with a steady and unbiassed justice, but with a strict regard to all parties as to property, and as to liberty both civil and ecclesiastical. "Tis true, her majesty expressed in her first speech a true zeal and affection for the Church of England, and in the most passionate and obliging terms, told them that they should be the men of her favour; that she would screen the Dissenters, and take them into her pro tection, they behaving themselves dutifully and peaceably to the government; but that the most zealous members of the Church of England should be the most trusted, honoured, and employed by her, and the like. I confess, it is very surprising, and would move any man to an unusual degree, to reflect what use some gentlemen made of words so honestly designed, so candidly spoken, and so directly pursued; and on their mistake I must be allowed to ground a great many of the unhappy methods some gentlemen took to raise new divisions, and widen old breaches in the nation: whose success in the wicked endeavour brought us to the brink of an unseen snare, and left the nation in a most dangerous crisis; which, had it not been taken in time, would have endangered the whole government, and have bid fair for a re-revolution, into Popish and French slavery.' In this passage, De Foe alludes to the precipitancy of the new ministers, who, says he, ran themselves out of breath, till, Phæton like, they forced our English Jupiter to overturn them, to save the world from being set on fire by their beadstrong fury and impolitic precipitation." In drawing the inference, that the queen meant to give up the Dissenters to the fury of the high-church party, De Foe says, "They committed one of the greatest absurdities imaginable, in that they must suppose her majesty what I have more manners than to mention; when at the same time, the Dissenters had the royal promise for protection, which they resolved not to forfeit by any undutiful behaviour whatsoever."" Vol. ii. pp. 5, 6. The clergy of that period had mostly forgotten the circumstances in which the church had been placed before the Revolution, and the services which the Dissenters had rendered to it. They had also forgotten the principles of the Revolution itself. They were mostly high Tories in politics, and, as a body, were much more disposed and fitted to promote the interests of party politics, than to advance the religion of Jesus. "This heat and fury of the clergy Indicrous, and attended with all the little went to that height, that even it became excesses which a person elevated beyond the government of himself by some sudknown author remarks, that upon the resden joy, is usually subject to. And, as a toration of King Charles II., the excesses and transports of the clergy and people ran out into revels, may-poles, and all time, there were more may-poles set up manner of extravagancies; so, at this in one year in England, than had been in twenty years before. Ballads for the church was another expression of their zeal, wherein generally, the chorus or burthen of the song was, Down with the Presbyterians.' And to such a heighth were things brought, that the Dissenters began to be insulted in every place; their meeting-houses and assemblies assaulted by the mob; and even their ministers and preachers were scarce admitted to pass the streets.””—Vol. ii. p. 9. 6 While party feuds ran high, De Foe, luckless wight that he was, published, anonymously, a political sqnib, entitled, "The shortest Way with the Dissenters." "In this piece of exquisite irony," says Mr. Wilson, “produced by De Foe upon this occasion, he so artfully concealed his design, that all parties were at first imposed upon. He began with such bitter reflections upon the Dissenters, and their principles, that it was for some time taken to be the work of a violent churchman, and met with applause from some of that party in the two Universities. He tells his readers, It is now near fourteen years that the glory and peace of the finest and most flourishing church in the world has been eclipsed, buffeted, and disturbed by a sort of men, whom God, in his Providence, has suffered to insult over her, and bring her down. have been the days of her humiliation and tribulation. She has borne, with an invincible patience, the reproach of the wicked, and God has at last heard her prayers, and delivered her from the oppression of the stranger. And now they find their day is over, their power gone, and the throne of this nation possessed by a royal, English, true and ever-constant These member of, and friend to, the church. Now they find that they are in danger of the Church of England's just resentments, they cry out, peace, union, for bearance, and charity; as if the church had not too long harboured her enemies under her wing, and nourished the viperous brood, till they hiss and fly iu the face of the mother that cherished them. No, gentlemen, the time of mercy is past; your day of grace is over; you should have practised peace, and moderation, and charity, if you expected any yourselves.' "In order to furnish arguments for proceeding against the Dissenters with the utmost severity, De Foe takes a review of their conduct in the preceding reigns, aggravating it in terms of the bitterest reproach; whilst he extols, in equally strong language, the lenity and forbearance of the church. The minds of men must have been strangely obtuse, not