WITH A FORTRAIT, AND ONE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS
BY J. D. WATSON

ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY THE BROTHERS DALZIEL

LONDON

MEMOIR OF DE FOE.

DANIEL FOE, or, as he subsequently styled himself (though at what time and on what occasion is not known), De Foe, was born in the year 1661, in the parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, where his father, James Foe, followed the trade of butcher: and these few barren facts constitute all that is now authentically known of the origin of the author of ROBINSON CRUSOE. Mr. Wilson, in his "Life and Times of Daniel De Foe,"-a work abounding with curious and minute information on the period of which it treats, says :-" He had some collateral relatives, to whom he alludes occasionally in his writings, but with too much brevity to ascertain the degree of kindred.”

At an early age, De Foe is said to have shown that vivacity of humour, and that indomitable spirit of independence, that remained with him through after life: "making a sunshine in the shady place" of a prison, and arming him as the champion of truth and humanity in the most perilous times. The parents of De Foe were nonconformists, and his education was consonant to the practice of their faith. Family religion formed an essential part of its discipline; and it was made matter of conscience to instruct the children of a family and its dependents in their social, moral, and religious duties.

The enemies of De Foe vainly endeavoured to sink his reputation by representing him as having been bred a tradesman; we have, however, his own assurance that he was educated for the ministry, although he does not state why his destination was altered. He was at all events placed by his father at a Dissenting academy at Newington Green, under the direction of the Reverend Charles Morton, a man of learning and a judicious teacher, who was subsequently defended by his pupil, from some aspersions that had been cast upon his character by an ungrateful scholar who had deserted to the Church.

Of De Foe's progress under Mr. Morton, it is impossible now to speak with any certainty. He tells us in one of his "Reviews" that he had been master of five languages, and that he had studied the mathematics, natural philosophy, logic, geography, and history. De Foe was, moreover, one of the few who, in those days, studied politics as a science. He went through a complete course of theology, and his knowledge of ecclesiastical history was also considerable. Nevertheless, he was attacked by party malice as "an illiterate person without education." To this he calmly makes answer :-"Those gentlemen who reproach my learning to applaud their own, shall have it proved that I have more learning than either of thembecause I have more manners." He adds, "I think I owe this justice to my

excellent father still living (1705), and in whose behalf I fully testify, that if I am a blockhead, it is nobody's fault but my own."

At one-and-twenty, De Foe commenced the vocation-most perilous in his day -of author; at which he laboured through good and through evil report, with great honour to himself, and enduring benefit to mankind, for half a century. His first publication was a lampooning answer to L'Estrange's "Guide to the Inferior Clergy," and was intended to satirize the prevalent High Church notions of the day.

When the Duke of Monmouth landed at Lyme, in the year 1685, De Foc was among those who joined the standard of that hapless nobleman. At the age of four-and-twenty, we see De Foe a soldier, as ready with his sword as prompt with his pen, in the cause of rational liberty. Of Monmouth, De Foe seems to have had some previous knowledge, having often seen him at Aylesbury races, where the duke rode his own horses, a circumstance alluded to by our author in his "Tour." De Foe had the good fortune to escape the vengeance visited upon so 'many of the duke's supporters, and returned in safety to London; where, leaving the stormy region of politics, he now directed his attention to trade. The nature of his business, according to his own account, was that of a hose-factor, or the middle-man between the manufacturer and the retail hosier. This concern he carried on for some years, in Freeman's-court, Cornhill; Mr. Chalmers says, from 1685 to 1695. On the 26th of January, 1687-8, having claimed his freedom by birth, he was admitted a liveryman of London. In the Chamberlain's book, his name was written "Daniel Foe."

When the Revolution took place, De Foe was a resident in Tooting, where he was the first person who attempted to form the Dissenters in the neighbourhood into a regular congregation. He was an ardent worshipper of the Revolution, and annually commemorated the 4th of November as a day of deliverance.

