PROPERTY OF STATE E 45 Historical Society OF WISCONSIN. PREFACE. WHEN We have derived pleasure or improvement from the works of an author, curiosity becomes awakened to learn something of his history. In how many cases it is impossible to gratify this feeling, and the regret that is the consequence, are well known to those who are accustomed to literary inquiries. Such persons, also, can be the only judges of the time and labour that are consumed in recovering even those slender memorials that may have escaped the ravages of time. De Foe has now slept with his fathers for nearly the period of a century. More than half of the time had elapsed before any attempt was made to embalm his worth; yet, during the whole period, the world had been amused and instructed by his writings, and there were few readers, from the humble to the higher stations of life, who had not connected his name with their early recollections. Perhaps there is scarcely any English author who wrote "so variously and so well," of whom so little is popularly known; and the attempts that have been hitherto made to supply the deficiency are of that meagre description, as to afford but few materials for attaining to a just knowledge of his character. In these too, owing to the lapse of time and other circumstances, some mistakes have been unavoidedly committed, which for the sake of accuracy it is now desirable to correct. Those who are acquainted with the narratives of De Foe, must be satisfied that no one could be so competent to become his own biographer, as the ingenious author of Robinson Crusoe. His accurate painting from nature, his skill in the delineation of character, and the interest which he contrives to throw over the commonest incidents, all combine to enchant the reader, and to inspire a wish that so masterly a pen had been employed in telling his own story to posterity. This was in a measure demanded by the eventful nature of his life, and the misrepresentations which he suffered from his political opponents; nor is the regret diminished when we consider the multiplicity of his writings, which being mostly anonymous, are now in some measure difficult to be identified. In the absence of his own pen, a biography of De Foe, from the hands of a contemporary, conversant with his history, and competent to appreciate his character, would have been a rich addition to our literature. But he probably out-lived all his friends, and neglected to preserve the requisite materials for such a work. Although any substitute. at this distance of time cannot be otherwise than imperfect, yet a careful perusal of his various works, in connexion with what has been said of him by his friends and his enemies, will furnish no inconsiderable memorial of his fame, and may serve to recal the attention of the public to his writings. His present biographer would probably have shrunk from the undertaking, had not his path been previously smoothed by the labours of Mr. Chalmers and Dr. Towers. The narrative of the former, extending to seventy octavo pages, as it was the first attempt to do justice to De Foe, so it is the source from whence succeeding writers have drawn their materials. Some important facts connected with his history would probably have been lost, had it not been for the timely discoveries of Mr, Chalmers; the admirers of De Foe are therefore under considerable obligations to that gentleman, for the zeal and perseverance which enabled him to produce such successful results. But valuable as are the materials of Mr. Chalmers, they are much too scanty to satisfy the admirers of De Foe, or to assist them in doing justice to his merits as a man, or as a writer. His services being of a public nature, led him into a wide field of controversy, the occasions of which can only be properly understood by a reference to necting circumstances. Nor can we form a just estimate of his character without listening to the motives, which he has himself assigned for his conduct. Such inquiries, if they lead to greater detail, present us with a more extended portrait of the individual; and furnish the truest criterion of his actions. The researches of the present writer have enabled him not only to correct some errors that have crept into the former accounts of De Foe, but also to bring to light some new facts; and he has considerably extended the catalogue of his writings. De Foe is now known almost entirely as a writer of fiction, and this will probably constitute the basis of his fame in succeeding times. Yet, it was not until he was verging towards the age of threescore, that he employed his creative powers upon those delightful works that will continue to be admired as long as there is any taste for real genius. But it was for politics chiefly that he acquired distinction with his contemporaries, who bore witness to the influence of his writings. In the conflict of parties from the reign of Charles II. to the accession of George I., few persons took a more active share; and in the number of his publications, he probably outstripped all the other writers of his time. During ten of his busiest years, and those the most factious in English history, he was the sole writer of a periodical paper which appeared three times a week, and contained many elaborate essays upon the most important subjects in trade and politics. These, and his other labours |