ACCOUNT OF HIS WORK.

289

In conclusion, he observes, "Since it is plain that eternal life is the port, I regard not the passage. Be it by death, 'tis the way the God of nature directed, and what nature points to. Let those that think there is a nearer way seek it; for my part, though 'tis true, they may at last find the beaten road of death blind-fold, yet they may lose a great deal of time in the search, and fall into the old road when they don't think of it. I am sure I have no time to spare ; if there be another way, I trust God will reveal it, and till he does, I am content to go the way of my fathers; not because it was their way only, but because, for aught I see, the sting and victory being gone, death and the grave have as direct a tendency to that change, which I am sure must be wrought as by a fiery chariot. I am sure I am not fit to be in heaven in these clothes; and therefore, so I am but changed and brought thither,

Ad te quacunque Vocas Ducissme Jesu.

"But for translation directly, the Scripture says nothing of the matter, nor does the nature of the thing require it. If I, therefore, should go the way of an eagle in the air, as Mr. Asgill calls it, instead of showing myself a match for the old gentleman, I should expect all the world would say he had carried me away alive."

The foregoing abstract of De Foe's argument will serve to show, not only the versatility of his genius, but the solidity of his mind, when attracted to religious subjects. Although trade and politics had engrossed so much of his time and attention, they had not obliterated his early theological studies, for which he always preserved a taste. As a critic and commentator upon the Scriptures, he often shows great judgment as well as acuteness, and writes with an earnest seriousness that befitted the gravity of his subject. Unlike the railing theologians of his day, he treats a whimsical writer with decency and good manners; confines himself closely to the

290

VEXATIOUS CONDUCT OF DE FOE'S ENEMIES.

subject in dispute, and never allows his zeal for orthodoxy to detract from the character, or draw unwarrantable conclusions from the premises of his opponent. Although it was a subject upon which a writer of less seriousness would have employed his wit, he paid more homage to the cause with which it was connected, than to indulge in a talent which he knew so well how to wield upon proper occasions.(U)

De Foe had scarcely escaped from the terrors of a prison, before new scandals were raised by his enemies for the purpose of mortifying him. Whilst he was enjoying himself in his retreat from the bustle of the metropolis, and quietly pursuing his literary occupations, some of the news-writers propagated a report that he was fled from justice, and that warrants were out for his apprehension. Quite conscious that he had committed no new trespass, he was not at all alarmed at this unmannerly proceeding, but wrote immediately to the Secretary of State, informing him where he was to be found, and that he would present himself in person upon the first notice. But he received a friendly and pacific answer, telling him that he was not wanted, and had nothing to fear. Whether wit or malice was at the bottom of this affair, a joke of this serious nature would be visited in our days with the gravity of a legal punishment. Let us now hear De Foe's own account of his wrongs.

In his Review for October 7, 1704, he writes thus:"Whereas, the author of this paper has been, and still is, in

(u) The notion of Asgill has been revived by a learned writer in our own day. Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary upon Genesis, v. 22, has the following note upon Enoch's translation: "The astonishing heighth of piety to which he had arrived; being cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, and having perfected holiness in the fear of God, we find, not only his soul, but his body refined, so that without being obliged to visit the empire of death, he was capable of immediate translation into the paradise of God. There are few cases of this kind on record; but probably there might be more, many more, were the followers of God more faithful to the grace they receive."

HIS ACCOUNT OF A HOAX PRACTISED UPON HIM. 291

the country, upon his extraordinary and lawful occasions, and some persons maliciously and scandalously reported, and caused it to be written in news-letters, that he is absconded, and fled from justice he gives this notice to all persons whom it may concern, that he knows no guilt for which he has any occasion to fly; so, as soon as ever he saw in the written news the malice of the world, he took care to give public notice to the government where he is, and shall always be ready to show himself to the faces of his enemies, let the occasion be what it will."

