for a +suit of leather. But Mary's enthusiasm did not make her blind; she knew +that women were wronged by the existing state of affairs; but she did not +for this reason believe that they must be removed to a new sphere of +action. She defended their rights, not to unfit them for duties assigned +them by natural and social necessities, but that they might fulfil them +the better. She eloquently denied their inferiority to men, not that they +might claim superiority, but simply that they might show themselves to be +the equals of the other sex. Woman was to fight for her liberty that she +might in deed and in truth be worthy to have her children and her husband +rise up and call her blessed! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +VISIT TO PARIS. + +1792-1793. + + +The "Vindication of the Rights of Women" made Mary still more generally +known. Its fame spread far and wide, not only at home but abroad, where +it was translated into German and French. Like Paine's "Rights of Man," +or Malthus' "Essay on the Theory of Population," it advanced new +doctrines which threatened to overturn existing social relations, and it +consequently struck men with fear and wonder, and evoked more censure +than praise. To-day, after many years' agitation, the question of women's +rights still creates contention. The excitement caused by the first word +in its favor may, therefore, be easily imagined. If one of the bondsmen +helping to drag stones for the pyramids, or one of the many thousand +slaves in Athens, had claimed independence, Egyptians or Greeks could not +have been more surprised than Englishmen were at a woman's assertion +that, mentally, she was man's equal. Some were disgusted with such a bold +breaking of conventional chains; a few were startled into admiration. +Much of the public amazement was due not only to the principles of the +book, but to its warmth and earnestness. As Miss Thackeray says, the +English authoresses of those days "kept their readers carefully at pen's +length, and seemed for the most part to be so conscious of their +surprising achievement in the way of literature, as never to forget for a +single minute that they were in print." But here was a woman who wrote +eloquently from her heart, who told people boldly what she thought upon +subjects of which her sex, as a rule, pretended to know nothing, and who +forgot herself in her interest in her work. It was natural that curiosity +was felt as to what manner of being she was, and that curiosity changed +into surprise when, instead of the virago expected, she was found to be, +to use Godwin's words, "lovely in her person, and, in the best and most +engaging sense, feminine in her manners." The fable was in this case +reversed. It was the sheep who had appeared in wolf's clothing. + +In her own circle of friends and acquaintances she was lionized. Some of +her readers were converted into enthusiasts. One of these--a Mr. John +Henry Colls--a few years later addressed a poem to her. However, his +admiration unfortunately did not teach him justly to appreciate its +object, nor to write good poetry, and his verses have been deservedly +forgotten. The reputation she had won by her answer to Burke was now +firmly established. She was respected as an independent thinker and a +bold dealer with social problems. The "Analytical Review" praised her in +a long and leading criticism. + + "The lesser wits," her critic writes, "will probably affect to make + themselves merry at the title and apparent object of this + publication; but we have no doubt, if even her contemporaries + should fail to do her justice, posterity will compensate the + defect; and have no hesitation in declaring that if the bulk of + the great truths which this publication contains were reduced to + practice, the nation would be better, wiser, and happier than it is + upon the wretched, trifling, useless, and absurd system of + education which is now prevalent." + +But the conservative avoided her and her book as moral plagues. Many +people would not even look at what she had written. Satisfied with the +old-fashioned way of treating the subjects therein discussed, they would +not run the risk of finding out that they were wrong. Their attitude in +this respect was much the same as that of Cowper when he refused to read +Paine's "Rights of Man." "No man," he said, "shall convince me that I am +improperly governed, while I feel the contrary." + +Women then, even the cleverest and most liberal, bowed to the decrees of +custom with a submission as servile as that of the Hindu to the laws of +caste. Like the latter, they were contented with their lot and had no +desire to change it. They dreaded the increase of knowledge which would +bring with it greater sorrow. Mrs. Barbauld, eloquent in her defence of +men's rights, could conceive no higher aim for women than the attainment +of sufficient knowledge to make them _agreeable_ companions to their +husbands and brothers. Should there be any deviation from the methods of +education which insured this end, they would, she feared, become like the +_Precieuses_ or _Femmes Savantes_ of Moliere. Mary's vigorous appeal for +improvement could, therefore, have no meaning for her. Hannah More, +enthusiastic in her denunciations of slavery, but unconscious that her +liberty was in the least restricted, did not hesitate to form an opinion +of the "Rights of Women" without examining it, thus necessarily missing +its true significance. In this she doubtless represented a large majority +of her sex. She wrote to Horace Walpole in 1793:-- + + "I have been much pestered to read the 'Rights of Women,' but am + invincibly resolved not to do it. Of all jargon, I hate + metaphysical jargon; beside, there is something fantastic and + absurd in the very title. How many ways there are of being + ridiculous! I am sure I have as much liberty as I can make a good + use of, now I am an old maid; and when I was a young one I had, I + dare say, more than was good for me. If I were still young, perhaps + I should not make this confession; but so many women are fond of + government, I suppose, because they are not fit for it. To be + unstable and capricious, I really think, is but too characteristic + of our sex; and there is, perhaps, no animal so much indebted to + subordination for its good behavior as woman. I have soberly and + uniformly maintained this doctrine ever since I have been capable + of observation, and I used horridly to provoke some of my female + friends--_maitresses femmes_--by it, especially such heroic spirits + as poor Mrs. Walsingham." + +Men, on the other hand, thought Mary was unsexing herself by her +arguments, which seemed to interfere with _their_ rights,--an +interference they could not brook. To the Tories the fact that she +sympathized with the Reformers was enough to damn her. Walpole, when he +answered the letter from which the above extract is taken, wrote with +warmth:-- + + "... It is better to thank Providence for the tranquillity and + happiness we enjoy in this country, in spite of the philosophizing + serpents we have in our bosom, the Paines, the Tookes, and the + Wollstonecrafts. I am glad you have not read the tract of the + last-mentioned writer. I would not look at it, though assured it + contains neither metaphysics nor politics; but as she entered the + lists of the latter, and borrowed her title from the demon's book + which aimed at spreading the _wrongs_ of men, she is excommunicated + from the pale of my library. We have had enough of new systems, and + the world a great deal too much already." + +Walpole may be accepted as the typical Tory, and to all his party Mary +probably appeared as the "philosophizing serpent." She seems always to +have incurred his deepest scorn and wrath. He could not speak of her +without calling her names. A year or two later, when she had published +her book on the French Revolution, writing again to Hannah More, he thus +concludes his letter:-- + + "Adieu, thou excellent woman! thou reverse of that hyena in + petticoats, Mrs. Wollstonecraft, who to this day discharges her ink + and gall on Marie Antoinette, whose unparalleled sufferings have + not yet stanched that Alecto's blazing ferocity." + +There was at least one man in London whose opinion was worth having who, +it is known, treated the book with indifference, and he, by a strange +caprice of fate, was William Godwin. It was at this time, when she was in +the fulness of her fame, that Mary first met him. She was dining at +Johnson's with Paine and Shovet, and Godwin had come purposely to meet +the American philosopher and to hear him talk. But Paine was at best a +silent man; and Mary, it seems, monopolized the conversation. Godwin was +disappointed, and consequently the impression she made upon him was not +pleasing. He afterwards wrote an account of this first meeting, which is +interesting because of the closer relationship to which an acquaintance +so unpropitiously begun was to lead. + + "The interview was not fortunate," he says. "Mary and myself parted + mutually displeased with each other. I had not read her 'Rights of + Women.' I had barely looked into her answer to Burke, and been + displeased, as literary men are apt to be, with a few offences + against grammar and other minute points of composition. I had + therefore little curiosity to see Mrs. Wollstonecraft, and a very + great curiosity to see Thomas Paine. Paine, in his general habits, + is no great talker; and, though he threw in occasionally some + shrewd and striking remarks, the conversation lay principally + between me and Mary. I, of consequence, heard her very frequently + when I wished to hear Paine. + + "We touched on a considerable variety of topics and particularly on + the character and habits of certain eminent men. Mary, as has + already been observed, had acquired, in a very blamable degree, the + practice of seeing everything on the gloomy side, and bestowing + censure with a plentiful hand, where circumstances were in any + degree doubtful. I, on the contrary, had a strong propensity to + favorable construction, and, particularly where I found unequivocal + marks of genius, strongly to incline to the supposition of generous + and manly virtue. We ventilated in this way the character of + Voltaire and others, who have obtained from some individuals an + ardent admiration, while the greater number have treated them with + extreme moral severity. Mary was at last provoked to tell me that + praise, lavished in the way that I lavished it, could do no credit + either to the commended or the commender. We discussed some + questions on the subject of religion, in which her opinions + approached much nearer to the received ones than mine. As the + conversation proceeded, I became dissatisfied with the tone of my + own share in it. We touched upon all topics without treating + forcibly and connectedly upon any. Meanwhile, I did her the + justice, in giving an account of the conversation to a party in + which I supped, though I was not sparing of my blame, to yield her + the praise of a person of active and independent thinking. On her + side, she did me no part of what perhaps I considered as justice. + + "We met two or three times in the course of the following year, but + made a very small degree of progress towards a cordial + acquaintance." + +Not until Mary had lived through the tragedy of her life were they +destined to become more to each other than mere fellow mortals. There was +much to be learned, and much to be forgotten, before the time came for +her to give herself into his keeping. + +Her family were naturally interested in her book from personal motives; +but Eliza and Everina heartily disapproved of it, and their feelings for +their eldest sister became, from this period, less and less friendly. +However, as Kegan Paul says, their small spite points to envy and +jealousy rather than to honest indignation. + +Both were now in good situations. Mary felt free, therefore, to consider +her own comforts a little. Besides, she had attained a position which it +became her to sustain with dignity. She was now known as _Mrs._ +Wollstonecraft, and was a prominent figure in the literary world. Shortly +after the publication of the "Rights of Women" she moved from the modest +lodgings on George Street, to larger, finer rooms on Store Street, +Bedford Square, and these she furnished comfortably. Necessity was no +longer her only standard. She also gave more care to her dress. Her stern +apprenticeship was over. She had so successfully trampled upon the +thorns in her path that she could pause to enjoy the flowers. To modern +readers her new furniture and gowns are welcome signs of the awakening of +the springtime in her cold and wintry life. But her sisters resented +them, particularly because, while they, needing less, received less from +her bounty, Charles, waiting for a good opening in America, was living at +her expense. He, with thoughtless ingratitude, sent them semi-satirical +accounts of her new mode of living, and thus unconsciously kindled their +jealousy into a fierce flame. When the extent of Mary's kindness and +self-sacrifice in their regard is remembered, the petty ill-nature of +brother and sisters, as expressed in the following letter from Mrs. +Bishop to Everina, is unpardonable:-- + + UPTON CASTLE, July 3, 1792. + + ... He [Charles] informs me too that _Mrs. Wollstonecraft_ is grown + quite handsome; he adds likewise that, being conscious she is on + the wrong side of thirty, she now endeavors to set off those charms + she once despised, to the best advantage. This, _entre nous_, for + he is delighted with her affection and kindness to him. + + So the author of "The Rights of Women" is going to France! I dare + say her chief motive is to promote poor Bess's comfort, or thine, + my girl, or at least I think she will so reason. Well, in spite of + reason, when Mrs. W. reaches the Continent she will be but a woman! + I cannot help painting her in the height of all her wishes, at the + very summit of happiness, for will not ambition fill every chink of + her great soul (for such I really think hers) that is not occupied + by love? After having drawn this sketch, you can hardly suppose me + so sanguine as to expect my pretty face will be thought of when + matters of State are in agitation, yet I know you think such a + miracle not impossible. I wish I could think it at all probable, + but, alas! it has so much the appearance of castle-building that I + think it will soon disappear like the "baseless fabric of a vision, + and leave not a wrack behind." + + And you actually have the vanity to imagine that in the National + Assembly, personages like M. and F.[useli] will bestow a thought on + two females whom nature meant to "suckle fools and chronicle small + beer." + +But a few days before Mary had written to Everina to discuss with her a +matter relative to Mrs. Bishop's prospects. This letter explains the +allusions of the latter to Mary's proposed trip to France, and shows how +little reason she had for her ill-natured conclusions:-- + + LONDON, June 20, 1792. + + ... I have been considering what you say respecting Eliza's + residence in France. For some time past Mr. and Mrs. Fuseli, Mr. + Johnson, and myself have talked of a summer excursion to Paris; it + is now determined on, and we think of going in about six weeks. I + shall be introduced to many people. My book has been translated, + and praised in some popular prints, and Mr. Fuseli of course is + well known; it is then very probable that I shall hear of some + situation for Eliza, and I shall be on the watch. We intend to be + absent only six weeks; if then I fix on an eligible situation for + her she may avoid the Welsh winter. This journey will not lead me + into any extraordinary expense, or I should put it off to a more + convenient season, for I am not, as you may suppose, very flush of + money, and Charles is wearing out the clothes which were provided + for his voyage. Still, I am glad he has acquired a little practical + knowledge of farming.... + +The French trip was, however, put off until the following December; and +when the time came for her departure, neither Mr. Johnson nor the +Fuselis accompanied her. Since the disaffection of the latter has been +construed in a way which reflects upon her character, it is necessary to +pause here to consider the nature of the friendship which existed between +them. The slightest shadow unfairly cast upon her reputation must be +dissipated. + +Mary valued Fuseli as one of her dearest friends. He, like her, was an +enthusiast. He was a warm partisan of justice and a rebel against +established institutions. He would take any steps to see that the rights +of the individual were respected. His interference in a case where men in +subordinate positions were defrauded by those in authority, but which did +not affect him personally, was the cause of his being compelled to leave +Zurich, his home, and thus eventually of his coming to England. Besides +their unity of thought and feeling, their work often lay in the same +direction. Fuseli, as well as Mary, translated for Johnson, and +contributed to the "Analytical Review." He was an intimate friend of +Lavater, whose work on Physiognomy Mary had translated with the liveliest +interest. There was thus a strong bond of sympathy between them, and many +ways in which they could help and consult with each other in their +literary tasks. Mary was devoid of the coquetry which is so strong with +some women that they carry it even into their friendships. She never +attempted to conceal her liking for Fuseli. His sex was no drawback. Why +should it be? It had not interfered with her warm feelings for George +Blood and Mr. Johnson. She was the last person in the world to be +deterred from what she thought was right for the sake of appearances. + +However, another construction was given to her friendly demonstrations. +The story told both by Knowles, the biographer of Fuseli, and by Godwin, +is that Mary was in love with the artist; and that the necessity of +suppressing, even if she could not destroy, her passion--hopeless since +its object was a married man--was the immediate reason of her going to +France alone. But they interpret the circumstances very differently. The +incidents, as given by Godwin, are in nowise to Mary's discredit, though +his account of them was later twisted and distorted by Dr. Beloe in his +"Sexagenarian." The latter, however, is so prejudiced a writer that his +words have but little value. Godwin, in his Memoirs, after demonstrating +the strength of the intimacy between Mary and Fuseli, says:-- + + "Notwithstanding the inequality of their years, Mary was not of a + temper to live upon terms of so much intimacy with a man of merit + and genius without loving him. The delight she enjoyed in his + society, she transferred by association to his person. What she + experienced in this respect was no doubt heightened by the state of + celibacy and restraint in which she had hitherto lived, and to + which the rules of polished society condemn an unmarried woman. She + conceived a personal and ardent affection for him. Mr. Fuseli was a + married man, and his wife the acquaintance of Mary. She readily + perceived the restrictions which this circumstance seemed to impose + upon her; but she made light of any difficulty that might arise out + of them. Not that she was insensible to the value of domestic + endearments between persons of an opposite sex, but that she + scorned to suppose that she could feel a struggle in conforming to + the laws she should lay down to her conduct. + + "... There is no reason to doubt that if Mr. Fuseli had been + disengaged at the period of their acquaintance, he would have been + the man of her choice. + + "... One of her principal inducements to this step, [her visit to + France] related, I believe, to Mr. Fuseli. She had at first + considered it as reasonable and judicious to cultivate what I may + be permitted to call a platonic affection for him; but she did not, + in the sequel, find all the satisfaction in this plan which she had + originally expected from it. It was in vain that she enjoyed much + pleasure in his society, and that she enjoyed it frequently. Her + ardent imagination was continually conjuring up pictures of the + happiness she should have found if fortune had favored their more + intimate union. She felt herself formed for domestic affection, and + all those tender charities which men of sensibility have constantly + treated as the dearest bond of human society. General conversation + and society could not satisfy her. She felt herself alone, as it + were, in the great mass of her species, and she repined when she + reflected that the best years of her life were spent in this + comfortless solitude. These ideas made the cordial intercourse of + Mr. Fuseli, which had at first been one of her greatest pleasures, + a source of perpetual torment to her. She conceived it necessary to + snap the chain of this association in her mind; and, for that + purpose, determined to seek a new climate, and mingle in different + scenes." + +Knowles, on the other hand, represents her as importunate with her love +as a Phaedra, as consumed with passion as a Faustina. He states as a fact +that it was for Fuseli's sake that she changed her mode of life and +adopted a new elegance in dress and manners. He declares that when the +latter made no return to her advances, she pursued him so persistently +that on receiving her letters, he thrust them unopened out of sight, so +sure was he that they contained nothing but protestations of regard and +complaints of neglect; that, finally, she became so ill and miserable and +unfitted for work that, despite Fuseli's arguments against such a step, +she went boldly to Mrs. Fuseli and asked to be admitted into her house as +a member of the family, declaring that she could not live without daily +seeing the man she loved; and that, thereupon, Mrs. Fuseli grew +righteously wrathful and forbade her ever to cross her threshold again. +He furthermore affirms that she considered her love for Fuseli strictly +within the bounds of modesty and reason, that she encouraged it without +scruple, and that she made every effort to win his heart. These proving +futile, he concludes: "No resource was now left for Mrs. Wollstonecraft +but to fly from the object which she regarded; her determination was +instantly fixed; she wrote a letter to Fuseli, in which she begged pardon +'for having disturbed the quiet tenor of his life,' and on the 8th of +December left London for France." + +An anonymous writer who in 1803 published a "Defence of the Character of +the Late Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin," repeats the story, but a little +more kindly, declaring that Mary's discovery of an unconsciously nurtured +passion for a married man, and her determination to flee temptation, were +the cause of her leaving England. That there was during her life-time +some idle gossip about her relations to Fuseli is shown in the references +to it in Eliza's ill-natured letter. This counts for little, however. It +was simply impossible for the woman who had written in defiance of social +laws and restrictions, to escape having scandals attached to her name. + +Kegan Paul, Mary's able defender of modern times, denies the whole +story. He writes in his Prefatory Memoir to her "Letters to Imlay:"-- + + "... Godwin knew extremely little of his wife's earlier life, nor + was this a subject on which he had sought enlightenment from + herself. I can only here say that I fail to find any confirmation + whatever of this preposterous story, as told in Knowles's 'Life of + Fuseli,' or in any other form, while I find much which makes + directly against it, the strongest fact being that Mary remained to + the end the correspondent and close friend of Mrs. Fuseli." + +Her character is the best refutation of Knowles's charges. She was too +proud to demean herself to any man. She was too sensitive to slights to +risk the repulses he says she accepted. And since always before and after +this period she had nothing more at heart than the happiness of others, +it is not likely that she would have deliberately tried to step in +between Fuseli and his wife, and gain at the latter's expense her own +ends. She could not have changed her character in a day. She never played +fast and loose with her principles. These were in many ways contrary to +the standard of the rest of mankind, but they were also equally opposed +to the conduct imputed to her. The testimony of her actions is her +acquittal. That she did not for a year produce any work of importance is +no argument against her. It was only after three years of uninterrupted +industry that she found time to write the "Rights of Women." On account +of the urgency of her every-day needs, she had no leisure for work whose +financial success was uncertain. Knowles's story is too absurdly out of +keeping with her character to be believed for a moment. + +The other version of this affair is not so inconceivable. That her +affection may in the end have developed into a warmer feeling, and that +she would have married Fuseli had he been free, is just possible. +Allusions in her first letters to Imlay to a late "hapless love," and to +trouble, seem to confirm Godwin's statement. But it is quite as likely +that Fuseli, whose heart was, as his biographer admits, very susceptible, +felt for her a passion which as a married man he had no right to give, +and that she fled to France for his sake rather than for her own. In +either of these cases, she would deserve admiration and respect. But the +insufficiency of evidence reduces everything except the fact of her +friendship for him to mere surmise. + +However this may have been, it is certain that Mr. Johnson and the +Fuselis decided to remain at home when Mary in December started for +Paris. + +The excitement in the French capital was then at fever heat. But the +outside world hardly comprehended how serious the troubles were. Princes +and their adherents trembled at the blow given to royalty in the person +of Louis XVI. Liberals rejoiced at the successful revolt against +monarchical tyranny. But neither one party nor the other for a moment +foresaw what a terrible weapon reform was to become in the hands of the +excitable French people. If, in the city where the tragedy was being +enacted, the customary baking and brewing, the promenading under the +trees, and the dog-dancing and the shoe-blacking on the _Pont-Neuf_ could +still continue, it is not strange that those who watched it from afar +mistook its real weight. + +The terrible night of the 10th of August had come and gone. The September +massacres, the details of which had not yet reached England, were over. +The Girondists were in the ascendency and had restored order. There were +fierce contentions in the National Convention, but, on the whole, its +attitude was one to inspire confidence. The English, who saw in the +arrest of the king, and in the popular feeling against him, just such a +crisis as their nation had passed through once or twice, were not +deterred from visiting the country by its unsettled state. The French +prejudice against England, it is true, was strong. Lafayette had some +time before publicly expressed his belief that she was secretly +conspiring against the peace of France. But his imputation had been +vigorously denied, and nominally the two governments were friendly. +English citizens had no reason to suppose they would not be safe in +Paris, and those among them whose opinions brought them _en rapport_ with +the French Republicans felt doubly secure. Consequently Mary's departure +for that capital, alone and unprotected, did not seem so hazardous then +as it does now that the true condition of affairs is better understood. + +She knew in Paris a Madame Filiettaz, daughter of the Madame Bregantz at +whose school in Putney Eliza and Everina had been teachers, and to her +house she went, by invitation. Monsieur and Madame Filiettaz were absent, +and she was for some little time its sole occupant save the servants. The +object of her visit was twofold. She wished to study French, for though +she could read and translate this language fluently, from want of +practice she could neither speak nor understand it when it was spoken; +and she also desired to watch for herself the development of the cause of +freedom. Their love of liberty had made the French, as a nation, +peculiarly attractive to her. She had long since openly avowed her +sympathy by her indignant reply to Burke's outcry against them. It was +now a great satisfaction to be where she could follow day by day the +progress of their struggle. She had excellent opportunities not only to +see what was on the surface of society, which is all visitors to a +strange land can usually do, but to study the actual forces at work in +the movement. Thomas Paine was then in Paris. He was a member of the +National Convention, and was on terms of intimacy with Condorcet, +Brissot, Madame Roland, and other Republican leaders. Mary had known him +well in London. She now renewed the acquaintance, and was always welcomed +to his house near the Rue de Richelieu. Later, when, worn out by his +numerous visitors, he retired to the Faubourg St. Denis, to a hotel where +Madame de Pompadour had once lived, and allowed it to be generally +believed that he had gone into the country for his health, Mary was one +of the few favored friends who knew of his whereabouts. She thus, through +him, was brought into close contact with the leading spirits of the day. +She also saw much of Helen Maria Williams, the poetess, already notorious +for her extreme liberalism, and who had numerous friends and +acquaintances among the Revolutionary party in Paris. Mrs. Christie was +still another friend of this period. Her husband's business having kept +them in France, they had become thoroughly nationalized. At their house +many Americans congregated, among others a Captain Gilbert Imlay, of whom +more hereafter. In addition to these English friends, Mary had letters of +introduction to several prominent French citizens. + +She arrived in Paris just before Louis XVI.'s trial. The city was +comparatively quiet, but there was in the air an oppression which +betokened the coming storm. She felt the people's suspense as if she too +had been personally interested. Between her studies and her efforts to +obtain the proper clew by which she could in her own mind reduce the +present political chaos to order, she found more than enough wherewith to +fill her days. As always happened with her, the mental strain reacted +upon her physical health, and her old enemies, depression of spirits and +headaches, returned to harass her. + +She wrote to Everina on the 24th of December: + + To-morrow I expect to see Aline [Madame Filiettaz]. During her + absence the servants endeavored to render the house, a most + excellent one, comfortable to me; but as I wish to acquire the + language as fast as I can, I was sorry to be obliged to remain so + much alone. I apply so closely to the language, and labor so + continually to understand what I hear, that I never go to bed + without a headache, and my spirits are fatigued with endeavoring to + form a just opinion of public affairs. The day after to-morrow I + expect to see the King at the bar, and the consequences that will + follow I am almost afraid to anticipate. + + I have seen very little of Paris, the streets are so dirty; and I + wait till I can make myself understood before I call upon Madame + Laurent, etc. Miss Williams has behaved very civilly to me, and I + shall visit her frequently because I _rather_ like her, and I meet + French company at her house. Her manners are affected, yet the + simple goodness of her heart continually breaks through the + varnish, so that one would be more inclined, at least I should, to + love than admire her. Authorship is a heavy weight for female + shoulders, especially in the sunshine of prosperity. Of the French + I will not speak till I know more of them. They seem the people of + all others for a stranger to come amongst, yet sometimes when I + have given a commission, which was eagerly asked for, it has not + been executed, and when I ask for an explanation,--I allude to the + servant-maid, a quick girl, who, an't please you, has been a + teacher in an English boarding-school,--dust is thrown up with a + self-sufficient air, and I am obliged to appear to see her meaning + clearly, though she puzzles herself, that I may not make her feel + her ignorance; but you must have experienced the same thing. I will + write to you soon again. Meantime, let me hear from you, and + believe me yours sincerely and affectionately, + + M. W. + +When the dreaded 26th came, there was no one in Paris more excited and +interested than Mary. From her window she saw the King as, seemingly +forgetting the history he was making for future historians to discuss, he +rode by with calm dignity to his trial. Throughout the entire day she +waited anxiously, uncertain as to what would be the effects of the +morning's proceedings. Then, when evening came, and all continued quiet +and the danger was over, she grew nervous and fearful, as she had that +other memorable night when she kept her vigil in the little room at +Hackney. She was absolutely alone with her thoughts, and it was a relief +to write to Mr. Johnson. It gave her a sense of companionship. This +"hyena in petticoats," this "philosophizing serpent," was at heart as +feminine as Hannah More or any other "excellent woman." + + PARIS, Dec. 26, 1792. + + I should immediately on the receipt of your letter, my dear friend, + have thanked you for your punctuality, for it highly gratified me, + had I not wished to wait till I could tell you that this day was + not stained with blood. Indeed, the prudent precautions taken by + the National Convention to prevent a tumult made me suppose that + the dogs of faction would not dare to bark, much less to bite, + however true to their scent; and I was not mistaken; for the + citizens, who were all called out, are returning home with composed + countenances, shouldering their arms. About nine o'clock this + morning the King passed by my window, moving silently along, + excepting now and then a few strokes on the drum which rendered the + stillness more awful, through empty streets, surrounded by the + National Guards, who, clustering round the carriage, seemed to + deserve their name. The inhabitants flocked to their windows, but + the casements were all shut; not a voice was heard, nor did I see + anything like an insulting gesture. For the first time since I + entered France I bowed to the majesty of the people, and respected + the propriety of behavior, so perfectly in unison with my own + feelings. I can scarcely tell you why, but an association of ideas + made the tears flow insensibly from my eyes, when I saw Louis + sitting, with more dignity than I expected from his character, in a + hackney-coach, going to meet death where so many of his race have + triumphed. My fancy instantly brought Louis XIV. before me, + entering the capital with all his pomp, after one of the victories + most flattering to his pride, only to see the sunshine of + prosperity overshadowed by the sublime gloom of misery. I have been + alone ever since; and though my mind is calm, I cannot dismiss the + lively images that have filled my imagination all the day. Nay, do + not smile, but pity me, for once or twice, lifting my eyes from the + paper, I have seen eyes glare through a glass door opposite my + chair, and bloody hands shook at me. Not the distant sound of a + footstep can I hear. My apartments are remote from those of the + servants, the only persons who sleep with me in an immense hotel, + one folding-door opening after another. I wish I had even kept the + cat with me! I want to see something alive, death in so many + frightful shapes has taken hold of my fancy. I am going to bed, and + for the first time in my life I cannot put out the candle. + + M. W. + +These imaginary terrors gave way to real ones soon enough. The execution +of Louis was followed by the declaration of war between France and +England and the complete demoralization of the French people, especially +of the Parisians. The feeling against England grew daily more bitter, and +the position of English residents in Paris more precarious. It was next +to impossible for them to send letters home, and therefore their danger +was not realized by their countrymen on the other side of the Channel. +Mrs. Bishop, in the faraway Welsh castle, grew impatient at Mary's +silence. Politics was a subject dear to her heart, but one tabooed at +Upton. At her first word upon the topic the family, her employers, left +the room, and she was consequently obliged to ignore it when she was with +them. But when, some months later on, two or three French refugees came +to Pembroke, she was quick to go to them, ostensibly for French lessons, +but in reality to hear their accounts of the scenes through which they +had passed. Forced to live in quiet, remote places, she longed for the +excitement only to be had in the large centres of action, and at one +time, in her discontent, began to make plans to join her sister in +France. While Eliza was thus contemplating a journey to Paris, Mary was +wondering how it would be possible either to continue living there or to +leave the country. It was equally out of the question to obtain fresh +supplies of money from England or a passport to carry her safely back. +She had, when she left London, only intended to be absent for a few +weeks, and had not even given up her rooms in George Street. But the +weeks had lengthened into months, and now her return was an +impossibility. + +For motives of economy she left the large Filiettaz mansion. At first she +thought of making a trip to Switzerland, but this plan had to be +abandoned because of the difficulty in procuring a passport. She +therefore went to Neuilly, where, her ready money wellnigh exhausted, she +lived as simply as she could. Economy was doubly necessary at a time when +heavy taxes were sending a hungry multitude into the streets, clamoring +for bread. She was now more alone than ever. Her sole attendant was an +old man, a gardener. He became her warm friend, succumbing completely to +her power of attraction. With the gallantry of his race he could not do +enough for Madame. He waited upon her with unremitting attention; he even +disputed for the honor of making her bed. He served up at her table, +unasked, the grapes from his garden which he absolutely refused to give +to her guests. He objected to her English independence; her lonely walks +through the woods of Neuilly met with his serious disapproval, and he +besought her to allow him the privilege of accompanying her, painting in +awful colors the robbers and other dangers with which the place abounded. +But Mary persisted in going alone; and when, evening after evening, she +returned unharmed, it must have seemed to him as if she bore a charmed +life. Such incidents as these show, better than volumes of praise, the +true kindliness of her nature which was not influenced by distinctions of +rank. + +Those who knew her but by name, however, dealt with her in less gentle +fashion. Her fame had been carried even into Pembroke; and while she was +living her solitary and inoffensive life in Paris, Mrs. Bishop was +writing to Everina: "The conversation [at Upton Castle] turns on Murphy, +on Irish potatoes, or Tommy Paine, whose effigy they burnt at Pembroke +the other day. Nay, they talk of immortalizing Miss Wollstonecraft in +like manner, but all end in damning all politics: What good will they do +men? and what rights have men that three meals a day will not supply?" +After all, perhaps they were wise, these Welshmen. Were not their +brethren in France purchasing their rights literally at the price of +their three meals a day? + +Sometimes, perhaps to please her friend, the gardener, instead of her +rambles through the woods, Mary walked towards and even into Paris, and +then she saw sights which made Pembroke logic seem true wisdom, and +freedom a farce. Once, in so doing, she passed by chance a place of +execution, just at the close of one of its too frequent tragic scenes. +The blood was still fresh upon the pavement; the crowd of lookers-on not +yet dispersed. She heard them as they stood there rehearsing the day's +horror, and she chafed against the cruelty and inhumanity of the deed. In +a moment--her French so improved that she could make herself +understood--she was telling the people near her something of what she +thought of their new tyrants. Those were dangerous times for freedom of +speech. So far the champions of liberty had proved themselves more +inexorable masters than the Bourbons. Some of the bystanders, who, though +they dared not speak their minds, sympathized with Mary's indignation, +warned her of her danger and hurried her away from the spot. Horror at +the ferocity of men's passions, wrath at injustices committed in the name +of freedom, and impatience at her own helplessness to right the evils by +which she was surrounded, no doubt inspired her, as saddened and sobered +she walked back alone to Neuilly. + +During all this time she continued her literary work. She proposed to +write a series of letters upon the present character of the French +nation, and with this end in view she silently studied the people and the +course of political action. She was quick and observant, and nothing +escaped her notice. She came to Paris prepared to continue a firm +partisan of the French Revolution; but she could not be blind to the +national defects. She saw the frivolity and sensuality of the people, +their hunger for all things sweet, and the unrestrained passions of the +greater number of the Republican leaders, which made them love liberty +more than law itself. She valued their cause, but she despised the means +by which they sought to gain it. Thus, in laboring to grasp the meaning +of the movement, not as it appeared to petty factions, but as it was as a +whole, she was confronted by the greatest of all mysteries, the relation +of good and evil. Again, as when she had analyzed the rights of women, +she recognized evil to be a power which eventually works for +righteousness, thereby proving the clearness of her mental vision. Only +one of these letters, however, was written and published. It is dated +Feb. 15, 1793, so that the opinions therein expressed were not hastily +formed. As its style is that of a familiar letter, and as it gives a good +idea of the thoroughness with which she had applied herself to her task, +it may appropriately be quoted here. + + "... The whole mode of life here," she writes, "tends indeed to + render the people frivolous, and, to borrow their favorite epithet, + amiable. Ever on the wing, they are always sipping the sparkling + joy on the brim of the cup, leaving satiety in the bottom for those + who venture to drink deep. On all sides they trip along, buoyed up + by animal spirits, and seemingly so void of care that often, when I + am walking on the Boulevards, it occurs to me that they alone + understand the full import of the term leisure; and they trifle + their time away with such an air of contentment, I know not how to + wish them wiser at the expense of gayety. They play before me like + motes in a sunbeam, enjoying the passing ray; whilst an English + head, searching for more solid happiness, loses in the analysis of + pleasure the volatile sweets of the moment. Their chief enjoyment, + it is true, rises from vanity; but it is not the vanity that + engenders vexation of spirit: on the contrary, it lightens the + heavy burden of life, which reason too often weighs, merely to + shift from one shoulder to the other.... + + "I would I could first inform you that out of the chaos of vices + and follies, prejudices and virtues, rudely jumbled together, I saw + the fair form of Liberty slowly rising, and Virtue, expanding her + wings to shelter all her children! I should then hear the account + of the barbarities that have rent the bosom of France patiently, + and bless the firm hand that lopt off the rotten limbs. But if the + aristocracy of birth is levelled with the ground, only to make + room for that of riches, I am afraid that the morals of the people + will not be much improved by the change, or the government rendered + less venial. Still it is not just to dwell on the misery produced + by the present struggle without adverting to the standing evils of + the old system. I am grieved, sorely grieved, when I think of the + blood that has stained the cause of freedom at Paris; but I also + hear the same live stream cry aloud from the highways through which + the retreating armies passed with famine and death in their rear, + and I hide my face with awe before the inscrutable ways of + Providence, sweeping in such various directions the besom of + destruction over the sons of men. + + "Before I came to France, I cherished, you know, an opinion that + strong virtues might exist with the polished manners produced by + the progress of civilization; and I even anticipated the epoch, + when, in the course of improvement, men would labor to become + virtuous, without being goaded on by misery. But now the + perspective of the golden age, fading before the attentive eye of + observation, almost eludes my sight; and, losing thus in part my + theory of a more perfect state, start not, my friend, if I bring + forward an opinion which, at the first glance, seems to be levelled + against the existence of God! I am not become an atheist, I assure + you, by residing at Paris; yet I begin to fear that vice or, if you + will, evil is the grand mobile of action, and that, when the + passions are justly poised, we become harmless, and in the same + proportion useless.... + + "You may think it too soon to form an opinion of the future + government, yet it is impossible to avoid hazarding some + conjectures, when everything whispers me that names, not + principles, are changed, and when I see that the turn of the tide + has left the dregs of the old system to corrupt the new. For the + same pride of office, the same desire of power, are still visible; + with this aggravation, that, fearing to return to obscurity after + having but just acquired a relish for distinction, each hero or + philosopher, for all are dubbed with these new titles, endeavors to + make hay while the sun shines; and every petty municipal officer, + become the idol, or rather the tyrant of the day, stalks like a + cock on a dunghill." + +The letters were discontinued, probably because Mary thought +letter-writing too easy and familiar a style in which to treat so weighty +a subject. She only gave up the one work, however, to undertake another +still more ambitious. At Neuilly she began, and wrote almost all that was +ever finished, of her "Historical and Moral View of the French +Revolution." + +While she was thus living the quiet life of a student in the midst of +excitement, her own affairs, as well as those of France, were hastening +to a crisis. