Rusk: The Adventures op Gilbert Imlay 
21 
pro] ect/U there seems to be no proof that Imlay was again 
involved. At any rate he had long since become interested in 
adventures of a different sort, which might well have engaged 
his whole attention. 
VI 
Imlay 's liaison with Mary' Wollstonecraft, which, according 
to Godwin, had begun about 'Tour months after her arrival 
at Paris in December, 1792’’^^ (when, as we have seen, Imlay 
was deeply involved in the Louisiana intrigues), is narrated 
at length in Mary WollstonecrafPs letters and in Godwin’s 
Memoirs; and on these matters Godwin, who was unconven- 
tionally frank in discussing personal affairs, and who not only 
edited the letters, but had the advantage of learning many 
details of the story from the lips of the woman who wrote 
them, may still be taken as the best authority. According to 
Godwin^^ the first meeting was at the Paris home of Thomas 
Christie, whose wife was Mary Wollstonecraft’s closest 
friend during the early part of the latter’s sojourn in France. 
It was probably not long after this first meeting that Imlay 
was often with Mary in the circle which formed about Paine. 
The allusions in Mary’s letters'^ and in Godwin’s Memoirs^ to 
a cherished plan of settling on a farm in America are not, per- 
haps, without added significance when viewed in the light of 
the fact that during the early period of the acquaintance the 
way seemed open to success for Imlay thru the Louisiana ex- 
pedition. A plantation in the West would have been only a 
reasonable reward, and Brissot himself, we are told by Ma- 
dame Roland,^® had at one time looked forward to the same 
kind of retreat in America. On the other hand, the failure 
of the Louisiana scheme may have had some bearing upon 
ImJay’s decision to engage in business, which, if Godwin’s 
chronology is correct, was not put into effect until the 
See letter from Fulton to Clark, February 13, 1795 {Ibid., for 1896, I, 1086). 
Memoirs, p. 103. Cf. Ibid., p. 106. 
'^Ibid., p. 104. 
Christie, who was one of the few foreigners to enjoy the honor of French citizen- 
ship (see above, footnote 65), may have had some influence in furthering the political 
fortunes of Imlay, with whom he was later associated in business. 
'■ Posthu7rious Works, III, 108. 
^•'^Pp. 107-108. 
Memoirs, ed. Dauban, p. 230. See also Notice sur Brissot par Petion in J.-P. 
Brissot Me^noires {1754--1793) publics avec etude critique et notes par Cl. Perroud, p, 368. 
Memoirs, pp. 107 and 114-115. 
