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. Sh