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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 5 of 8 →
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Review Of New Publications.
Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman . By William Godwin . 117110 . 3 s . 6 d . Johnson . « - WE have frequently had occasion to give our opinion of the writings of Mrs . Wollstonecraft , Mr . Godwin , and other authors of similar theories-As a piece of biography these Memoirs are of little importance . The intellectual character of Miry Wollstonecraft was much more impartially ascertained from her own writings than from the description and illustration of a
man influenced both by private affection and the sympathy of coincident opinion . Her moral character , according to her husband ' s account , was not such as to render her what he intends her to be , —a model for imitation . But though the publication is fat- from having the effeft which he wishes , yet is it not without its use . Intended for a beacon , it serves for a buoy . If it do not shew us what it is prudence to pursue , it manifests what is wisdom to avoid . It illustrates both the sentiments and the conduit resulting
from such princip les as those of Wollstonecraft and Godwin . The substance of Mrs . Wollstonecraft ' s moral history and principles was briefly this : She was a woman of benevolent propensities , which frequently operated to the good of those within the sphere of her actions ; but not fortified by sound principles , she considered herself as exempted from those restraints on inclination which are necessary to virtue and the good of society . The consequence of such an opinion , acting on the natural constitution , was ,
that , with the first man that happened to strike her fancy , she entered into a state of concubinage , a conduct highly approved of by . her biographer ; and , according to him , productive of the happiest consequences to her mind and MANNERS . Among other advantages which this 'virtuous woman planned from the concubinage , was a trip to America to elude her creditors . The desertion of her lover prevented this plan from being executed . Forsaken by her
paramour , she tried to drown herself ; but being saved from death , transferred her love from an absent to a PRESENT man ; from Imlay , an adventurer , to the Philosopher Godwin . Although they at last married ; yet they ^ as the Philosopher himself bears testimony , lived for several months in a state of illicit commerce . In speaking of" this intercourse , the Philosopher gives us his own -virtuous and beneficial notions , as 'cvsll as those of Mary , on the subject of marriage .
' We did not marry . It is difficult to recommend any thing to indiscriminate adoption , contrary to the established rules and prejudices of mankind ; but certainly nothing can be so ridiculous upon the face of it , 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 arrived at its climax :
' There were , however , other reasons why we did not immediately marry . Mary felt an entire conviction of the PROPRIETY OF HER CONDUCT . It would be absurd to suppose that , with a heart withered by desertion , she was not right to give way to the emotions of kindness which our intimacy produced , and to seek for that support in friendship and affection , which could alone give pleasure to her heart , and peace to her meditations / The reader is to observe that the Biographer afterwards married her . On
her death , to do honour to the memory of his wife , and to himself in ehusing such a --wife , he records these her adventures . In this way , and in this way only , the work is "Useful . In the moral sentiments of Godwin , and in the moral conduct of Wollstonecraft , resulting from their principles and theories , it exemplifies and illustrates the elfeifs of such doctrines . ¦ Let parents , anxious for the wehare of their children , statesmen of the community to which they belong , say if they would wish the members of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman . By William Godwin . 117110 . 3 s . 6 d . Johnson . « - WE have frequently had occasion to give our opinion of the writings of Mrs . Wollstonecraft , Mr . Godwin , and other authors of similar theories-As a piece of biography these Memoirs are of little importance . The intellectual character of Miry Wollstonecraft was much more impartially ascertained from her own writings than from the description and illustration of a
man influenced both by private affection and the sympathy of coincident opinion . Her moral character , according to her husband ' s account , was not such as to render her what he intends her to be , —a model for imitation . But though the publication is fat- from having the effeft which he wishes , yet is it not without its use . Intended for a beacon , it serves for a buoy . If it do not shew us what it is prudence to pursue , it manifests what is wisdom to avoid . It illustrates both the sentiments and the conduit resulting
from such princip les as those of Wollstonecraft and Godwin . The substance of Mrs . Wollstonecraft ' s moral history and principles was briefly this : She was a woman of benevolent propensities , which frequently operated to the good of those within the sphere of her actions ; but not fortified by sound principles , she considered herself as exempted from those restraints on inclination which are necessary to virtue and the good of society . The consequence of such an opinion , acting on the natural constitution , was ,
that , with the first man that happened to strike her fancy , she entered into a state of concubinage , a conduct highly approved of by . her biographer ; and , according to him , productive of the happiest consequences to her mind and MANNERS . Among other advantages which this 'virtuous woman planned from the concubinage , was a trip to America to elude her creditors . The desertion of her lover prevented this plan from being executed . Forsaken by her
paramour , she tried to drown herself ; but being saved from death , transferred her love from an absent to a PRESENT man ; from Imlay , an adventurer , to the Philosopher Godwin . Although they at last married ; yet they ^ as the Philosopher himself bears testimony , lived for several months in a state of illicit commerce . In speaking of" this intercourse , the Philosopher gives us his own -virtuous and beneficial notions , as 'cvsll as those of Mary , on the subject of marriage .
' We did not marry . It is difficult to recommend any thing to indiscriminate adoption , contrary to the established rules and prejudices of mankind ; but certainly nothing can be so ridiculous upon the face of it , 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 arrived at its climax :
' There were , however , other reasons why we did not immediately marry . Mary felt an entire conviction of the PROPRIETY OF HER CONDUCT . It would be absurd to suppose that , with a heart withered by desertion , she was not right to give way to the emotions of kindness which our intimacy produced , and to seek for that support in friendship and affection , which could alone give pleasure to her heart , and peace to her meditations / The reader is to observe that the Biographer afterwards married her . On
her death , to do honour to the memory of his wife , and to himself in ehusing such a --wife , he records these her adventures . In this way , and in this way only , the work is "Useful . In the moral sentiments of Godwin , and in the moral conduct of Wollstonecraft , resulting from their principles and theories , it exemplifies and illustrates the elfeifs of such doctrines . ¦ Let parents , anxious for the wehare of their children , statesmen of the community to which they belong , say if they would wish the members of