CHAPTER XXI.

De Foe's Notions of Spirits.-His Experience of their Existence.--Popular Credulity.-Satirized by De Foe.-His "Political History of the Devil." -"System of Magick."—" Essay on Apparitions."— Satire upon the Fops of his Day.-Moral Improvement of the Subject." The Protestant Monastery."-De Foe's Age and Infirmities.-Allusion to the Undutifulness of his Children.-Parochial Tyranny.-Select Vestries.— Third Volume of the "Family Instructor."-Subjects handled in it."Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed.”— '—"The Compleat Tradesman.” A Second Volume upon the Subject.-Merits of the Work.-" Plan of the English Commerce."-De Foe and Gee compared.-" Military Memoirs of Captain Carleton."—A favourite with Johnson.-" Augusta Triumphans."-London University.-De Foe a Practical Reformer.-His Scheme for the Prevention of Street Robberies.—Invasion of his Labours.— He publishes "Second Thoughts are Best."-Strictures upon the Beggar's Opera.-Schemes for Improvement of the Police." Dissectio Mentis Humanæ.”—A Manuscript called " The Compleat Gentleman."-De Foe's Letter to his Printer.

1726-1730.

THE Course of his studies, aided perhaps by his misfortunes, led our author into many speculations upon the subject of spirits, and their communication with the visible world. From early life, his own mind had been strongly impressed with a belief in their reality; and there are some passages in his writings, from whence may be collected his opinion, that they exercise, more or less, a direct influence upon the affairs of men. He notices two ways by which the communication

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EXPERIENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS.

is maintained :-First, by "immediate, personal, and particular converse ;" and secondly, by "these spirits acting at a distance, rendering themselves visible, and their transactions perceptible, on such occasions as they think fit, without any farther acquaintance with the person." He thought that God had posted an army of these ministering spirits round our globe, "to be ready, at all events, to execute his orders, and to do his will; reserving still to himself to send express messengers of a superior rank on extraordinary occasions." These, he adds, " may, without any absurdity, be supposed capable of assuming shapes, conversing with mankind by voice and sound, or by private notices of things, impulses, forebodings, misgivings, and other imperceptible communications to the minds of men, as God their great employer may direct."+ But, upon the power of man to control or communicate at his will with these spiritual beings, he entertains doubts, and protests against the arts of conjuration.

De Foe has many allusions in his writings, to the silent workings of some supernatural influence upon his own mind, acting as a prompter upon extraordinary occasions. He speaks sometimes of mysterious impressions directing him to particular subjects, and guiding his pen whilst in the act of writing. Under the same impulse, we find him the subject of secret forebodings, conveyed by some invisible agent, and enabling him to escape from evils into which he must have fallen but for such premonitions. However such a belief may be condemned as fanciful, it has been that of many grave theologians, and is sanctioned in some measure by the sacred writings. There can be no doubt, also, that it had a favorable influence upon the mind of De Foe, as it reconciled him to many distressing events, and enabled him to pass through the vicissitudes of life, with a confiding

• History of Magick, p. 327. + History of Apparitions, p. 56.

DE FOE'S NOTIONS OF SPIRITS.

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trust in the superintendency of Providence. At the same time, it opened to his view the cheering prospect of another world, which became realized in proportion as it was brought in contact with the present.

