Robinson Crusoe." Defoe found him Publication of self almost as late in life as did Swift. Defoe the journalist, the pamphleteer, the poet of the populace, would call forth FACSIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF ROBINSON small space in the his of tory of English litera- ashore self all the necessaries of life and of fact; thousand That a doubtless temporar of fact;" and as such it has been read by countless thousands. That a man should have had such an experience would doubtless have seemed quite improbable to Defoe's contemporaries, or even to the young folks since, who accept it on the theory that "faith is believing things you know aren't so." But when the adventures are narrated by a definite person, who had a definite life-history, and who narrates the adventures as having happened to him, the result is much more convincing. It is to the perfect simplicity, naturalness, and straightforwardness of the narrative that Robinson Crusoe owes its lasting power. 66 Other Stories by Defoe. Defoe followed Robinson Crusoe with other adventure stories Moll Flanders, Colonel Jack, Captain Singleton. These deal with characters from the lower ranks of society, thieves, pirates, and such; and while no one rises to the level of Robinson Crusoe in interest or art, all have in some degree the same characteristics that have given this book so long a life. Last Years. For some years following the publication of his masterpiece, during which he wrote many works of many kinds besides the stories named above, Defoe seems to have been highly prosperous. About 1726 his fortune appears to have changed; and though the circumstances of his remaining five years and of his death are rather obscure, he certainly did not die in physical or mental comfort. He continued writing, however, almost to the end; and the complete list of his works numbers over two hundred and fifty. RICHARD STEELE, 1672-1729; JOSEPH ADDISON, 1672-1719 A Question of Precedence? The names of two writers of the Augustan age invariably come together in one's mind-Richard Steele and Joseph Addison. To the second is all but universally assigned the higher place in our literature; yet without the incentive supplied by Steele, Addison would not have been sure of a place among writers of the first rank. The fame of both rests on their productions in the field of the periodical essay; more specifically, of the character-essay. Now their first venture in this line, The Tatler, was conceived and carried out by Steele, Addison contributing a number of essays at Steele's request; and Sir Roger de Coverley, the lovable old knight so closely associated with Addison's name, originated in Steele's brain. Perhaps it is idle to call either superior to the other. In view, however, of the fact that from Macaulay's time to the present Addison has generally been magnified at the expense of Steele, the credit due to the latter's invention should be recorded. Says one great voice in dissent from the chorus: While Steele might under very inferior conditions have produced the Tatler and Spectator without Addison, it is highly improbable that Addison, as an essayist, would have existed without Steele." 1 Although it is well-nigh impossible to consider the work of these two apart, it is possible and desirable to record separately the chief events of their lives. Each will, of course, at times invade the other's narrative. Ireland, London, Oxford, the Army. - Steele was Addison's elder by three months. He was born in Dublin, and certainly inherited more personal qualities from his Irish mother than from his English father. The first really important experience of his life was his entrance at the Charterhouse School, London, at the age of twelve; for it was there that two years later he made the acquaintance of Addison. From Charter 1 Dennis, The Age of Pope, page 125. |