Gleig, George Robert (1796-1888).—S. of George G., Bishop of Brechin, entered the army, and served in the Peninsula and America. In 1820 he took orders, and after serving various cures bec., in 1834, Chaplain of Chelsea Hospital, and in 1844 Chaplain-General of the Forces, which office he held until 1875. He was a frequent contributor to reviews and magazines, especially Blackwood's, in which his best known novel, The Subaltern, appeared, and he was also the author of Lives of Warren Hastings, Clive, and Wellington, Military Commanders, Chelsea Pensioners, and other works.
Glen, William (1789-1826).—Poet, b. in Glasgow, was for some years in the West Indies. He d. in poverty. He wrote several poems, but the only one which has survived is his Jacobite ballad, Wae's me for Prince Charlie.
Glover, Richard (1712-1785).—Poet and dramatist, was a London merchant, and M.P. for Weymouth. A scholarly man with a taste for literature, he wrote two poems in blank verse, Leonidas (1737), and The Athenaid (1787). Though not without a degree of dignity, they want energy and interest, and are now forgotten. He also produced a few dramas, which had little success. He is best remembered by his beautiful ballad, Hosier's Ghost, beginning "As near Portobello lying." G. had the reputation of a useful and public-spirited citizen.
Godwin, Mrs. Mary (Wollstonecraft) (1759-1797).—Miscellaneous writer, was of Irish extraction. Her f. was a spendthrift of bad habits, and at 19 Mary left home to make her way in the world. Her next ten years were spent as companion to a lady, in teaching a school at Newington Green, and as governess in the family of Lord Kingsborough. In 1784 she assisted her sister to escape from a husband who ill-treated her. In 1788 she took to translating, and became literary adviser to Johnson the publisher, through whom she became known to many of the literary people oi the day, as well as to certain Radicals, including Godwin, Paine, Priestly, and Fuseli, the painter. She then, 1792, went to Paris, where she met Captain Imlay, with whom she formed a connection, the fruit of which was her daughter Fanny. Captain Imlay having deserted her, she tried to commit suicide at Putney Bridge, but was rescued. Thereafter she resumed her literary labours, and lived with W. Godwin, who married her in 1797. Their dau., Mary, whose birth she did not survive, became the second wife of Shelley. Her chief original writings are a Reply to Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution (1791), Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792), and Original Stories for Children, illustrated by W. Blake. Her Vindication received much adverse criticism on account of its extreme positions and over-plainness of speech.
Godwin, William (1756-1836). Philosopher and novelist, b. at Wisbeach, and ed. at a school in Norwich, to which city his f., a Presbyterian minister, had removed, and subsequently at a Presbyterian coll. at Hoxton, with a view to the ministry.