to perceive the irony of the following passage: The first execution of the laws against Dissenters in England, was in the days of King James 1. And what did it amount to? Truly, the worst they suffered was, at their own request, to let them go to New-England, and erect a colony, give them great privileges, defend them against invaders, and receive no taxes nor revenue from them. This was the cruelty of the Church of England. Fatal lenity! Had King James sent all the Puritans in England away to the West Indies, we had been a national unmixed church. To requite the lenity of the father, they take up arms against the son; conquer, pursue, take, imprison, and at last put to death the anointed of God, and destroy the being of government! In the days of King Charles II, how did the church reward their bloody doings with lenity and mercy? King Charles came in all mercy and love, cherished them, preferred them, with held the rigour of the law, and often. times, even against the advice of his parliament, gave them liberty of conscience. And how did they requite him with the villanous contrivance to depose and murder him, and his successor, at the Ryeplot? King James II. as if mercy was the inherent quality of the family, began his reign with unusual favour to them, Nor could their joining the Duke of Monmouth against him, move him to do himself justice upon them: But that mistaken prince thought to win them by gen tleness and love. How they requited him all the world knows.""-Vol. ii. pp. 51, 52. As the cure of these evils in Church and State which the Dis senters produced, he finally proposes to hang their ministers, and banish the people. "Tis vain to trifle,' he says, in this matter. The light, foolish handling of them by fines, is their glory and advantage. If the gallows instead of the Compter, and the gallies instead of the fines, were the reward of going to a conventicle, there would not be so many sufferers. The spirit of martyrdom is over. They that will go to church to be chosen sheriffs and mayors, would go to forty churches rather than be hanged. If one severe law was made and punctually exe→ cuted, that whoever was found at a con venticle should be banished the nation, and the preacher be hanged, we should soon see an end of the tale; they would all come to church; and one age would make us all one again. To talk of five shillings a month for not coming to the sacrament, and one shilling a week for not coming to church, is such a way of converting people as never was known. This is selling them a liberty to transgress for so much money. If it be not a crime, why don't we give them full license? And if it be, no price ought to compound for the committing it; for that is selling a liberty to people to sin against God and the government. We hang men for trifles, and banish them for things not worth naming; but an offence against God and the Church, against the welfare of the world, and the dignity of religion, shall be bought off for five shillings. This is such a shame to a Christian government, that, 'tis with regret, I transmit it to posterity.""-- Vol. ii. pp. 54, 55. This sixpenny brochure, strange as it may appear to us who live in these sober days, created a prodigious ferment in Church and State. Both Churchmen and Dissenters thought it serious; not a few of the former were mightily pleased with the proposal; while the latter began to look very grave, and to prepare jackets and speeches for Tyburn and Smithfield. Government took up the question, advertised a reward for the author, and on his delivering himself up, and assuring all parties that it was a joke, they were all so enraged at him, the Church at being disappointed, and the Dissenters at being hoaxed, that it benefit of the law. was resolved to give him the full "His wit having been construed into a libel by the grand jury, he was indicted at the Old Bailey sessions, the 24th of February, 1703, and proceeded to trial in the following July. Sir Simon Harcourt, who was Attorney-General, and conducted the prosecution, bore upon De Foe with great severity, which drew from him the following remarks: To hear of a gentleman telling me the The shortest Way,' was paving the way over the skulls of churchmen, that it is a crime to justify it, should have been said by no man but him who could first answer this question: Whether all that was ironically said in that book, was not seriously as well as with a malicious earnest, published with impunity in print a hundred times before crime, flies so much in the face of the churchmen, that it upbraids them with blowing up their own cause, and ruining their friends by a method they at the same time condemn in others. Upon this foot I again say, the book was just, its design fair, and all the facts charged upon them very true.'"