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +LIFE WITH IMLAY. + +1793-1794. + + +While Mary was living at Neuilly, the terrors of the French Revolution +growing daily greater, she took a step to which she was prompted by pure +motives, but which has left a blot upon her fair fame. The outcry raised +by her "Vindication of the Rights of Women" has ceased, since its +theories have found so many champions. But that which followed her +assertion of her individual rights has never yet been hushed. Kegan Paul +speaks the truth when he says, "The name of Mary Wollstonecraft has long +been a mark for obloquy and scorn." The least that can be done to clear +her memory of stains is to state impartially the facts of her case. + +As has been said in the previous chapter, Mary often spent her free hours +with Mrs. Christie, and at her house she met Captain Gilbert Imlay. He +was one of the many Americans then living in Paris. He was an attractive +man personally, and his position and abilities entitled him to respect. +He had taken an active part in the American rebellion, having then risen +to the rank of captain, and, after the war, had been sent as commissioner +to survey still unsettled districts of the western States. On his return +from this work he wrote a monograph, called "A Topographical Description +of the Western Territory of North America," which is remarkable for its +thoroughness and its clear, condensed style, appropriate to such a +treatise. It passed through several editions and increased his +reputation. His business in France is not very explicitly explained. His +headquarters seem to have been at Havre, while he had certain commercial +relations with Norway and Sweden. He was most probably in the timber +business, and was, at least at this period, successful. Godwin says that +he had no property whatever, but his speculations apparently brought him +plenty of ready money. + +Foreigners in Paris, especially Americans and English, were naturally +drawn together. Mary and Imlay had mutual acquaintances, and they saw +much of each other. His republican sentiments alone would have appealed +to her. But the better she learned to know him, the more she liked him +personally. He, on his side, was equally attracted, and his kindness and +consideration for her were greatly in his favor. Their affection in the +end developed into a feeling stronger than mere friendship. Its +consequence, since both were free, would under ordinary circumstances +have been marriage. + +But her circumstances just then were extraordinary. Godwin says that she +objected to a marriage with Imlay because she did not wish to "involve +him in certain family embarrassments to which she conceived herself +exposed, or make him answerable for the pecuniary demands that existed +against her." There were, however, more formidable objections, not of her +own making. The English who remained in Paris ran the chance from day to +day of being arrested with the priests and aristocrats, and even of being +carried to the guillotine. Their only safeguard lay in obscurity. They +had above all else to evade the notice of government officers. Mary, if +she married Imlay, would be obliged to proclaim herself a British +subject, and would thus be risking imprisonment and perhaps death. +Besides, it was very doubtful whether a marriage ceremony performed by +the French authorities would be recognized in England as valid. Had she +been willing to pass through this perilous ordeal she would have gained +nothing. Love's labor would indeed have been lost. Marriage was thus out +of the question. + +To Mary, however, this did not seem an insurmountable obstacle to their +union. "Her view had now become," Kegan Paul says, "that mutual affection +was marriage, and that the marriage tie should not bind after the death +of love, if love should die." In her "Vindication," she had upheld the +sanctity of marriage because she believed that the welfare of society +depends upon the order maintained in family relations. But her belief +also was that the form the law demands is nothing, the feeling which +leads those concerned to desire it, everything. What she had hitherto +seen of married life, as at present instituted, was not calculated to +make her think highly of it. Her mother and her friend's mother had led +the veriest dogs' lives because the law would not permit them to leave +brutal and sensual husbands, whom they had ceased to honor or love. Her +sister had been driven mad by the ill-treatment of a man to whom she was +bound by legal, but not by natural ties. Lady Kingsborough, giving to +dogs the love which neither her coarse husband nor her children by him +could evoke, was not a brilliant example of conjugal pleasure. Probably +in London other cases had come within her notice. Marriage vows, it +seemed, were with the majority but the convenient cloak of vice. Women +lived with their husbands that they might be more free to entertain their +lovers. Men lived with their wives that they might keep establishments +elsewhere for their mistresses. Love was the one unimportant element in +the marriage compact. The artificial tone of society had disgusted all +the more earnest thinkers of the day. The very extreme to which existing +evils were carried drove reformers to the other. Rousseau and Helvetius +clamored for a relapse into a state of nature without exactly knowing +what the realization of their theories would produce. Mary reasoned in +the same spirit as they did, and from no desire to uphold the doctrine of +free love. Fearless in her practice as in her theories, she did not +hesitate in this emergency to act in a way that seemed to her conscience +right. She loved Imlay honestly and sincerely. Because she loved him she +could not think evil of him, nor suppose for a moment that his passion +was not as pure and true as hers. Therefore she consented to live with +him as his wife, though no religious nor civil ceremony could sanction +their union. + +That this, according to the world's standard, was wrong, is a fact beyond +dispute. But before the first stones are thrown, the _pros_ as well as +the _cons_ must be remembered. If Mary had held the conventional beliefs +as to the relations of the sexes, she would be judged by them. Had she +thought her connection with Imlay criminal, then she would be condemned +by her own conviction. But she did not think so. Moreover, her opinions +to the contrary were very decided. When she gave herself to Imlay without +waiting for a minister's blessing or a legal permit, she acted in strict +adherence to her moral ideals; and this at once places her in a far +different rank from that of the Mrs. Robinsons and Mrs. Jordans, with +whom men have been too ready to class her. Neither can she be compared to +a woman like George Sand, who also believed that love was a more sacred +bond of union than the marriage tie, and who acted accordingly. But to +George Sand, as masculine by nature as by dress, love was of her life a +thing apart, and a change of lovers a matter of secondary importance. To +Mary love was literally her whole existence, and fidelity a virtue to be +cultivated above all others. Since she in her conduct in this instance +stands alone, she can be justly judged by no other standard than her own. + +Whether marriage does or does not represent the ideal relation which can +exist between a man and woman is without the compass of the present work. +But since it is and has been for ages held to be so, the woman who bids +defiance to this law must abide by the consequences. Custom has +inconsistently pardoned freedom in such matters to men, but never to +women. Mary Wollstonecraft might rely upon her friends and acquaintances +for recognition of her virtue, but she should have remembered that to the +world at large her conduct would appear immoral; that by it she would +become a pariah in society, and her work lose much of its efficacy; while +she would be giving to her children, if she had any, an inheritance of +shame that would cling to them forever. + +She may probably have realized this drawback and determined to avoid the +evil consequences of her defiance to social usages. For the first few +months it seems that she kept her intimacy with Imlay secret, and she may +have intended concealing it until such time as she could make it legal in +the eyes of the world. Godwin dates its beginning in April, 1793. The +only information in this respect is to be had from her published letters +to Imlay, the first of which was written in June of the same year, +though, it must be added, Kegan Paul queries the date. This and the +following note, dated August, prove the secrecy she for a time +maintained. The latter seems to have been written after she had +determined to live openly with Imlay in Paris, but just before she +carried her determination into practice:-- + + _Past Twelve o'clock, Monday night._ + + I obey an emotion of my heart which made me think of wishing thee, + my love, good-night! before I go to rest, with more tenderness than + I can to-morrow, when writing a hasty line or two under Colonel + ----'s eye. You can scarcely imagine with what pleasure I + anticipate the day when we are to begin almost to live together; + and you would smile to hear how many plans of employment I have in + my head, now that I am confident my heart has found peace in your + bosom. Cherish me with that dignified tenderness which I have only + found in you, and your own dear girl will try to keep under a + quickness of feeling that has sometimes given you pain. Yes, I will + be _good_, that I may deserve to be happy; and whilst you love me, + I cannot again fall into the miserable state which rendered life a + burden almost too heavy to be borne. + + But good-night! God bless you! Sterne says that is equal to a + kiss, yet I would rather give you the kiss into the bargain, + glowing with gratitude to Heaven and affection to you. I like the + word affection, because it signifies something habitual; and we are + soon to meet, to try whether we have mind enough to keep our hearts + warm. + + I will be at the barrier a little after ten o'clock to-morrow. + + Yours, + ---- + +The reason for this step was probably the fact that it was not safe for +her to continue in Paris alone and unprotected. The robbers in the woods +at Neuilly might be laughed at; but the red-capped _citoyens_ and +_citoyennes_, drunk from the first draught of aristocratic blood, were no +old man's dangers. The peril of the English in the city increased with +every new development of the struggle; but Americans were looked upon as +stanch brother citizens, and a man who had fought for the American +Republic was esteemed as the friend and honored guest of the French +Republic. As Imlay's wife, Mary's safety would therefore be assured. The +murderous greed of the people, to break out in September in the _Law of +the Suspect_, was already felt in August, and at the end of that month +she sought protection under Imlay's roof, and shielded herself by his +name. + +She could not at once judge of the manner in which this expedient would +be received. It was impossible to hold any communication with England. +For eighteen months after her letter to Mr. Johnson, not a word from her +reached her friends at home. As for those in Paris, so intense was the +great human tragedy of which they were the witnesses, that they probably +forgot to gossip about each other. The crimes and horrors that stared +them in the face were so appalling that desire to seek out imaginary ones +in their neighbors was lost. As far as can be known from Mary's letters, +her connection with Imlay did not take from her the position she had held +in the English colony. No door was closed against her; no scandal was +spread about her. The truth is, these people must have understood her +difficulties as well as she did. They knew the impossibility of a legal +ceremony and the importance in her case of an immediate union; and +understanding this, they seem to have considered her Imlay's wife. At +least the rumors which months afterwards came to her sisters treated her +marriage as a certainty. Charles Wollstonecraft, now settled in +Philadelphia, wrote on June 16, 1794, to Eliza, a year after Mary and +Imlay had begun their joint life: "I heard from Mary six months ago by a +gentleman who knew her at Paris, and since that have been informed she is +married to Captain Imlay of this country." The same report had found its +way to Mr. Johnson, and through him again to Mrs. Bishop. It was hard to +doubt its truth, and yet Mrs. Bishop knew as well as, if not better than, +any one Mary's views about marriage. She had, happily for herself, reaped +the benefit of them. In her surprise she sent Charles's letter to +Everina, accompanied by her own reflections upon the startling news. +These are a curious testimony to the strength of Mary's objections to +matrimony. Eliza's petty envy of her greater sister is still apparent in +this letter. It is dated August 15:-- + + "... If Mary is _actually_ married to Mr. Imlay, it is not + impossible but she might settle there [in America] too. Yet Mary + cannot be _married_! It is natural to conclude her protector is her + _husband_. Nay, on reading Charles's letter, I for an instant + believed it true. I would, my Everina, we were out of suspense, for + all at present is uncertainty and the most cruel suspense; still, + Johnson does not repeat things at random, and that the very same + tale should have crossed the Atlantic makes me almost believe that + the once M. is now Mrs. Imlay, and a mother. Are we ever to see + this mother and her babe?" + +The only record of Mary's connection with Imlay, which lasted for about +two years, are the letters which she wrote to him while he was away from +her, his absences being frequent and long. Fortunately, these letters +have been preserved. They were published by Godwin almost immediately +after her death, and were republished in 1879 by C. Kegan Paul. "They +are," says Godwin, "the offspring of a glowing imagination, and a heart +penetrated with the passion it essays to describe." She was thirty-five +when she met Imlay. Her passion for him was strong with the strength of +full womanhood, nor had it been weakened by the flirtations in which so +many women fritter away whatever deep feeling they may have originally +possessed. She was no coquette, as she told him many times. She could not +have concealed her love in order to play upon that of the man to whom she +gave it. What she felt for him she showed him with no reservation or +affectation of feminine delicacy. She despised such false sentiments. The +consequence is, that her letters contain the unreserved expression of her +feelings. Those written before she had cause to doubt her lover are full +of wifely devotion and tenderness; those written from the time she was +forced to question his sincerity, through the gradual realization of his +faithlessness, until the bitter end, are the most pathetic and +heart-rending that have ever been given to the world. They are the cry of +a human soul in its death-agony, and are the more tragic because they +belong to real life and not to fiction. The sorrows of the Heros, +Guineveres, and Francescas of romance are not greater than hers were. +Their grief was separation from lovers who still loved them. Hers was the +loss of the love of a man for whom her passion had not ceased, and the +admission of the unworthiness of him whom she had chosen as worthy above +all others. Who will deny that her fate was the more cruel? + +She in her letters tells her story better than any one else could do it +for her. Therefore, as far as it is possible, it will be repeated here in +her own words. + +Imlay's love was to Mary what the kiss of the Prince was to the Sleeping +Beauty in the fairy tale. It awakened her heart to happiness, leading her +into that new world which is the old. Hitherto the love which had been +her portion was that which she had sought + + "... in the pity of other's woe, + In the gentle relief of another's care." + +And yet she had always believed that the pure passion which a man gives +to a woman is the greatest good in life. That she was without it had been +to her a heavier trial than an unhappy home and overwhelming debts. Now, +when she least expected it, it had come to her. While women in Paris were +either trembling with fear for what the morrow might bring forth, or else +caught in the feverish whirl of rebellion, one at least had found rest. +But human happiness can never be quite perfect. Sensitiveness was a +family fault with the Wollstonecrafts. It had been developed rather than +suppressed in Mary by her circumstances. She was therefore keenly +susceptible not only to Imlay's love, but to his failings. Of these he +had not a few. He does not seem to have been a refined man. From some +remarks in Mary's letters it may be concluded that he had at one time +been very dissipated, and that the society of coarse men and women had +blunted his finer instincts. His faults were peculiarly calculated to +offend her. His passion had to be stimulated. His business called him +away often, and his absences were unmistakably necessary to the +maintenance of his devotion. The sunshine of her new life was therefore +not entirely unclouded. She was by degrees obliged to lower the high +pedestal on which she had placed her lover, and to admit to herself that +he was not much above the level of ordinary men. This discovery did not +lessen her affection, though it made her occasionally melancholy. But she +was, on the whole, happy. + +In September he was compelled to leave her to go to Havre, where he was +detained for several months. Love had cast out all fear from her heart. +She was certain that he considered himself in every sense of the word her +husband; and therefore during his absence she frankly told him how much +she missed him, and in her letters shared her troubles and pleasures with +him. She wrote the last thing at night to tell him of her love and her +loneliness. She could not take his slippers from their old place by the +door. She would not look at a package of books sent to her, but said she +would keep them until he could read them to her while she would mend her +stockings. She drew pictures of the happy days to come when in the farm, +either in America or France, to which they both looked forward as their +_Ultima Thule_, they would spend long evenings by their fireside, perhaps +with children about their knees. If Eliza sent her a worrying letter, +half the worry was gone when she had confided it to him. If ne'er-do-weel +Charles, temporarily prosperous or promising to be so, wrote her one that +pleased her, straightway she described the delight with which he would +make a friend of Imlay. When the latter had been away but a short time, +she found there was to be a new tie between them. As the father of her +unborn child he became doubly dear to her, while the consciousness that +another life depended upon her made her more careful of her health. "This +thought," she told him, "has not only produced an overflowing of +tenderness to you, but made me very attentive to calm my mind and take +exercise lest I should destroy an object in whom we are to have a mutual +interest, you know." As Kegan Paul says, "No one can read her letters +without seeing that she was a pure, high-minded, and refined woman, and +that she considered herself, in the eyes of God and man, his wife." + +During the first part of his absence, Imlay appears to have been as +devoted as she could have wished him to be. When her letters to him did +not come regularly,--as indeed, how could they in those troubled +days?--he grew impatient. His impatience Mary greeted as a good sign. In +December she wrote:-- + + I am glad to find that other people can be unreasonable as well as + myself, for be it known to thee, that I answered thy _first_ letter + the very night it reached me (Sunday), though thou couldst not + receive it before Wednesday, because it was not sent off till the + next day. There is a full, true, and particular account. + + Yet I am not angry with thee, my love, for I think that it is a + proof of stupidity, and, likewise, of a milk-and-water affection, + which comes to the same thing, when the temper is governed by a + square and compass. There is nothing picturesque in this + straight-lined equality, and the passions always give grace to the + actions. + + Recollection now makes my heart bound to thee; but it is not to thy + money-getting face, though I cannot be seriously displeased with + the exertion which increases my esteem, or rather is what I should + have expected from thy character. No; I have thy honest countenance + before me,--Pop,--relaxed by tenderness; a little, little wounded + by my whims; and thy eyes glistening with sympathy. Thy lips then + feel softer than soft, and I rest my cheek on thine, forgetting all + the world. I have not left the hue of love out of the picture--the + rosy glow; and fancy has spread it over my own cheeks, I believe, + for I feel them burning, whilst a delicious tear trembles in my + eye, that would be all your own, if a grateful emotion, directed to + the Father of nature, who has made me thus alive to happiness, did + not give more warmth to the sentiment it divides. I must pause a + moment. + + Need I tell you that I am tranquil after writing thus? I do not + know why, but I have more confidence in your affection when absent + than present; nay, I think that you must love me, for, in the + sincerity of my heart let me say it, I believe I deserve your + tenderness, because I am true, and have a degree of sensibility + that you can see and relish. + + Yours sincerely, + MARY. + +But there were days during his absence when her melancholy returned with +full force. She could not but fear that the time would come when the +coarse fibre of his love would work her evil. Just after he left, she +wrote,-- + + "... So much for business! May I venture to talk a little longer + about less weighty affairs? How are you? I have been following you + all along the road this comfortless weather; for when I am absent + from those I love, my imagination is as lively as if my senses had + never been gratified by their presence--I was going to say + caresses, and why should I not? I have found out that I have more + mind than you in one respect; because I can, without any violent + effort of reason, find food for love in the same object much longer + than you can. The way to my senses is through my heart; but, + forgive me! I think there is sometimes a shorter cut to yours. + + "With ninety-nine men out of a hundred, a very sufficient dash of + folly is necessary to render a woman _piquante_, a soft word for + desirable; and, beyond these casual ebullitions of sympathy, few + look for enjoyment by fostering a passion in their hearts. One + reason, in short, why I wish my whole sex to become wiser, is, that + the foolish ones may not, by their pretty folly, rob those whose + sensibility keeps down their vanity, of the few roses that afford + them some solace in the thorny road of life. + + "I do not know how I fell into these reflections, excepting one + thought produced it--that these continual separations were + necessary to warm your affection. Of late we are always separating. + Crack! crack! and away you go! This joke wears the sallow cast of + thought; for, though I began to write cheerfully, some melancholy + tears have found their way into my eyes, that linger there, whilst + a glow of tenderness at my heart whispers that you are one of the + best creatures in the world. Pardon then the vagaries of a mind + that has been almost 'crazed by care,' as well as 'crossed in + hapless love,' and bear with me a _little_ longer. When we are + settled in the country together, more duties will open before me; + and my heart, which now, trembling into peace, is agitated by every + emotion that awakens the remembrance of old griefs, will learn to + rest on yours with that dignity your character, not to talk of my + own, demands." + +The business at Havre apparently could not be easily settled. The date of +Imlay's return became more and more uncertain, and Mary grew restless at +his prolonged stay. This she let him know soon enough. She was not a +silent heroine willing to let concealment prey on her spirits. It was as +impossible for her to smile at grief as it was to remain unconscious of +her lover's shortcomings. Her first complaints, however, are half +playful, half serious. They were inspired by her desire to see him more +than by any misgiving as to the cause of his detention. On the 29th of +December she wrote: + + "You seem to have taken up your abode at Havre. Pray, sir! when do + you think of coming home? or, to write very considerately, when + will business permit you? I shall expect (as the country people say + in England) that you will make a _power_ of money to indemnify me + for your absence.... + + "Well! but, my love, to the old story,--am I to see you this week, + or this month? I do not know what you are about, for as you did not + tell me, I would not ask Mr. ----, who is generally pretty + communicative." + +But the playfulness quickly disappeared. Mary was ill, and her illness +aggravated her normal sensitiveness, while the terrible death-drama of +the Revolution was calculated to deepen rather than to relieve her gloom. +A day or two later she broke out vehemently:-- + + "... I hate commerce. How differently must ----'s head and heart be + organized from mine! You will tell me that exertions are necessary. + I am weary of them! The face of things public and private vexes me. + The 'peace' and clemency which seemed to be dawning a few days ago, + disappear again. 'I am fallen,' as Milton said, 'on evil days,' for + I really believe that Europe will be in a state of convulsion + during half a century at least. Life is but a labor of patience; it + is always rolling a great stone up a hill; for before a person can + find a resting-place, imagining it is lodged, down it comes again, + and all the work is to be done over anew! + + "Should I attempt to write any more, I could not change the strain. + My head aches and my heart is heavy. The world appears an 'unweeded + garden' where things 'rank and vile' flourish best. + + "If you do not return soon,--or, which is no such weighty matter, + talk of it,--I will throw my slippers out at window, and be off, + nobody knows where." + +The next morning she added in a postscript:-- + + "I was very low-spirited last night, ready to quarrel with your + cheerful temper, which makes absence easy to you. And why should I + mince the matter? I was offended at your not even mentioning it. I + do not want to be loved like a goddess, but I wish to be necessary + to you. God bless you!" + +Imlay's answers to these letters were kind and reassuring, and contained +ample explanation of his apparent coldness. He probably, to give him the +benefit of the doubt, was at this time truthful in pleading business as +an excuse for his long absence. His reasons, at all events, not only +satisfied Mary but made her ashamed of what seemed to her a want of faith +in him. She was as humble in her penitence as if she had been grievously +at fault. One Monday night she wrote:-- + + "I have just received your kind and rational letter, and would fain + hide my face, glowing with shame for my folly. I would hide it in + your bosom, if you would again open it to me, and nestle closely + till you bade my fluttering heart be still, by saying that you + forgave me. With eyes overflowing with tears, and in the humblest + attitude, I entreat you. Do not turn from me, for indeed I love you + fondly, and have been very wretched since the night I was so + cruelly hurt by thinking that you had no confidence in me." + +As it continued impossible for Imlay to leave Havre, it was arranged that +Mary should join him there. She could not go at once on account of her +health. While she had been so unhappy, she had neglected to take that +care of herself which her condition necessitated, and she was suffering +the consequences. Once her mind was at rest, she made what amends she +could by exercise in the bracing winter air, in defiance of dirt and +intense cold, and by social relaxation, at least such as could be had +while the guillotine was executing daily tasks to the tune of _Ca ira_, +and women were madly turning in the mazes of the _Carmagnole_. Though she +could not boast of being quite recovered, she was soon able to report to +Imlay, "I am so _lightsome_, that I think it will not go badly with me." +Her health sufficiently restored, and an escort--the excited condition of +the country making one more than usually indispensable--having been +found, she began her welcome journey. It was doubly welcome. One could +breathe more freely away from Paris, the seat of the Reign of Terror, +where the Revolution, as Vergniaud said, was, Saturn-like, devouring its +own children; and for Mary the journey had likewise the positive pleasure +of giving her her heart's desire. Before Imlay's warm assurances of his +love, her uneasiness melted away as quickly as the snow at the first +breath of spring. How completely, is shown in this extract from a letter +in which she prepared him for her coming:-- + + "You have by your tenderness and worth twisted yourself more + artfully round my heart than I supposed possible. Let me indulge + the thought that I have thrown out some tendrils to cling to the + elm by which I wish to be supported. This is talking a new language + for me! But, knowing that I am not a parasite-plant, I am willing + to receive the proofs of affection that every pulse replies to when + I think of being once more in the same house with you. God bless + you!" + +She arrived in Havre in the February of 1794. About a fortnight later +Imlay left for Paris, but many proofs of his affection had greeted her, +and during these few days he had completely calmed her fears. Judging +from the letters she sent him during this absence, he must have been as +lover-like as in the first happy days of their union. One was written the +very day after his departure:-- + + HAVRE, _Thursday morning_, March 12. + + We are such creatures of habit, my love, that, though I cannot say + I was sorry, childishly so, for your going, when I knew that you + were to stay such a short time, and I had a plan of employment, yet + I could not sleep. I turned to your side of the bed, and tried to + make the most of the comfort of the pillow, which you used to tell + me I was churlish about; but all would not do. I took, + nevertheless, my walk before breakfast, though the weather was not + inviting; and here I am, wishing you a finer day, and seeing you + peep over my shoulder, as I write, with one of your kindest looks, + when your eyes glisten and a suffusion creeps over your relaxing + features. + + But I do not mean to dally with you this morning. So God bless you! + Take care of yourself, and sometimes fold to your heart your + affectionate + + MARY. + +The second note was written shortly before his return, and was a mere +postscript to a letter on business. Had she covered reams of paper with +her protestations, she could not have expressed her tender devotion more +strongly than in these few lines:-- + + Do not call me stupid for leaving on the table the little bit of + paper I was to enclose. This comes of being in love at the fag-end + of a letter of business. You know you say they will not chime + together. I had got you by the fire-side with the _gigot_ smoking + on the board, to lard your bare ribs, and behold, I closed my + letter without taking the paper up, that was directly under my + eyes! What had I got in them to render me so blind? I give you + leave to answer the question, if you will not scold; for I am + + Yours most affectionately, + MARY. + +Imlay's absence was brief, nor did he again leave Mary until the +following August. In April their child, a daughter, was born, whom Mary +called Fanny in memory of her first and dearest friend. Despite her past +imprudences, she was so well that she remained in bed but a day. Eight +days later she was out again. Though she felt no ill effects at the time, +her rashness had probably something to do with her illness when her +second child was born. These months at Havre were a pleasant oasis in +the dreary desert of her existence. To no parched, sun-weary traveller +have the cooling waters of the well and the shade of the palm-tree been +more refreshing and invigorating than domestic pleasures were to Mary. +Years before she had told Mr. Johnson they were among her most highly +cherished joys, nor did they prove less desirable when realized than they +had in anticipation. She seems to have had a house of her own in Havre, +and to have seen a little of the Havrais, whom she found "ugly without +doubt," and their houses smelling too much of commerce. They were, in a +word, _bourgeois_. But her husband and child were all the society she +wanted. With them any wilderness would have been a paradise. Her +affection increased with time, and Imlay, though discovered not to be a +demigod, grew ever dearer to her. Her love for her child, which she +confessed was at first the effect of a sense of duty, developed soon into +a deep and tender feeling. With Imlay's wants to attend to, the little +Fanny, at one time ill with small-pox, to nurse, and her book on the +Revolution to write, the weeks and months passed quickly and happily. In +August Imlay was summoned to Paris, and at once the sky of her paradise +was overcast. She wrote to him,-- + + "You too have somehow clung round my heart. I found I could not eat + my dinner in the great room, and when I took up the large knife to + carve for myself, tears rushed into my eyes. Do not, however, + suppose that I am melancholy, for, when you are from me, I not only + wonder how I can find fault with you, but how I can doubt your + affection." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +IMLAY'S DESERTION. + +1794-1795. + + +Unfortunately, as a rule, the traveller on life's journey has but as +short a time to stay in the pleasant green resting-places, as the +wanderer through the desert. In September Mary followed Imlay to Paris. +But the gates of her Eden were forever barred. Before the end of the +month he had bidden her farewell and had gone to London. Against the +fascination of money-making, her charms had little chance. His +estrangement dates from this separation. When Mary met him again, he had +forgotten love and honor, and had virtually deserted her. While her +affection became stronger, his weakened until finally it perished +altogether. + +Her confidence in him, however, was confirmed by the months spent at +Havre, and she little dreamed his departure was the prelude to their +final parting. For a time she was lighter-hearted than she had ever +before been while he was away. The memory of her late happiness reassured +her. Her little girl was an unceasing source of joy, and she never tired +of writing to Imlay about her. Her maternal tenderness overflows in her +letters:-- + + "... You will want to be told over and over again," she said in + one of them, not doubting his interest to be as great as her, "that + our little Hercules is quite recovered. + + "Besides looking at me, there are three other things which delight + her: to ride in a coach, to look at a scarlet waistcoat, and hear + loud music. Yesterday at the fete she enjoyed the two latter; but, + to honor J. J. Rousseau, I intend to give her a sash, the first she + has ever had round her...." + +In a second, she writes:-- + + "I have been playing and laughing with the little girl so long, + that I cannot take up my pen to address you without emotion. + Pressing her to my bosom, she looked so like you (_entre nous_, + your best looks, for I do not admire your commercial face), every + nerve seemed to vibrate to her touch, and I began to think that + there was something in the assertion of man and wife being one, for + you seemed to pervade my whole frame, quickening the beat of my + heart, and lending me the sympathetic tears you excited." + +And in still another, she exclaims:-- + + "My little darling is indeed a sweet child; and I am sorry that you + are not here to see her little mind unfold itself. You talk of + 'dalliance,' but certainly no lover was ever more attached to his + mistress than she is to me. Her eyes follow me everywhere, and by + affection I have the most despotic power over her. She is all + vivacity or softness. Yes; I love her more than I thought I should. + When I have been hurt at your stay, I have embraced her as my only + comfort; when pleased with her, for looking and laughing like you; + nay, I cannot, I find, long be angry with you, whilst I am kissing + her for resembling you. But there would be no end to these details. + Fold us both to your heart." + +As the devout go on pilgrimage to places once sanctified by the presence +of a departed saint, so she visited alone the haunts of the early days +of their love, living over again the incidents which had made them +sacred. "My imagination," she told him, "... chooses to ramble back to +the barrier with you, or to see you coming to meet me and my basket of +grapes. With what pleasure do I recollect your looks and words, when I +have been sitting on the window, regarding the waving corn." She begged +him to bring back his "barrier face," as she thus fondly recalled their +interviews at the barrier. She told him of a night passed at Saint +Germains in the very room which had once been theirs, and, glowing with +these recollections, she warned him, that if he should return changed in +aught, she would fly from him to cherish remembrances which must be ever +dear to her. Occasionally a little humorous pleasantry interrupted the +more tender outpourings in her letters. Just as, according to Jean Paul, +a man can only afford to ridicule his religion when his faith is firm, so +it was only when her confidence in Imlay was most secure that she could +speak lightly of her love. To the reader of her life, who can see the +snake lurking in the grass, her mirth is more tragical than her grief. On +the 26th of October, Imlay having now been absent for over a month, she +writes:-- + + "I have almost _charmed_ a judge of the tribunal, R., who, though I + should not have thought it possible, has humanity, if not _beaucoup + d'esprit_. But, let me tell you, if you do not make haste back, I + shall be half in love with the author of the _Marseillaise_, who is + a handsome man, a little too broad-faced or so, and plays sweetly + on the violin. + + "What do you say to this threat?--why, _entre nous_, I like to + give way to a sprightly vein when writing to you. 'The devil,' you + know, is proverbially said to 'be in a good humor when he is + pleased.'" + +Many of her old friends in the capital had been numbered among the +children devoured by the insatiable monster. A few, however, were still +left, and she seems to have made new ones and to have again gone into +Parisian society. The condition of affairs was more conducive to social +pleasures than it had been the year before. Robespierre was dead. There +were others besides Mary who feared "the last flap of the tail of the +beast;" but, as a rule, the people, now the reaction had come, were +over-confident, and the season was one of merry-making. There were fetes +and balls. Even mourning for the dead became the signal for rejoicing; +and gay Parisians, their arms tied with crape, danced to the memory of +the victims of the late national delirium. The Reign of Terror was over, +but so was Mary's happiness. Public order was partly restored, but her +own short-lived peace was rudely interrupted. Imlay in London became more +absorbed in his immediate affairs, a fact which he could not conceal in +his letters; and Mary realized that compared to business she was of +little or no importance to him. She expostulated earnestly with him on +the folly of allowing money cares and ambitions to preoccupy him. She +sincerely sympathized with him in his disappointments, but she could not +understand his willingness to sacrifice sentiment and affection to sordid +cares. "It appears to me absurd," she told him, "to waste life in +preparing to live." Not one of the least of her trials was that she was +at this time often forced to see a man who was Imlay's friend or partner +in Paris, and who seems to have aided and abetted him in his +speculations. He tormented her with accounts of new enterprises, and she +complained very bitterly of him. "----, I know, urges you to stay," she +wrote in one of her first letters of expostulation, "and is continually +branching out into new projects because he has the idle desire to amass a +large fortune, rather, an immense one, merely to have the credit of +having made it. But we who are governed by other motives ought not to be +led on by him; when we meet we will discuss this subject." For a little +while she tried to believe that her doubts had no substantial basis, but +were the result of her solitude. In the same letter she said:-- + + "... I will only tell you that I long to see you, and, being at + peace with you, I shall be hurt, rather than made angry, by delays. + Having suffered so much in life, do not be surprised if I + sometimes, when left to myself, grow gloomy and suppose that it was + all a dream, and that my happiness is not to last. I say happiness, + because remembrance retrenches all the dark shades of the picture." + +But by degrees the dark shades increased until they had completely +blotted out the light made by the past. Imlay's letters were fewer and +shorter, more taken up with business, and less concerned with her. Ought +she to endure his indifference, or ought she to separate from him +forever? was the question which now tortured her. She had tasted the +higher pleasures, and the present pain was intense in proportion. Her +letters became mournful as dirges. + +On the 30th of December she wrote:-- + + "Should you receive three or four of the letters at once which I + have written lately, do not think of Sir John Brute, for I do not + mean to wife you, I only take advantage of every occasion, that one + out of three of my epistles may reach your hands, and inform you + that I am not of ----'s opinion, who talks till he makes me angry + of the necessity of your staying two or three months longer. I do + not like this life of continual inquietude, and, _entre nous_, I am + determined to try to earn some money here myself, in order to + convince you that, if you choose to run about the world to get a + fortune, it is for yourself; for the little girl and I will live + without your assistance unless you are with us. I may be termed + proud; be it so, but I will never abandon certain principles of + action. + + "The common run of men have such an ignoble way of thinking that if + they debauch their hearts and prostitute their persons, following + perhaps a gust of inebriation, the wife, slave rather, whom they + maintain has no right to complain, and ought to receive the sultan + whenever he deigns to return with open arms, though his have been + polluted by half an hundred promiscuous amours during his absence. + + "I consider fidelity and constancy as two distinct things, yet the + former is necessary to give life to the other; and such a degree of + respect do I think due to myself, that if only probity, which is a + good thing in its place, brings you back, never return! for if a + wandering of the heart or even a caprice of the imagination detains + you, there is an end of all my hopes of happiness. I could not + forgive it if I would. + + "I have gotten into a melancholy mood, you perceive. You know my + opinion of men in general; you know that I think them systematic + tyrants, and that it is the rarest thing in the world to meet with + a man with sufficient delicacy of feeling to govern desire. When I + am thus sad, I lament that my little darling, fondly as I dote on + her, is a girl. I am sorry to have a tie to a world that for me is + ever sown with thorns. + + "You will call this an ill-humored letter, when, in fact, it is + the strongest proof of affection I can give to dread to lose you. + ---- has taken such pains to convince me that you must and ought to + stay, that it has inconceivably depressed my spirits. You have + always known my opinion. I have ever declared that two people who + mean to live together ought not to be long separated. If certain + things are more necessary to you than me,--search for them. Say but + one word, and you shall never hear of me more. If not, for God's + sake let us struggle with poverty--with any evil but these + continual inquietudes of business, which I have been told were to + last but a few months, though every day the end appears more + distant! This is the first letter in this strain that I have + determined to forward to you; the rest lie by because I was + unwilling to give you pain, and I should not now write if I did not + think that there would be no conclusion to the schemes which + demand, as I am told, your presence." + +Once, but only once, the light shone again. On the 15th of January she +received a kind letter from Imlay, and her anger died away. "It is +pleasant to forgive those we love," she said to him simply. But it was +followed by his usual hasty business notes or by complete silence, and +henceforward she knew hope only by name. Her old habit of seeing +everything from the dark side returned. She could not find one redeeming +point in his conduct. Despair seized her soul. Her own misery was set +against a dark background, for she looked beneath the surface of current +events. She heard not the music of the ball-room, but that of the +battle-field. She saw not the dances of the heedless, but the tears of +the motherless and the orphaned. The luxury of the upper classes might +deceive some men, but it could not deafen her to the complaints of the +poor, who were only waiting their chance to proclaim to the new +Constitution that they wanted not fine speeches, but bread. Other +discomforts contributed their share to her burden. A severe cold had +settled upon her lungs, and she imagined she was in a galloping +consumption. Her lodgings were not very convenient, but she had put up +with them, waiting day by day for Imlay's return. Weary of her life as +Job was of his, she, like him, spoke out in the bitterness of her soul. +Her letters from this time on are written from the very valley of the +shadow of death. On February 9 she wrote:-- + + "The melancholy presentiment has for some time hung on my spirits, + that we were parted forever; and the letters I received this day, + by Mr. ----, convince me that it was not without foundation. You + allude to some other letters, which I suppose have miscarried; for + most of those I have got were only a few, hasty lines calculated to + wound the tenderness that the sight of the superscriptions excited. + + "I mean not, however, to complain; yet so many feelings are + struggling for utterance, and agitating a heart almost bursting + with anguish, that I find it very difficult to write with any + degree of coherence. + + "You left me indisposed, though you have taken no notice of it; and + the most fatiguing journey I ever had contributed to continue it. + However, I recovered my health; but a neglected cold, and continual + inquietude during the last two months, have reduced me to a state + of weakness I never before experienced. Those who did not know that + the canker-worm was at work at the core cautioned me about suckling + my child too long. God preserve this poor child, and render her + happier than her mother! + + "But I am wandering from my subject; indeed, my head turns giddy, + when I think that all the confidence I have had in the affection of + others is come to this. I did not expect this blow from you. I + have done my duty to you and my child; and if I am not to have any + return of affection to reward me, I have the sad consolation of + knowing that I deserved a better fate. My soul is weary; I am sick + at heart; and but for this little darling I would cease to care + about a life which is now stripped of every charm. + + "You see how stupid I am, uttering declamation when I meant simply + to tell you that I consider your requesting me to come to you as + merely dictated by honor. Indeed, I scarcely understand you. You + request me to come, and then tell me that you have not given up all + thoughts of returning to this place. + + "When I determined to live with you, I was only governed by + affection. I would share poverty with you, but I turn with affright + from the sea of trouble on which you are entering. I have certain + principles of action; I know what I look for to found my happiness + on. It is not money. With you, I wished for sufficient to procure + the comforts of life; as it is, less will do. I can still exert + myself to obtain the necessaries of life for my child, and she does + not want more at present. I have two or three plans in my head to + earn our subsistence; for do not suppose that, neglected by you, I + will lie under obligations of a pecuniary kind to you! No; I would + sooner submit to menial service. I wanted the support of your + affection; that gone, all is over! I did not think, when I + complained of ----'s contemptible avidity to accumulate money, that + he would have dragged you into his schemes. + + "I cannot write. I enclose a fragment of a letter, written soon + after your departure, and another which tenderness made me keep + back when it was written. You will see then the sentiments of a + calmer, though not a more determined moment. Do not insult me by + saying that 'our being together is paramount to every other + consideration!' Were it, you would not be running after a bubble, + at the expense of my peace of mind. + + "Perhaps this is the last letter you will ever receive from me." + +Grief sometimes makes men strong. Mary's stimulated her into a +determination to break her connection with Imlay, and to live for her +child alone. She would remain in Paris and superintend Fanny's education. +She had already been able to look out for herself; there was no reason +why she should not do it again. Until she settled upon the means of +support to be adopted, she would borrow money from her friends. Anything +was better than to live at Imlay's expense. As for him, such a course +would probably be a relief, and certainly it would do him no harm. "As I +never concealed the nature of my connection with you," she wrote him, +"your reputation will not suffer." But her plans, for some reason, did +not meet with his approval. He was tired of her, and yet he seems to have +been ashamed to confess his inconstancy. At one moment he wrote that he +was coming to Paris; at the next he bade her meet him in London. But no +mention was made of the farm in America. The excitement of commerce +proved more alluring than the peace of country life. His shilly-shallying +unnerved Mary; positive desertion would have been easier to bear. On +February 19 she wrote him:-- + + "When I first received your letter putting off your return to an + indefinite time, I felt so hurt that I knew not what I wrote. I am + now calmer, though it was not the kind of wound over which time has + the quickest effect; on the contrary, the more I think, the sadder + I grow. Society fatigues me inexpressibly; so much so that, finding + fault with every one, I have only reason enough to discover that + the fault is in myself. My child alone interests me, and but for + her I should not take any pains to recover my health." + +The child was now the strongest bond of union between them. For her sake +she felt the necessity of continuing to live with Imlay as long as +possible, though his love was dead. Therefore, when he wrote definitely +that he would like her to come to him, since he could not leave his +business to go to her, she relinquished her intentions of remaining alone +in France with Fanny, and set out at once for London. She could hardly +have passed through Havre without feeling the bitter contrast between her +happiness of the year before, and her present hopelessness. "I sit, lost +in thought," she wrote to Imlay, "looking at the sea, and tears rush into +my eyes when I find that I am cherishing any fond expectations. I have +indeed been so unhappy this winter, I find it as difficult to acquire +fresh hopes as to regain tranquillity. Enough of this; be still, foolish +heart! But for the little girl, I could almost wish that it should cease +to beat, to be no more alive to the anguish of disappointment." The boat +upon which she sailed was run aground, and she was thus unexpectedly +detained at Havre. During this interval she touched still more closely +upon sorrow's crown of sorrow in remembering happier things, by writing +to Mr. Archibald Hamilton Rowan, who had escaped from his prison in +Ireland to France, and giving him certain necessary information about the +house she had left, and which he was about to occupy. + +She reached London in April, 1795. Her gloomiest forebodings were +confirmed. Imlay had provided a furnished house for her, and had +considered her comforts. But his manner was changed. He was cold and +constrained, and she felt the difference immediately. He was little with +her, and business was, as of old, the excuse. According to Godwin, he had +formed another connection with a young strolling actress. Life was thus +even less bright in London than it had been in Paris. If hell is but the +shadow of a soul on fire, she was now plunged into its deepest depths. +Its tortures were more than she could endure. For her there were, indeed, +worse things waiting at the gate of life than death, and she resolved by +suicide to escape from them. This part of her story is very obscure. But +it is certain that her suicidal intentions were so nearly carried into +effect, that she had written several letters containing her, as she +thought, last wishes, and which were to be opened after all was over. +There is no exact account of the manner in which she proposed to kill +herself, nor of the means by which she was prevented. "I only know," +Godwin says, "that Mr. Imlay became acquainted with her purpose at a +moment when he was uncertain whether or no it was already executed, and +that his feelings were roused by the intelligence. It was perhaps owing +to his activity and representations that her life was at this time saved. +She determined to continue to exist." + +This event sobered both Imlay and Mary. They saw the danger they were in, +and the consequent necessity of forming a definite conclusion as to the +nature of their future relations. They must either live together in +perfect confidence, or else they must separate. "My friend, my dear +friend," she wrote him, "examine yourself well,--I am out of the +question; for, alas! I am nothing,--and discover what you wish to do, +what will render you most comfortable; or, to be more explicit, whether +you desire to live with me, or part forever! When you can ascertain it, +tell me frankly, I conjure you! for, believe me, I have very +involuntarily interrupted your peace." The determination could not be +made in a hurry. In the meantime Mary knew it would be unwise to remain +idle, meditating upon her wrongs. Forgetfulness of self in active work +appeared the only possible means of living through the period of +uncertainty. Imlay had business in Norway and Sweden which demanded the +personal superintendence either of himself or of a trustworthy agent. He +gave it in charge to Mary, and at the end of May she started upon this +mission. That Imlay still looked upon her as his wife, and that his +confidence in her was unlimited, is shown by the following document in +which he authorizes her to act for him:-- + + May 19, 1795. + + Know all men by these presents that I, Gilbert Imlay, citizen of + the United States of America, at present residing in London, do + nominate, constitute, and appoint Mary Imlay, my best friend and + wife, to take the sole management and direction of all my affairs, + and business which I had placed in the hands of Mr. Elias Bachman, + negotiant, Gottenburg, or in those of Messrs. Myburg & Co., + Copenhagen, desiring that she will manage and direct such concerns + in such manner as she may deem most wise and prudent. For which + this letter shall be a sufficient power, enabling her to receive + all the money or sums of money that may be recovered from Peter + Ellison or his connections, whatever may be the issue of the trial + now carrying on, instigated by Mr. Elias Bachman, as my agent, for + the violation of the trust which I had reposed in his integrity. + + Considering the aggravated distresses, the accumulated losses and + damages sustained in consequence of the said Ellison's disobedience + of my injunctions, I desire the said Mary Imlay will clearly + ascertain the amount of such damages, taking first the advice of + persons qualified to judge of the probability of obtaining + satisfaction, or the means the said Ellison or his connections, who + may be proved to be implicated in his guilt, may have, or power of + being able to make restitution, and then commence a new prosecution + for the same accordingly.... + + Respecting the cargo of goods in the hands of Messrs. Myburg and + Co., Mrs. Imlay has only to consult the most experienced persons + engaged in the disposition of such articles, and then, placing them + at their disposal, act as she may deem right and proper.... + + Thus confiding in the talent, zeal, and earnestness of my dearly + beloved friend and companion, I submit the management of these + affairs entirely and implicitly to her discretion. + + Remaining most sincerely and affectionately hers truly, + + G. IMLAY. + + _Witness_, J. SAMUEL. + +Unfortunately for Mary, she was detained at Hull, from which town she was +to set sail, for about a month. She was thus unable immediately to still +the memory of her sorrows. It is touching to see how, now that she could +no longer doubt that Imlay was made of common clay, she began to find +excuses for him. She represented to herself that it was her misfortune to +have met him too late. Had she known him before dissipation had enslaved +him, there would have been none of this trouble. She was, furthermore, +convinced that his natural refinement was not entirely destroyed, and +that if he would but make the effort he could overcome his grosser +appetites. To this effect she wrote him from Hull:-- + + "I shall always consider it as one of the most serious misfortunes + of my life, that I did not meet you before satiety had rendered + your senses so fastidious as almost to close up every tender avenue + of sentiment and affection that leads to your sympathetic heart. + You have a heart, my friend; yet, hurried away by the impetuosity + of inferior feelings, you have sought in vulgar excesses for that + gratification which only the heart can bestow. + + "The common run of men, I know, with strong health and gross + appetites, must have variety to banish ennui, because the + imagination never lends its magic wand to convert appetite into + love, cemented by according reason. Ah! my friend, you know not the + ineffable delight, the exquisite pleasure, which arises from an + unison of affection and desire, when the whole soul and senses are + abandoned to a lively imagination, that renders every emotion + delicate and rapturous. Yes; these are emotions over which satiety + has no power, and the recollection of which even disappointment + cannot disenchant; but they do not exist without self-denial. These + emotions, more or less strong, appear to me to be the distinctive + characteristics of genius, the foundation of taste, and of that + exquisite relish for the beauties of nature, of which the common + herd of eaters and drinkers and _child-begetters_ certainly have no + idea. You will smile at an observation that has just occurred to + me: I consider those minds as the most strong and original whose + imagination acts as the stimulus to their senses. + + "Well! you will ask what is the result of all this reasoning. Why, + I cannot help thinking that it is possible for you, having great + strength of mind, to return to nature and regain a sanity of + constitution and purity of feeling which would open your heart to + me. I would fain rest there! + + "Yet, convinced more than ever of the sincerity and tenderness of + my attachment to you, the involuntary hopes which a determination + to live has revived are not sufficiently strong to dissipate the + cloud that despair has spread over futurity. I have looked at the + sea and at my child, hardly daring to own to myself the secret wish + that it might become our tomb, and that the heart, still so alive + to anguish, might there be quieted by death. At this moment ten + thousand complicated sentiments press for utterance, weigh on my + heart, and obscure my sight." + +After almost a month of inactivity, the one bright spot in it being a +visit to Beverly, the home of her childhood, she sailed for Sweden, with +Fanny and a maid as her only companions. Her "Letters from Sweden, +Norway, and Denmark," with the more personal passages omitted, were +published in a volume by themselves shortly after her return to England. +Notice of them will find a more appropriate place in another chapter. All +that is necessary here is the very portion which was then suppressed, but +which Godwin later included with the "Letters to Imlay." The northern +trip had at least this good result. It strengthened her physically. She +was so weak when she first arrived in Sweden that the day she landed she +fell fainting to the ground as she walked to her carriage. For a while +everything fatigued her. The bustle of the people around her seemed +"flat, dull, and unprofitable." The civilities by which she was +overwhelmed, and the endeavors of the people she met to amuse her, were +fatiguing. Nothing, for a while, could lighten her deadly weight of +sorrow. But by degrees, as her letters show, she improved. Pure air, long +walks, and rides on horseback, rowing and bathing, and days in the +country had their beneficial effect, and she wrote to Imlay on July 4, +"The rosy fingers of health already streak my cheeks; and I have seen a +physical life in my eyes, after I have been climbing the rocks, that +resembled the fond, credulous hopes of youth." + +But even a sound body cannot heal a broken heart. Mary could not throw +off her troubles in a day. She after a time tried to distract her mind by +entering into the amusements she had at first scorned, but it was often +in vain. "I have endeavored to fly from myself," she said in one letter, +"and launched into all the dissipation possible here, only to feel keener +anguish when alone with my child." There was a change for the better, +however, in her mental state, for though her grief was not completely +cured, she at least voluntarily sought to recover her emotional +equilibrium. Self-examination showed her where her weakness lay, and she +resolved to conquer it. With but too much truth, she told Imlay:-- + + "Love is a want of my heart. I have examined myself lately with + more care than formerly, and find that to deaden is not to calm the + mind. Aiming at tranquillity I have almost destroyed all the energy + of my soul, almost rooted out what renders it estimable. Yes, I + have damped that enthusiasm of character, which converts the + grossest materials into a fuel that imperceptibly feeds hopes which + aspire above common enjoyment. Despair, since the birth of my + child, has rendered me stupid; soul and body seemed to be fading + away before the withering touch of disappointment." + +Despite her endeavors, her spiritual recovery was slow. A cry of agony +still rang through her letters. But she had at least one pleasure that +helped to soften her cares. This was her love for her child, which, +always great, was increased by Imlay's cruelty. The tenderness which he +by his indifference repulsed, she now lavished upon Fanny. She seemed to +feel that she ought to make amends for the fact that her child was, to +all intents and purposes, fatherless. In the same letter from which the +above passage is taken, there is this little outburst of maternal +affection:-- + + "I grow more and more attached to my little girl, and I cherish + this affection with fear, because it must be a long time before it + can become bitterness of soul. She is an interesting creature. On + ship-board how often, as I gazed at the sea, have I longed to bury + my troubled bosom in the less troubled deep; asserting, with + Brutus, 'that the virtue I had followed too far was merely a name!' + and nothing but the sight of her--her playful smiles, which seemed + to cling and twine round my heart--could have stopped me." + +It so happened that at one time she was obliged to leave her child with +her nurse for about a month. Business called her to Toensberg in Norway, +and the journey would have been bad for Fanny, who was cutting her teeth. +"I felt more at leaving my child than I thought I should," she wrote to +Imlay, "and whilst at night I imagined every instant that I heard the +half-formed sounds of her voice, I asked myself how I could think of +parting with her forever, of leaving her thus helpless." Here indeed was +a stronger argument against suicide than Christianity or its +"aftershine." This absence stimulated her motherly solicitude and +heightened her sense of responsibility. In her appeals to Imlay to settle +upon his future course in her regard, she now began to dwell upon their +child as the most important reason to keep them together. On the 30th of +July she wrote from Toensberg:-- + + "I will try to write with a degree of composure. I wish for us to + live together, because I want you to acquire an habitual + tenderness for my poor girl. I cannot bear to think of leaving her + alone in the world, or that she should only be protected by your + sense of duty. Next to preserving her, my most earnest wish is not + to disturb your peace. I have nothing to expect, and little to + fear, in life. There are wounds that can never be healed; but they + may be allowed to fester in silence without wincing." + +On the 7th of August she wrote again in the same strain:-- + + "This state of suspense, my friend, is intolerable; we must + determine on something, and soon; we must meet shortly, or part + forever. I am sensible that I acted foolishly, but I was wretched + when we were together. Expecting too much, I let the pleasure I + might have caught, slip from me. I cannot live with you, I ought + not, if you form another attachment. But I promise you, mine shall + not be intruded on you. Little reason have I to expect a shadow of + happiness, after the cruel disappointments that have rent my heart; + but that of my child seems to depend on our being together. Still, + I do not wish you to sacrifice a chance of enjoyment for an + uncertain good. I feel a conviction that I can provide for her, and + it shall be my object, if we are indeed to part to meet no more. + Her affection must not be divided. She must be a comfort to me, if + I am to have no other, and only know me as her support. I feel that + I cannot endure the anguish of corresponding with you, if we are + only to correspond. No; if you seek for happiness elsewhere, my + letters shall not interrupt your repose. I will be dead to you. I + cannot express to you what pain it gives me to write about an + eternal separation. You must determine. Examine yourself. But, for + God's sake! spare me the anxiety of uncertainty! I may sink under + the trial; but I will not complain." + +He seems to have written to her regularly. At times she reproached him +for not letting her hear from him, but at others she acknowledged the +receipt of three and five letters in one morning. If these had been +preserved, hers would not seem as importunate as they do now, for he gave +her reason to suppose that he was anxious for a reunion, and wrote in a +style which she told him she may have deserved, but which she had not +expected from him. She also referred to his admission that her words +tortured him; and there was talk of a trip together to Switzerland. But +at the same time his proofs of indifference forced her to declare that +she and pleasure had shaken hands. "How often," she breaks out in her +agony, "passing through the rocks, I have thought, 'But for this child, I +would lay my head on one of them, and never open my eyes again!'" The +only particular in which he remained firm was his unwillingness to give a +final decision in what, to her, was the one all-important matter. His +vacillating behavior was heartless in the extreme. Her suspense became +unbearable, and all her letters contained entreaties for him to relieve +it. She was ready, once he said the word, to undertake to support her +child and herself. But the fiat must come from him. Had it remained +entirely with her she would have returned to him. But this she could not +do unless he would receive her as his wife and promise loyalty to her. "I +do not understand you," she wrote on the 6th of September, in answer to +one of his letters. "It is necessary for you to write more explicitly, +and determine on some mode of conduct. I cannot endure this suspense. +Decide. Do you fear to strike another blow? We live together, or +eternally apart! I shall not write to you again till I receive an answer +to this." + +Finally, after allowing her to suffer three months of acute agony, he +summoned up resolution enough to write and tell her he would abide by her +decision. Her business in the North had been satisfactorily settled, for +which she was, alas! to receive but poor thanks; and the welfare of the +child having now become the pivot of her actions, she returned to +England. From Dover she sent him a letter informing him that she was +prepared once more to make his home hers:-- + + You say I must decide for myself. I have decided that it was most + for the interest of my little girl, and for my own comfort, little + as I expect, for us to live together; and I even thought that you + would be glad some years hence, when the tumult of business was + over, to repose in the society of an affectionate friend, and mark + the progress of our interesting child, whilst endeavoring to be of + use in the circle you at last resolved to rest in, for you cannot + run about forever. + + From the tenor of your last letter, however, I am led to imagine + that you have formed some new attachment. If it be so, let me + earnestly request you to see me once more, and immediately. This is + the only proof I require of the friendship you profess for me. I + will then decide, since you boggle about a mere form. + + I am laboring to write with calmness; but the extreme anguish I + feel at landing without having any friend to receive me, and even + to be conscious that the friend whom I most wish to see will feel a + disagreeable sensation at being informed of my arrival, does not + come under the description of common misery. Every emotion yields + to an overwhelming flood of sorrow, and the playfulness of my child + distresses me. On her account I wished to remain a few days here, + comfortless as is my situation. Besides, I did not wish to surprise + you. You have told me that you would make any sacrifice to promote + my happiness--and, even in your last unkind letter, you talk of the + ties which bind you to me and my child. Tell me that you wish it, + and I will cut this Gordian knot. + + I now most earnestly entreat you to write to me, without fail, by + the return of the post. Direct your letter to be left at the + post-office, and tell me whether you will come to me here, or where + you will meet me. I can receive your letter on Wednesday morning. + + Do not keep me in suspense. I expect nothing from you, or any human + being; my die is cast! I have fortitude enough to determine to do + my duty; yet I cannot raise my depressed spirits, or calm my + trembling heart. That being who moulded it thus knows that I am + unable to tear up by the roots the propensity to affection which + has been the torment of my life,--but life will have an end! + + Should you come here (a few months ago I could not have doubted it) + you will find me at ----. If you prefer meeting me on the road, + tell me where. + + Yours affectionately, + MARY. + +The result of this letter was that Imlay and Mary tried to retie the +broken thread of their domestic relations. The latter went up to London, +and they settled together in lodgings. It would have been better for her +had she never seen him again. The fire of his love had burnt out. No +power could rekindle it. His indifference was hard to bear; but so long +as he assured her that he had formed no other attachment, she made no +complaint. For Fanny's sake she endured the new bitterness, and found +such poor comfort as she could in being with him. It was but too true +that the constancy of her affection was the torment of her life. In spite +of everything, she still loved him. Before long, however, she discovered +through her servants that he was basely deceiving her. He was keeping up +a separate establishment for a new mistress. Mary, following the impulse +of the moment, went at once to this house, where she found him. The +particulars of their interview are not known; but her wretchedness during +the night which followed maddened her. His perfidy hurt her more deeply +than his indifference. Her cup of sorrow was filled to overflowing, and +for the second time she made up her mind to fly from a world which held +nothing but misery for her. It may be concluded that for the time being +she was really mad. It will be remembered that troubles of a kindred +nature had driven Mrs. Bishop to insanity. All the Wollstonecrafts +inherited a peculiarly excitable temperament. Mary, had she not lost all +self-control, would have been deterred from suicide, as she had been from +thoughts of it in Sweden, by her love for Fanny. But her grief was so +great it drowned all memory and reason. The morning after this night of +agony she wrote to Imlay:-- + + "I write you now on my knees, imploring you to send my child and + the maid with ---- to Paris, to be consigned to the care of Madame + ----, Rue ----, Section de ----. Should they be removed, ---- can + give their direction. + + "Let the maid have all my clothes, without distinction. + + "Pray pay the cook her wages, and do not mention the confession + which I forced from her; a little sooner or later is of no + consequence. Nothing but my extreme stupidity could have rendered + me blind so long. Yet, whilst you assured me that you had no + attachment, I thought we might still have lived together. + + "I shall make no comments on your conduct or any appeal to the + world. Let my wrongs sleep with me! Soon, very soon, I shall be at + peace. When you receive this, my burning head will be cold. + + "I would encounter a thousand deaths, rather than a night like the + last. Your treatment has thrown my mind into a state of chaos; yet + I am serene. I go to find comfort; and my only fear is that my poor + body will be insulted by an endeavor to recall my hated existence. + But I shall plunge into the Thames where there is the least chance + of my being snatched from the death I seek. + + "God bless you! May you never know by experience what you have made + me endure. Should your sensibility ever awake, remorse will find + its way to your heart; and, in the midst of business and sensual + pleasures, I shall appear before you, the victim of your deviation + from rectitude." + +Then she left her house to seek refuge in the waters of the river. She +went first to Battersea Bridge, but it was too public for her purpose. +She could not risk a second frustration of her designs. There was no +place in London where she could be unobserved. With the calmness of +despair, she hired a boat and rowed to Putney. It was a cold, foggy +November day, and by the time she arrived at her destination the night +had come, and the rain fell in torrents. An idea occurred to her: if she +wet her clothes thoroughly before jumping into the river, their weight +would make her sink rapidly. She walked up and down, up and down, the +bridge in the driving rain. The fog enveloped the night in a gloom as +impenetrable as that of her heart. No one passed to interrupt her +preparations. At the end of half an hour, satisfied that her end was +accomplished, she leaped from the bridge into the water below. Despite +her soaked clothing, she did not sink at once. In her desperation she +pressed her skirts around her; then she became unconscious. She was +found, however, before it was too late. Vigorous efforts were made to +restore life, and she was brought back to consciousness. She had met with +the insult she most dreaded, and her