The commercial speculations of De Foe, though at first prosperous, were ultimately unsuccessful. That they were of a varied character, is evident from the fact of his having engaged with partners in the Spanish and Portuguese trade. It is very clear, from a passage in his "Review," that he had been a merchant-adventurer. In the number for January 27, 1711, he alludes to an old Spanish proverb, "which," says he, "I learnt when I was in that country." It further appears, that while residing there, he made himself master of the language. De Foe's losses by shipwreck it is supposed must have been very considerable. In allusion to his misfortunes, Mr. Chalmers observes :-"With the usual imprudence of genius, he was carried into companies who were gratified by his wit. He spent those hours with a small society for the cultivation of polite learning, which he Dught to have employed in the calculations of the counting-house; and, being obliged to abscond from his creditors in 1692, he naturally attributed those misfortunes to the war, which were probably owing to his own misconduct. An angry creditor took out a commission of bankruptcy, which was scon superseded, on the petition of those to whom he was most indebted, who accepted a composition on his single bond. This he punctually paid, by the efforts of unwearied diligence; but some of these creditors, who had been thus satisfied, falling afterwards into distress themselves, De Foe voluntarily paid them their whole claim, being then in rising circumstances, in consequence of King William's favour." On being subsequently reproached by Lord Haversham for mercenary conduct, De Foe tells

him, in 1705, that, "with a numerous family, and no help but his own industry, he had forced his way, with undiscouraged diligence, through a set of misfortunes, and reduced his debts, exclusive of composition, from seventeen thousand to less than five thousand pounds." It should be remembered that, in those days, our laws against bankrupts were as cruelly oppressive as they were foolish.

It is certain that De Foe, whilst under apprehension from his creditors, resided some time in Bristol. "A friend of mine in that city," says Mr. Wilson, "informs me that one of his ancestors remembered De Foe, and sometimes saw him walking in the streets of Bristol, accoutred in the fashion of the times, with a fine flowing wig, lace ruffles, and a sword by his side: also, that he there obtained the name of the Sunday gentleman,' because, through fear of the bailiffs, he did not dare to appear in public upon any other day."

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It appears that at this time De Foe was invited, by some merchants of his acquaintance residing in Cadiz, to settle in Spain, with the offer of a good commission. But," says our author, "Providence, which had other work for me to do, placed a secret aversion in my mind to quitting England upon any account, and made me refuse the best offer of that kind, to be concerned with some eminent persons at home, in proposing ways and means to the government for raising money to supply the occasion of the war, then newly begun." De Foe suggested a general assessment of personal property, the amount to be settled by composition, under the inspection of commissioners appointed by the king. It was, doubtless, owing to these services, that he was appointed to the office of accountant to the commissioners of the glass duty, in 1695: which commission ceased in 1699. It was probably about this time that De Foe became secretary to the tile-kiln and brick-kiln works at Tilbury, in Essex. Pantiles had been hitherto a Dutch manufacture, and were brought in large quantities to England. To supersede the necessity of their importation, these works were erected. The speculation ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Towards the close of the war, in 1696-7, De Foe gave to the world his "Essay upon Projects:" a work alike admirable for the novelty of the subject, and the clearness and ingenuity with which it is treated. The projects of our author may be classed under the heads of politics, commerce, and benevolence; all having reference to the public improvement. The first relates to banks in general, and to the royal or national bank in particular, which he wishes to be rendered subservient to the relief of the merchant, and the interests of commerce, as well as to the purposes of the state; his next project relates to highways; a third, to the improvement of the bankrupt laws; a fourth, to the plan of friendly societies, formed by mutual assurance, for the relief of the members in seasons of distress; a fifth, for the establishment of an asylum for "fools," or, more properly, "naturals," whom he describes as "a particular rent-charge on the great family of mankind;" he next urges the formation of academies, to supply some neglected branches of education: one of these was for the improvement of the English tongue, "to polish and refine it;" and this project combined a reformation of that "foolish vice," swearing: another part of the project was an academy for military studies; and he also suggests an institution for the education of females.

In January, 1700-1, appeared De Foe's celebrated poem of "The Trueborn Englishman." It was composed in answer to "a vile, abhorred pamphlet, in very