Part 1 (1/2)

The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808)

by Daniel Defoe

THE LIFE OF DE FOE

Daniel De Foe was descended from a respectable family in the county of Northampton, and born in London, about the year 1663 His father, Jaate, and a protestant dissenter Why the subject of this memoir prefixed the _De_ to his family name cannot now be ascertained, nor did he at any period of his life think it necessary to give his reasons to the public The political scribblers of the day, however, thought proper to re so little of the _aht not be taken for an Englishh this idea could have had no other foundation than the circu William, attacked the prejudices of his countryood education at an acade De Foe, before he had attained his twenty-first year, coainst a very prevailing sentie to Vienna

This production, being very inferior to those of his nant author, despairing of success with his pen, had recourse to the sword; or, as he ter of the exploit in his latter years, ”displayed his attach the ill-advised insurrection under the Duke of Monmouth, in the west On the failure of that unfortunate enterprise, he returned again to the metropolis; and it is not i a native of London, and his person not doht facilitate his escape, and be the ht to trial for his share in the transaction With the professions of a writer and a soldier, Mr De Foe, in the year 1685, joined that of a trader; he was first engaged as a hosier, in Cornhill, and afterwards as a maker of bricks and pantiles, near Tilbury Fort, in Essex; but in consequence of spending those hours in the hilarity of the tavern which he ought to have e-house, his coed to abscond fro to attribute those misfortunes to the war and the severity of the ti to his own misconduct It isbeen freed fro in prosperous circu William's favour, he voluntarily paid most of his creditors both the principal and interest of their claims This is such an example of honesty as it would be unjust to De Foe and to the world to conceal The amount of the sums thus paid ly mentions to Lord Haversham, who had reproached him with covetousness; ”With a numerous family, and no helps but h a sea of misfortunes, and reduced my debts, exclusive of composition, from seventeen thousand to less than five thousand pounds”

At the beginning of the year 1700, Mr De Foe published a satire in verse, which excited very considerable attention, called the ”True-born Englishman” Its purpose was to furnish a reply to those ere continually abusing King Willia that the present race of Englisheneous brood, scarcely any of which could lay claim to native purity of blood The satire was in h offence, it claimed a considerable share of the public attention The reader will perhaps be gratified by a specimen of this production, wherein he endeavours to account for--

”What makes this discontented land appear Less happy now in times of peace, than war; Why civil feuds disturb the nation more, Than all our bloody wars had done before: Fools out of favour grudge at knaves in place, And race: The court preferments make men knaves in course, But they, ould be in theners that we repine, Would foreigners their perquisites resign: The grand contention's plainly to be seen, To get some men put out, and some put in”

It will be immediately perceived that De Foe could have no pretentious to the character of a _poet_; but he has, notwithstanding, some nervous and well-versified lines, and in choice of subject and lishman concludes thus:

Could but our ancestors retrieve their fate, And see their offspring thus degenerate; Hoe contend for birth and names unknown, And build on their past actions, not our own; They'd cancel records, and their toenerate race

For fame of families is all a cheat; 'TIS PERSONAL VIRTUE ONLY MAKES US GREAT

For this defence of foreigners De Foe was a William, who not only ordered him a pension, but as his opponents denoeneral to the court_; an office for which he was peculiarly well calculated, possessing, with a strongconscience which allowed hih convinced they were injurious to his country De Foe now retired to Newington with his family, and for a short time lived at ease; but the death of his royal patron deprived hienerous protector, and opened a scene of sorrohich probably ereat inclination to engage in religious controversy, and the furious contest, civil and ecclesiastical, which ensued on the accession of Queen Anne, gave hi his favourite passion He therefore published a tract entitled ”The shortest Way with the Dissenters, or Proposals for the Establishment of the Church,” which contained an ironical recommendation of persecution, but written in so serious a strain, that many persons, particularly Dissenters, at first h church party however saw, and felt the ridicule, and, by their influence, a prosecution was coainst hi a reward for his apprehension[1]

When De Foe found with how our himself and his pamphlet were about to be treated, he at first secreted hi taken into custody, he surrendered, being resolved, as he expresses it, ”to throw hiovernment, rather than that others should be ruined for his uilty, and sentenced to be imprisoned, to stand in the pillory, and to pay a fine of two hundred reat fortitude, and it seeht that he was treated with unreasonable severity So far was he fro ashamed of his fate himself, that he wrote a hy to his accusers:

Tell them, the men that plac'd hiuilt, And can't coht fit to introduce him in his Dunciad (probably from no other reason than party difference) characterises hih stood unabash'd De Foe

[Footnote 1: St James's, January 10, 1702-3 ”Whereas Daniel De Foe, alias De Fooe, is charged riting a scandalous and seditious pamphlet, entitled 'The shortest Way with the Dissenters:' he is a middle-sized spare man, about 40 years old, of a brown co, a hooked nose, a sharp chin, grey eyes, and a large mole near his mouth, was born in London, and for many years was a hose-factor, in Freeman's Yard, in Cornhill, and now is owner of the brick and pantile works near Tilbury Fort, in Essex; whoever shall discover the said Daniel De Foe, to one of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, or any of her Majesty's Justices of Peace, so as he may be apprehended, shall have a reward of 50_l_ which her Majesty has ordered immediately to be paid upon such discovery”

_London Gaz_ No 3679]

This is one of those instances of injustice and nity which so frequently occur in the Dunciad, and which reflect more dishonour on the author than on the parties traduced De Foe lay friendless and distressed in Newgate, his family ruined, and himself without hopes of deliverance, till Sir Robert Harley, who approved of his principles, and foresaw that during a factious age such a genius could be converted to s to the Queen, and at length procured his release The treasurer, Lord Godolphin, also sent a considerable sum to his wife and family, and to hie Gratitude and fidelity are inseparable from an honest man; and it was this benevolent act that proenious pen, when Anne lay lifeless, and his benefactor in the vicissitude of party was persecuted by faction, and overpowered, though not conquered, by violence

The talents and perseverance of De Foe began now to be properly estimated, and as a firm supporter of the administration, he was sent by Lord Godolphin to Scotland, on an errand which, as he says, was far fron to direct, or an honest e of commerce and revenue, his powers of insinuation, and above all, his readiness of pen, were dee the union of the two kingdoms; of which he wrote an able history, in 1709, with two dedications, one to the Queen, and another to the Duke of Queensbury Soon afterwards he unhappily, by sos, rendered himself suspected by both parties, so that he oncethe re withdrawn, and wearied with politics, he began to compose works of a different kind--The year 1715 arded as the period of De Foe's political life Faction henceforth found other advocates, and parties procured other writers to disseate their falsehoods