disappointment was keen. Her failure +only increased her determination to destroy herself. This she told Imlay +in a letter written shortly after, dated November, 1795:-- + + "I have only to lament that, when the bitterness of death was past, + I was inhumanly brought back to life and misery. But a fixed + determination is not to be baffled by disappointment: nor will I + allow that to be a frantic attempt which was one of the calmest + acts of reason. In this respect I am only accountable to myself. + Did I care for what is termed reputation, it is by other + circumstances that I should be dishonored. + + "You say 'that you know not how to extricate ourselves out of the + wretchedness into which we have been plunged.' You are extricated + long since. But I forbear to comment. If I am condemned to live + longer it is a living death. + + "It appears to me that you lay much more stress on delicacy than on + principle; for I am unable to discover what sentiment of delicacy + would have been violated by your visiting a wretched friend, if + indeed you have any friendship for me. But since your new + attachment is the only sacred thing in your eyes, I am silent. Be + happy! My complaints shall never more damp your enjoyment; perhaps + I am mistaken in supposing that even my death could, for more than + a moment. This is what you call magnanimity. It is happy for + yourself that you possess this quality in the highest degree. + + "Your continually asserting that you will do all in your power to + contribute to my comfort, when you only allude to pecuniary + assistance, appears to me a flagrant breach of delicacy. I want + not such vulgar comfort, nor will I accept it. I never wanted but + your heart. That gone, you have nothing more to give. Had I only + poverty to fear, I should not shrink from life. Forgive me, then, + if I say that I shall consider any direct or indirect attempt to + supply my necessities as an insult which I have not merited, and as + rather done out of tenderness for your own reputation than for me. + Do not mistake me. I do not think that you value money; therefore I + will not accept what you do not care for, though I do much less, + because certain privations are not painful to me. When I am dead, + respect for yourself will make you take care of the child. + + "I write with difficulty; probably I shall never write to you + again. Adieu! + + "God bless you!" + +Imlay, whose departure to his other house Mary construed into abandonment +of her, made, in spite of this letter, many inquiries as to her health +and tranquillity, repeated his offers of pecuniary assistance, and, at +the request of mutual acquaintances, even went to see her. But a _show_ +of interest was not what she wanted, and her thanks for it was the +assurance that before long she would be where he would be saved the +trouble of either talking or thinking of her. Fortunately Mr. Johnson and +her other friends interfered actively in her behalf, and by their +arguments and representations prevailed upon her to relinquish the idea +of suicide. Through their kindness, the fever which consumed her was +somewhat abated. Her temporary madness over, she again remembered her +responsibility as a mother, and realized that true courage consists in +facing a foe, and not in flying from it. Of the change in her intentions +for the future she informed Imlay:-- + + LONDON, November, 1795. + + Mr. Johnson having forgot to desire you to send the things of mine + which were left at the house, I have to request you to let + Marguerite bring them to me. + + I shall go this evening to the lodging; so you need not be + restrained from coming here to transact your business. And whatever + I may think and feel, you need not fear that I shall publicly + complain. No! If I have any criterion to judge of right and wrong, + I have been most ungenerously treated; but wishing now only to hide + myself, I shall be silent as the grave in which I long to forget + myself. I shall protect and provide for my child. I only mean by + this to say that you have nothing to fear from my desperation. + + Farewell. + +Godwin makes the incredible statement that Imlay refusing to break off +his new connection, though he declared it to be of a temporary nature, +Mary proposed that she should live in the same house with his mistress. +In this way he would not be separated from his child, and she would +quietly wait the end of his intrigue. Imlay, according to Godwin, +consented to her suggestion, but afterwards thought better of it and +refused. There is not a word in her letters to confirm this extraordinary +story. It is simply impossible that at one moment she should have been +driven to suicide by the knowledge that he had a mistress, and that at +the next she should take a step which was equivalent to countenancing his +conduct. It is more rational to conclude that Godwin was misinformed, +than to believe this. + +Towards the end of November Imlay went to Paris with the woman for whom +he had sacrificed wife and child. Mary felt that the end had now really +come, as is seen in the few letters which still remain. Once the first +bitterness of her disappointment had been mastered, the old tenderness +revived, and she renewed her excuses for him. "My affection for you is +rooted in my heart," she wrote fondly and sadly. "I know you are not what +you now seem, nor will you always act and feel as you now do, though I +may never be comforted by the change." And in another letter she said, +"Resentment and even anger are momentary emotions with me, and I wish to +tell you so, that if you ever think of me, it may not be in the light of +an enemy." Writing to him, however, was more than she could bear. Each +letter reopened the wound he had inflicted, and inspired her with a wild +desire to see him. She therefore wisely concluded that all correspondence +between them must cease. In December, 1795, while he was still in Paris, +she bade him her last farewell, though in so doing she was, as she says, +piercing her own heart. She refused to hold further communication with +him or to receive his money, but she told him she would not interfere in +anything he might wish to do for Fanny. Here it may be said that, though +Imlay declared that a certain sum should be settled upon the latter, not +a cent of it was ever paid. This is Mary's last letter to him:-- + + LONDON, December, 1795. + + You must do as you please with respect to the child. I could wish + that it might be done soon, that my name may be no more mentioned + to you. It is now finished. Convinced that you have neither regard + nor friendship, I disdain to utter a reproach, though I have had + reason to think that the "forbearance" talked of has not been very + delicate. It is, however, of no consequence. I am glad you are + satisfied with your own conduct. + + I now solemnly assure you that this is an eternal farewell. Yet I + flinch not from the duties which tie me to life. + + That there is "sophistry," on one side or other, is certain; but + now it matters not on which. On my part it has not been a question + of words. Yet your understanding or mine must be strangely warped, + for what you term "delicacy" appears to me to be exactly the + contrary. I have no criterion for morality, and have thought in + vain, if the sensations which lead you to follow an ankle or step + be the sacred foundation of principle and affection. Mine has been + of a very different nature, or it would not have stood the brunt of + your sarcasms. + + The sentiment in me is still sacred. If there be any part of me + that will survive the sense of my misfortunes, it is the purity of + my affections. The impetuosity of your senses may have led you to + term mere animal desire the source of principle; and it may give + zest to some years to come. Whether you will always think so, I + shall never know. + + It is strange that, in spite of all you do, something like + conviction forces me to believe that you are not what you appear to + be. + + I part with you in peace. + +She saw him once or twice afterwards. When he came to London again, +Godwin says that "she could not restrain herself from making another +effort, and desiring to see him once more. During his absence, affection +had led her to make numberless excuses for his conduct, and she probably +wished to believe that his present connection was, as he represented it, +purely of a casual nature. To this application she observes that he +returned no other answer, except declaring, with unjustifiable passion, +that he would not see her." + +They did meet, however, but their meeting was accidental. Imlay was one +day paying a visit to Mr. Christie, who had returned to London, and with +whom he had business relations. He was sitting in the parlor, when Mary +called. Mrs. Christie, hearing her voice, and probably fearing an +embarrassing scene, hurried out to warn her of his presence, and to +advise her not to come in the room. But Mary, not heeding her, entered +fearlessly, and, with Fanny by the hand, went up and spoke to Imlay. They +retired, it seems, to another room, and he then promised to see her +again, and indeed to dine with her at her lodgings on the following day. +He kept his promise, and there was a second interview, but it did not +lead to a reconciliation. The very next day she went into Berkshire, +where she spent the month of March with her friend, Mrs. Cotton. She +never again made the slightest attempt to see him or to hear from him. +There was a limit even to her affection and forbearance. One day, after +her return to town, she was walking along the New Road when Imlay passed +her on horseback. He jumped off his horse and walked with her for some +little distance. This was the last time they met. From that moment he +passed completely out of her life. + +And so ends the saddest of all sad love stories. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LITERARY WORK. + +1793-1796. + + +The first volume of "An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and +Progress of the French Revolution, and the Effect it has produced in +Europe," which Mary wrote during the months she lived in France, was +published by Johnson in 1794. It was favorably received and criticised, +especially by that portion of the public who had sympathized with the +Revolutionists in the controversy with Burke. One admirer, in 1803, +declared it was not second even to Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the +Roman Empire." It went very quickly through two editions, surest proof of +its success. The "Analytical Review" called it + + "... a work of uncommon merit, abounding with strong traits of + original genius, and containing a great variety of just and + important observations on the recent affairs of France and on the + general interests of society at the present crisis." + +Mary had apparently spent in idleness the years which had elapsed since +the "Rights of Women" had taken England by storm. But in reality she must +have made good use of them. This new book marks an enormous advance in +her mental development. It is but little disfigured by the faults of +style, and is never weakened by the lack of method, which detract from +the strength and power of the work by which she is best known. In the +"French Revolution" her arguments are well weighed and balanced, and +flowers of rhetoric, with a few exceptions, are sacrificed for a simple +and concise statement of facts. Unfortunately the first volume was never +followed by a second. Had Mary finished the book, as she certainly +intended to do when she began it, it probably would still be ranked with +the standard works on the Revolution. + +As the title demonstrates, her object in writing this history was to +explain the moral significance, as well as the historical value, of the +incidents which she recorded. This moral element is uppermost in every +page of her book. The determination to discover the truth at all hazards +is its key-note. This end Mary hoped to accomplish, first by tracing the +French troubles to their real causes, and then by giving an unprejudiced +account of them. The result of a thorough study and investigation of her +subject was the formation of doctrines which are in close sympathy with +those of the evolutionists of to-day. Nothing strikes the reader so much +as her firm belief in the theory of development, and her conclusion +therefrom that progress in government consists in the gradual +substitution of altruistic principles for the egotism which was the +primal foundation of law and order. Profession of this creed is at once +made in both the preface and first chapter of the "French Revolution." In +the former, she writes:-- + + "By ... attending to circumstances, we shall be able to discern + clearly that the Revolution was neither produced by the abilities + or the intrigues of a few individuals, nor was the effect of sudden + and short-lived enthusiasm; but the natural consequence of + intellectual improvement, gradually proceeding to perfection in the + advancement of communities from a state of barbarism to that of + polished society." + +In considering this subject, she concludes that the civilization of the +ancients was deficient because it paid more attention to the cultivation +of taste in the few than to the development of understanding in the many, +and that that of the moderns is superior to it because of the more +general diffusion of knowledge which followed the invention of printing. +Her arguments in support of her theories are excellent. + + "When," she writes, "learning was confined to a small number of the + citizens of a state, and the investigation of its privileges was + left to a number still smaller, governments seem to have acted as + if the people were formed only for them; and ingeniously + confounding their rights with metaphysical jargon, the luxurious + grandeur of individuals has been supported by the misery of the + bulk of their fellow-creatures, and ambition gorged by the butchery + of millions of innocent victims." + +This despotism, she further asserts, always continues so long as men are +unqualified to judge with precision of their civil and political rights. +But once they begin to think, and hence to learn the true facts of +history, they must discover that the first social systems were founded on +passion,--"individuals wishing to fence round their own wealth or power, +and make slaves of their brothers to prevent encroachment,"--and that the +laws of society could not have been originally "adjusted so as to take in +the future conduct of its members, because the faculties of man are +unfolded and perfected by the improvements made by society." This +knowledge necessarily destroys belief in the sanctity of prescription, +and when once it is made the basis of government, the ruling powers will +have as much consideration for the rights of others as for their own. + + "When society was first subjugated to laws," she writes, "probably + by the ambition of some, and the desire of safety in all, it was + natural for men to be selfish, because they were ignorant how + intimately their own comfort was connected with that of others; and + it was also very natural that humanity, rather the effect of + feeling than of reason, should have a very limited range. But when + men once see clear as the light of heaven--and I hail the glorious + day from afar!--that on the general happiness depends their own, + reason will give strength to the fluttering wings of passion, and + men will 'do unto others what they wish they should do unto them.'" + +One of the first means, therefore, by which this much-to-be-desired end +is to be attained, is the destruction of blind reverence of the past. + +With uncompromising honesty, she says:-- + + "We must get entirely clear of all the notions drawn from the wild + traditions of original sin: the eating of the apple, the theft of + Prometheus, the opening of Pandora's box, and the other fables too + tedious to enumerate, on which priests have erected their + tremendous structures of imposition to persuade us that we are + naturally inclined to evil. We shall then leave room for the + expansion of the human heart, and, I trust, find that men will + insensibly render each other happier as they grow wiser." + +After a brief analysis of the laws of progress in general, Mary proceeds +to their special application in the case of France. The illumination of +the French people she believes was hastened by the efforts of such men, +on the one hand, as Rousseau and Voltaire, who warred against +superstition, and on the other, as Quesnay and Turgot, who opposed unjust +taxation. It was through them that the nation awoke to a consciousness of +its wrongs, and saw for the first time, in the clear light of truth, the +inveterate pride of the nobles, the rapacity of the clergy, and the +prodigality of the court. The farmer then realized to the full the +injustice of a government which could calmly allow taxes and feudal +claims to swallow all but the twentieth part of the profit of his labor. +Citizens discovered the iniquity of laws which gave so little security to +their lives and property, that these could be sported with impunity by +the aristocracy. In a word, the people found that without a pretext of +justice, they were forced to be hewers of wood and drawers of water for a +chosen few. Once enlightened they rebelled against the nobles who treated +them as beasts of burden and trod them under foot with the mud; and they +boldly demanded their rights as human beings and as citizens. + +Having thus given the _raison d'etre_ of the great French crisis, she +describes with striking energy the events which ensued. She makes +manifest the folly and blindness of the court, the shortcomings and vile +intrigues of ministers, the duplicity and despotism of the parliaments, +which prevented the petitions and demands of the people from receiving +the attention and consideration which alone could have satisfied them. +That there were evils in the French government, not even its friends +could deny. The recognition of them necessitated their being done away +with. There were but two methods by which this could be accomplished: +they must either be reformed or destroyed. The government refused to +accept the first course; the people resolved to adopt the second. Mary's +treatment of this question is interesting. The following passage contains +her chief arguments upon the subject, and the conclusion she drew from +them, so very different from the result of Burke's reasoning on the same +point in the "Reflections." This passage is an excellent specimen of the +style in which the book is written. The hasty measures of the French, she +says, being worthy of philosophical investigation, fall into two distinct +inquiries:-- + + "First, if from the progress of reason we be authorized to infer + that all governments will be meliorated, and the happiness of man + placed on the solid basis gradually prepared by the improvement of + political science; if the degrading distinctions of rank, born in + barbarism and nourished by chivalry, be really becoming in the + estimation of all sensible people so contemptible, that a modest + man, in the course of fifty years, would probably blush at being + thus distinguished; if the complexion of manners in Europe be + completely changed from what it was half a century ago, and the + liberty of its citizens tolerably secured; if every day extending + freedom be more firmly established in consequence of the general + dissemination of truth and knowledge,--it then seems injudicious + for statesmen to force the adoption of any opinion, by aiming at + the speedy destruction of obstinate prejudices; because these + premature reforms, instead of promoting, destroy the comfort of + those unfortunate beings who are under their dominion, affording at + the same time to despotism the strongest arguments to urge in + opposition to the theory of reason. Besides, the objects intended + to be forwarded are probably retarded, whilst the tumult of + internal commotion and civil discord leads to the most dreadful + consequence,--the immolating of human victims. + + "But, secondly, it is necessary to observe, that, if the degeneracy + of the higher orders of society be such that no remedy less fraught + with horror can effect a radical cure; and if, enjoying the fruits + of usurpation, they domineer over the weak, and check, by all the + means in their power, every humane effort to draw man out of the + state of degradation into which the inequality of fortune has sunk + him; the people are justified in having recourse to coercion to + repel coercion. And, further, if it can be ascertained that the + silent sufferings of the citizens of the world are greater, though + less obvious, than the calamities produced by such violent + convulsions as have happened in France, which, like hurricanes + whirling over the face of nature, strip off all its blooming + graces, it may be politically just to pursue such measures as were + taken by that regenerating country, and at once root out those + deleterious plants which poison the better half of human + happiness." + +Among the most remarkable passages in the book are those relating to +Marie Antoinette. As was the case when she wrote her answer to Burke, the +misery of millions unjustly subjected moved Mary more than the woes of +one woman justly deprived of an ill-used liberty. Her love and sympathy +for the people made her perhaps a little too harsh in her judgment of the +queen. "Some hard words, some very strong epithets, are indeed used of +Marie Antoinette," Mr. Kegan Paul says in his short but appreciative +criticism of this book, "showing that she, who could in those matters +know nothing personally, could not but depend on Paris gossip; but this +is interesting, as showing what the view taken of the queen was before +passion rose to its highest, before the fury of the people, with all the +ferocity of word and deed attendant on great popular movements, had +broken out." The following lines, therefore, reflecting the feelings and +opinions of the day, must be read with as much, if not more interest than +those of later and better-informed historians:-- + + "The unfortunate Queen of France, beside the advantages of birth + and station, possessed a very fine person; and her lovely face, + sparkling with vivacity, hid the want of intelligence. Her + complexion was dazzlingly clear; and when she was pleased, her + manners were bewitching; for she happily mingled the most + insinuating voluptuous softness and affability with an air of + grandeur bordering on pride, that rendered the contrast more + striking. Independence also, of whatever kind, always gives a + degree of dignity to the mien; so that monarchs and nobles with + most ignoble souls, from believing themselves superior to others, + have actually acquired a look of superiority. + + "But her opening faculties were poisoned in the bud; for before she + came to Paris she had already been prepared, by a corrupt, supple + abbe, for the part she was to play; and, young as she was, became + so firmly attached to the aggrandizement of her house, that, though + plunged deep in pleasure, she never omitted sending immense sums to + her brother on every occasion. The person of the king, in itself + very disgusting, was rendered more so by gluttony, and a total + disregard of delicacy, and even decency, in his apartments; and + when jealous of the queen, for whom he had a kind of devouring + passion, he treated her with great brutality, till she acquired + sufficient finesse to subjugate him. Is it then surprising that a + very desirable woman, with a sanguine constitution, should shrink, + abhorrent, from his embraces; or that an empty mind should be + employed only to vary the pleasures which emasculated her Circean + court? And, added to this, the histories of the Julias and + Messalinas of antiquity convincingly prove that there is no end to + the vagaries of the imagination, when power is unlimited, and + reputation set at defiance. + + "Lost, then, in the most luxurious pleasures, or managing court + intrigues, the queen became a profound dissembler; and her heart + was hardened by sensual enjoyments to such a degree that, when her + family and favorites stood on the brink of ruin, her little portion + of mind was employed only to preserve herself from danger. As a + proof of the justness of this assertion, it is only necessary to + observe that, in the general wreck, not a scrap of her writing has + been found to criminate her; neither has she suffered a word to + escape her to exasperate the people, even when burning with rage + and contempt. The effect that adversity may have on her choked + understanding, time will show [this was written some months before + the death of the queen]; but, during her prosperity, the moments of + languor that glide into the interstices of enjoyment were passed in + the most childish manner, without the appearance of any vigor of + mind to palliate the wanderings of the imagination. Still, she was + a woman of uncommon address; and though her conversation was + insipid, her compliments were so artfully adapted to flatter the + person she wished to please or dupe, and so eloquent is the beauty + of a queen, in the eyes even of superior men, that she seldom + failed to carry her point when she endeavored to gain an ascendency + over the mind of an individual. Over that of the king she acquired + unbounded sway, when, managing the disgust she had for his person, + she made him pay a kingly price for her favors. A court is the best + school in the world for actors; it was very natural then for her to + become a complete actress, and an adept in all the arts of coquetry + that debauch the mind, whilst they render the person alluring." + +Mary's inflexible hatred of the cruelty of the court and the nobility, +which had led to the present horrors, though great, did not prevent her +from seeing the tyranny and brutality in which the people indulged so +soon as they obtained the mastery. Her treatment of the facts of the +Revolution is characterized by honesty. She is above all else an +impartial historian and philosopher. She distinguishes, it is true, +between the well-meaning multitude--those who took the Bastille, for +example--and the rabble composed of the dregs of society,--those who +headed the march to Versailles. She declares, "There has been seen +amongst the French a spurious race of men, a set of cannibals, who have +gloried in their crimes; and, tearing out the hearts that did not feel +for them, have proved that they themselves had iron bowels." But while +she makes this distinction, she does not hesitate to admit that the +retaliation of the French people, suddenly all become sovereigns, was as +terrible as that of slaves unexpectedly loosed from their fetters. It is +but fair, after quoting her denunciations of Marie Antoinette, to show +how far the new rule was from receiving her unqualified approbation. +Describing the silence and ruin which have succeeded the old-time gayety +and grandeur of Versailles, she exclaims:-- + + "Weeping, scarcely conscious that I weep, O France! over the + vestiges of thy former oppression, which, separating man from man + with a fence of iron, sophisticated all, and made many completely + wretched, I tremble, lest I should meet some unfortunate being, + fleeing from the despotism of licentious freedom, hearing the snap + of the _guillotine_ at his heels, merely because he was once noble, + or has afforded an asylum to those whose only crime is their name; + and, if my pen almost bound with eagerness to record the day that + levelled the Bastille with the dust, making the towers of despair + tremble to their base, the recollection that still the abbey is + appropriated to hold the victims of revenge and suspicion palsies + the hand that would fain do justice to the assault, which tumbled + into heaps of ruins, walls that seemed to mock the resistless force + of time. Down fell the temple of despotism; but--despotism has not + been buried in its ruins! Unhappy country! when will thy children + cease to tear thy bosom? When will a change of opinion, producing a + change of morals, render thee truly free? When will truth give life + to real magnanimity, and justice place equality on a stable seat? + When will thy sons trust, because they deserve to be trusted; and + private virtue become the guarantee of patriotism? Ah! when will + thy government become the most perfect, because thy citizens are + the most virtuous?" + +The same impartiality is preserved in the relation of even the most +exciting and easily misconceived incidents of the Revolution. The +courageous and resolute resistance of the Third Estate to the clergy and +nobility is described with dignified praise which never descends into +fulsome flattery. The ignorance, vanity, jealousy, disingenuousness, +self-sufficiency, and interested motives of members of the National +Assembly are unhesitatingly exposed in recording such of their actions +as, examined superficially, might seem the outcome of a love of freedom. +In giving the details of the taking of the Bastille, and the women's +march on Versailles, Mary becomes really eloquent. Mr. Kegan Paul's +opinion may be here advantageously cited. "Her accounts of the Bastille +siege and of the Versailles episode," he says, "are worth reading beside +those of the master to whose style they are so great a contrast. Carlyle +has seized on the comic element in the march to Versailles, Mary +Wollstonecraft on the tragic; and hers seems to me the worthier view." + +Many of the remarks upon civilization and the influence of the +cultivation of science on the understanding, with which the book is +interspersed, are full of wisdom and indicative of deep thought and +careful research. Hers was, to use with but slight change the words with +which she concludes, the philosophical eye, which, looking into the +nature and weighing the consequence of human actions, is able to discern +the cause which has produced so many dreadful effects. + +Notwithstanding its excellence and the reputation it once had, this work +is now almost unknown. But few have ever heard of it, still fewer read +it; a fact due, of course, to its incompleteness. The first and only +volume ends with the departure of Louis from Versailles to Paris, when +the Revolution was as yet in its earliest stages. This must ever be a +matter of regret. That succeeding volumes, had she written them, would +have been even better is very probable. There was marked development in +her intellectual powers after she published the "Rights of Women." The +increased merit of her later works somewhat confirms Southey's +declaration, made three years after her death, that "Mary Wollstonecraft +was but beginning to reason when she died." + +The last book she finished and published during her life-time was her +"Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and +Denmark." Her journey, as has been explained in the last chapter, was +undertaken to attend to certain business affairs for Imlay. Landing in +Sweden, she went from there to Norway, then again to Sweden, and finally +to Denmark and Hamburg, in which latter places she remained a +comparatively short period. Not being free to go and come as she chose, +she was sometimes detained in small places for two or three weeks, while +she could stay but a day or two in large cities. But she had letters of +introduction to many of the principal inhabitants of the towns and +villages to which business called her, and was thus able to see something +of the life of the better classes. The then rough mode of travelling also +brought her into close contact with the peasantry. As the ground over +which she travelled was then but little visited by English people, she +knew that her letters would have at least the charm of novelty. + +They were published by her friend Johnson in 1796. Hitherto, her work had +been purely of a philosophical, historical, or educational nature. The +familiar epistolary style in which she had begun to record her +observations of the French people had been quickly changed for the more +formal tone of the "French Revolution." These travels, consequently, +marked an entirely new departure in her literary career. Their success +was at once assured. Even the fastidious Godwin, who had condemned her +other books, could find no fault with this one. Contemporary critics +agreed in sharing his good opinion. + +"Have you ever met with Mary Wollstonecraft's 'Letters from Sweden and +Norway'?" Southey asked in a letter to Thomas Southey. "She has made me +in love with a cold climate and frost and snow, with a northern +moonlight." The impression they produced was lasting. When, several years +later, he wrote an "Epistle" to A. S. Cottle to be published in the +latter's volume of "Icelandic Poetry," he again alluded to them. In +referring to the places described in northern poems he declared,-- + + "... Scenes like these + Have almost lived before me, when I gazed + Upon their fair resemblance traced by him + Who sung the banished man of Ardebeil, + Or to the eye of Fancy held by her, + Who among Women left no equal mind + When from the world she passed; and I could weep + To think that _She_ is to the grave gone down!" + +The "Annual Register" for 1796 honored the "Letters" by publishing in its +columns a long extract from them containing a description of the +Norwegian character. The "Monthly Magazine" for July of the same year +concluded that the book, "though not written with studied elegance, +interests the reader in an uncommon degree by a philosophical turn of +thought, by bold sketches of nature and manners, and above all by strong +expressions of delicate sensibility." The verdict of the "Analytical +Review" was as follows:-- + + "A vigorous and cultivated intellect easily accommodates itself to + new occupations. The notion that individual genius can only excel + in one thing is a vulgar error. A mind endued by nature with strong + powers and quick sensibility, and by culture furnished in an + uncommon degree with habits of attention and reflection, wherever + it is placed will find itself employment, and whatever it + undertakes will execute it well. After the repeated proofs which + the ingenious and justly admired writer of these letters has given + the public, that her talents are far above the ordinary level, it + will not be thought surprising that she could excel in different + kinds of writing; that the qualifications which have enabled her to + instruct young people by moral lessons and tales, and to furnish + the philosopher with original and important speculations, should + also empower her to entertain and interest the public in a manner + peculiarly her own by writing a book of travels. + + "We have no hesitation in assuring our readers that Mrs. + Wollstonecraft has done this in the present volume." + +The qualities most desirable in a writer of travels are quickness of +perception, active interest in the places and people described, +appreciation of local color, a nice sense of discrimination, and a +pleasant, simple style. It is true that occasionally affected and +involved phrases occur in Mary's letters from the North, and that the +tone of many passages is a trifle too sombre. But the former defects are +much less glaring and fewer in number than those of her earlier writings; +while, when it is remembered that during her journey her heart was +heavy-laden with disappointment and despair, her melancholy reflections +must be forgiven her. With the exception of these really trifling +shortcomings, she may be said to have ably fulfilled the required +conditions. It may be asserted of her, in almost the identical words +which Heine uses in praise of Goethe's "Italian Journey," that she, +during her travels, saw all things, the dark and the light, colored +nothing with her individual feelings, and pictured the land and its +people in the true outlines and true colors in which God clothed it. + +Determined to avoid the mistake common to most travellers, of speaking +from feeling rather than from reason, she shows her readers the virtues +and faults of the people among whom she travelled, without overestimating +the former or exaggerating the latter. She found Swedes and Norwegians +unaffected and hospitable, but sensual and indolent. Both good and evil +she attributes to the influence of climate and to the comparatively low +stage of culture attained in these northern countries. The long winter +nights, she explains in her letters, have made the people sluggish. Their +want of interest in politics, literature, and scientific pursuits have +concentrated their attention upon the pleasures of the senses. They are +hospitable because of the excitement and social amusements hospitality +insures. They care for the flesh-pots of Egypt because they have not yet +heard of the joys of the Promised Land. The women of the upper classes +are so indolent that they exercise neither mind nor body; consequently +the former has but a narrow range, the latter soon loses all beauty. The +men seek no relaxation from their business occupations save in +Brobdingnagian dinners and suppers. If they are godly, they are never +cleanly, cleanliness requiring an effort of which they are incapable. +Indolence and indifference to culture throughout Sweden and Norway are +the chief characteristics of the natives. + +To Mary the coarseness of the people seemed the more unbearable because +of the wonderful beauty of their country as she saw it in midsummer. She +could not understand their continued indifference to its loveliness. Her +own keen enjoyment of it shows itself in all her letters. She constantly +pauses in relating her experiences to dwell upon the grandeur of cliffs +and sea, upon the impressive wildness of certain districts, full of great +pine-covered mountains and endless fir woods, contrasting with others +more gentle and fertile, which are covered with broad fields of corn and +rye. She loves to describe the long still summer nights and the gray +dawn when the birds begin to sing, the sweet scents of the forest, and +the soft freshness of the western breeze. The smallest details of the +living picture do not escape her notice. She records the musical tinkling +of distant cow-bells and the mournful cry of the bittern. She even tells +how she sometimes, when she is out in her boat, lays down her oars that +she may examine the purple masses of jelly-fish floating in the water. +Truly, her ways were not as those of the Philistines around her. + +The following extract from a letter written from Gothenburg gives a good +idea of the impression made upon her by the moral ugliness and natural +beauty which she met wherever she went. The passage is characteristic, +since its themes are the two to which she most frequently recurs:-- + + "... Every day, before dinner and supper, even whilst the dishes + are cooling on the table, men and women repair to a side-table, + and, to obtain an appetite, eat bread and butter, cheese, raw + salmon or anchovies, drinking a glass of brandy. Salt fish or meat + then immediately follows, to give a further whet to the stomach. As + the dinner advances,--pardon me for taking up a few minutes to + describe what, alas! has detained me two or three hours on the + stretch, observing,--dish after dish is changed, in endless + rotation, and handed round with solemn pace to each guest; but + should you happen not to like the first dishes, which was often my + case, it is a gross breach of politeness to ask for part of any + other till its turn comes. But have patience, and there will be + eating enough. Allow me to run over the acts of a visiting day, not + overlooking the interludes. + + "Prelude, a luncheon; then a succession of fish, flesh, and fowl + for two hours; during which time the dessert--I was sorry for the + strawberries and cream--rests on the table to be impregnated by the + fumes of the viands. Coffee immediately follows in the + drawing-room, but does not preclude punch, ale, tea and cakes, raw + salmon, etc. A supper brings up the rear, not forgetting the + introductory luncheon, almost equalling in removes the dinner. A + day of this kind you would imagine sufficient--but a to-morrow and + a to-morrow. A never-ending, still-beginning feast may be bearable, + perhaps, when stern Winter frowns, shaking with chilling aspect his + hoary locks; but during a summer sweet as fleeting, let me, my kind + strangers, escape sometimes into your fir groves, wander on the + margin of your beautiful lakes, or climb your rocks to view still + others in endless perspective; which, piled by more than giant's + hand, scale the heavens to intercept its rays, or to receive the + parting tinge of lingering day,--day that, scarcely softened into + twilight, allows the freshening breeze to wake, and the moon to + burst forth in all her glory to glide with solemn elegance through + the azure expanse. + + "The cow's bell has ceased to tinkle the herd to rest; they have all + paced across the heath. Is not this the witching time of night? The + waters murmur, and fall with more than mortal music, and spirits of + peace walk abroad to calm the agitated breast. Eternity is in these + moments; worldly cares melt into the airy stuff that dreams are made + of; and reveries, mild and enchanting as the first hopes of love, or + the recollection of lost enjoyment, carry the hapless wight into + futurity, who, in bustling life, has vainly strove to throw off the + grief which lies heavy at the heart. Good-night! A crescent hangs + out in the vault before, which wooes me to stray abroad: it is not a + silvery reflection of the sun, but glows with all its golden + splendor. Who fears the falling dew? It only makes the mown grass + smell more fragrant." + +As might be expected, judging from Mary's natural benevolence, the +poverty and misery she saw during her journey awakened feelings of deep +compassion. She describes in tones of pity the wretched condition of the +lower classes in Sweden. Servants, she writes, are no better than slaves. +They are beaten and maltreated by their masters, and are paid so little +that they cannot afford to wear sufficient clothing or to eat decent +food. Laborers live in huts wretched beyond belief, and herd together +like animals. They have so accustomed themselves to a stifling +atmosphere, that fresh air is never let into their houses even in summer, +and the mere idea of cleanliness is beyond their comprehension. Indolence +is their failing as well as that of their superiors in rank. Many in +their brutishness refuse to exert themselves save to find the food +absolutely necessary to support life, and are too sluggish to be curious. +It is pleasant to know that they have at least one good quality, in the +exercise of which they surpass the rich. This is politeness, the national +virtue. Mary observes:-- + + "The Swedes pique themselves on their politeness; but far from + being the polish of a cultivated mind, it consists merely of + tiresome forms and ceremonies. So far indeed from entering + immediately into your character, and making you feel instantly at + your ease, like the well-bred French, their over-acted civility is + a continual restraint on all your actions. The sort of superiority + which a fortune gives when there is no superiority of education, + excepting what consists in the observance of senseless forms, has a + contrary effect than what is intended; so that I could not help + reckoning the peasantry the politest people of Sweden, who, only + aiming at pleasing you, never think of being admired for their + behavior." + +Mary found the condition of the Norwegians somewhat better. The lower +classes were freer, more industrious, and more opulent. She describes +their inns as comfortable, whereas those of the Swedes had not been even +inhabitable. The upper classes, though, like the Swedes, over-fond of the +pleasures of the table, narrow in their range of ideas, and wholly +without imagination, at least gave some signs of better days in their +dawning interest in culture. She writes:-- + + "The Norwegians appear to me a sensible, shrewd people, with little + scientific knowledge, and still less taste for literature; but they + are arriving at the epoch which precedes the introduction of the + arts and sciences. + + "Most of the towns are seaports, and seaports are not favorable to + improvement. The captains acquire a little superficial knowledge by + travelling, which their indefatigable attention to the making of + money prevents their digesting; and the fortune that they thus + laboriously acquire is spent, as it usually is in towns of this + description, in show and good living. They love their country, but + have not much public spirit. Their exertions are, generally + speaking, only for their families; which I conceive will always be + the case, till politics, becoming a subject of discussion, enlarges + the heart by opening the understanding. The French Revolution will + have this effect. They sing at present, with great glee, many + republican songs, and seem earnestly to wish that the republic may + stand; yet they appear very much attached to their prince royal; + and, as far as rumor can give an idea of character, he appears to + merit their attachment." + +She remained in Copenhagen and Hamburg but a short time. Imlay's +unkindness and indecision had, by the time she reached Holland, so +increased her melancholy that the good effect of the bracing northern air +was partially destroyed. She lost her interest in the novelty of her +surroundings, and as she says in one of her last letters, stayed much at +home. But her perceptive faculties were not wholly deadened. She notes +with her usual precision the indolence and dulness of the Danes, and the +unwavering devotion of the Hamburgers to commerce, and describes the +towns of Hamburg and Copenhagen with graphic force. These descriptions +are well worth reading. + +It was always impossible for Mary not to reflect and moralize upon what +passed around her. She not only wanted to examine and record phenomena +and events, but to discover a reason for their existence. She invariably +sought for the primal causes and the final results of the facts in which +she was interested. The civilization of the northern countries through +which she travelled, so different from the culture of England and France, +gave her ample food for thought. The reflections it aroused found their +way into her letters. Some of them are really remarkable, as for example, +the following:-- + + "Arriving at Sleswick, the residence of Prince Charles of + Hesse-Cassel, the sight of the soldiers recalled all the unpleasing + ideas of German despotism, which imperceptibly vanished as I + advanced into the country. I viewed, with a mixture of pity and + horror, these beings training to be sold to slaughter, or be + slaughtered, and fell into reflections on an old opinion of mine, + that it is the preservation of the species, not of individuals, + which appears to be the design of the Deity throughout the whole of + nature. Blossoms come forth only to be blighted; fish lay their + spawn where it will be devoured; and what a large portion of the + human race are born merely to be swept prematurely away! Does not + this waste of budding life emphatically assert, that it is not men, + but man, whose preservation is so necessary to the completion of + the grand plan of the universe? Children peep into existence, + suffer, and die; men play like moths about a candle, and sink into + the flame; war and the 'thousand ills which flesh is heir to' mow + them down in shoals, whilst the more cruel prejudices of society + palsy existence, introducing not less sure, though slower decay." + +Had Mary Wollstonecraft lived in the present time, she too would have +written hymns to Man. This is another of the many strange instances in +her writings of the resemblance between theories which she evolved for +herself and those of modern philosophers. She lived a century too soon. + +The "Letters" were published in the same year, 1796, in Wilmington, +Delaware. A few years later, extracts from them, translated into +Portuguese, together with a brief sketch of their author, were published +in Lisbon, while a German edition appeared in Hamburg and Altona. The +book is now not so well known as it deserves to be. Mary's descriptions +of the physical characteristics of Norway and Sweden are equal to any +written by more recent English travellers to Scandinavia; and her account +of the people is valuable as an unprejudiced record of the manners and +customs existing among them towards the end of the eighteenth century. +But though so little known, it is still true that, as her self-appointed +defender said in 1803, "Letters so replete with correctness of remark, +delicacy of feeling, and pathos of expression, will cease to exist only +with the language in which they were written." + +Shortly after her death, Godwin published in four volumes all Mary's +unprinted writings, unfinished as well as finished. This collection, +which is called simply "Posthumous Works of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin," +may most appropriately be noticed here in connection with the more +complete productions of her last years. + +Of the "Letters to Imlay," which fill the third and a part of the fourth +volume, nothing more need be said. They have been fully explained, and +sufficient extracts from them have been made in the account of that +period of her life during which they were written. The next in importance +of these writings is "Maria; or, The Wrongs of Woman," a novel. It is but +a fragment. Mary intended to revise the first chapters carefully, and of +the last she had written nothing but the headings and a few detached +hints and passages. Godwin, in his Preface, says, "So much of it as is +here given to the public, she was far from considering as finished; and +in a letter to a friend directly written on this subject, she says, 'I am +perfectly aware that some of the incidents ought to be transposed and +heightened by more luminous shading; and I wished in some degree to avail +myself of criticism before I began to adjust my events into a story, the +outline of which I had sketched in my mind.'" It therefore must be more +gently criticised than such of her books as were published during her +life-time, and considered by her ready to be given to the public. But, as +the last work upon which she was engaged, and as one which engrossed her +thoughts for months, and to which she devoted, for her, an unusual amount +of labor, it must be read with interest. + +The incidents of the story are, in a large measure, drawn from real life. +Her own experience, that of her sister, and events which had come within +her actual knowledge, are the materials which she used. These served her +purpose as well as, if not better than, any she could have invented. The +only work of her imagination is the manner in which she grouped them +together to form her plot. The story is, briefly, as follows: Maria, the +heroine, whose home-life seems to be a description of the interior of the +Wollstonecraft household, marries to secure her freedom, rather than from +affection for her lover, as was probably the case with "poor Bess." Her +husband, who even in the days of courtship had been a dissolute rascal, +but hypocrite enough to conceal the fact, throws off his mask after +marriage. He speculates rashly, drinks, and indulges in every low vice. +All this she bears until he, calculating upon her endurance, seeks to +sell her to a friend, that her dishonor may be his gain financially. Then +he learns that he has gone too far. She flies from his house, to which +she refuses, on any consideration, to return. All attempts to bring her +back having failed, he, by a successful stratagem, seizes her as she is +on her way to Dover with her child, and, taking possession of the latter, +has his wife confined in an insane asylum. Here, after days of horror, +Maria succeeds in softening the heart of her keeper, Jemima by name, and +through her makes the acquaintance of Henry Darnford, a young man who, +like her, has been made a prisoner under the false charge of lunacy. +Jemima's friendship is so completely won that she allows these two +companions in misery to see much of each other. She even tells them her +story, which, as a picture of degradation, equals that of some of Defoe's +heroines. Darnford then tells his, and the reader at once recognizes in +him another Imlay. Finally, by a lucky accident the two prisoners make +their escape, and Jemima accompanies them. The latter part of the story +consists of sketches and the barest outlines; but these indicate the +succession of its events and its conclusion. Maria and Darnford live +together as husband and wife in London. The former believes that she is +right in so doing, and cares nothing for the condemnation of society. She +endures neglect and contumely because she is supported by confidence in +the rectitude of her conduct. Her husband now has her lover tried for +adultery and seduction, and in his absence Maria undertakes his defence. +Her separation from her husband is the consequence, but her fortune is +thrown into chancery. She refuses to leave Darnford, but he, after a few +years, during which she has borne him two children, proves unfaithful. In +her despair, she attempts to commit suicide, but fails. When +consciousness and reason return, she resolves to live for her child. + +"Maria" is a story with a purpose. Its aim is the reformation of the +evils which result from the established relations of the sexes. Certain +rights are to be vindicated by a full exposition of the wrongs which +their absence causes. Mary wished, as her Preface sets forth, to exhibit +the misery and oppression peculiar to women, that arise out of the +partial laws and customs of society. "Maria," in fact, was to be a +forcible proof of the necessity of those social changes which she had +urged in the "Vindication of the Rights of Women." In the career of the +heroine the wrongs women suffer from matrimonial despotism and cruelty +are demonstrated; while that of Jemima shows how impossible it is for +poor or degraded women to find employment. The principal interest in the +book arises from the fact that in it Mary explains more definitely than +she had in any previous work, her views about the laws and restrictions +of matrimony. Otherwise the principles laid down in it do not differ from +those which she had already stated in print. Her justification of Maria's +conduct is in reality a declaration of her belief that cruelty, +depravity, and infidelity in a man are sufficient reasons for his wife to +separate herself from him, this separation requiring no legal permit; and +that a pure honest love sanctifies the union of two people which may not +have been confirmed by a civil or religious ceremony. The following +passage is a partial statement of these views, which proved very +exasperating to her contemporaries. It is the advice given to Maria, +after her flight, by a friendly uncle:-- + + "The marriage state is certainly that in which women, generally + speaking, can be most useful; but I am far from thinking that a + woman, once married, ought to consider the engagement as + indissoluble (especially if there be no children to reward her for + sacrificing her feelings) in case her husband merits neither her + love nor esteem. Esteem will often supply the place of love, and + prevent a woman from being wretched, though it may not make her + happy. The magnitude of a sacrifice ought always to bear some + proportion to the utility in view; and for a woman to live with a + man for whom she can cherish neither affection nor esteem, or even + be of any use to him, excepting in the light of a housekeeper, is + an abjectness of condition, the enduring of which no concurrence of + circumstances can ever make a duty in the sight of God or just men. + If indeed she submits to it merely to be maintained in idleness, + she has no right to complain bitterly of her fate; or to act, as a + person of independent character might, as if she had a title to + disregard general rules. + + "But the misfortune is, that many women only submit in appearance, + and forfeit their own respect to secure their reputation in the + world. The situation of a woman separated from her husband is + undoubtedly very different from that of a man who has left his + wife. He, with lordly dignity, has shaken off a clog; and the + allowing her food and raiment is thought sufficient to secure his + reputation from taint. And, should she have been inconsiderate, he + will be celebrated for his generosity and forbearance. Such is the + respect paid to the master-key of property! A woman, on the + contrary, resigning what is termed her natural protector (though he + never was so but in name), is despised and shunned for asserting + the independence of mind distinctive of a rational being, and + spurning at slavery." + +The incidents selected by Mary to prove her case are, it must be +admitted, disagreeable, and the minor details too frequently revolting. +The stories of Maria, Darnford, and Jemima are records of shame, crime, +and human bestiality little less unpleasant than the realism of a Zola. +It is an astonishing production, even for an age when Fielding and +Smollett were not considered coarse. But, as was the case in the "Rights +of Women," this plainness of speech was due not to a delight in impurity +and uncleanness for their own sakes, but to Mary's certainty that by the +proper use of subjects vile in themselves, she could best establish +principles of purity. Whatever may be thought of her moral creed and of +her manner of promulgating it, no reader of her books can deny her the +respect which her courage and sincerity evoke. One may mistrust the +mission of a Savonarola, and yet admire his inexorable adherence to it. +Mary Wollstonecraft's faith in, and devotion to, the doctrines she +preached was as firm and unflinching as those of any religiously +inspired prophet. + +This story gives little indication of literary merit. The style is +stilted, and there is no attempt at delineation of character. It is +wholly without dramatic action; for this, Mary explains, would have +interfered with her main object. But then its straightforward statement +of facts, by concentrating the attention upon them, adds very strongly to +the impression they produce. Maria is as complete a departure from the +conventional heroine of the day, as, at a later period, Charlotte +Bronte's Rochester was from the heroes of contemporary novelists. And the +book contains at least one description which should find a place here. +This is the account Maria gives of a visit she makes to her country home +a few years after her marriage and realization of its bitterness, and is +really a record of the sentiments awakened in her when she visited +Beverly, her early home, just before she left England for Sweden. The +passage, in its contrast to the oppressive narrative which it interrupts, +is as refreshing as a cool sea-breeze after the suffocating sirocco of +the desert:-- + + "This was the first time I had visited my native village since my + marriage. But with what different emotions did I return from the + busy world, with a heavy weight of experience benumbing my + imagination, to scenes that whispered recollections of joy and hope + most eloquently to my heart! The first scent of the wild-flowers + from the heath thrilled through my veins, awakening every sense to + pleasure. The icy hand of despair seemed to be removed from my + bosom; and, forgetting my husband, the nurtured visions of a + romantic mind, bursting on me with all their original wildness and + gay exuberance, were again hailed as sweet realities. I forgot, + with equal facility, that I ever felt sorrow or knew care in the + country; while a transient rainbow stole athwart the cloudy sky of + despondency. The picturesque forms of several favorite trees, and + the porches of rude cottages, with their smiling hedges, were + recognized with the gladsome playfulness of childish vivacity. I + could have kissed the chickens that pecked on the common; and + longed to pat the cows, and frolic with the dogs that sported on + it. I gazed with delight on the wind-mill, and thought it lucky + that it should be in motion at the moment I passed by: and entering + the dear green lane which led directly to the village, the sound of + the well-known rookery gave that sentimental tinge to the varying + sensations of my active soul, which only served to heighten the + lustre of the luxuriant scenery. But spying, as I advanced, the + spire peeping over the withered tops of the aged elms that composed + the rookery, my thoughts flew immediately to the church-yard; and + tears of affection, such was the effect of my imagination, bedewed + my mother's grave! Sorrow gave place to devotional feelings. I + wandered through the church in fancy as I used sometimes to do on a + Saturday evening. I recollected with what fervor I addressed the + God of my youth; and once more with rapturous love looked above my + sorrows to the Father of nature. I pause, feeling forcibly all the + emotions I am describing; and (reminded, as I register my sorrows, + of the sublime calm I have felt when, in some tremendous solitude, + my soul rested on itself, and seemed to fill the universe) I + insensibly breathe softly, hushing every wayward emotion, as if + fearing to sully with a sigh a contentment so ecstatic." + +"Maria" seemed to many of its readers an unanswerable proof of the charge +of immorality brought against its authoress. Mrs. West, in her "Letters +to a Young Man," pointed to it as evidence of Mary's unfitness for the +world beyond the grave. The "Biographical Dictionary" undoubtedly +referred to it when it declared that much of the four volumes of Mary's +posthumous writings "had better been suppressed, as ill calculated to +excite sympathy for one who seems to have rioted in sentiments alike +repugnant to religion, sense, and decency." Modern readers have been +kinder. The following is Miss Mathilde Blind's criticism, which, though a +little too enthusiastic perhaps, shows a keen appreciation of the +redeeming merits of the book:-- + + "For originality of invention, tragic incident, and a certain fiery + eloquence of style, this is certainly the most remarkable and + mature of her works, although one may object that for a novel the + moral purpose is far too obvious, the manner too generalized, and + many of the situations revolting to the taste of a modern reader. + But, with all its faults, it is a production that, in the + implacable truth with which it lays open the festering sores of + society, in the unshrinking courage with which it drags into the + light of day the wrongs the feeble have to suffer at the hands of + the strong, in the fiery enthusiasm with which it lifts up its + voice for the voiceless outcasts, may be said to resemble 'Les + Miserables,' by Victor Hugo." + +The other contents of these four volumes are as follows: a series of +lessons in spelling and reading, which, because prepared especially for +her "unfortunate child," Fanny Imlay, are an interesting relic; the +"Letters on the French Nation," mentioned in a previous chapter; a +fragment and list of proposed "Letters on the Management of Infants;" +several letters to Mr. Johnson, the most important of which have been +already given; the "Cave of Fancy," an Oriental tale, as Godwin calls +it,--the story of an old philosopher who lives in a desolate sea-coast +district and there seeks to educate a child, saved from a shipwreck, by +means of the spirits under his command (the few chapters Godwin thought +proper to print were written in 1787, and then put aside, never to be +finished); an "Essay on Poetry, and Our Relish for the Beauties of +Nature," a short discussion of the difference between the poetry of the +ancients, who recorded their own impressions from nature, and that of the +moderns, who are too apt to express sentiments borrowed from books (this +essay was published in the "Monthly Magazine" for April, 1797); and +finally, to conclude the list of contents, the book contains some "Hints" +which were to have been incorporated in the second part of the "Rights of +Women" which Mary intended to write. + +These fragments and works are intrinsically of small value. The "Cave of +Fancy" contains an interesting definition of sensibility, in which Mary, +perhaps unconsciously, gives an excellent analysis of her own sensitive +nature. This quality, the old sage says, is the + + "result of acute senses, finely fashioned nerves, which vibrate at + the slightest touch, and convey such clear intelligence to the + brain, that it does not require to be arranged by the judgment. + Such persons instantly enter into the character of others, and + instinctively discern what will give pain to every human being; + their own feelings are so varied that they seem to contain in + themselves not only all the passions of the species, but their + various modifications. Exquisite pain and pleasure is their + portion; nature wears for them a different aspect than is displayed + to common mortals. One moment it is a paradise: all is beautiful; a + cloud arises, an emotion receives a sudden damp, darkness invades + the sky, and the world is an unweeded garden." + +Of the "Hints," one on a subject which has of late years been very +eloquently discussed is valuable as demonstrating her opinion of the +relation of religion to morals. It is as follows:-- + + "Few can walk alone. The staff of Christianity is the necessary + support of human weakness. An acquaintance with the nature of man + and virtue, with just sentiments on the attributes, would be + sufficient, without a voice from heaven, to lead some to virtue, + but not the mob." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +RETROSPECTIVE. + +1794-1796. + + +Mary's torture of suspense was now over. The reaction from it would +probably have been serious, if she had not had the distraction of work. +Activity was, as it had often been before, the tonic which restored her +to comparative health. She had no money, and Fanny, despite Imlay's +promises, was entirely dependent upon her. Her exertions to maintain +herself and her child obliged her to stifle at least the expression of +misery. One of her last outbursts of grief found utterance in a letter to +Mr. Archibald Hamilton Rowan, who in France had been the witness of her +happiness. Shortly after her final farewell to Imlay, she wrote to this +friend:-- + + LONDON, Jan. 26, 1796. + + MY DEAR SIR,--Though I have not heard from you, I should have + written to you, convinced of your friendship, could I have told you + anything of myself that could have afforded you pleasure. I am + unhappy. I have been treated with unkindness, and even cruelty, by + the person from whom I had every reason to expect affection. I + write to you with an agitated hand. I cannot be more explicit. I + value your good opinion, and you know how to feel for me. I looked + for something like happiness in the discharge of my relative + duties, and the heart on which I leaned has pierced mine to the + quick. I have not been used well, and live but for my child; for I + am weary of myself. I still think of settling in France, because I + wish to leave my little girl there. I have been very ill, have + taken some desperate steps; but I am now writing for independence. + I wish I had no other evil to complain of than the necessity of + providing for myself and my child. Do not mistake me. Mr. Imlay + would be glad to supply all my pecuniary wants; but unless he + returns to himself, I would perish first. Pardon the incoherence of + my style. I have put off writing to you from time to time, because + I could not write calmly. Pray write to me. I will not fail, I was + going to say, when I have anything good to tell you. But for me + there is nothing good in store. My heart is broken! I am yours, + etc., + + MARY IMLAY. + +Outwardly she became much calmer. She resumed her old tasks; Mr. Johnson +now, as ever, practically befriending her by providing her with work. She +had nothing so much at heart as her child's interests, and these seemed +to demand her abjuration of solitude and her return to social life. Her +existence externally was, save for the presence of Fanny, exactly the +same as it had been before her departure for France. Another minor change +was that she was now known as Mrs. Imlay. Imlay had asked her to retain +his name; and to prevent the awkwardness and misunderstandings that +otherwise would have arisen, she consented to do so. + +During this period she had held but little communication with her family. +The coolness between her sisters and herself had, from no fault of hers, +developed into positive anger. Their ill-will, which had begun some years +previous, had been stimulated by her comparative silence during her +residence abroad. She had really written to them often, but it was +impossible at that time for letters not to miscarry. Those which she +sent by private opportunities reached them, and they contain proofs of +her unremitting and affectionate solicitude for them. Always accustomed +to help them out of difficulties, she worried over what she heard of +their circumstances, and while her hands were, so to speak, tied, she +made plans to contribute to their future comforts. These letters were not +given in the order of their date, that they might not interrupt the +narrative of the Imlay episode. They may more appropriately be quoted +here. The following was written to Everina about a month before Fanny's +birth:-- + + HAVRE, March 10, 1794. + + MY DEAR GIRL,--It is extremely uncomfortable to write to you thus + without expecting, or even daring to ask for an answer, lest I + should involve others in my difficulties, and make them suffer for + protecting me. The French are at present so full of suspicion that + had a letter of James's, imprudently sent to me, been opened, I + would not have answered for the consequence. I have just sent off a + great part of my manuscripts, which Miss Williams would fain have + had me burn, following her example; and to tell you the truth, my + life would not have been worth much had they been found. It is + impossible for you to have any idea of the impression the sad + scenes I have witnessed have left on my mind. The climate of France + is uncommonly fine, the country pleasant, and there is a degree of + ease and even simplicity in the manners of the common people which + attaches me to them. Still death and misery, in every shape of + terror, haunt this devoted country. I certainly am glad that I came + to France, because I never could have had a just opinion of the + most extraordinary event that has ever been recorded, and I have + met with some uncommon instances of friendship, which my heart will + ever gratefully store up, and call to mind when the remembrance is + keen of the anguish it has endured for its fellow-creatures at + large, for the unfortunate beings cut off around me, and the still + more unfortunate survivors. If any of the many letters I have + written have come to your hands or Eliza's, you know that I am + safe, through the protection of an American, a most worthy man, who + joins to uncommon tenderness of heart and quickness of feeling, a + soundness of understanding and reasonableness of temper rarely to + be met with. Having been brought up in the interior parts of + America, he is a most natural, unaffected creature. I am with him + now at Havre, and shall remain there till circumstances point out + what is necessary for me to do. Before I left Paris, I attempted to + find the Laurents, whom I had several times previously sought for, + but to no purpose. And I am apt to think that it was very prudent + in them to leave a shop that had been the resort of the nobility. + + Where is poor Eliza? From a letter I received many, many months + after it was written, I suppose she is in Ireland. Will you write + to tell her that I most affectionately remember her, and still have + in my mind some places for her future comfort. Are you well? But + why do I ask? you cannot reply to me. This thought throws a damp on + my spirits whilst I write, and makes my letter rather an act of + duty than a present satisfaction. God bless you! I will write by + every opportunity, and am yours sincerely and affectionately, + + MARY. + +Another written from Paris, before Imlay had shown himself in his true +colors, is full of kindness, containing a suggestion that Everina should +join her in the spring: + + PARIS, September, 1794. + + As you must, my dear girl, have received several letters from me, + especially one I sent to London by Mr. Imlay, I avail myself of + this opportunity just to tell you that I am well and my child, and + to request you to write by this occasion. I do, indeed, long to + hear from you and Eliza. I have at last got some tidings of + Charles, and as they must have reached you, I need not tell you + what sincere satisfaction they afforded me. I have also heard from + James; he too, talks of success, but in a querulous strain. What + are you doing? Where is Eliza? You have perhaps answered these + questions in answer to the letters I gave in charge to Mr. I.; but + fearing that some fatality might have prevented their reaching you, + let me repeat that I have written to you and to Eliza at least half + a score of times, pointing out different ways for you to write to + me, still have received no answers. I have again and again given + you an account of my present situation, and introduced Mr. Imlay to + you as a brother you would love and respect. I hope the time is not + very distant when we shall all meet. Do be very particular in your + account of yourself, and if you have not time to procure me a + letter from Eliza, tell me all about her. Tell me, too, what is + become of George, etc., etc. I only write to ask questions, and to + assure you that I am most affectionately yours, + + MARY IMLAY. + + P. S. _September 20._--Should peace take place this winter, what + say you to a voyage in the spring, if not to see your old + acquaintance, to see Paris, which I think you did not do justice + to. I want you to see my little girl, who is more like a boy. She + is ready to fly away with spirits, and has eloquent health in her + cheeks and eyes. She does not promise to be a beauty, but appears + wonderfully intelligent, and though I am sure she has her father's + quick temper and feelings, her good-humor runs away with all the + credit of my good nursing.... + +That she had discussed the question of her sisters' prospects with Imlay +seems probable from the fact that while he was in London alone, in +November, 1794, he wrote very affectionately to Eliza, saying,-- + + "... We shall both of us continue to cherish feelings of + tenderness for you, and a recollection of your unpleasant + situation, and we shall also endeavor to alleviate its distress by + all the means in our power. The present state of our fortune is + rather [word omitted]. However, you must know your sister too well, + and I am sure you judge of that knowledge too favorably, to suppose + that whenever she has it in her power she will not apply some + specific aid to promote your happiness. I shall always be most + happy to receive your letters; but as I shall most likely leave + England the beginning of next week, I will thank you to let me hear + from you as soon as convenient, and tell me ingenuously in what way + I can serve you in any manner or respect...." + +But all Mary's efforts to be kind could not soften their resentment. On +the contrary, it was still further increased by the step she took in +their regard on her return to England in the same year. When in France +she had gladly suggested Everina's joining her there; but in London, +after her discovery of Imlay's change of feeling, she naturally shrank +from receiving her or Eliza into her house. Her sorrow was too sacred to +be exposed to their gaze. She was brave enough to tell them not to come +to her, a course of action that few in her place would have had the +courage to pursue. In giving them her reasons for this new determination, +she of course told them but half the truth. To Everina she wrote:-- + + April 27, 1795. + + When you hear, my dear Everina, that I have been in London near a + fortnight without writing to you or Eliza, you will perhaps accuse + me of insensibility; for I shall not lay any stress on my not being + well in consequence of a violent cold I caught during the time I + was nursing, but tell you that I put off writing because I was at a + loss what I could do to render Eliza's situation more comfortable. + I instantly gave Jones ten pounds to send, for a very obvious + reason, in his own name to my father, and could send her a trifle + of this kind immediately, were a temporary assistance necessary. I + believe I told you that Mr. Imlay had not a fortune when I first + knew him; since that he has entered into very extensive plans which + promise a degree of success, though not equal to the first + prospect. When a sufficient sum is actually realized, I know he + will give me for you and Eliza five or six hundred pounds, or more + if he can. In what way could this be of the most use to you? I am + above concealing my sentiments, though I have boggled at uttering + them. It would give me sincere pleasure to be situated near you + both. I cannot yet say where I shall determine to spend the rest of + my life; but I do not wish to have a third person in the house with + me; my domestic happiness would perhaps be interrupted, without my + being of much use to Eliza. This is not a hastily formed opinion, + nor is it in consequence of my present attachment, yet I am obliged + now to express it because it appears to me that you have formed + some such expectation for Eliza. You may wound me by remarking on + my determination, still I know on what principle I act, and + therefore you can only judge for yourself. I have not heard from + Charles for a great while. By writing to me immediately you would + relieve me from considerable anxiety. Mrs. Imlay, No. 26 Charlotte + Street, Rathbone Place. + + Yours sincerely, + MARY. + +Two days later she wrote to this effect to Mrs. Bishop. Both letters are +almost word for word the same, so that it would be useless to give the +second. It was too much for Eliza's inflammable temper. All her worst +feelings were stirred by what she considered an insult. The kindness of +years was in a moment effaced from her memory. Her indignation was +probably fanned into fiercer fury by her disappointment. From a few words +she wrote to Everina it seems as if both had been relying upon Mary for +the realization of certain "goodly prospects." She returned Mary's letter +without a word, but to Everina she wrote;-- + + "I have enclosed this famous letter to the author of the 'Rights of + Women,' without any reflection. She shall never hear from _Poor + Bess_ again. Remember, I am fixed as my misery, and nothing can + change my present plan. This letter has so strangely agitated me + that I know not what I say, but this I feel and know, that if you + value my existence you will comply with my requisition [that is, to + find her a situation in Ireland where she, Everina, then was], for + I am positive I will never torture our amiable friend in Charlotte + Street. Is not this a good spring, my dear girl? At least poor Bess + can say it is a fruitful one. Alas, poor Bess!" + +It seemed to be Mary's fate to prove the truth of the saying, that if to +him that hath, it shall be given, so also from him that hath not, shall +it be taken away. Just as she realized that Imlay's love was lost +forever, Eliza's cruel, silent answer to her letter came to tell her it +would be useless to turn to her sisters for sympathy. They failed to do +justice to her heart, but she bore them no resentment. In one of her last +letters to Imlay, she reminds him that when she went to Sweden she had +asked him to attend to the wants of her father and sisters, a request +which he had ignored. The anger she excited in them, however, was never +entirely appeased, and from that time until her death, she heard but +little of them, and saw still less. + +But, though deserted by those nearest to her, her friends rallied round +her. She was joyfully re-welcomed to the literary society which she had +before frequented. She was not treated as an outcast, because people +resolutely refused to believe the truth about her connection with Imlay. +She was far from encouraging them in this. Godwin says in her desire to +be honest she went so far as to explain the true state of the case to a +man whom she knew to be the most inveterate tale-bearer in London, and +who would be sure to repeat what she told him. But it was of no avail. +Her personal attractions and cleverness predisposed friends in her favor. +In order to retain her society and also to silence any scruples that +might arise, they held her to be an injured wife, as indeed she really +was, and not a deserted mistress. A few turned from her coldly; but those +who eagerly reopened their doors to her were in the majority. One old +friend who failed at this time, when his friendship would have been most +valued, was Fuseli. Knowles has published a note in which Mary reproaches +the artist for his want of sympathy. It reads as follows:-- + + When I returned from France I visited you, sir, but finding myself + after my late journey in a very different situation, I vainly + imagined you would have called upon me. I simply tell you what I + thought, yet I write not at present to comment on your conduct or + to expostulate. I have long ceased to expect kindness or affection + from any human creature, and would fain tear from my heart its + treacherous sympathies. I am alone. The injustice, without alluding + to hopes blasted in the bud, which I have endured, wounding my + bosom, have set my thoughts adrift into an ocean of painful + conjecture. I ask impatiently what and where is truth? I have been + treated brutally, but I daily labor to remember that I still have + the duty of a mother to fulfil. + + I have written more than I intended,--for I only meant to request + you to return my letters: I wish to have them, and it must be the + same to you. Adieu! + + MARY. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WILLIAM GODWIN. + + +William Godwin was one of those with whom Mary renewed her acquaintance. +The impression they now made on each other was very different from that +which they had received in the days when she was still known as Mrs. +Wollstonecraft. Since he was no less famous than she, and since it was +his good fortune to make the last year of her life happy, and by his love +to compensate her for her first wretched experience, a brief sketch of +his life, his character, and his work is here necessary. It is only by +knowing what manner of man he was, and what standard of conduct he +deduced from his philosophy, that his relations to her can be fairly +understood. + +William Godwin, the seventh child of thirteen, was the son of a +Dissenting minister, and was born March 3, 1756, at Wisbeach, +Cambridgeshire. He came on both sides of respectable middle-class +families. His father's father and brother had both been clergymen, the +one a Methodist preacher, the other a Dissenter. His father was a man of +but little learning, whose strongest feeling was disapprobation of the +Church of England, and whose "creed was so puritanical that he considered +the fondling of a cat a profanation of the Lord's day." Mrs. Godwin in +her earlier years was gay, too much so for the wife of a minister, some +people thought, but after her husband's death she joined a Methodistical +sect, and her piety in the end grew into fanaticism. A Miss Godwin, a +cousin, who lived with the family, had perhaps the greatest influence +over William Godwin when he was a mere child. She was not without +literary culture, and through her he learnt something of books. But her +religious principles were severely Calvinistic, and these she impressed +upon him at the same time. + +His first school-mistress was an old woman, who was concerned chiefly +with his soul, and who gave him, before he had completed his eighth year, +an intimate knowledge of the Bible. The inevitable consequence of this +training was that religion became his first thought. Thanks to his +cousin, however, and to his natural cleverness and ambition, he was saved +from bigotry by his interest in wider subjects, though they were for many +years secondary considerations. From an early age he had, as he says of +himself, developed an insatiable curiosity and love of distinction. One +of his later tutors was Mr. Samuel Newton, an Independent minister and a +follower of Sandeman, "a celebrated north country apostle, who, after +Calvin had damned ninety-nine in a hundred of mankind, has contrived a +scheme for damning ninety-nine in a hundred of the followers of Calvin." +Godwin remained some years with him, and was so far influenced by his +doctrines, that when, later, he sought admission into Homerton Academy, a +Dissenting institution, he was refused, because he seemed to the +authorities to show signs of Sandemanianism. But he had no difficulty in +entering Hoxton College; and here, in his twenty-third year, he finished +his religious and secular education. During these years his leading +inspiration had been a thirst after knowledge and truth. + +This was in 1778. Upon leaving college he began his career as minister, +but he was never very successful, and before long his religious views +were much modified. His search for truth led him in a direction in which +he had least expected to go. In 1781, when he was fulfilling the duties +of his profession at Stowmarket, he began to read the French +philosophers, and by them his faith in Christianity was seriously shaken. +1783 was the last year in which he appeared in the pulpit. He gave up the +office and went to London, where he supported himself by writing. In the +course of a short time he dropped the title of Reverend and emancipated +himself entirely from his old religious associations. + +His first literary work was the "Life of Lord Chatham," and this was +followed by a defence of the coalition of 1783. He then obtained regular +employment on the "English Review," published by Murray in Fleet Street, +wrote several novels, and became a contributor to the "Political Herald." +He was entirely dependent upon his writings, which fact accounts for the +variety displayed in them. His chief interest was, however, in politics. +He was a Liberal of the most pronounced type, and his articles soon +attracted the attention of the Whigs. His services to that party were +considered so valuable that when the above-mentioned paper perished, Fox, +through Sheridan, proposed to Godwin that he should edit it, the whole +expense to be paid from a fund set aside for just such purposes. But +Godwin declined. By accepting he would have sacrificed his independence +and have become their mouthpiece, and he was not willing to sell himself. +He seems at one time to have been ambitious to be a Member of Parliament, +and records with evident satisfaction Sheridan's remark to him: "You +ought to be in Parliament." But his integrity again proved a +stumbling-block. He could not reconcile himself to the subterfuges which +Whigs as well as Tories silently countenanced. Honesty was his besetting +quality quite as much as it was Mary's. He was unfit to take an active +part in politics; his sphere of work was speculative. + +He was the foremost among the devoted adherents in England of Rousseau, +Helvetius, and the other Frenchmen of their school. He was one of the +"French Revolutionists," so called because of their sympathy with the +French apostles of liberty and equality; and at their meetings he met +such men as Price, Holcroft, Earl Stanhope, Horne Tooke, Geddes, all of +whom considered themselves fortunate in having his co-operation. Thomas +Paine was one of his intimate acquaintances; and the "Rights of Man" was +submitted to him, to receive his somewhat qualified praise, before it was +published. He was one of the leading spirits in developing the radicalism +of his time, and thus in preparing the way for that of the present day; +and the influence of his writings over men of his and the next generation +was enormous. Indeed, it can hardly now be measured, since much which he +wrote, being unsigned and published in papers and periodicals, has been +lost. + +He was always on the alert in political matters, ready to seize every +opportunity to do good and to promote the cause of freedom. He was, in a +word, one of that large army of pilgrims whose ambition is to "make +whole flawed hearts, and bowed necks straight." In 1791 he wrote an +anonymous letter to Fox, in which he advanced the sentiments to which he +later gave expression in his "Political Justice," his principal work. In +his autobiographical notes he explains:-- + + "Mr. Fox, in the debate on the bill for giving a new constitution + to Canada, had said that he would not be the man to propose the + abolition of a House of Lords in a country where such a power was + already established; but as little would he be the man to recommend + the introduction of such a power where it was not. This was by no + means the only public indication he had shown how deeply he had + drank of the spirit of the French Revolution. The object of the + above-mentioned letters [that is, his own to Fox, and one written + by Holcroft to Sheridan] was to excite these two illustrious men to + persevere gravely and inflexibly in the career on which they had + entered. I was strongly impressed with the sentiment that in the + then existing circumstances of England and of Europe, great and + happy improvements might be achieved under such auspices without + anarchy and confusion. I believed that important changes must + arise, and I was inexpressibly anxious that such changes should be + effected under the conduct of the best and most competent leaders." + +This brief note explains at once the two leading doctrines of his +philosophy: the necessity of change, and the equal importance of +moderation in effecting it. His political creed was, paradoxical as this +may seem, the outcome of his religious education. He had long since given +up the actual faith in which he was born and trained; after going through +successive stages of Sandemanianism, Deism, and Socinianism, he had, in +1787, become a "complete unbeliever;" but he never entirely outlived its +influence. This was of a twofold nature. It taught him to question the +sanctity of established institutions, and it crushed in him, even if it +did not wholly eradicate, strong passion and emotional demonstration. No +man in England was as thorough a radical as he. Paine's or Holcroft's +conceptions of human freedom were like forms of slavery compared to his +broad, exhaustive theories. But, on the other hand, there never was a +more earnest advocate of moderation. Burke and the French royalists could +not have been more eloquent opponents of violent measures of reform than +he was. Towards the end of the last century it was easier for a +Dissenter, who had already overthrown one barrier, than for the orthodox, +to rebel against existing social and political laws and customs. From the +belief that freedom from the authority of the Church of England was +necessary to true piety, it was but a step to the larger faith that +freedom from the restraints of government and society was indispensable +to virtue. Godwin, after he ceased to be a religious, became a political +and social Dissenter. In his zeal for the liberty of humanity, he +contended for nothing less than the destruction of all human laws. French +Republicans demanded the simplest possible form of government. But +Godwin, outstripping them, declared there should be none whatsoever. "It +may seem strange," Mrs. Shelley writes, "that any one should, in the +sincerity of his heart, believe that no vice could exist with perfect +freedom, but my father did; it was the very basis of his system, the very +keystone of the arch of justice, by which he desired to knit together the +whole human family." + +His ultra-radicalism led him to some wise and reasonable, and other +strange and startling conclusions, and these he set before the public in +his "Political Justice," the first book he published under his own name. +It appeared in 1793, and immediately created a great sensation. It must +be ranked as one of the principal factors in the development of English +thought. A short explanation of the doctrines embodied in it will throw +important light on his subsequent relations to Mary, as well as on his +own character. The foundation of the arguments he advances in this book +is his belief in the efficacy of reason in the individual as a guide to +conduct. He thought that, if each human being were free to act as he +chose, he would be sure to act for the best; for, according to him, +instincts do not exist. He makes no allowance for the influence of the +past in forming the present, ignoring the laws of heredity. A man's +character is formed by the nature of his surroundings. Virtue and vice +are the result not of innate tendencies, but of external circumstances. +When these are perfected, evil will necessarily disappear from the world. +He had so successfully subordinated his own emotions, that in his +philosophical system he calmly ignores passion as a mainspring of human +activity. This is exemplified by the rule he lays down for the regulation +of a man's conduct to his fellow-beings. He must always measure their +respective worth, and not the strength of his affection for them, even if +the individuals concerned be his near relations. Supposing, for example, +he had to choose between saving the life of a Fenelon and that of a +chambermaid, he must select the former because of his superior talents, +even though the latter should be his mother or his wife. Affections are +to be forgotten in the calculations of reason. Godwin's faith in the +supremacy of the intellect was not lessened because he was forced to +admit that men often do not act reasonably. This is, he explains, because +they are without knowledge of the absolute truth. Show them what is true +or right, and all, even the most abandoned criminal, will give up what is +false or wrong. Logic is the means by which the regeneration of mankind +is to be effected. Reason is the dynamite by which the monopoly of rank +is to be shattered. "Could Godwin," Leslie Stephen very cleverly says, +"have caught Pitt, or George III., or Mrs. Brownrigg, and subjected them +to a Socratic cross-examination, he could have restored them to the paths +of virtue, as he would have corrected an error in a little boy's sums." + +Men, Godwin taught, can never know the truth so long as human laws exist; +because when subject to any control, good, bad, or indifferent, they are +not free to reason, and hence their actions are deprived of their only +legitimate inspiration. Arguing from these premises, his belief in the +necessity of the abolition of all forms of government, political and +social, and his discouragement of the acquirement of habits, were +perfectly logical. Had he confined himself to general terms in expressing +his convictions, his conclusions would not have been so startling. +Englishmen were becoming accustomed to theories of reform. But always +just and uncompromising, he unhesitatingly defined particular instances +by which he illustrated the truth of his teaching, thus making the ends +he hoped to achieve clearer to his readers. He boldly advanced the +substitution of an appeal to reason for punishment in the treatment of +criminals, and this at a time when such a doctrine was considered +treason. He declared that any article of property justly belongs to those +who most want it, "or to whom the possession of it will be most +beneficial." But his objection to the marriage law seemed the most +glaringly immoral part of his philosophy. He assailed theoretically an +institution for which Mary Wollstonecraft had practically shown her +disapprobation. His reasoning in this regard is curious, and reveals the +little importance he attached to passion. He disapproved of the marriage +tie because he thought that two people who are bound together by it are +not at liberty to follow the dictates of their own minds, and hence are +not acting in accordance with pure reason. Free love or a system of +voluntary divorce would be less immoral, because in either of these cases +men and women would be self-ruled, and therefore could be relied upon to +do what is right. Besides, according to his ideal of justice in the +matter of property, a man or a woman belongs to whomsoever most needs him +or her, irrespective of any relations already formed. It follows +naturally that the children born in a community where these ideas are +adopted are to be educated by the state, and must not be subjected to +rules or discipline, but taught from the beginning to regulate their +conduct by the light of reason. Godwin, like so many other philosophers +of his times, based his arguments upon abstract principles, and failed to +seek concrete proofs. He built up a structure beautiful in theory, but +impossible in real life until man develops into a very much higher order +of being. An enthusiast, despite his calmness, he looked forward to the +time when death would be an evil of the past, and when no new men would +be born into the world. He believed that the day would come when "there +will be no war, no crimes, no administration of justice, as it is called, +and no government." There will be "neither disease, anguish, melancholy, +nor resentment. Every man will seek with ineffable ardor the good of +all." Human optimism could go no farther. + +It is not surprising that his book made a stir in the political world. +None of the Revolutionists had delivered themselves of such +ultra-revolutionary sentiments. Men had been accused of high treason for +much more moderate views. Perhaps it was their very extravagance that +saved him, though he accounted for it in another way. "I have +frequently," Mrs. Shelley explains, "heard my father say that 'Political +Justice' escaped prosecution from the reason that it appeared in a form +too expensive for general acquisition. Pitt observed, when the question +was debated in the Privy Council, that 'a three-guinea book could never +do much harm among those who had not three shillings to spare.'" Godwin +purposely published his work in this expensive form because he knew that +by so doing he would keep it from the multitude, whose passions he would +have been the last to arouse or to stimulate. He only wished it to be +studied by men too enlightened to encourage abrupt innovation. _Festina +lente_ was his motto. The success of the book, however, went beyond his +expectations and perhaps his intentions. Three editions were issued in as +many years. Among the class of readers to whom he immediately appealed, +the verdict passed upon it varied. Dr. Priestley thought it very +original, and that it would probably prove useful, though its fundamental +principles were too pure to be practical. Horne Tooke pronounced it a bad +book, calculated to do harm. The Rev. Samuel Newton's vigorous +disapproval of it caused a final breach between Godwin and his old tutor. +As a rule, the Liberal party accepted it as the work of inspiration, and +the conservative condemned it as the outcome of atheism and political +rebellion. When Godwin, after its publication, made a trip into +Warwickshire to stay with Dr. Parr, he found that his fame had preceded +him. He was known to the reading public in the counties as well as in the +capital, and he was everywhere received with curiosity and kindness. To +no one whom he met was he a stranger. + +His novel, "Caleb Williams," established his literary reputation. Its +success almost realized Mrs. Inchbald's prediction that "fine ladies, +milliners, mantua-makers, and boarding-school girls will love to tremble +over it, and that men of taste and judgment will admire the superior +talents, the _incessant_ energy of mind you have evinced." He was at this +time one of the most conspicuous and most talked-about men in London. He +counted among his friends and acquaintances all the distinguished men and +women of the day; among whom he was in great demand, notwithstanding the +fact that he talked neither much nor well, and that not even the most +brilliant conversation could prevent his taking short naps when in +company. But he was extremely fond of social pleasures. His philosophy +had made him neither an ascetic nor an anchorite. He worked for only +three or four hours each day; and the rest of the time was given up to +reading, to visiting, and to the theatre, he being particularly attracted +to the latter form of amusement. His reading was as omnivorous as that of +Lord Macaulay. Metaphysics, poetry, novels, were all grist for his mill. +This general interest saved him from becoming that greatest of all bores, +a man with but one idea. + +He was as cold in his conduct as in his philosophy. He maintained in the +various relations of life an imperturbable calmness. But it was not that +of a Goethe, who knows how to harmonize passion and intellect; it was +that of a man in whom the former is an unknown quantity. He was always +methodical in his work. Great as his interest in his subject might be, +his ardor was held within bounds. There were no long vigils spent +wrestling with thought, or days and weeks passed alone and locked in his +study that nothing might interfere with the flow of ideas, unless, as +happened occasionally, he was working against time. He wrote from nine +till one, and then, when he found his brain confused by this amount of +labor, he readily reduced the number of his working hours. Literary +composition was undertaken by him with the same placidity with which +another man might devote himself to book-keeping. His moral code was +characterized by the same cool calculation. He had early decided that +usefulness to his fellow-creatures was the only thing which made life +worth living. It is doubtful whether any other human being would have set +about fulfilling this object as he did. He writes of himself:-- + + "No man could be more desirous than I was of adopting a practice + conformable to my principles, as far as I could do so without + affording reasonable ground of offence to any other person. I was + anxious not to spend a penny on myself which I did not imagine + calculated to render me a more capable servant of the public; and + as I was averse to the expenditure of money, so I was not inclined + to earn it but in small portions. I considered the disbursement of + money for the benefit of others as a very difficult problem, which + he who has the possession of it is bound to solve in the best + manner he can, but which affords small encouragement to any one to + acquire it who has it not. The plan, therefore, I resolved on was + leisure,--a leisure to be employed in deliberate composition, and + in the pursuit of such attainments as afforded me the most promise + to render me useful. For years I scarcely did anything at home or + abroad without the inquiry being uppermost in my mind whether I + could be better employed for general benefit." + +He was equally uncompromising in his friendships. His feelings towards +his friends were always ruled by his sense of justice. He was the first +to come forward with substantial help in their hour of need, but he was +also the first to tell them the truth, even though it might be +unpleasant, when he thought it his duty to do so. His unselfishness is +shown in his conduct during the famous state trials, in which Holcroft, +his most intimate friend, Horne Tooke, and several other highly prized +acquaintances, were accused of high treason. His boldly avowed +revolutionary principles made him a marked man, but he did all that was +in his power to defend them. He expressed in the columns of the "Morning +Chronicle" his unqualified opinion of the atrocity of the proceedings +against them; and throughout the trials he stood by the side of the +prisoners, though by so doing he ran the risk of being arrested with +them. But if his friends asked his assistance when it did not seem to him +that they deserved it, he was as fearless in withholding it. A Jew +money-lender, John King by name, at whose house he dined frequently, was +arrested on some charge connected with his business. He appealed to +Godwin to appear in court and give evidence in his favor; whereupon the +latter wrote to him, not only declining, but forcibly explaining that he +declined because he could not conscientiously attest to his, the Jew's, +moral character. There was no ill-will on his part, and he continued to +dine amicably with King. Engrossed as he was with his own work, he could +still find time to read a manuscript for Mrs. Inchbald, or a play for +Holcroft, but when he did so, he was very plain-spoken in pointing out +their faults. He incurred the former's displeasure by correcting some +grammatical errors in a story she had submitted to him, and he deeply +wounded the latter by his unmerciful abuse of the "Lawyer." "You come +with a sledge-hammer of criticism," Holcroft said to him on this +occasion, "describe it [the play] as absolutely contemptible, tell me it +must be damned, or, if it should escape, that it cannot survive five +nights." Yet his affection for Holcroft was unwavering. The conflicting +results to which his honesty sometimes led are strikingly set forth in +his relations to Thomas Cooper, a distant cousin, who at one time lived +with him as pupil. He studied attentively the boy's character, and did +his utmost to treat him gently and kindly, but, on the other hand, he +expressed in his presence his opinion of him in language harsh enough to +justify his pupil's indignation. It is more than probable that this same +frankness was one of the causes of his many quarrels--_demeles_, he calls +them in his diary--with his most devoted friends. His sincerity, however, +invariably triumphed, and these were always mere passing storms. + +He was passionless even in relations which usually arouse warmth in the +most phlegmatic natures. He was a good son and brother, yet so +undemonstrative that his manner passed at times for indifference. Though +in beliefs and sentiments he had drifted far apart from his mother, he +never let this fact interfere with his filial respect and duty; and her +long and many letters to him are proofs of his unfailing kindness for +her. Men more affectionate than he might have rebelled against her +maternal sermons. He never did. But the good lady had occasion to object +to his coldness. In one of her letters she asks him why he cannot call +her "Honored Mother" as well as "Madam," by which title he addressed her, +adding naively that "it would be full as agreeable." He was always +willing to look out for the welfare of his brothers, two of whom were +somewhat disreputable characters, and of his sister Hannah, who lived in +London. With the latter he was on particularly friendly terms, and saw +much of her, yet Mrs. Sothren--the cousin who had been such a help to him +in his early years--reproves him for writing of her as "Miss Godwin" +instead of "sister," and fears lest this may be a sign that his brotherly +affection, once great, had abated. + +He seems at one time to have thought that he could provide himself with +a wife in the same manner in which he managed his other affairs. He +imagined that in contracting such a relationship, love was no more +indispensable than a heroine was to the interest of a novel. He proposed +that his sister Hannah should choose a wife for him; and she, in all +seriousness, set about complying with his request. In a spirit as +business-like as his, she decided upon a friend, calculated she was sure +to meet his requirements, and then sent him a list of her merits, much as +one might write a recommendation of a governess or a cook. Her letter on +the subject is so unique, and it is so impossible that it should have +been written to any one but Godwin, that it is well worth while quoting +part of it. She sent him a note of introduction to the lady in question, +who, she writes,-- + + "... is in every sense formed to make one of your disposition + really happy. She has a pleasing voice, with which she accompanies + her musical instrument with judgment. She has an easy politeness in + her manners, neither free nor reserved. She is a good housekeeper + and a good economist, and yet of a generous disposition. As to her + internal accomplishments, I have reason to speak still more highly + of them; good sense without vanity, a penetrating judgment without + a disposition to satire, good nature and humility, with about as + much religion as my William likes, struck me with a wish that she + was my William's wife. I have no certain knowledge of her fortune, + but that I leave for you to learn. I only know her father has been + many years engaged in an employment which brings in L500 or L600 + per annum, and Miss Gay is his only child." + +Not even this report could kindle the philosophical William into warmth. +He waited many months before he called upon this paragon, and when he +finally saw her, he failed to be enraptured according to Hannah's +expectations. "Poor Miss Gay," as the Godwins subsequently called her, +never received a second visit. + +When it came to the point he found that something depended upon himself, +and that he could not be led by his sister's choice, satisfactory as it +might be. That he should for a moment have supposed such a step possible +is the more surprising, because he afterwards showed himself to be not +only fond of the society of women, but unusually nice and discriminating +in selecting it. His women friends were all famous either for beauty or +cleverness. Before his marriage he was on terms of intimacy with Mrs. +Inchbald, with Amelia Alderson, soon to become Mrs. Opie, and with the +beautiful Mrs. Reveley, whose interest in politics and desire for +knowledge were to him greater charms than her personal attractions. +Notwithstanding his unimpassioned nature, William Godwin was never a +philosophical Aloysius of Gonzaga, to voluntarily blind himself to +feminine beauty. + +Indeed, there must have been beneath all his coldness a substratum of +warm and strong feeling. He possessed to a rare degree the power of +making friends and of giving sympathy to his fellow-beings. The man who +can command the affection of others, and enter into their emotions, must +know how to feel himself. It was for more than his intellect that he was +loved by men like Holcroft and Josiah Wedgwood, like Coleridge and Lamb, +and that he was sought after by beautiful and clever women. His talents +alone would not have won the hearts of young men, and yet he invariably +made friends with those who came under his influence. Willis Webb and +Thomas Cooper, who, in his earlier London life, lived with him as pupils, +not only respected but loved him, and gave him their confidence. In a +later generation, youthful enthusiasts, of whom Bulwer and Shelley are +the most notable, looked upon Godwin as the chief apostle in the cause of +humanity, and, beginning by admiring him as a philosopher, finished by +loving him as a man. Those who know him only through his works or by +reading his biography, cannot altogether understand how it was that he +thus attracted and held the affections of so many men and women. But the +truth is that, while Godwin was naturally a man of an uncommonly cold +temperament, much of his emotional insensibility was artificially +produced by his puritanical training. He was perfectly honest when in his +philosophy of life he banished the passions from his calculations. He was +so thoroughly schooled in stifling emotion and its expression, that he +thought himself incapable of passional excitement, and, reasoning from +his own experience, failed to appreciate its importance in shaping the +course of human affairs. But it may be that people brought into personal +contact with him felt that beneath his passive exterior there was at +least the possibility of passion. Mary Wollstonecraft was the first to +develop this possibility into certainty, and to arouse Godwin to a +consciousness of its existence. She revolutionized not only his life, but +his social doctrines. Through her he discovered the flaw in his +arguments, and then honestly confessed his mistake to the world. A few +years after her death he wrote in the Introduction to "St. Leon:"-- + + "... I think it necessary to say on the present occasion ... that + for more than four years I have been anxious for opportunity and + leisure to modify some of the earlier chapters of that work + ["Political Justice"] in conformity to the sentiments inculcated in + this. Not that I see cause to make any change respecting the + principle of justice, or anything else fundamental to the system + there delivered; but that I apprehend domestic and private + affections inseparable from the nature of man, and from what may be + styled the culture of the heart, and am fully persuaded that they + are not incompatible with a profound and active sense of justice in + the mind of him that cherishes them." + +When Godwin met Mary, after her desertion by Imlay, he was forty years of +age, in the full prime and vigor of his intellect, and in the height of +his fame. She was thirty-seven, only three years his junior. She was the +cleverest woman in England. Her talents had matured, and grief had made +her strong. She was strikingly handsome. She had, by her struggles and +sufferings, acquired what she calls in her "Rights of Women" a +_physionomie_. Even Mrs. Inchbald and Mrs. Reveley, hard as life had gone +with them, had never approached the depth of misery which she had +fathomed. The eventful meeting took place in the month of January, 1796, +shortly after Mary had returned from her travels in the North. Miss Hayes +invited Godwin to come to her house one evening when Mary expected to be +there. He accepted her invitation without hesitation, but evinced no +great eagerness. + + "I will do myself the pleasure of waiting on you Friday," he + wrote, "and shall be happy to meet Mrs. Wollstonecraft, of whom I + know not that I ever said a word of harm, and who has frequently + amused herself with depreciating me. But I trust you acknowledge in + me the reality of a habit upon which I pique myself, that I speak + of the qualities of others uninfluenced by personal considerations, + and am as prompt to do justice to an enemy as to a friend." + +The meeting was more propitious than their first some few years earlier +had been. Godwin had, with others, heard her sad story, and felt sorry +for her, and perhaps admired her for her bold practical application of +his principles. This was better than the positive dislike with which she +had once inspired him. But still his feeling for her was negative. He +would probably never have made an effort to see her again. What Mary +thought of him has not been recorded. But she must have been favorably +impressed, for when she came back to London from her trip to Berkshire, +she called upon him in his lodgings in Somer's Town. He, in the mean +time, had read her "Letters from Norway," and they had given him a higher +respect for her talents. The inaccuracies and the roughness of style +which had displeased him in her earlier works had disappeared. There was +no fault to be found with the book, but much to be said in its praise. +Once she had pleased him intellectually, he began to discover her other +attractions, and to enjoy being with her. Her conversation, instead of +wearying him, as it once had, interested him. He no longer thought her +forward and conceited, but succumbed to her personal charms. How great +these were can be learned from the following description of her +character written by Mrs. Shelley, who obtained her knowledge from her +mother's intimate acquaintances. She says:-- + + "Mary Wollstonecraft was one of those beings who appear once + perhaps in a generation to gild humanity with a ray which no + difference of opinion nor chance of circumstance can cloud. Her + genius was undeniable. She had been bred in the hard school of + adversity, and having experienced the sorrows entailed on the poor + and the oppressed, an earnest desire was kindled in her to diminish + these sorrows. Her sound understanding, her intrepidity, her + sensibility and eager sympathy, stamped all her writings with force + and truth, and endowed them with a tender charm which enchants + while it enlightens. She was one whom all loved who had ever seen + her. Many years are passed since that beating heart has been laid + in the cold, still grave, but no one who has ever seen her speaks + of her without enthusiastic veneration. Did she witness an act of + injustice, she came boldly forward to point it out and induce its + reparation; was there discord between friends or relatives, she + stood by the weaker party, and by her earnest appeals and + kindliness awoke latent affection, and healed all wounds. 'Open as + day to melting charity,' with a heart brimful of generous + affection, yearning for sympathy, she had fallen on evil days, and + her life had been one course of hardship, poverty, lonely struggle, + and bitter disappointment. + + "Godwin met her at the moment when she was deeply depressed by the + ingratitude of one utterly incapable of appreciating her + excellence; who had stolen her heart, and availed himself of her + excessive and thoughtless generosity and lofty independence of + character, to plunge her in difficulties and then desert her. + Difficulties, worldly difficulties, indeed, she set at naught, + compared with her despair of good, her confidence betrayed, and + when once she could conquer the misery that clung to her heart, she + struggled cheerfully to meet the poverty that was her inheritance, + and to do her duty by her darling child." + +Godwin now began to see her frequently. She had established herself in +rooms in Gumming Street, Pentonville, where she was very near him. They +met often at the houses of Miss Hayes, Mr. Johnson, and other mutual +friends. Her interests and tastes were the same as his; and this fact he +recognized more fully as time went on. It is probably because his +thoughts were so much with her, that the work he accomplished during this +year was comparatively small. None of the other women he knew and admired +had made him act spontaneously and forget to reason out his conduct as +she did. He really had at one time thought of making Amelia Alderson his +wife, but this, for some unrecorded reason, proving an impossibility, he +calmly dismissed the suggestion from his mind and continued the friend he +had been before. Had Mrs. Reveley been single he might have allowed +himself to love her, as he did later, when he was a widower and she a +widow. But so long as her husband was alive, and he knew he had no right +to do so, he, with perfect equanimity, regulated his affection to suit +the circumstances. But he never reasoned either for or against his love +for Mary Wollstonecraft. It sprang from his heart, and it had grown into +a strong passion before he had paused to deliberate as to its +advisability. + +As for Mary, Godwin's friendship coming just when it did was an +inestimable service. Never in all her life had she needed sympathy as she +did then. She was virtually alone. Her friends were kind, but their +kindness could not quite take the place of the individual love she +craved. Imlay had given it to her for a while, and her short-lived +happiness with him made her present loneliness seem more unendurable. Her +separation from him really dated back to the time when she left Havre. +Her affection for him had been destroyed sooner than she thought because +she had struggled bravely to retain it for the sake of her child. The +gayety and many distractions of London life could not drown her heart's +wretchedness. It was through Godwin that she became reconciled to +England, to life, and to herself. He revived her enthusiasm and renewed +her interest in the world and mankind; but above all he gave her that +special devotion without which she but half lived. In the restlessness +that followed her loss of Imlay's love, she had resolved to make the tour +of Italy or Switzerland. Therefore when she had returned to London, +expecting it to be but a temporary resting-place, she had taken furnished +lodgings. "Now, however," as Godwin says in his Memoirs, "she felt +herself reconciled to a longer abode in England, probably without exactly +knowing why this change had taken place in her mind." She moved to other +rooms in the extremity of Somer's Town, and filled them with the +furniture she had used in Store Street in the first days of her +prosperity, and which had since been packed away. The unpacking of this +furniture was with her what the removal of widows' weeds is with other +women. Her first love had perished; but from it rose another stronger and +better, just as the ripening of autumn's fruits follows the withering of +spring's blossoms. She mastered the harvest-secret, learning the value of +that death which yields higher fruition. + +In July, Godwin left London and spent the month in Norfolk. Absence from +Mary made him realize more than he had hitherto done that she had become +indispensable to his happiness. She was constantly in his thoughts. The +more he meditated upon her, the more he appreciated her. There was less +pleasure in his excursion than in the meeting with her which followed it. +They were both glad to be together again; nor did they hesitate to make +their gladness evident. At the end of three weeks they had confessed to +each other that they could no longer live apart. Henceforward their lines +must be cast in the same places. Godwin's story of their courtship is +eloquent in its simplicity. It is almost impossible to believe that it +was written by the author of "Political Justice." + + "The partiality we conceived for each other," he explains, "was in + that mode which I have always regarded as the purest and most + refined style of love. It grew with equal advances in the mind of + each. It would have been impossible for the most minute observer to + have said who was before, and who was after. One sex did not take + the priority which long-established custom has awarded it, nor the + other overstep that delicacy which is so severely imposed. I am not + conscious that either party can assume to have been the agent or + the patient, the toil-spreader or the prey, in the affair. When, in + the course of things, the disclosure came, there was nothing, in a + manner, for either party to disclose to the other.... It was + friendship melting into love." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +LIFE WITH GODWIN: MARRIAGE. + +1796-1797. + + +Godwin and Mary did not at once marry. The former, in his "Political +Justice," had frankly confessed to the world that he thought the existing +institution of marriage an evil. Mary had by her conduct avowed her +agreement with him. But their views in this connection having already +been fully stated need not be repeated. In omitting to seek legal +sanction to their union both were acting in perfect accord with their +standard of morality. Judged according to their motives, neither can be +accused of wrong-doing. Pure in their own eyes, they deserve to be so in +the world's esteem. Their mistake consisted in their disregard of the +fact that, to preserve social order in the community, sacrifices are +required from the individual. They forgot--as Godwin, who was opposed to +sudden change, should not have forgotten--that laws made for men in +general cannot be arbitrarily altered to suit each man in particular. + +Godwin, strange to say, was ruled in this matter not only by principle, +but by sentiment. For the first time his emotions were stirred, and he +really loved. He was more awed by his passion than a more susceptible man +would have been. It seemed to him too sacred to flaunt before the +public. "Nothing can be so ridiculous upon the face of it," he says in +the story of their love, "or so contrary to the genuine march of +sentiment, as to require the overflowing of the soul to wait upon a +ceremony, and that which, wherever delicacy and imagination exist, is of +all things most sacredly private, to blow a trumpet before it, and to +record the moment when it has arrived at its climax." Mary was anxious to +conceal, at least for a time, their new relationship. She was not ashamed +of it, for never, even when her actions seem most daring, did she swerve +from her ideas of right and wrong. But though, as a rule, people had +blinded themselves to the truth, some bitter things had been said about +her life with Imlay, and some friends had found it their duty to be +unkind. All that was unpleasant she had of course heard. One is always +sure to hear the evil spoken of one. A second offence against social +decrees would assuredly call forth redoubled discussion and increased +vituperation. The misery caused by her late experience was still vivid in +her memory. She was no less sensitive than she had been then, and she +shrank from a second scandal. She dreaded the world's harshness, much as +a Tennyson might that of critics whom he knows to be immeasurably his +inferiors. + +The great change in their relations made little difference in their way +of living. Their determination to keep it secret would have been +sufficient to prevent any domestic innovations in the establishment of +either. But, in addition to this, Godwin had certain theories upon the +subject. Because his love was the outcome of strong feeling and not of +calm discussion, his reliance upon reason, as the regulator of his +actions, did not cease. The habits of a life-time could not be so easily +broken. If he had not governed love in its growth, he at least ruled its +expression. It was necessary to decide upon a course of conduct for the +two lives now made one. At this juncture he was again the placid +philosopher. It had occurred to him, probably in the days when Hannah +Godwin was wife-hunting for him, or later, when Amelia Alderson met with +his good-will, that if husband and wife live on too intimate and familiar +terms, the chances are they will tire of each other very soon. When the +charm of novelty and uncertainty is removed, there is danger of satiety. +Whereas, if domestic pleasures can be combined with a little of the +formality which exists previous to marriage, all the advantages of the +married state are secured, while the monotony that too often kills +passion is avoided. Since he and Mary were to be really, if not legally, +man and wife, the time had come to test the truth of these ideas. The +plan he proposed was that they should be as independent of each other as +they had hitherto been, that the time spent together should not in any +way be restricted or regulated by stated hours, and that, in their +amusements and social intercourse, each should continue wholly free. + +Mary readily acquiesced, though such a suggestion would probably never +have originated with her. Her heart was too large and warm for doubts, +where love was concerned. She was the very opposite of Godwin in this +respect. She had the poetic rather than the philosophic temperament, and +when she loved it was with an intensity that made analysis of her +feelings and their possible results out of the question. It is true that +in her "Rights of Women" she had shown that passion must inevitably lose +its first ardor, and that love between man and wife must in the course of +time become either friendship or indifference. But while she had reasoned +dispassionately in an abstract treatise, she had not been equally +temperate in the direction of her own affairs. Her love for Imlay had not +passed into the second stage, but his had deteriorated into indifference +very quickly. Godwin was, as she well knew, in every way unlike Imlay. +That she felt perfect confidence in him is seen by her willingness to +live with him. But still, sure as she was of his innate uprightness, when +he suggested to her means by which to insure the continuance of his love, +she was only too glad to adopt them. She had learned, if not to be +prudent herself, at least to comply with the prudence of others. + +It would not be well perhaps for every one to follow their plan of life, +but with them it succeeded admirably. Godwin remained in his lodgings, +Mary in hers. He continued his old routine of work, made his usual round +of visits, and went by himself, as of yore, to the theatre, and to the +dinners and suppers of his friends. Mary pursued uninterruptedly her +studies and writings, conducted her domestic concerns in the same way, +and sought her amusements singly, sometimes meeting Godwin quite +unexpectedly at the play or in private houses. His visits to her were as +irregular in point of time as they had previously been, and when one +wanted to make sure of the other for a certain hour or at a certain +place, a regular engagement had to be made. The thoroughness with which +they maintained their independence is illustrated by the following note +which Mary sent to Godwin one morning, about a month before their +marriage:-- + + "Did I not see you, friend Godwin, at the theatre last night? I + thought I met a smile, but you went out without looking around." + +She was not mistaken. Godwin has recorded in his diary that he was at the +theatre on that particular occasion. They not only did not inform each +other of their movements, but they even considered it unnecessary to +speak when they met by chance. Godwin's realization of his theory further +confirmed him in the belief that in this particular he was right. When he +wrote "St. Leon," he is supposed to have intended Marguerite, the +heroine, for the picture of his wife. In that novel, in his account of +the hero's domestic affairs, he indirectly testifies to the merits of his +own home-life. St. Leon says:-- + + "We had each our separate pursuits, whether for the cultivation of + our minds or the promotion of our mutual interests. Separation gave + us respectability in each other's eyes, while it prepared us to + enter with fresh ardor into society and conversation." + +The peculiar terms on which they lived had at least one advantage. They +were the means of giving to later generations a clear insight into their +domestic relations. For, as the two occupied separate lodgings and were +apart during the greater part of the day, they often wrote to each other +concerning matters which people so united usually settle by word of +mouth. Godwin's diary was a record of bare facts. Mary never kept one. +There was no one else to describe their every-day life. This is exactly +what is accomplished by the notes which thus, while they are without +absolute merit, are of relative importance. They are really little +informal conversations on paper. To read them is like listening to some +one talking. They show how ready Mary was to enlist Godwin's sympathy on +all occasions, small as well as great, and how equally ready he was to be +interested. It is always a surprise to find that the children of light +are, despite their high mission, made of the same stuff as other men. It +is therefore strange to hear these two apostles of reform talking much in +the same strain as ordinary mortals, making engagements to dine on beef, +groaning over petty ailments and miseries, and greeting each other in +true _bon compagnon_ style. Mary's notes, like her letters to Imlay, are +essentially feminine. Short as they are, they are full of womanly +tenderness and weakness. Sometimes she wrote to invite Godwin to dinner +or to notify him that she intended calling at his apartments, at the same +time sending a bulletin of her health and of her plans for the day. At +others she seems to have written simply because she could not wait, even +a few hours, to make a desired explanation, to express an irrepressible +complaint, or to acquaint him with some domestic _contretemps_. The +following are fair specimens of this correspondence:-- + + Jan. 5, 1797. + + _Thursday morning._--I was very glad that you were not with me last + night, for I could not rouse myself. To say the truth, I was unwell + and out of spirits; I am better to-day. + + I shall take a walk before dinner, and expect to see you this + evening, _chez moi_, about eight, if you have no objection. + + Jan. 12, 1797. + + _Thursday morning._--I am better this morning, but it snows so + incessantly that I do not know how I shall be able to keep my + appointment this evening. What say you? But you have no petticoats + to dangle in the snow. Poor women,--how they are beset with plagues + within and without! + + Jan. 13, 1797. + + _Friday morning._--I believe I ought to beg your pardon for talking + at you last night, though it was in sheer simplicity of heart, and + I have been asking myself why it so happened. Faith and troth, it + was because there was nobody else worth attacking, or who could + converse. C. had wearied me before you entered. But be assured, + when I find a man that has anything in him, I shall let my + every-day dish alone. + + I send you the "Emma" for Mrs. Inchbald, supposing you have not + altered your mind. + + Bring Holcroft's remarks with you, and Ben Jonson. + + Jan. 27, 1797. + + I am not well this morning. It is very tormenting to be thus, + neither sick nor well, especially as you scarcely imagine me + indisposed. + + Women are certainly great fools; but nature made them so. I have + not time or paper, else I could draw an inference, not very + illustrative of your chance-medley system. But I spare the + moth-like opinion; there is room enough in the world, etc. + + Feb. 3, 1797. + + _Friday morning._--Mrs. Inchbald was gone into the city to dinner, + so I had to measure back my steps. + + To-day I find myself better, and, as the weather is fine, mean to + call on Dr. Fordyce. I shall leave home about two o'clock. I tell + you so, lest you should call after that hour. I do not think of + visiting you in my way, because I seem inclined to be industrious. + I believe I feel affectionate to you in proportion as I am in + spirits; still I must not dally with you, when I can do anything + else. There is a civil speech for you to chew. + + Feb. 22, 1797. + + Everina's [her sister was at this time staying with her] cold is + still so bad, that unless pique urges her, she will not go out + to-day. For to-morrow I think I may venture to promise. I will + call, if possible, this morning. I know I must come before half + after one; but if you hear nothing more from me, you had better + come to my house this evening. + + Will you send the second volume of "Caleb," and pray _lend_ me a + bit of Indian-rubber. I have lost mine. Should you be obliged to + quit home before the hour I have mentioned, say. You will not + forget that we are to dine at four. I wish to be exact, because I + have promised to let Mary go and assist her brother this afternoon. + I have been tormented all this morning by puss, who has had four or + five fits. I could not conceive what occasioned them, and took care + that she should not be terrified. But she flew up my chimney, and + was so wild, that I thought it right to have her drowned. Fanny + imagines that she was sick and ran away. + + March 11, 1797. + + _Saturday morning._--I must dine to-day with Mrs. Christie, and + mean to return as early as I can; they seldom dine before five. + + Should you call and find only books, have a little patience, and I + shall be with you. + + Do not give Fanny a cake to-day. I am afraid she stayed too long + with you yesterday. + + You are to dine with me on Monday, remember; the salt beef awaits + your pleasure. + + March 17, 1797. + + _Friday morning._--And so, you goose, you lost your supper, and + deserved to lose it, for not desiring Mary to give you some beef. + + There is a good boy, write me a review of Vaurien. I remember there + is an absurd attack on a Methodist preacher because he denied the + eternity of future punishments. + + I should be glad to have the Italian, were it possible, this week, + because I promised to let Johnson have it this week. + +These notes speak for themselves. + +There was now a decided improvement in the lives of both Mary and Godwin. +The latter, under the new influence, was humanized. Domestic ties, which +he had never known before, softened him. He hereafter appears not only as +the passionless philosopher, but as the loving husband and the +affectionate father, little Fanny Imlay being treated by him as if she +had been his own child. His love transformed him from a mere student of +men to a man like all others. He who had always been, so far as his +emotional nature was concerned, apart from the rest of his kind, was, in +the end, one with them. From being a sceptic on the subject, he was +converted into a firm believer in human passion. With the zeal usually +attributed to converts, he became as warm in his praise of the emotions +as he had before been indifferent in his estimation of them. This change +is greatly to Mary's credit. As, in his Introduction to "St. Leon" he +made his public recantation of faith, so in the course of the story he +elaborated his new doctrines, and, by so doing, paid tribute to the woman +who had wrought the wonder. His hero's description of married pleasures +being based on his own knowledge of them, he writes:-- + + "Now only it was that I tasted of perfect happiness. To judge from + my own experience in this situation, I should say that nature has + atoned for all the disasters and miseries she so copiously and + incessantly pours upon her sons by this one gift, the transcendent + enjoyment and nameless delights which, wherever the heart is pure + and the soul is refined, wait on the attachment of two persons of + opposite sexes.... It has been said to be a peculiar felicity for + any one to be praised by a man who is himself eminently a subject + of praise; how much happier to be prized and loved by a person + worthy of love. A man may be prized and valued by his friend; but + in how different a style of sentiment from the regard and + attachment that may reign in the bosom of his mistress or his + wife.... In every state we long for some fond bosom on which to + rest our weary head; some speaking eye with which to exchange the + glances of intelligence and affection. Then the soul warms and + expands itself; then it shuns the observation of every other + beholder; then it melts with feelings that are inexpressible, but + which the heart understands without the aid of words; then the eyes + swim with rapture, then the frame languishes with enjoyment; then + the soul burns with fire; then the two persons thus blest are no + longer two; distance vanishes, one thought animates, one mind + informs them. Thus love acts; thus it is ripened to perfection; + never does man feel himself so much alive, so truly ethereal, as + when, bursting the bonds of diffidence, uncertainty, and reserve, + he pours himself entire into the bosom of the woman he adores." + +Mary was as much metamorphosed by her new circumstances as Godwin. Her +heart at rest, she grew gay and happy. She was at all times, even when +harassed with cares, thoughtful of other people. When her own troubles +had ceased, her increased kindliness was shown in many little ways, which +unfortunately cannot be appreciated by posterity, but which made her, to +her contemporaries, a more than ever delightful companion and sympathetic +friend. "She had always possessed," Godwin says of her, "in an +unparalleled degree the art of communicating happiness, and she was now +in the constant and unlimited exercise of it. She seemed to have attained +that situation which her disposition and character imperiously demanded, +but which she had never before attained; and her understanding and her +heart felt the benefit of it." She never at any time tried to hide her +feelings, whatever these might be; therefore she did not disguise her +new-found happiness, though she gave no reason for its existence. It +revealed itself in her face, in her manners, and even in her +conversation. "The serenity of her countenance," again to quote Godwin, +best of all authorities for this period of her life, "the increasing +sweetness of her manners, and that consciousness of enjoyment that seemed +ambitious that every one she saw should be happy as well as herself, were +matters of general observation to all her acquaintance." Her beauty, +depending so much more upon expression than upon charm of coloring or +regularity of features, naturally developed rather than decreased with +years. Suffering and happiness had left their impress upon her face, +giving it the strength, the strange melancholy, and the tenderness which +characterize her portrait, painted by Opie about this time. Southey, who +was just then visiting London, bears witness to her striking personal +appearance. He wrote to his friend Cottle:-- + + "Of all the lions or _literati_ I have seen here, Mary Imlay's + countenance is the best, infinitely the best; the only fault in it + is an expression somewhat similar to what the prints of Horne Tooke + display,--an expression indicating superiority, not haughtiness, + not sarcasm in Mary Imlay, but still it is unpleasant. Her eyes are + light brown, and although the lid of one of them is affected by a + little paralysis, they are the most meaning I ever saw."{1} + + {1} Mr. Kegan Paul, in the spring of 1884, showed the author of this + Life a lock of Mary Wollstonecraft's hair. It is wonderfully + soft in texture, and in color a rich auburn, turning to gold in + the sunlight. + +On March 29, 1797, after they had lived together happily and serenely for +seven months, Mary and Godwin were married. The marriage ceremony was +performed at old Saint Pancras Church, in London, and Mr. Marshal, their +mutual friend, and the clerk were the only witnesses. So unimportant did +it seem to Godwin, to whom reason was more binding than any conventional +form, that he never mentioned it in his diary, though in the latter he +kept a strict account of his daily actions. It meant as little to Mary as +it did to him, and she playfully alluded to the change, in one of her +notes written a day or two afterwards: + + March 31, 1797. + + _Tuesday._--I return you the volumes; will you get me the rest? I + have not perhaps given it as careful a reading as some of the + sentiments deserve. + + Pray send me by Mary, for my luncheon, a part of the supper you + announced to me last night, as I am to be a partaker of your + worldly goods, you know! + +They were induced to take this step, not by any dissatisfaction with the +nature of the connection they had already formed, but by the fact that +Mary was soon to become a mother for the second time. Godwin explains +that "she was unwilling, and perhaps with reason, to incur that exclusion +from the society of many valuable and excellent individuals, which custom +awards in cases of this sort. I should have felt an extreme repugnance to +the having caused her such an inconvenience." But probably another +equally strong motive was, that both had at heart the welfare of their +unborn child. In Godwin's ideal state of society, illegitimacy would be +no disgrace. But men were very far from having attained it; and children +born of unmarried parents were still treated as if they were criminals. +Mary doubtlessly realized the bitterness in store for Fanny, through no +fault of her own, and was unwilling to bring another child into the world +to meet so cruel a fate. So long as their actions affected no one but +themselves, she and Godwin could plead a right to bid defiance to society +and its customs, since they were willing to bear the penalty; but once +they became responsible for a third life, they were no longer free +agents. The duties they would thereby incur were so many arguments for +compliance with social laws. + +At first they told no one of their marriage. Mrs. Shelley gives two +reasons for their silence. Godwin was very sensitive to criticism, +perhaps even more so than Mary. He confessed once to Holcroft: "Though I +certainly give myself credit for intellectual powers, yet I have a +failing which I have never been able to overcome. I am so cowed and cast +down by rude and unqualified assault, that for a time I am unable to +recover." This was true not only in connection with his literary work, +but with all his relations in life. He knew that severe comments would be +called forth by an act in direct contradiction to doctrines he had +emphatically preached. His adherents would condemn him as an apostate. +His enemies would accept his practical retraction of one of his theories +as a proof of the unsoundness of the rest. It required no little courage +to submit to such an ordeal. But the other motive for secrecy was more +urgent. Mary, after Imlay left her, was penniless. She resumed at once +her old tasks. But her expenses were greater than they had been, and her +free time less, since she had to provide for and take care of Fanny. +Besides, Imlay's departure had caused certain money complications. Mr. +Johnson and other kind friends, however, were now, as always, ready to +help her out of pressing difficulties, and to assume the debts which she +could not meet. Godwin, who had made it a rule of life not to earn more +money than was absolutely necessary for his very small wants, and who had +never looked forward to maintaining a family, could not at once +contribute towards Mary's support, or relieve her financial +embarrassments. The announcement of their marriage would be the signal +for her friends to cease giving her their aid, and she could not, as yet, +settle her affairs alone. This was the difficulty which forced them into +temporary silence. + +However, to secure the end for which they had married, long concealment +was impossible. Godwin applied to Mr. Thomas Wedgwood of Etruria for a +loan of L50, without giving him any explanation for his request, though +he was sure, on account of his well-known economy and simple habits, it +would appear extraordinary. This sum enabled Mary to tide over her +present emergency, and the marriage was made public on the 6th of April, +a few days after the ceremony had been performed. One of the first to +whom Godwin told the news was Miss Hayes. This was but fair, since it was +under her auspices that they renewed their acquaintance to such good +purpose. His note is dated April 10:-- + + "My fair neighbor desires me to announce to you a piece of news + which it is consonant to the regard which she and I entertain for + you, you should rather learn from us than from any other quarter. + She bids me remind you of the earnest way in which you pressed me + to prevail upon her to change her name, and she directs me to add + that it has happened to me, like many other disputants, to be + entrapped in my own toils; in short, that we found that there was + no way so obvious for her to drop the name of Imlay as to assume + the name of Godwin. Mrs. Godwin--who the devil is that?--will be + glad to see you at No. 29 Polygon, Somer's Town, whenever you are + inclined to favor her with a call." + +About ten days later he wrote to Mr. Wedgwood, and his letter confirms +Mrs. Shelley's statement. His effort to prove that his conduct was not +inconsistent with his creed shows how keenly he felt the criticisms it +would evoke; and his demand for more money reveals the slender state of +the finances of husband and wife:-- + + NO. 7 EVESHAM BUILDINGS, SOMER'S TOWN, + April 19, 1797. + + You have by this time heard from B. Montague of my marriage. This + was the solution of my late application to you, which I promised + speedily to communicate. Some persons have found an inconsistency + between my practice in this instance and my doctrines. But I cannot + see it. The doctrine of my "Political Justice" is, that an + attachment in some degree permanent between two persons of opposite + sexes is right, but that marriage as practised in European + countries is wrong. I still adhere to that opinion. Nothing but a + regard for the happiness of the individual which I had no right to + injure could have induced me to submit to an institution which I + wish to see abolished, and which I would recommend to my fellow-men + never to practise but with the greatest caution. Having done what I + thought necessary for the peace and respectability of the + individual, I hold myself no otherwise bound than I was before the + ceremony took place. + + It is possible, however, that you will not see the subject in the + same light, and I perhaps went too far, when I presumed to suppose + that if you were acquainted with the nature of the case, you would + find it to be such as to make the interference I requested of you + appear reasonable. I trust you will not accuse me of duplicity in + having told you that it was not for myself that I wanted your + assistance. You will perceive that that remark was in reference to + the seeming inconsistency between my habits of economy and + independence, and the application in question. + + I can see no reason to doubt that, as we are both successful + authors, we shall be able by our literary exertions, though with no + other fortune, to maintain ourselves either separately or, which is + more desirable, jointly. The loan I requested of you was rendered + necessary by some complication in her pecuniary affairs, the + consequence of her former connection, the particulars of which you + have probably heard. Now that we have entered into a new mode of + living, which will probably be permanent, I find a further supply + of fifty pounds will be necessary to enable us to start fair. This + you shall afford us, if you feel perfectly assured of its + propriety; but if there be the smallest doubt in your mind, I shall + be much more gratified by your obeying that doubt, than superseding + it. I do not at present feel inclined to remain long in any man's + debt, not even in yours. As to the not having published our + marriage at first, I yielded in that to her feelings. Having + settled the principal point in conformity to her interests, I felt + inclined to leave all inferior matters to her disposal. + + We do not entirely cohabit. + + W. GODWIN. + +Strange to say, the announcement of their marriage did not produce quite +so satisfactory an effect as they had anticipated. Mary, notwithstanding +her frank protest, was still looked upon as Imlay's wife. Her intimate +connection with Godwin had been very generally understood, but not +absolutely known, and hence it had not ostracized her socially. If +conjectures and comments were made, they were whispered, and not uttered +aloud. But the marriage had to be recognized, and the fact that Mary was +free to marry Godwin, though Imlay was alive, was an incontrovertible +proof that her relation to the latter had been illegal. People who had +been deaf to her statements could not ignore this formal demonstration of +their truth. Hitherto, their friendliness to her could not be construed +into approval of her unconventionality. But now, by continuing to visit +her and receive her at their houses, they would be countenancing an +offence against morality which the world ranks with the unpardonable +sins. They might temporize with their own consciences, but not with +public opinion. They were therefore in a dilemma, from which there was no +middle course of extrication. Thus forced to decisive measures, a number +of her friends felt obliged to forego all acquaintance with her. Two whom +she then lost, and whom she most deeply regretted, were Mrs. Siddons and +Mrs. Inchbald. In speaking of their secession, Godwin says: "Mrs. +Siddons, I am sure, regretted the necessity which she conceived to be +imposed on her by the peculiarity of her situation, to conform to the +rules I have described." Mrs. Inchbald wept when she heard the news. +Godwin was one of her highly valued friends and admirers, and was a +constant visitor at her house. She feared, now he had a wife, his visits +would be less frequent. Her conduct on this occasion was so ungracious +that one wonders if her vanity were not more deeply wounded than her +moral sensibility. Her congratulations seem inspired by personal pique, +rather than by strong principle. She wrote and wished Godwin joy, and +then declared that she was so sure his new-found happiness would make him +forgetful of all other engagements, that she had invited some one else to +take his place at the theatre on a certain night when they had intended +going together. "If I have done wrong," she told him, "when you next +marry, I will do differently." Notwithstanding her note, Godwin thought +her friendship would stand the test to which he had put it, and both he +and Mary accompanied her on the appointed night. But Mrs. Inchbald was +very much in earnest, and did not hesitate to show her feelings. She +spoke to Mary in a way that Godwin later declared to be "base, cruel, and +insulting;" adding, "There were persons in the box who heard it, and they +thought as I do." The breach thus made was never completely healed. Mr. +and Mrs. Twiss, at whose house Mary had hitherto been cordially welcomed, +also sacrificed her friendship to what, Godwin says, they were "silly +enough to think a proper etiquette." + +But there still remained men and women of larger minds and hearts who +fully appreciated that Mary's case was exceptional, and not to be judged +by ordinary standards. The majority of her acquaintances, knowing that +her intentions were pure, though her actions were opposed to accepted +ideals of purity, were brave enough to regulate their behavior to her by +their convictions. Beautiful Mrs. Reveley was as much moved as Mrs. +Inchbald when she heard the news of Godwin's marriage, but her friendship +was formed in a finer mould. Mrs. Shelley says that "she feared to lose a +kind and constant friend; but becoming intimate with Mary Wollstonecraft, +she soon learnt to appreciate her virtues and to love her. She soon +found, as she told me in after days, that instead of losing one she had +secured two friends, unequalled, perhaps, in the world for genius, +single-heartedness, and nobleness of disposition, and a cordial +intercourse subsisted between them." It was from Mrs. Reveley that Mrs. +Shelley obtained most of her information about her mother's married life. +Men like Johnson, Basil Montague, Thomas Wedgwood, Horne Tooke, Thomas +Holcroft, did not of course allow the marriage to interfere with their +friendship. It is rather strange that Fuseli should have now been willing +enough to be civil. Marriage, in his opinion, had restored Mary to +respectability. "You have not, perhaps, heard," he wrote to a friend, +"that the assertrix of female rights has given her hand to the +_balancier_ of political justice." He not only called on Mrs. Godwin, but +he dined with her, an experiment, however, which did not prove +pleasurable, for Horne Tooke, Curran, and Grattan were of the party, and +they discussed politics. Fuseli, who loved nothing better than to talk, +had never a chance to say a word. "I wonder you invited me to meet such +wretched company," he exclaimed to Mary in disgust. + +Thomas Holcroft, one of the four men whom Godwin acknowledged to have +greatly influenced him, wrote them an enthusiastic letter of +congratulation. Addressing them both, he says:-- + + "From my very heart and soul I give you joy. I think you the most + extraordinary married pair in existence. May your happiness be as + pure as I firmly persuade myself it must be. I hope and expect to + see you both, and very soon. If you show coldness, or refuse me, + you will do injustice to a heart which, since it has really known + you, never for a moment felt cold to you. + + "I cannot be mistaken concerning the woman you have married. It is + Mrs. W. Your secrecy a little pains me. It tells me you do not yet + know me." + +This latter paragraph is explained by the fact that Godwin, when he wrote +to inform Holcroft of his marriage, was so sure the latter would +understand whom he had chosen that he never mentioned Mary's name. +Another friend who rejoiced in her new-found happiness was Mr. Archibald +Hamilton Rowan. But he was then living near Wilmington, Delaware, and the +news was long in reaching him. His letter of congratulation was, +strangely enough, written the very day on which Mary was buried. + +The announcement of this marriage was received in Norfolk by the Godwin +family with pleasure. Mrs. Godwin, poor old lady, thought that if her son +could thus alter his moral code, there was a greater chance of his being +converted from his spiritual backslidings. She wrote one of her long +letters, so curious because of their medley of pious sentiment and +prosaic realism, and wished Godwin and his wife happiness in her own name +and that of all his friends in her part of the country. Her good will to +Mary was practically expressed by an invitation to her house and a +present of eggs, together with an offer of a feather-bed. Her motherly +warning and advice to them was:-- + + "My dears, whatever you do, do not make invitations and + entertainments. That was what hurt Jo. Live comfortable with one + another. The Hart of her husband safely trusts in her. I cannot + give you no better advice than out of Proverbs, the Prophets, and + New Testament. My best affections attend you both." + +Mary's family were not so cordial. Everina and Mrs. Bishop apparently +never quite forgave her for the letter she wrote after her return to +England with Imlay, and they disapproved of her marriage. They complained +that her strange course of conduct made it doubly difficult for them, as +her sisters, to find situations. When, shortly after the marriage, Godwin +went to stay a day or two at Etruria, Everina, who was then governess in +the Wedgwood household, would not at first come down to see him, and, as +far as can be judged from his letters, treated him very coolly throughout +his visit. + +Godwin and Mary now made their joint home in the Polygon, Somer's Town. +But the former had his separate lodgings in the Evesham Buildings, where +he went every morning to work, and where he sometimes spent the night. +They saw little, if any, more of each other than they had before, and +were as independent in their goings-out and comings-in. On the 8th of +April, when the news was just being spread, Mary wrote to Godwin, as if +to assure him that she, for her part, intended to discourage the least +change in their habits. She says:-- + + "I have just thought that it would be very pretty in you to call on + Johnson to-day. It would spare me some awkwardness, and please him; + and I want you to visit him often on a Tuesday. This is quite + disinterested, as I shall never be of the party. Do, you would + oblige me. But when I press anything, it is always with a true + wifish submission to your judgment and inclination. Remember to + leave the key of No. 25 with us, on account of the wine." + +While Mary seconded Godwin in his domestic theories, there were times +when less independence would have pleased her better. She had been +obliged to fight the battle of life alone, and, when the occasion +required it, she was equal to meeting single-handed whatever difficulties +might arise. But instinctively she preferred to lean upon others for +protection and help. Godwin would never wittingly have been selfish or +cruel in withholding his assistance. But, as each had agreed to go his +and her own way, it no more occurred to him to interfere with what he +thought her duties, than it would have pleased him had she interfered +with his. She had consented to his proposition, and in accepting her +consent, he had not been wise enough to read between the lines. Much as +he loved Mary, he never seems to have really understood her. She had now +to take entire charge of matters which her friends had hitherto been +eager to attend to for her. They could not well come forward, once it had +become Godwin's right to do what to them had been a privilege. Mary felt +their loss and his indifference, and frankly told him so:-- + + "I am not well to-day," she wrote in one of their little + conversational notes, dated the 11th of April; "my spirits have + been harassed. Mary will tell you about the state of the sink, etc. + Do you know you plague me--a little--by not speaking more + determinately to the landlord, of whom I have a mean opinion. He + tires me by his pitiful way of doing everything. I like a man who + will say yes or no at once." + +The trouble seems to have been not easily disposed of, for the same day +she wrote again, this time with some degree of temper:-- + + "I wish you would desire Mr. Marshal to call on me. Mr. Johnson or + somebody has always taken the disagreeable business of settling + with tradespeople off my hands. I am perhaps as unfit as yourself + to do it, and my time appears to me as valuable as that of other + persons accustomed to employ themselves. Things of this kind are + easily settled with money, I know; but I am tormented by the want + of money, and feel, to say the truth, as if I was not treated with + respect, owing to your desire not to be disturbed." + +These were mere passing clouds over the bright horizon of their lives, +such as it is almost impossible for any two people living together in the +same relationship to escape. Both were sensitive, and each had certain +qualities peculiarly calculated to irritate the other. Mary was +quick-tempered and nervous. Godwin was cool and methodical. With Mary, +love was the first consideration; Godwin, who had lived alone for many +years, was ruled by habit. Their natures were so dissimilar, that +occasional interruptions to their peace were unavoidable. But these never +developed into serious warfare. They loved each other too honestly to +cherish ill-feeling. Godwin wrote to Mary one morning,-- + + "I am pained by the recollection of our conversation last night [of + the conversation there is unfortunately no record]. The sole + principle of conduct of which I am conscious in my behavior to you + has been in everything to study your happiness. I found a wounded + heart, and as that heart cast itself on me, it was my ambition to + heal it. Do not let me be wholly disappointed. + + "Let me have the relief of seeing you this morning. If I do not + call before you go out, call on me." + +He was not disappointed. A reconciliatory interview must have taken +place, for on the very same day Mary wrote him this essentially friendly +note:-- + + "Fanny is delighted with the thought of dining with you. But I wish + you to eat your meat first, and let her come up with the pudding. I + shall probably knock at your door in my way to Opie's; but should I + not find you, let me request you not to be too late this evening. + Do not give Fanny butter with her pudding." + +"Ours was not an idle happiness, a paradise of selfish and transitory +pleasures," Godwin asserts in referring to the months of their married +life. Mary never let her work come to a standstill. Idleness was a +failing unknown to her, nor had marriage, as has been seen, lessened the +necessity of industry. Indeed, it was now especially important that she +should exert her powers of working to the utmost, which is probably the +reason that little remains to show as product of this period. Reviewing +and translating were still more profitable, because more certain, than +original writing; and her notes to Godwin prove by their allusions that +Johnson continued to keep her supplied with employment of this kind. She +had several larger schemes afoot, for the accomplishment of which nothing +was wanting but time. She proposed, among other things, to write a series +of letters on the management of infants. This was a subject to which in +earlier years she had given much attention, and her experience with her +own child had been a practical confirmation of conclusions then formed. +This was to have been followed by another series of books for the +instruction of children. The latter project was really the older of the +two. Her remarks on education in the "Rights of Women" make it a matter +of regret that she did not live to carry it out. But her chief literary +enterprise during the last year of her life was her story of "Maria; or, +The Wrongs of Woman." Her interest in it as an almost personal narrative, +and her desire to make it a really good novel, were so great that she +wrote and rewrote parts of it many times. She devoted more hours to it +than would be supposed possible, judging from the rapidity with which her +other books were produced. + +But, however busy she might be, she was always at leisure to do good. +Business was never an excuse for her to decline the offices of humanity. +Everina was her guest during this year, and at a time, too, when it was +particularly inconvenient for her to have visitors. Her kindness also +revealed itself in many minor ways. When she had to choose between her +own pleasure and that of others, she was sure to decide in their favor. A +proof of her readiness to sacrifice herself in small matters is contained +in the following note, written to Godwin:-- + + _Saturday morning_, May 21, 1797. + + ... Montague called on me this morning, that is, breakfasted with + me, and invited me to go with him and the Wedgwoods into the + country to-morrow and return the next day. As I love the country, + and think, with a poor mad woman I know, that there is God or + something very consolatory in the air, I should without hesitation + have accepted the invitation, but for my engagement with your + sister. To her even I should have made an apology, could I have + seen her, or rather have stated that the circumstance would not + occur again. As it is, I am afraid of wounding her feelings, + because an engagement often becomes important in proportion as it + has been anticipated. I began to write to ask your opinion + respecting the propriety of sending to her, and feel as I write + that I had better conquer my desire of contemplating + unsophisticated nature, than give her a moment's pain. