Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/72

 64 GODWIN others, who had been brought to trial on a charge of treason. In the same year appeared hisTost remarkable work, " Caleb Williams," a novel designed to illustrate some of the pe- culiar views put forth in the "Inquiry con- cerning PoliticalJustice;" but the interest of the story is so predominant that the social ob- ject of the author was entirely overlooked. In '1796 he made the acquaintance of Mary Woll- stonecraft, author of the "Vindication of the (tights of Woman," and, in accordance with the views held by both of them respecting mar- riage, cohabited with her for six months, when for prudential reasons they were married. His wife died after giving birth to a daughter, who became the second wife of the poet Shelley. His " Memoirs of the Author of the Vindica- tion of the Rights of Woman " (1798) is a feel- ing tribute to her memory, but describes the details of her life with a minuteness which subjected him to considerable censure. In 1 799 appeared " St. Leon," containing many incred- ible situations, but also many passages of splen- did description and true pathos ; it purports to be the autobiography of a philosopher who has become immortal by the discovery of the elixir of life. On this and " Caleb Williams" his reputation chiefly rests. His other novels are "Fleetwood" (1805), " Mandeville " (1817), 44 Cloudesley " (1830), and " Deloraine " (1833). Among his other works were the tragedies 44 Antonio " (1800), and 4l Faulkner " (1807-'8) ; a 44 Life of Chaucer" (2 vols. 4to, 1803); 44 Lives of John and Edward Phillips, Nephews of Milton" (4to, 1815); and a "History of the Commonwealth " (4 vols. 8vo, 1824-'8), writ- ten with great impartiality, and valuable as a repository of facts. His last important work, 44 Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries " (1881), was a series of essays in the style of his earlier writings. A posthu- mous work by him, " The Genius of Christian- ity Unveiled," was published in 1873. For some years he carried on business as a book- seller, and under the name of Edward Baldwin published a number of children's books, small histories, and other compilations, some of which were by himself. In the latter part of his life be obtained a clerkship in the record office. utobiography, Memoirs, and Correspon- dence" wns pul.li.shcd in 1874. II. Mtry Woll- stonrrraft, an English authoress, wife of the pre- ceding, born in Beverley, Yorkshire, April 27, 1769, died in London, Sept. 10, 1797. Her fa- ther, a man of ungovernable temper, embittered her childhood by the cruelty with which he 1 his family. A natural independence <.f character induced her to sever herself from such a parent, and upon the death of her mother she established a school at Islington, in the di- rection of which she was assisted by two of her sisters. The illness of a friend in Lisbon called her thither f..r a while, and upon her return inland she found h.-r school ruined by mismanage-in, nt. Alter a short experience as a governess in the family of Lord Kingsborough, GODWIT she determined to devote herself to a literary life Having acquired considerable reputation by her " Thoughts on the Education of Daugh- ters " and some works of fiction, as also by translations of Lavater's "Physiognomy" and Salzmann's a Elements of Morality," she ven- tured in 1791 upon a reply to Burke's " Reflec- tions on the French Revolution," and soon after published her celebrated " Vindication of the Rights of Woman " (1791), in which the claim of woman to share with man the func- tions he has exclusively exercised is argued with boldness and ability. Full of enthusiasm for the new ideas which the French revolution had inaugurated, she went to Paris, only to find her hopes crushed by the overthrow of the Girondists. She here also formed a connection with an American named Imlay, who deserted her. Giving birth to a child, she endeavored to put an end to her existence, and afterward sought relief from her troubles in writing her "Letters from Sweden, Norway, and Den- mark" (1796), which she had visited while she had her home in Paris. In 1797 she was mar- ried to William Godwin, and she died in child- bed. Her posthumous works were published by her husband (4 vols. 12mo, 1798). GODWIT, a bird belonging to the scolopacida, or snipe family, and subfamily limosinw, which includes also the curlew. It forms the genus limosa (Briss.), characterized by a long slender bill, inclined a little upward and slightly thick- ened at the tip, with sides compressed and grooved on both mandibles for nearly the whole length ; the upper mandible a little the longer, and the gape moderate; wings long and pointed, the first quill the longest; tail short and even ; tarsi slender, longer than the middle toe ; toes long, the outer united to the middle by a membrane as far as the first joint; hind toe partly resting on the ground ; claws short and obtuse. The shape is more slender and the bill and legs longer than those of the snipes. They are shy birds, frequenting the seashore, living chiefly on worms which they draw from the mud ; they are found in most parts of the world, though most abundantly in cold climates, and their habits and manners are like those of the curlew ; the flesh is ex- cellent eating. The marbled godwit of the United States (L. fedoa, Linn.) is, in the fe- male, about 20 in. long to the end of the tail, the bill 4, tarsus 3, and wing 9 in. ; the malo is somewhat smaller. The general color above is brownish black variegated with pale reddish, the former in bands and the latter in spots; below pale rufous, with transverse brownish black lines on the breast and sides ; primaries dark brown on their outer webs, light rufous on the inner; tail light rufous, with brownish black bars; bill dark at the end, dull flesh color toward the base. It is found over the temperate regions of North America, and in South America ; it is abundant in Florida during the winter, going to the north to breed in spring, and returning about the last of Au-