, 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 discouragin