Mary Wollstonecraft | Page 2

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