Helen Maria Williams

Posts in The Copybook credited to ‘Helen Maria Williams’

Helen Maria Williams (1759-1827) came to literary attention in 1788 with a poem in support of the abolition of slavery. Initially excited by the French Revolution of 1789, Williams spent much of her time in Paris supporting the new revolutionary government only to be imprisoned during the Terror. She nonetheless remained sympathetic to republican ideals, and her Sketches of the State of Manners and Opinions in the French Republic (1801) helped build up the reputation of that rising general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon’s subsequent career as an empire-builder disillusioned her, but she remained opposed to Britain’s intervention on the side of his opponents in Europe. Williams remained on the Continent, mainly in Paris, until her death. She became a naturalised French citizen in 1818.

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The Little Dog of Castiglione by Helen Maria Williams

Nothing seemed likely to stop Napoleon Bonaparte from conquering Europe, but one little fellow slowed him up a bit.

The Battle of Castiglione in northern Italy, on August 5th, 1796, was a resounding victory for Napoleon Bonaparte over the Austrian Empire. The general, who at that time was still serving the French Republic, read Helen Maria Williams’s account of his Italian campaign and told her later ‘that he would answer for the truth of all that she had reported’ — including, presumably, this poignant little scene.

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