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Chapter VI - Godwin and The Rosicrucian
Novel
Godwin's mind and temper; the plan of Caleb Williams as described by
Godwin; his methods; the plot of Caleb Williams ; its interest as a
story; Godwin's limitations as a novelist; St. Lean ; its origin and
purpose; outline of the story; the character of Bethlem Gabor;
Godwin's treatment of the Rosicrucian legend; a parody of St. Lean ;
the
supernatural in Cloudesley and in Lives of the Necromancers ;
Moore's Epicurean ; Croly's Salathiel ; Shelley's youthful
enthusiasm for the tale of terror; Zastrozzi ; its lack of
originality; St. Irvyne ; traces of Shelley's early reading in his
poems.
When
Miss Austen was asked to write a
historical romance "illustrative of the house of Coburg," she airily
dismissed the suggestion, pleading mirthfully: "I could not sit down
seriously to write a serious romance under any other motive than to
save my life, and if it were indispensable for me to keep it up and
never relax into laughing at myself or at other people I am sure I
should be hung before I had finished the first Chapter."
If
Godwin had been confronted with the same offer, he would have
settled himself promptly to plot out a scheme, and within a few
months a historical romance on the house of Coburg, accompanied
perchance by a preface setting forth the evils of monarchy, would
have been in the hands of the publisher.
Jane
Austen
Unlike
Miss Austen, Godwin
had neither a sense of humour nor a fastidious artistic conscience
to save him from undertaking incongruous tasks. He seems never even
to have suspected the humour of life, and would have perceived
nothing ludicrous in the spectacle of the author of Political
Justice embarking on such a piece of work.
Those disquieting flashes
of self- revelation that more imaginative men catch in the mirror of
their own minds and that awaken sometimes laughter and sometimes
tears, never disturbed Godwin's serenity. He brooded earnestly over
his speculations, quietly ignoring inconvenient facts and never
shrinking from absurd conclusions.
In theory he aimed at
disorganising the whole of human society, yet in actual life he was
content to live unobtrusively, publishing harmless books for
children; and though he abhorred the principle of aristocracy, he
did not scruple to accept a sinecure from government through Lord
Grey.
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