-Vol. ii. p. 65. and since? To say, then, that this was a "Nothing but the utmost weakness, or wickedness, on the part of the bar, bench, and jury, can account for the issue of the trial. Such was the animosity that pervaded the rulers of the state, that it is probable nothing would have availed in his defence; for party-feeling pervaded even the seat of justice. This was apparent in the severity of his sentence, which was to the following purpose: That he pay a fine of 200 marks to the queen ; stand three times in the pillory; be imprisoned during the queen's pleasure; and find sureties for his good behaviour for seven years. "It has been justly remarked, that 'This very infamous sentence reflected much more dishonour on the Court by which it was pronounced, than upon De Foe upon whom it was inflicted.' And so it was considered by many persons at the time; for he was guarded to the pillory by the populace, as if he was about to be enthroned in a chair of state, and descended from it with the triumphant acclamations of the surrounding multitude. In allusion to this, one of his adversaries has the following couplet : "The shouting crowds their advocate proclaim, And varnish over infamy with fame.' "De Foe has himself told us, 'That the people, who were expected to treat him very ill, on the contrary pitied him, and wished those who set him there were placed in his room, and expressed their affections by loud shouts and acclamations when he was taken down.'"-Vol. ii. pp. 67, 68, 69. The issue of this ridiculous farce was, De Foe's publishing a Hymn to the Pillory, and effectually converting the instrument of his punishment into the means of popularity and honour. It stamped all parties with disgrace but the man for whom it was intended; all the odium of his situation being transferred to those who placed him in it. We have given a longer detail of the circumstances of this affair than is quite convenient for our limits, not only because it is one of the most curious incidents in the life of this singular man, but because it shows more than even some affairs of greater moment, the peculiar spirit of the times. While the pillory inflicted no disgrace on De Foe, his fine and imprisonment interfered with his attention to business, and contributed to ruin his fortune. Nothing, however, could break the spirit of such a man. Even in Newgate he wrote, and he sung "Stone walls do not a prison make, His reflections on his own history, 66 "I am a stoick in whatever may be the event of things. I'll do and say what I think is a debt to justice and truth, without the least regard to clamour and reproach; and as I am utterly unconcerned at human opinion, the people that throw away their breath so freely in censuring me, may consider of some better improvement to make of their passions, than to waste them on a man, that is both above and below the reach of them. I know too much of the world to expect good in it, and have learnt to value it too little to be concerned at the evil. I have gone through a life of wonders, and am the subject of a vast variety of providences; I have been fed more by miracle than Elijah, when the ravens were his purveyors. I have sometime ago summed up the scenes of my life in this distich: 'No man has tasted differing fortunes more, And thirteen times I have been rich and poor.' "In the school of affliction I have learnt more philosophy than at the academy, and more divinity than from the pulpit; in prison I have learnt to know that liberty does not consist in open doors, and the free egress and regress of locomotion. I have seen the rough side of the world as well as the smooth; and have in less than half a year, tasted the difference between the closet of a king, and the dungeon of Newgate. I have suffered deeply for cleaving to principles, of which integrity I have lived to say, none but those I suffered for, ever reproached me with it. The immediate causes of my suffering have been the being betrayed by those I have trusted, and scorning to betray those who trusted To the honour of English gratitude, I have this remarkable truth to leave behind me-1 -that I was never so basely betrayed, as by those whose families I had preserved from starving; nor so basely treated as by those I starved my own family to preserve. The same checquer work of fortune attends me still; the people I have served, and love to serve, cut my throat every day, because I will not cut the throat of those that have served and assisted me. Ingratitude has always been my aversion, and perhaps for that reason it is my exercise. me. "And now I live under universal contempt, which contempt I have learned to contemn, and have an uninterrupted joy in my soul; not at my being contemned, but that no crime can be laid to my charge, to make that contempt my due. Fame, a lying jade, would talk me up, for I know not what of courage; and they call me a fighting fellow. I despise the flattery; I profess to know nothing of it, farther than truth makes any man bold; and I acknowledge, that give me but a bad cause, and I am the greatest coward in the world. Truth inspires nature; and as in defence of truth, no honest man can be a coward, so no man of sense can be bold when he is in the gives trembling to the hands, blushing to the face, and fills the heart with amazement and terror. I question whether there is much, if any difference between bravery and cowardice, but what is founded in the principle they are engaged for; and I no more believe any man is born a coward, than that he is born a knave. Truth makes a man of courage, and guilt makes that man a coward. "Early disasters, and frequent turns of my affairs, have left me incumbered with an insupportable weight of debt; and the remarkable compassion of some creditors, after continued offers of stripping myself naked by entire surrenders upon oath, have never given me more trouble than they were able, or less than they knew how; by which means most of the debts I have discharged, have cost me