CHAPTER V. De Foe's Occupations in Newgate.—He publishes a Poem on Reformation of Manners. In which he attacks the Vices of the Age.-His Defence of the Work.-The Impartiality of his Censures.—He exposes the Knavery of Projectors.--And reprobates the Traffic in Slaves. He publishes another Poem called" More Reformation".-Defends himself from Reproaches.— His Rebuke to the Dissenting Clergy.—He publishes "The Shortest Way to Peace and Union."-Pirated Edition of his Works.-Cibber's Account of it.-De Foe publishes a Genuine Collection—Its Contents.-Description of his Portrait.-His Apology for the Undertaking.-King William's Affection for the Church of England, an Ironical Satire by De Foe.Dunton's Satire upon King William. 1703. We are now to contemplate De Foe for some time a prisoner in Newgate, as a victim of political resentment. And here it is natural to remark, that the custom, still continued, of confining persons for political offences, who are usually men of education and character, within the walls of the same prison with thieves and murderers, and the very scum of society, betrays an indelicacy of feeling, not to say wanton cruelty, that is utterly revolting to the refinement and liberality that are so much the boast of the age. In a strain of manly satire, De Foe could say: "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for a hermitage." * Hymn to the Pillory. DE FOE'S OCCUPATIONS IN NEWGATE.. 85 The leisure of De Foe, in the time of his captivity, was not that of idleness nor dissipation. If he mixed with the other prisoners, as he must have been necessitated sometimes to do, they would be conciliated by his kindness, as well as attracted by the fascinations of his wit; and there can be no doubt, although the fact is not distinctly recorded, that he improved the opportunity for conveying to the ignorant and the wicked, that moral and religious instruction, which he knew so well how to adapt to their capacities. Some of his subsequent writings also show, that he now stored his mind with those facts relative to the habits and pursuits of the prisoners, which he has detailed with so much nature as well as interest. The low characters that form the subjects of some of his novels, were probably taken from real life, and the sketches drawn at this period of his history. But a part of his leisure was devoted to the composition of some political works, which it will be our business now to notice. A little before his prosecution, De Foe had amused himself by composing a rather long poem, intitled, "Reformation of Manners. A Satyr. Ve Vobis Hypocritæ. Printed in the year 1702." 4to. pp. 64. In a brief preface, he explodes the idea entertained by some people, "who are loth to be told of their errors," that "No man is qualified to reprove other men's faults, but he that has none of his own;" which, if true, he says, would put an end to the execution of the laws, and do away with instruction altogether. He that takes to himself the post of a reformer, assumes a very unthankful office, and so our author found it; but he glories in the character, and sets scandal at defiance. "If any men," says he, "are injured by the characters, he is content they should carry their resentment to what extremity they please; but if truth be on his side, the only way to make him do them justice, is to reform; and he promises to give testimony to their repentance, as an amende honorable, 86 HE ATTACKS THE VICES OF THE AGE. in a manner as public as possible." possible." The taste of the nation generally, he sums up in a single line "One man reads Milton, forty Rochester." De Foe attacks the vices of the age with great vigour, sparing neither high nor low, citizen nor courtier; and if he alludes to particular individuals, he spares their names in hopes of their reformation. In reply to the charge, that he had made too free with the characters of men, he says, in a subsequent publication, "I have always carefully avoided lashing any man's private infirmities, as being too sensible of my own. But, if I have singled out any man by character, it has been either, such as pretending to reform others and execute the laws against vice, have been the great examples and encouragers of it in their own practice; or, such as have been trusted with the executive power of justice, and, having been called upon by the laws to reform us, have been a public reproach to the magistracy of this nation, and ought to be punished by the laws they have been protected by. I have never made any man's disasters and misfortunes the subject of my satyr. I never reproached any man for his opinions in religion, nor used him the worse for differing from me." To evidence his impartiality, he adds, “I know no Whig nor Tory in vice; the vicious and the virtuous are the only two parties I have to do with. If a vicious, lewd, debauched magistrate happened to be a Whig,-what then? Let him mend his manners, and he may be a Whig still; and if not, the rest ought to be ashamed of him."* This passage places the ingenuous feelings of our author in an advantageous light. "Though he was a resolute assertor of Whig principles, and a champion for the cause of liberty, yet was he never blinded by party-prejudice, but could discern designing and selfish men, and strip them of their disguises, though joined with him in the same political contests."+ * More Reformation.-Pref. + Cibber's Lives of the Poets, vol. iv. HE REPROBATES THE TRAFFIC IN SLAVES. 87 The knavery of projectors, who raise themselves upon the ruin of the credulous, is not peculiar to our own time. De Foe says of those in his day,— "Some in clandestine companies combine, To set the town together by the ears." In this poem De Foe strongly reprobates the traffic in human beings, long before its impropriety was generally suspected. After censuring the avarice of those whose thirst for gold conducted them to an untimely grave, beneath the scorching rays of an African sun, he says, "The harmless natives basely they trepan, And barter baubles for the souls of men: The wretches they to Christian climes bring o'er Contrasting the conduct of the slave owners with that of the Spaniards, who butchered the people of Mexico to possess their gold, "And left one third of God's creation void," he gives the palm of superior mercy to the latter :— "Blood quenched their thirst, and it sufficed to kill. To more than Spanish cruelty inclin'd, And vilely teach them both to sin and serve." During his confinement, De Foe pursued the subject of his poem, in a work bearing the following title: "More Reformation. A satyr upon Himself. By the Author of the True-Born Englishman. London, printed in the year 1703." 4to. pp. 52. He commences by observing, 88 PUBLISHES A POEM CALLED "MORE REFORMATION." that the world had used him so severely of late, that he was under the necessity of descending to what he had always an aversion for a long Preface. "I confess," says he, "according to the custom of the times, he that writes any thing which may be misunderstood, ought to expect to be misunderstood; and the reason is, because he that knew the defect of custom, ought to have fenced against it." He had already discovered to his cost, "That he who first reforms a vicious town, Prevents their ruin, but completes his own." De Foe observes, that the liberty the world had taken with his character, was the occasion of his writing this book. ""Tis hard," says he, "that when a man under the public resentment, was obliged to keep out of the way, the whole world should fly at him like a dog with a broom at his tail, reckon up all the faults of his life, and ten thousand more than ever he committed, to be the commonplaces of their general discourse, taking the advantage of his absence, when he was not able to answer for himself. Nay, so extravagant was the whole world, that one had wit little enough, as well as manners, to challenge me in print, when he knew at the same time, there was a reward of fifty pounds to be given to him that would discover where I was. This was such a satire upon all the rest, that really, instead of fighting that gentleman, I would thank him if I knew who he was, as a person that was willing to show himself a coxcomb, that other people might see their own pictures. (M) In this universal humour of mobbing one, some gentlemen have descended very much beneath their own character, as well as honesty, (M) The author of "The Shortest Way with Whores and Rogues," says to him, "Accept this gentle dedication and seasonable warning from one that neither loves nor fears you, and were it lawful, dares meet you at any time with a brighter weapon than a pen." |