The slander being repeated, he published the following notice in his Review for November 4, in which he traces it to its authors: "Whereas, in several written news-letters dispersed about the country, and supposed to be written by one Dyer, a news writer, and by Mr. Fox, bookseller in Westminster-Hall, it has falsely, and of mere malice, been scandalously asserted, that Daniel De Foe was absconded, and fled from justice; that he had been searched for by messengers, could not be found, and more the like scoundrel expressions; the said Daniel De Foe hereby desires all people who are willing not to be imposed upon by the like villanous practices, to take notice, that the whole story is a mere genuine forgery, industriously and maliciously contrived, if possible, to bring him into trouble; that the said Daniel De Foe, being at St. Edmund's Bury, in Suffolk, when the first of these papers appeared, immediately wrote to both her majesty's Secretaries of State, to acquaint them with his being in the country on his lawful occasions, and to let them know, that on the least intimation from them, he would come up by post, and put himself into their hands, to answer any charge that should be brought against him. That as soon as his business was over in the country, he made his humble complaint of this unprecedented usage to the Secretary of State, and had the honour to understand, that no officer, messenger, or other person, had received any

292

HIS ACCOUNT OF A HOAX PRACTISED UPON HIM.

order, warrant, or other direction, to search for, apprehend, or otherwise disturb the said Daniel De Foe, or that there was any complaint, or charges brought against him. And further, having been informed, that Mr. Robert Stephens, the messenger, had reported that he had an order or power from the Secretaries of State, to stop and detain the said Daniel De Foe, and that he made several inquiries after him to that purpose; the said Daniel De Foe hereby gives notice, that as soon as he came to town, and before his application to the Secretary of State, he went, and in the presence of sufficient witnesses, spoke with the said Robert Stephens the messenger, as he calls himself, of the press, and offering himself into his custody, demanded of him if he had received any, order to detain him; and he denied that he had any such order, notwithstanding he had most openly and in villanous terms, repeated before, that he would detain him if he could find him, and had in a scandalous manner made inquiries after him. The said Daniel De Foe, having no other remedy against such barbarous treatment, but by setting the matter in a true light, thinks he could do no less in justice to the government and himself, than make this publication; and further, he hereby offers the reward of £20 to any person that will discover to him, so as to prove it, the author and publisher of any of those written news-letters, in which those reports were published, which shall be paid immediately, upon such proof made, at the publishers of this paper. Witness my hand, DANIEL DE FOE."

CHAPTER XIV.

New Session of Parliament.-Clamour of the High Flyers.-Unsuccessful Attempts of the Ministers to calm them.-Occasional Bill revived in the Commons.-Thrown out by the Lords.-De Foe's 'Remarks.-Tennison's Wise Conduct.-De Foe Unmasks the Hypocrisy of the Tories.-And describes the Evils the Nation escaped by the defeat of the Measure.-His Account of the Tack.-Lamentations of a Tory Writer.-Publications upon the Subject.-Lampoons upon the Tackers.-Libel upon De FoeHe defends Himself.-His Description of a Tacker.-Illustrated by an Anecdote. He is threatened for his Writings.-Justifies himself.-And Defies his Enemies.-Sir Humphrey Mackworth's Bill for the Employment of the Poor.-De Foe publishes his "Giving Alms no Charity.”— Abstract of his Argument.-And Character of the Work.

1704.

THE alterations effected in the ministry in the early part of the year, produced a happy change in the relative condition of political parties. The rapid strides taken by the Tories towards the annihilation of liberty, had experienced a check in a quarter from whence it was little expected, and it had its influence in parliament; but they still maintained their ascendancy in the Commons. Upon the opening of the third and last session of this parliament, October 24, the queen delivered a conciliatory speech, deprecating contention, and expressive of kindness to all her subjects. The address of the Lords was in unison with the speech; but the Commons expressed themselves in more measured terms, and soon discovered that they were far from promoting measures of conciliation. De Foe tells us, "That the general cry of