forty shillings in the pound, and the creditor half as much to recover. I have a large family, a wife and six children, who never want what they should enjoy, or spend what they ought to save. Under all these circumstances, and many more, too long to write, my only happiness is this: I have always been kept cheerful, easy, and quiet, enjoying a perfect calm of mind, clearness of thought, and satisfaction not to be broken in upon by whatever may happen to me. If any man ask me how I arrived to it? I answer him, in short, by a constant serious application to the great, solemn, and weighty work of resignation to the will of heaven; by which let no man think I presume." Vol. iii. pp. 293 - 295. The person who does not see in this extract a character of no ordinary kind, and a mind of inflexible firmness, must be destitute of all discernment. A man capable of writing in this manner must have been capable of deeds of daring, equal to conquest or to And such was De martyrdom. Foe. His was a soul of iron, in a casement of adamant. His principles were of the sternest character, and the mind which formed them, was not to be deterred from avowing them by suffering or reproach. From the numerous and interesting facts collected by Mr. Wilson, it is impossible to doubt that De Foe contributed more than any one other individual at the beginning of the last century Guilt to restrain the violence of anti wrong. He that is honest must be brave, and it is my opinion that a coward cannot be an honest man. In defence of truth I think (pardon me that I dare go no further, for who knows himself?) I say, I think I could dare to die; but a child may beat me if I am in the wrong. constitutional principles and feelings, and to secure for the Protestant Dissenters the full enjoy ment of their civil and religious privileges. His pen was not only that of a ready, but of a powerful writer. It could be grave or comic, caustic or gentle, as the circumstances required. The press then was not in the state in which it is now, and therefore the more credit is due to the individual who gave it such a direction as proved eminently beneficial to his country, though often injurious to himself. His services have long been forgotten, though the benefits which they conferred were neither few nor small. Mr. Wilson's concluding observations respecting them deserve to be quoted. "If De Foe is known to posterity chiefly by those works of genius which he composed after this period, yet, it should not be forgotten that the active portion of his life, which he passed in politics, obtained him distinction with his contemporaries, and entitle him to more notice than he has hitherto received. If the character of men, and of nations, is deeply affected by the possession or loss of liberty, as we are taught by the examples of ancient and modern times, then we cannot estimate too highly the labours of those individuals who have illustrated and contended for its benefits. De Foe lived at a period when the liberties of his country were endangered, first of all by the measures of an arbitrary court; and afterwards, under the guidance of unprincipled leaders, by a base and servile population, In both cases he stood in the gap, inspired by the genius of patriotism, and undaunted by persecution. His numerous productions in defence of civil and religious liberty, were of essential service in awakening attention to the subject, and abating the confidence of its opponents. By a skilful use of his talents, he destroyed the strong holds of tyranny and priestcraft, and pointed out to his countrymen the truest sources of national prosperity. If it is in the nature of political writings to be little valued when the period of their usefulness has subsided; still, we must not forget to cherish the memory of those by whom the benefit has been conferred. It has been justly remarked by one of our author's biographers, that Political writ ings, like those of De Foe, which are calculated to promote the interests of of any particular party, are highly benegeneral liberty, and not the private views ficial to human society, and may contribute more to advance the common happiness of great communities, than any mere works of imagination."—Vol. iii. pp. 387, 388. Neither our limits, nor the nature of our work, properly admit of our following the indefatigable biographer of De Foe into his numerous and interesting details respecting the works of fiction which were produced by this enterprising and ingenious man. To them he is likely to be indebted for his fame in all future ages. It is honourable to his principles that there is nothing in them calculated to injure the morals of his readers; and it is honourable to his genius, that they were all composed in the latest stage of his active and laborious life. On one subject we wish we could speak with greater confidence than we feel able to do. We refer to the religious character of De Foe. Of his moral integrity and independence, we have a very decided opinion; of his knowledge of religious truth no doubt can be entertained; and we presume his sincere desire to promote its interest need not, and cannot be questioned. He was a Dissenter both on political and religious grounds; and fought the battles of the Dissenters in a manner which did him credit, without reflecting disgrace upon them. But to what extent he mixed with "Of his personal piety, no one can |