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +LAST MONTHS: DEATH. + +1797. + + +During the month of June of this year, Godwin made a pleasure trip into +Staffordshire with Basil Montague. The two friends went in a carriage, +staying over night at the houses of different acquaintances, and were +absent for a little more than a fortnight. Godwin, while away, made his +usual concise entries in his diary, but to his wife he wrote long and +detailed accounts of his travels. The guide-book style of his letters is +somewhat redeemed by occasional outbursts of tenderness, pleasant to read +as evidences that he could give Mary the demonstrations of affection +which to her were so indispensable. By his playful messages to little +Fanny and his interest in his unborn child, it can be seen that, despite +his bachelor habits, domestic life had become very dear to him. Fatigue +and social engagements could not make him forget his promise to bring the +former a mug. "Tell her" [that is, Fanny], he writes, "I have not +forgotten her little mug, and that I shall choose her a very pretty one." +And again, "Tell Fanny I have chosen a mug for her, and another for +Lucas. There is an F. on hers and an L. on his, shaped in an island of +flowers of green and orange-tawny alternately." He warns Mary to be +careful of herself, assuring her that he remembers at all times the +condition of her health, and wishes he could hear from moment to moment +how she feels. He and Montague, riding out early in the morning, recall +the important fact that it is the very hour at which "little Fanny is +going to plungity-plunge." When Mary's letters are accidentally detained +he is as worried and hurt as she would be under similar circumstances. +From Etruria he writes:-- + + "Another evening and no letter. This is scarcely kind. I reminded + you in time that it would be impossible to write to me after + Saturday, though it is not improbable you may not see me before the + Saturday following. What am I to think? How many possible accidents + will the anxiety of affection present to one's thoughts! Not + serious ones, I hope; in that case I trust I should have heard. But + headaches, but sickness of the heart, a general loathing of life + and of me. Do not give place to this worst of diseases! The least I + can think is that you recollect me with less tenderness and + impatience than I reflect on you. There is a general sadness in the + sky; the clouds are shutting around me and seem depressed with + moisture; everything turns the soul to melancholy. Guess what my + feelings are when the most soothing and consolatory thought that + occurs is a temporary remission and oblivion in your affections. + + "I had scarcely finished the above when I received your letter + accompanying T. W.'s, which was delayed by an accident till after + the regular arrival of the post. I am not sorry to have put down my + feelings as they were." + +But even his tenderness is regulated by his philosophy. The lover becomes +the philosopher quite unconsciously:-- + + "One of the pleasures I promised myself in my excursion," he writes + in another letter, "was to increase my value in your estimation, + and I am not disappointed. What we possess without intermission, we + inevitably hold light; it is a refinement in voluptuousness to + submit to voluntary privations. Separation is the image of death, + but it is death stripped of all that is most tremendous, and his + dart purged of its deadly venom. I always thought Saint Paul's + rule, that we should die daily, an exquisite Epicurean maxim. The + practice of it would give to life a double relish." + +Imlay, too, had found absence a stimulus to love, but there was this +difference in what at first appears to be a similarity of opinion between +himself and Godwin: while the former sought it that he might not tire of +Mary, the latter hoped it would keep her from growing tired of him. + +Mary's letters to her husband are full of the tender love which no woman +knew how to express as well as she did. They are not as passionate and +burning as those to Imlay, but they are sincerely and lovingly +affectionate, and reveal an ever increasing devotion and a calmer +happiness than that she had derived from her first union. Godwin, +fortunately, was able to appreciate them:-- + + "You cannot imagine," he tells her on the 10th of June, "how happy + your letter made me. No creature expresses, because no creature + feels, the tender affections so perfectly as you do; and, after all + one's philosophy, it must be confessed that the knowledge that + there is some one that takes an interest in one's happiness, + something like that which each man feels in his own, is extremely + gratifying. We love, as it were, to multiply the consciousness of + our existence, even at the hazard of what Montague described so + pathetically one night upon the New Road, of opening new avenues + for pain and misery to attack us." + +The letter to which he refers is probably the following, written two +days after his departure:-- + + It was so kind and considerate in you to write sooner than I + expected, that I cannot help hoping you would be disappointed at + not receiving a greeting from me on your arrival at Etruria. If + your heart was in your mouth, as I felt, just now, at the sight of + your hand, you may kiss or shake hands with the letter, and imagine + with what affection it was written. If not, stand off, profane one! + + I was not quite well the day after you left me; but it is past, and + I am well and tranquil, excepting the disturbance produced by + Master William's joy, who took it into his head to frisk a little + at being informed of your remembrance. I begin to love this little + creature, and to anticipate his birth as a fresh twist to a knot + which I do not wish to untie. Men are spoilt by frankness, I + believe, yet I must tell you that I love you better than I supposed + I did, when I promised to love you forever. And I will add what + will gratify your benevolence, if not your heart, that on the whole + I may be termed happy. You are a kind, affectionate creature, and I + feel it thrilling through my frame, giving and promising pleasure. + + Fanny wants to know "what you are gone for," and endeavors to + pronounce Etruria. Poor papa is her word of kindness. She has been + turning your letter on all sides, and has promised to play with + Bobby till I have finished my answer. + + I find you can write the kind of letter a friend ought to write, + and give an account of your movements. I hailed the sunshine and + moonlight, and travelled with you, scenting the fragrant gale. + Enable me still to be your company, and I will allow you to peep + over my shoulder, and see me under the shade of my green blind, + thinking of you, and all I am to hear and feel when you return. You + may read my heart, if you will. + + I have no information to give in return for yours. Holcroft is to + dine with me on Saturday; so do not forget us when you drink your + solitary glass, for nobody drinks wine at Etruria, I take it. Tell + me what you think of Everina's situation and behavior, and treat + her with as much kindness as you can,--that is, a little more than + her manner will probably call forth,--and I will repay you. + + I am not fatigued with solitude, yet I have not relished my + solitary dinner. A husband is a convenient part of the furniture of + a house, unless he be a clumsy fixture. I wish you, from my soul, + to be riveted in my heart; but I do not desire to have you always + at my elbow, although at this moment I should not care if you were. + Yours truly and tenderly, + + MARY. + + Fanny forgets not the mug. + + Miss Pinkerton seems content. I was amused by a letter she wrote + home. She has more in her than comes out of her mouth. My dinner is + ready, and it is washing-day. I am putting everything in order for + your return. Adieu! + +Once during this trip the peaceful intercourse between husband and wife +was interrupted. Godwin might philosophize to his heart's content about +the advantages of separation, but Mary could not be so sure of them. +Absence in Imlay's case had not in the end brought about very good +results; and as the days went by, Godwin's letters, at least so it seemed +to her, became more descriptive and statistical, and less tender and +affectionate. Interest in Dr. Parr and the Wedgwoods and the country +through which he was travelling overshadowed for the time being matters +of mere sentiment. With the memory of another correspondence from which +love had gradually disappeared, still fresh, she felt this change +bitterly, and reproached Godwin for it in very plain language:-- + + June 19, Monday, _almost 12 o'clock_. + + One of the pleasures you tell me that you promised yourself from + your journey was the effect your absence might produce on me. + Certainly at first my affection was increased, or rather was more + alive. But now it is just the contrary. Your later letters might + have been addressed to anybody, and will serve to remind you where + you have been, though they resemble nothing less than mementos of + affection. + + I wrote to you to Dr. Parr's; you take no notice of my letter. + Previous to your departure, I requested you not to torment me by + leaving the day of your return undecided. But whatever tenderness + you took away with you seems to have evaporated on the journey, and + new objects and the homage of vulgar minds restored you to your icy + philosophy. + + You tell me that your journey could not take less than three days, + therefore, as you were to visit Dr. D.[arwin]. and Dr. P.[arr], + Saturday was the probable day. You saw neither, yet you have been a + week on the road. I did not wonder, but approved of your visit to + Mr. Bage. But a _show_ which you waited to see, and did not see, + appears to have been equally attractive. I am at a loss to guess + how you could have been from Saturday to Sunday night travelling + from Coventry to Cambridge. In short, your being so late to-night, + and the chance of your not coming, shows so little consideration, + that unless you suppose me to be a stick or a stone, you must have + forgot to think, as well as to feel, since you have been on the + wing. I am afraid to add what I feel. Good-night. + +This misunderstanding, however, was not of long duration. The "little +rift" in their case never widened to make their life-music mute. Godwin +returned to London, his love in nowise diminished, and all ill-feeling +and doubts were completely effaced from Mary's mind. His shortcomings +were after all not due to any change in his affections, nor to the +slightest suspicion of satiety. By writing long letters with careful +description of everything he saw and did, he was treating Mary as he +would have desired to be treated himself. His "icy philosophy," which +made him so undemonstrative, was not altogether to her liking, but it was +incomparably better than the warmth of a man like Imlay, who was too +indifferent as to the individuality of the object of his demonstrations. +The uprightness of Godwin precluded all possibility of infidelity, and +once Mary's first disappointment at some new sign of his coldness was +over, her confidence in him was unabated. After this short interruption +to their semi-domestic life, they both resumed their old habits. Their +separate establishments were still kept up, their social amusements +continued, though Mary, because of the condition of her health, could not +now enter into them quite so freely, and the little notes again began to +pass between them. These were as amicable as they had ever been. In the +two following, the familiar friendly style of this curious correspondence +is not in the least impaired. The first is interesting in showing how far +she was from accepting her husband's opinion when her own reason was +opposed to it, and also in giving an idea of the esteem in which she was +held socially:-- + + June 25, 1797. + + I know that you do not like me to go to Holcroft's. I think you + right in the principle, but a little wrong in the present + application. + + When I lived alone, I always dined on a Sunday with company, in the + evening, if not at dinner, at St. P.[aul's with Johnson], + generally also of a Tuesday, and some other day at Fuseli's. + + I like to see new faces as a study, and since my return from + Norway, or rather since I have accepted of invitations, I have + dined every third Sunday at Twiss's, nay, oftener, for they sent + for me when they had any extraordinary company. I was glad to go, + because my lodging was noisy of a Sunday, and Mr. S.'s house and + spirits were so altered, that my visits depressed him instead of + exhilarating me. + + I am, then, you perceive, thrown out of my track, and have not + traced another. But so far from wishing to obtrude on yours, I had + written to Mrs. Jackson, and mentioned Sunday, and am now sorry + that I did not fix on to-day as one of the days for sitting for my + picture. + + To Mr. Johnson I would go without ceremony, but it is not + convenient for me at present to make haphazard visits. + + Should Carlisle chance to call on you this morning, send him to me, + but by himself, for he often has a companion with him, which would + defeat my purpose. + +The second note is even more friendly:-- + + _Monday morning_, July 3, 1797. + + Mrs. Reveley can have no doubt about to-day, so we are to stay at + home. I have a design upon you this evening to keep you quite to + myself--I hope nobody will call!--and make you read the play. + + I was thinking of a favorite song of my poor friend Fanny's: "In a + vacant rainy day, you shall be wholly mine," etc. + + Unless the weather prevents you from taking your accustomed walk, + call on me this morning, for I have something to say to you. + +But a short period of happiness now remained to them. Mary expected to be +confined about the end of August, and she awaited that event with no +misgivings. She had been perfectly strong and well when Fanny was born. +She considered women's illness on such occasions due much more to +imaginative than to physical causes, and her health through the past few +months had been, save for one or two trifling ailments, uncommonly good. +There was really no reason for her to fear the consequences. Both she and +Godwin looked forward with pleasure to the arrival of their first son, as +they hoped the child would prove to be. + +She was taken ill early on Wednesday morning, the 30th of August, and +sent at once for Mrs. Blenkinsop, matron and midwife to the Westminster +Lying-in Hospital. Godwin says that, "influenced by ideas of decorum, +which certainly ought to have no place, at least in cases of danger, she +determined to have a woman to attend her in the capacity of midwife." But +it seems much more in keeping with her character that the engagement of +Mrs. Blenkinsop was due, not so much to motives of decorum as to her +desire to uphold women in a sphere of action for which she believed them +eminently fitted. Godwin went as usual to his rooms in the Evesham +Buildings. Mary specially desired that he should not remain in the house, +and to reassure him that all was well, she wrote him several notes during +the course of the morning. These have no counterpart in the whole +literature of letters. They are, in their way, unique: + + Aug. 30, 1797. + + I have no doubt of seeing the animal to-day, but must wait for Mrs. + Blenkinsop to guess at the hour. I have sent for her. Pray send me + the newspaper. I wish I had a novel or some book of sheer + amusement to excite curiosity and while away the time. Have you + anything of the kind? + + Aug. 30, 1797. + + Mrs. Blenkinsop tells me that everything is in a fair way, and that + there is no fear of the event being put off till another day. Still + _at present_ she thinks I shall not immediately be freed from my + load. I am very well. Call before dinner-time, unless you receive + another message from me. + + _Three o'clock_, Aug. 30, 1797. + + Mrs. Blenkinsop tells me I am in the most natural state, and can + promise me a safe delivery, but that I must have a little patience. + +Finally, that night at twenty minutes after eleven, the child--not the +William talked of for months, but a daughter, afterwards to be Mrs. +Shelley--was born. Godwin was now sitting in the parlor below, waiting +the, as he never doubted, happy end. But shortly after two o'clock he +received the alarming news that the patient was in some danger. He went +immediately and summoned Dr. Poignard, physician to the Westminster +Hospital, who hastened to the assistance of Mrs. Blenkinsop, and by eight +o'clock the next morning the peril was thought safely over. Mary having +expressed a wish to see Dr. Fordyce, who was her friend as well as a +prominent physician, Godwin sent for him, in spite of some objections to +his so doing on the part of Dr. Poignard. Dr. Fordyce was very well +satisfied with her condition, and later, in the afternoon, mentioned as a +proof of the propriety of employing midwives on such occasions, for which +practice he was a strong advocate, that Mrs. Godwin "had had a woman, +and was doing extremely well." For a day or two Godwin was so anxious +that he did not leave the house; but Mary's progress seemed thoroughly +satisfactory, and on Sunday he went with a friend to pay some visits, +going as far even as Kensington, and did not return until dinner-time. +His home-coming was a sad one. Mary had been much worse, and in her +increasing illness had worried because of his long absence. He did not +leave her again, for from this time until her death on the following +Sunday, the physicians could give him but the faintest shadow of a hope. + +The week that intervened was long and suffering for the sick woman, and +heart-breaking for the watcher. Every possible effort was made to save +her; and if medical skill and the devotion of friends could have availed, +she must have lived. Dr. Fordyce and Dr. Clarke were in constant +attendance. Mr.--afterwards Sir--Anthony Carlisle, who had of his own +accord already called once or twice, was summoned professionally on +Wednesday evening, September 6, and remained by her side until all was +over. Godwin never left her room except to snatch a few moments of sleep +that he might be better able to attend to her slightest wants. His loving +care during these miserable days could not have been surpassed. Mary, had +she been the nurse, and he the patient, could not have been more tender +and devoted. But his curious want of sentiment, and the eminently +practical bent of his mind, manifested themselves even at this sad and +solemn time. Once when Mary was given an anodyne to quiet her wellnigh +unendurable pain, the relief that followed was so great that she +exclaimed to her husband, "Oh, Godwin, I am in heaven!" But, as Kegan +Paul says, "even at that moment Godwin declined to be entrapped into the +admission that heaven existed." His immediate reply was, "You mean, my +dear, that your physical sensations are somewhat easier." + +Mrs. Fenwick and Miss Hayes, two good true friends, nursed her and took +charge of the sick-room. Mr. Fenwick, Mr. Basil Montague, Mr. Marshal, +and Mr. Dyson established themselves in the lower part of the house that +they might be ready and on hand for any emergency. It is in the hour of +trouble that friendship receives its strongest test. Mary's friends, when +it came, were not found wanting. + +"Nothing," Godwin says, "could exceed the equanimity, the patience, and +affectionateness of the poor sufferer. I entreated her to recover; I +dwelt with trembling fondness on every favorable circumstance; and, as +far as it was possible in so dreadful a situation, she, by her smiles and +kind speeches, rewarded my affection." After the first night of her +illness she told him that she would have died during its agony had she +not been determined not to leave him. Throughout her sickness she was +considerate of those around her. Her ruling passion was strong in death. +When her attendants recommended her to sleep, she tried to obey, though +her disease made this almost impossible. She was gentle even in her +complaints. Expostulation and contradiction were peculiarly irritating to +her in her then nervous condition, but one night when a servant +heedlessly expostulated with her, all she said was, "Pray, pray do not +let her reason with me!" Religion was not once, to use Godwin's +expression, a torment to her. Her religious views had modified since the +days long past when she had sermonized so earnestly to George Blood. She +had never, however, despite Godwin's atheism, lost her belief in God nor +her reliance upon Him. But, at no time an adherent to mere form, she was +not disturbed in her last moments by a desire to conform to church +ceremonies. Religion was at this crisis, as it had always been, a source +of comfort and not of worry. She had invariably preferred virtue to vice, +and she was not now afraid of reaping the reward of her actions. The +probability of her approaching death did not occur to her until the last +two days, and then she was so enfeebled that she was not harassed by the +thought as she had been at first. On Saturday, the 9th, Godwin, who had +been warned by Mr. Carlisle that her hours were numbered, and who wished +to ascertain if she had any directions to leave, consulted her about the +future of the two children. The physician had particularly charged him +not to startle her, for she was too weak to bear any excitement. He +therefore spoke as if he wished to arrange for the time of her illness +and convalescence. But she understood his real motive. "I know what you +are thinking of," she told him. But she added that she had nothing to +communicate upon the subject. Her faith in him and in his wisdom was +entire. "He is the kindest, best man in the world," were among the very +last words she uttered before she lost consciousness. Her survival from +day to day seemed almost miraculous to the physicians who attended her. +Mr. Carlisle refused, until the very end, to lose all hope. "Perhaps one +in a million of persons in her state might possibly recover," he said. +But his hopes were vain. At six o'clock on Sunday morning, the 10th, he +was obliged to summon Godwin, who had retired for a few hours' sleep, to +his wife's bedside. At twenty minutes before eight the same morning, Mary +died. + +A somewhat different version of Mary's last hours and of the immediate +cause of her death is given in some manuscript "Notes and Observations on +the Shelley Memorials," written by Mr. H. W. Reveley, son of the Mrs. +Reveley who was Godwin's great friend. His account is as follows:-- + + "When Mrs. Godwin was confined of her daughter, the late Mary + Shelley, she was very ill; and my mother, then Mrs. Reveley, was + constantly visiting her until her death, eight days after her + confinement. I was often there with my mother, and I saw Mrs. + Godwin the day before her death, when she was considered much + better and quite out of danger. Her death was occasioned by a + dreadful fright, in this manner. At the time of her confinement a + gentleman and lady lodged in the first floor, whether as visitors + or otherwise I cannot say, but that they were intruders in some way + I am certain. The husband was continually beating his wife, and at + last there was a violent contest between them, owing to his + endeavoring to throw his wife over the balcony into the street. Her + screams of course attracted a crowd in front of the house. Mrs. + Godwin heard the lady's shrieks and the shouts of the crowd that a + man was throwing his wife out of the window, and the next day Mrs. + Godwin died. What became of that miscreant and his wife I never + knew." + +There may have been some foundation for this story. An ill-tempered +husband may have had lodgings in the same house; but it is extremely +doubtful that his ill-temper had so fatal an effect on Mary. Godwin +would certainly have recorded the fact had it been true, for his Memoir +gives the minutest details of his wife's illness. The very day on which +Mr. Reveley says Mary was out of danger was that on which Godwin was +asking her for final instructions about her children, so sure were the +physicians that her end was near. Mr. Reveley was very young at the time. +His observations were not written until he was quite an old man. It would +not be unlikely, then, that his memory played him false in this +particular. + +Mary was thirty-eight years of age, in the full prime of her powers. Her +best work probably remained to be done, for her talents, like her beauty, +were late in maturing. Her style had already greatly improved since she +first began to write. Constant communication with Godwin would no doubt +have developed her intellect, and the calm created by her more happy +circumstances would have lessened her pessimistic tendencies. Moreover, +life, just as she lost it, promised to be brighter than it had ever been +before. Godwin's after career shows that he would not have proved +unworthy of her love. Domestic pleasures were dear to her as intellectual +pursuits. In her own house, surrounded by husband and children, she would +have been not only a great but a happy woman. It is at least a +satisfaction to know that her last year was content and peaceful. Few +have needed happiness more than she did, for to few has it been given to +suffer the hardships that fell to her share. + +The very same day, Godwin himself wrote to announce his wife's death to +several of his friends. It was characteristic of the man to be systematic +even in his grief, which was sincere. He recorded in his diary the +details of each day during Mary's illness, and it was not until the last +that he shrank from coldly stating events to him so truly tragic. The +only dashes which occur in his diary follow the date of Sunday, Sept. 10, +1797. Kegan Paul says that his writing to his friends "was probably an +attempt to be stoical, but a real indulgence in the luxury of woe." To +Holcroft, who, he knew, could appreciate his sorrow, he said, "I firmly +believe that there does not exist her equal in the world. I know from +experience we were formed to make each other happy. I have not the least +expectation that I can now ever know happiness again." Mrs. Inchbald was +another to whom he at once sent the melancholy news. "I always thought +you used her ill, but I forgive you," he told her in his note. Now that +Mary was dead he felt the insult that had been shown her even more keenly +than at the time. His words roused all Mrs. Inchbald's ill-feeling, and, +with a singular want of consideration, she sent with her condolences an +elaborate explanation of her own conduct. Two or three more notes passed +between them. Godwin's plain-speaking--he told his correspondent very +clearly what he thought of her--is excusable. But her arguments in +self-justification and her want of respect for the dead are unpardonable. + +Basil Montague, Mrs. Fenwick, and Miss Hayes continued their friendly +help, and wrote several of the necessary letters for him. The following +is from Miss Hayes to Mr. Hugh Skeys, the husband of Mary's friend. It is +valuable because written by one who was with her in her last moments:-- + + SIR,--Myself and Mrs. Fenwick were the only two female friends + that were with Mrs. Godwin during her last illness. Mrs. Fenwick + attended her from the beginning of her confinement with scarcely + any intermission. I was with her for the four last days of her + life, and though I have had but little experience in scenes of this + sort, yet I can confidently affirm that my imagination could never + have pictured to me a mind so tranquil, under affliction so great. + She was all kindness and attention, and cheerfully complied with + everything that was recommended to her by her friends. In many + instances she employed her mind with more sagacity on the subject + of her illness than any of the persons about her. Her whole soul + seemed to dwell with anxious fondness on her friends; and her + affections, which were at all times more alive than perhaps those + of any other human being, seemed to gather new disinterestedness + upon this trying occasion. The attachment and regret of those who + surrounded her appeared to increase every hour, and if her + principles are to be judged of by what I saw of her death, I should + say no principles could be more conducive to calmness and + consolation. + +The rest of the letter is missing. + +Mrs. Fenwick was intrusted with the duty of informing the +Wollstonecrafts, through Everina, of Mary's death. Her letter is as +interesting as that of Miss Hayes:-- + + Sept. 12, 1797. + + I am a stranger to you, Miss Wollstonecraft, and at present greatly + enfeebled both in mind and body; but when Mr. Godwin desired that I + would inform you of the death of his most beloved and most + excellent wife, I was willing to undertake the task, because it is + some consolation to render him the slightest service, and because + my thoughts perpetually dwell upon her virtues and her loss. Mr. + Godwin himself cannot, upon this occasion, write to you. + + Mrs. Godwin died on Sunday, September 10, about eight in the + morning. I was with her at the time of her delivery, and with very + little intermission until the moment of her death. Every skilful + effort that medical knowledge of the highest class could make was + exerted to save her. It is not possible to describe the unremitting + and devoted attentions of her husband. Nor is it easy to give you + an adequate idea of the affectionate zeal of many of her friends, + who were on the watch night and day to seize on an opportunity of + contributing towards her recovery, and to lessen her sufferings. + + No woman was ever more happy in marriage than Mrs. Godwin. Who ever + endured more anguish than Mr. Godwin endures? Her description of + him, in the very last moments of her recollection was, "He is the + kindest, best man in the world." + + I know of no consolations for myself, but in remembering how happy + she had lately been, and how much she was admired and almost + idolized by some of the most eminent and best of human beings. + + The children are both well, the infant in particular. It is the + finest baby I ever saw. Wishing you peace and prosperity, I remain + your humble servant, + + ELIZA FENWICK. + + Mr. Godwin requests you will make Mrs. Bishop acquainted with the + particulars of this afflicting event. He tells me that Mrs. Godwin + entertained a sincere and earnest affection for Mrs. Bishop. + +The funeral was arranged by Mr. Basil Montague and Mr. Marshal for +Friday, the 15th. All Godwin's and Mary's intimate acquaintances were +invited to be present. Among these was Mr. Tuthil, whose views were +identical with Godwin's. This invitation gave rise to another short +correspondence, unfortunate at such a time. Mr. Tuthil considered it +inconsistent with his principles, if not immoral, to take part in any +religious ceremonies; and Godwin, while he respected his scruples, +disapproved of his coldness, which made such a decision possible. But he +was the only one who refused to show this mark of respect to Mary's +memory. Godwin himself was too exhausted mentally and physically to +appear at the funeral. When Friday morning came he shut himself up in +Marshal's rooms and unburdened his heavy heart by writing to Mr. +Carlisle. At the same hour Mary Wollstonecraft was buried at old Saint +Pancras, the church where but a few short months before she had been +married. A monument was afterwards erected over her willow-shadowed +grave. It bore this inscription:-- + + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN, + + AUTHOR OF + + A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN. + + BORN XVII. APRIL, MDCCLIX. + + DIED X. SEPTEMBER, MDCCXCVII. + +Many years later, when Godwin's body lay by her side, the quiet old +churchyard was ruined by the building of the Metropolitan and Midland +Railways. But there were those living who loved their memory too dearly +to allow their graves to be so ruthlessly disturbed. The remains of both +were removed by Sir Percy Shelley to Bournemouth where his mother, Mary +Godwin Shelley, was already laid. "There," Kegan Paul writes, "on a sunny +bank sloping to the west, among the rose-wreathed crosses of many who +have died in more orthodox beliefs, lie those who at least might each of +them have said,-- + + 'Write me as one who loves his fellow-men.'" + +Mary Wollstonecraft's death was followed by exhaustive discussion not +only of her work but of her character. The result was, as Dr. Beloe +affirms, "not very honorable to her fair fame as a woman, whatever it +might be to her reputation as an author." The following passage written +at this time shows the estimation in which she was held by a number of +her contemporaries:-- + + "She was a woman of strong intellect and of ungovernable passions. + To the latter, when once she had given the reins, she seems to have + yielded on all occasions with little scruple, and as little + delicacy. She appears in the strongest sense a voluptuary and + sensualist, but without refinement. We compassionate her errors, + and respect her talents; but our compassion is lessened by the + mischievous tendency of her doctrines and example; and our respect + is certainly not extended or improved by her exclaiming against + prejudices of some of the most dangerous of which she was herself + perpetually the victim, by her praises of virtue, the sanctity of + which she habitually violated, and by her pretences to philosophy, + whose real mysteries she did not understand, and the dignity of + which, in various instances, she sullied and disgraced." + +It was to silence such base calumnies that Godwin wrote his Memoirs. This +was undoubtedly the wisest way to answer Mary's critics. As he says of +Marguerite in "St. Leon," "The story of her life is the best record of +her virtues. Her defects, if defects she had, drew their pedigree from +rectitude of sentiment and perception, from the most generous +sensibility, from a heart pervaded and leavened with tenderness." That +truth is mighty above all things is shown by this story to have been her +creed. By it she regulated her feelings, her thoughts, and her deeds. +Whether her principles and conduct be applauded or condemned, she must +always be honored for her integrity of motive, her fearlessness of +action, and her faithful devotion to the cause of humanity. Like Heine, +she deserves to have a sword laid upon her grave, for she was a brave +soldier in the battle of freedom for mankind. + + +University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge. + + + + +_Messrs. Roberts Brothers' Publications._ + +_Famous Women Series._ + + +MRS. SIDDONS. + +By NINA H. KENNARD. + +One Volume. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. + + The latest contribution to the "Famous Women Series" gives the life + of Mrs. Siddons, carefully and appreciatively compiled by Nina H. + Kennard. Previous lives of Mrs. Siddons have failed to present the + many-sided character of the great tragic queen, representing her + more exclusively in her dramatic capacity. Mrs. Kennard presents + the main facts in the lives previously written by Campbell and + Boaden, as well as the portion of the great actress's history + appearing in Percy Fitzgerald's "Lives of the Kembles;" and beyond + any other biographer gives the more tender and domestic side of her + nature, particularly as shown in her hitherto unpublished letters. + The story of the early dramatic endeavors of the little Sarah + Kemble proves not the least interesting part of the narrative, and + it is with a distinct human interest that her varying progress is + followed until she gains the summit of popular favor and success. + The picture of her greatest public triumphs receives tender and + artistic touches in the view we are given of the idol of brilliant + and intellectual London sitting down with her husband and father to + a frugal home supper on retiring from the glare of the + footlights.--_Commonwealth._ + + We think the author shows good judgment in devoting comparatively + little space to criticism of Mrs. Siddons's dramatic methods, and + giving special attention to her personal traits and history. Hers + was an extremely interesting life, remarkable no less for its + private virtues than for its public triumphs. Her struggle to gain + the place her genius deserved was heroic in its persistence and + dignity. Her relations with the authors, wits, and notables of her + day give occasion for much entertaining and interesting anecdotical + literature. Herself free from humor, she was herself often the + occasion of fun in others. The stories of her tragic manner in + private life are many and ludicrous.... The book abounds in + anecdotes, bits of criticism, and pictures of the stage and of + society in a very interesting transitional period.--_Christian + Union._ + + A fitting addition to this so well and so favorably known series is + the life of the wonderful actress, Sarah Siddons, by Mrs. Nina + Kennard. To most of the present generation the great woman is only + a name, though she lived until 1831; but the present volume, with + its vivid account of her life, its struggles, triumphs, and closing + years, will give to such a picture that is most lifelike. A + particularly pleasant feature of the book is the way in which the + author quotes so copiously from Mrs. Siddons's correspondence. + These extracts from letters written to friends, and with no thought + of their ever appearing in print, give the most spontaneous + expressions of feeling on the part of the writer, as well as her + own account of many events of her life. They furnish, therefore, + better data upon which to base an opinion of her real personality + and character than anything else could possibly give. The volume is + interesting from beginning to end, and one rises from its perusal + with the warmest admiration for Sarah Siddons because of her great + genius, her real goodness, and her true womanliness, shown in the + relations of daughter, wife, and mother. Modern actresses, amateur + or professional, with avowed intentions of "elevating the stage," + should study this noble woman's example; for in this direction she + accomplished more, probably, than any other one person has ever + done, and at greater odds.--_N. E. Journal of Education._ + +_Sold by all booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by the +publishers_, + + ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON. + +_Already published:_ + + GEORGE ELIOT. By Mathilde Blind. + EMILY BRONTE. By Miss Robinson. + GEORGE SAND. By Miss Thomas. + MARY LAMB. By Mrs. Gilchrist. + MARGARET FULLER. By Julia Ward Howe. + MARIA EDGEWORTH. By Miss Zimmern. + ELIZABETH FRY. By Mrs. E. R. Pitman. + THE COUNTESS OF ALBANY. By Vernon Lee. + MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. By Mrs. E. R. Pennell. + HARRIET MARTINEAU. By Mrs. F. Fenwick Miller. + RACHEL. By Mrs. Nina H. Kennard. + MADAME ROLAND. By Mathilde Blind. + SUSANNA WESLEY. By Eliza Clarke. + MARGARET OF ANGOULEME. By Miss Robinson. + MRS. SIDDONS. By Mrs. Nina H. Kennard. + MADAME DE STAEL. By Bella Duffy. + HANNAH MORE. By Charlotte M. Yonge. + ADELAIDE RISTORI. An Autobiography. + ELIZ. BARRETT BROWNING. By J. H. Ingram. + JANE AUSTEN. By Mrs. Charles Malden. + SAINT THERESA. By Mrs. Bradley Gilman. + + +{Transcriber's note: + + A few obvious punctuation misprints have been corrected. + + "formed beween them at that time" corrected to + "formed between them at that time". + + "a new horse is inpected by a racer" corrected to + "a new horse is inspected by a racer". + + "fond of ingenious subtilties;" no change made. + + "sported with with impunity by the aristocracy" corrected to + "sported with impunity by the aristocracy". + + "which wooes me to stray abroad" no change made. + + "born March 3, 1756, at Wisbeach," no change made + (usual spelling is Wisbech). +} + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mary Wollstonecraft, by Elizabeth Robins Pennell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT *** + +***** This file should be named 22800.txt or 22800.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/0/22800/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Louise Pryor and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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