“Dear Sir,—I am very much
concerned at being obliged to trouble you on a subject which has lately
occasioned me some uneasiness, and on which I must request your kind
assistance. Before I left London, you were so good as to give me letters of
introduction to two persons here with whom you thought I should like to be
acquainted. In a very few days after my arrival I sent that which was addressed
to Mr Holcroft, who immediately called
on me, and has been since that time (till within this last fortnight) one of
our constant visitors. I met him with prejudices in his favour, the result of
his political opinions, his literary pursuits, and your friendship for him. His
conversation at first pleased me, as it appeared to be rational and moral, and
the great affection which he expressed for his wife and children interested me
in regard to both him and them. I am too apt to form favourable opinions
precipitately, and it was unfortunately the case in this instance. I thought so
well of Mr Holcroft after a fortnight’s
acquaintance, that I asked his advice respecting a governess for my daughters,
thinking it probable that he might know of some English or French woman in
Paris who might be qualified for such a situation. He said he knew of but one
person whom he could recommend as being perfectly calculated for such a trust;
that this person was his daughter, but that he did not believe that it would be
possible for her to undertake it. However, he gave me some hopes; in
| 114 | WILLIAM GODWIN |
“She had been represented to me as being extremely well educated and highly accomplished, deficient in nothing except those exterior trifles respecting manner which proceed from knowledge of the world, and an intercourse with polished society. Imagine my disappointment at finding her a frivolous, romantic girl, with an uncultivated mind, a character devoid of delicacy, a total want of method, order, and discretion; in short, with nothing to recommend her but a clumsy goodness of heart, a sweet temper, and her accomplishments, which consist of music, and of some of the modern languages. Of all persons I have ever met with, she is the most unfit to be entrusted with the education of youth; and had my daughters been a very few days older than they are, I could not have suffered them to remain with her for even so short a time as three weeks. In a very few days after the arrival of Miss Holcroft, Lord Mountcashel was informed by some officious persons who had seen Mr Holcroft here that he had been tried for high treason, and that he and some other of my acquaintance were notorious English democrats, whom it would be prudent for loyal British subjects to avoid. This was about the 23d or 24th of January.
“Lord Mountcashel
informed me of it some days afterwards as a thing very disagreeable to him,
saying that he was extremely sorry I had brought Miss Holcroft into the house, and wished her to be removed from
it as soon as possible; and on finding that the more I knew of her the less I
approved of her as a governess for my children, I determined to avail myself of
this prejudice of Lord Mountcashel to dismiss her in a
delicate manner, without hurting the feelings of either father or daughter. I
therefore wrote Mr Holcroft a letter (a
copy of which I will send you), in which I suppressed a part of the truth, and
only mentioned one of the causes of her dismission. Mr H.
immediately sent for his
| FANNY HOLCROFT. | 115 |
“With a thousand good wishes for your little girls, and all the rest of your family, I remain, dear Sir, with great respect and esteem, yours very sincerely,