"I firmly believe," says he, "and have had such convincing testimonies of it that I must be a confirmed Atheist if I did not, that there is a converse of spirits, I mean those unembodied, and those that are incased in flesh. From whence, else, come all those private notices, strong impulses, involuntary joy, sadness, and foreboding apprehensions, of and about things immediately attending us, and this in the most important affairs of our lives. That there are such things, I think, I need not go about to prove; and I believe they are, next to the Scriptures, some of the best and most undeniable evidences of a future existence. It would be endless to fill this paper with the testimonies of learned and pious men; I could add to them a volume of my own experiences, some of them so strange as would shock your belief, though I could produce such proofs as would convince any man. I have had, perhaps, a greater variety of changes, accidents, and disasters in my short unhappy life, than any man, at least than most men alive; yet I had never any considerable mischief or disaster attending me, but sleeping or waking I have had notice of it before hand, and had I listened to these notices, I believe might have shunned the evil. Let no man think this a jest. I seriously acknowledge, and I do believe my neglect of these notices has been my great injury; and since I have ceased to neglect them, I have been guided to avoid even snares laid for my life, by no other knowledge of them, than by such notices and warnings: and more than that, have been guided by them to discover even the fact and the persons. I have living witnesses to produce, to whom I have told the particulars in the very moment, and who have been so affected with them, as that they have pressed me to avoid the danger, to retire, to keep myself up,

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PREMONITION BY DREAMS.

and the like." De Foe tells us, that had he not neglected the advice and the notice, he had been safe; but slighting both, he has fallen into the pit exactly as described to him. He says, that if it would be thought useful, he could descend to particulars; but it being a private case, he did not think it so material, and therefore avoided it. The inference that he draws from the subject is, that "if such Notices, by whatsoever hand, or for whatever purpose, are given us, in our personal, private, and particular cases, as I believe nobody will deny, why may not the same Providence and Power permit the like notices, call them what you will, to be given to some persons in matters public and national? History is full of these; and were I not at the writing of this absent from books, being now travelling, and at an inn on the road, I could bring a numerous roll of quotations." De Foe refers from memory to the well-known case of Mr. Wishart and the Archbishop of St. Andrews; also to the names of Bradford, Knox, Calvin, Luther, and Buchanan, for other examples; and particularly to Mr. Withers, who foretold the fire of London several years before it happened.

Our author then descends to the phenomena of dreams, which he desires to touch with great caution, on account of the extremes into which even good people are apt to run. But, in support of his theory, he adduces the examples of Job, Daniel, Joseph, and others recorded in Scripture; and, referring to profane history, he cites the dream of Cæsar's wife, and the celebrated case of Brutus at Philippi. From the whole, he concludes with a desire to steer between the two extremes of rejecting "the warnings God is pleased to give us in visions of the night, and of giving heed to those delusions of the imagination, which proceed only from a distempered brain.*

Perhaps the following passages in one of his works, has

an immediate reference to himself: "I know a man, who made it a rule always to obey these silent hints, and he has often declared to me, that when he obeyed them he never miscarried; and if he neglected them, or went on contrary to them, he never succeeded; and gave me a particular case of his own, among a great many others, wherein he was thus directed. He had a particular case befallen him, wherein he was under the displeasure of the Government, and was prosecuted for a misdemeanour, and brought to a trial in the King's Bench Court, where a verdict was brought against him, and he was cast; and times running very hard at that time, against the party he was of, he was afraid to stand the hazard of a sentence, and absconded, taking care to make due provision for his Bail, and to pay them whatever they might suffer. In this circumstance, he was in great distress, and no way presented unto him but to fly out of the kingdom, which, being to leave his family, children, and employment, was very bitter to him, and he knew not what to do; all his friends advising him not to put himself into the hands of the law, which though the offence was not capital, yet in his circumstances seemed to threaten his utter ruin. In this extremity he felt one morning (just as he had awaked, and the thoughts of his misfortune began to return upon him), I say, he felt a strong impulse darting into his mind thus, Write a letter to them. It spoke so distinctly to him, and as it were forcibly, that as he has often said since, he can scarce persuade himself not to believe but that he heard it; but he grants that he did not really hear it too. However, it repeated the words daily and hourly to him, till at length walking about in his chamber where he was hidden, very pensive and sad, it jogged him again, and he answered aloud to it, as if it had been a voice, Who shall 1 write to? It returned immediately, Write to the Judge. This pursued him again for several days, till at length he took his pen, ink, and paper, and sat down to write, but knew not one word of what he should say, but dabitur in hac hora, he wanted not words.