, 1870-03-20
WHO WROTE RoR1BsoH cnusoE !.



Daniel Defoc, OF coorso; ths Gtle-pago sayz
30, a1d ought to be behsvod. True; but It Il
neve, ahelese curious fact that some person,
hAyn believed otherwise. There wxs no autho,
uriE:na y nxzned on the ttle-psge, when ths
ro,k mt made its sppearsaesa = eentuy and :
and other circumstances led to 4 division oj
opinion upon the subject Il Ia, however,
satisfactory to know that the eyidence in suE.
poga Of the popular opinion is fM
stronger than that in the up.
poeite direction. We. say "sAtisfacto.
Iy;T eeeing thai it Is not pleasant to have one6
ting1ons tat hiss recently boen), unlcss for the
vey strongest reasons. The connection be-
tvosn tte names Of Alexander Selkirk, Robin.
ton Crsoe, and Daniel Defoe Is 80 remarkable
that,seanethng must be Known about the arst
befcte the relation betwccn tho second and
the hiH csn BE- underutsod; for the triad cun-
rists OF = myth between two realities.
Alexander Selhrf, q Flfeehise man bred up
TO othe sea, started OF about tho beginning Of
the lnft century on Toya@ to America, halt
CON mercial snd haH pfntcalr IN = WY much in
fashion in those daH- Captain atrsdling, com
aesipst eeskrt, put him On shose on tbs uniu-
hAbit ID isl1ud of Juan Fernandez, with uns
dav.a food, = Bea~chest, clothes, bedding. 1T
tie tobacco, y few booka and nautical ustru-
mcnts, como powder md ball, grn, knife,
axe, and kettle OF boiler. Tina wAs the
lonely Scot On q septenber day in1704, Left
cen miles long by ex broad, and at least 100
miles distant from tbs nearest mainlsnd {tho
Pacific coast Of South Ancrics). When he re
coveted from the first feeling OF disney and
despbndercy, he set. to work and bui1t. two
huts' Of pi9ento. wood one ss dining md
them a. raHa lining Of gost-sHns.
Btipa Of the same kind Of wnod
supplied him With fire and light, burning very
clear, and emitting an agreeable, fragrant oder:
His chief food was boiled suats' acsh ard
crawfeh, seasoned With pu1gnto fruit, bnt'
sadly in need OF little salt, ot which be ha1
none cave tho brackish bitter salt Of sea-watcr.:
When his clothes were worn ont hs inside goat
skin garments, using nail for needle, and
narzow st1ips Of bark or akin ftx thread Ar
for shoes, he soon learned 10 do without them
on the island; the former helped to scAro
away, the rats, which ut FIRST wero very
troublesome; while the goats served him an
Playfelowa a1sd as = supply Of food While his
ammunition lasted, he shot down the goats; !;
when it Was exhausted he caught them BY
running and 20 expert did b, becuRue TINT he
could run down any OF them. Onco ho fell
over rgecipioe while thus engaged, and only
on tGc beach below. During his stay on the
is1ana ho appropriated 500 gosta to food and
clothing, and set free another 600, after mark
ing them on the cars. Crhiny years after
ward, when Anson's crow landed on the isl-
and, Tho first goAs they shot WAS one Of chose
knife WAS eorn out he forged others from old
iron hoops. Thus did the lone1y man
past. four years and four months when,
IN February 1709, he Was rescued
by "a vessel commanded BY Captain
Wooaes Rogers Although he had some difi-
49, 1T S,1 ~,
reoonciling himself to the nhip's provisions and
us&ges, ho gradually became atted to act as
mata to the ship lin which ha came to England
in17t1.
Such WAS tho t.ue story Of Alexander Sell
kirk, in which, tt will be seen. thare wars no
incorporated in An account Of Rogeru voyage.
sir Ricqard Steele drew public attention to the
/ nattar in No. 26 OF the En9hshmdn (Decembe.
i, 1713). He said :"1 had tho paoasure He-
qne1tly to converse with the man soon aftez
his arrival in England in tha yeaT I'LL. Il Was
matter Of great curiosity to hear him, ~ be il
DC. After presenting the ontlins Of the mar.
rativc, steele adds: & Even il / bad not been
led ihto his character and Htn1J, I could hsse
discovered that he had beeu much separated
from company, BY hin aspect md gesture
his manner, and = cortain disregam to the or
dinaiy things. about him, a. II ha hld been
sunk in thought" Another form in which the
accot INT appeared was under the title Of Is PROV
idenee Displayed: Of, A Surprising Account Of
Mr. Alexander Selkirk, Master Of a Merchant.
man, called the Cinque Po1t', Ac-"
In: It'll, then, Se1kirk came to Eng
iandi; in 1712 and 1713 accounts OF bis
adventures wero published And now we
come to the second name IN the before
mentioned triad. In the spring Of 17l9,
new book appeared with \ very long title
Of Rotanaon Crusoe, OF York, Mariner, who
lived Eight and Twenty Years ali alone on an
Uninhabited Island on the Coast OF Anerica,
near, tho Mouth Of the Great River Of Oroo-
noqpc, having been cast on shoro by BhipwEcck,
when Ill the Men persisted but himself With
Gve1rd By Pyrates, Written by Himself" The
work created : prodgious sensation four edf
tons were sold in four months The preface
was written Is IL IN editor had simply ar
ranged narrative prepared by Robinson Cru
soa himself. In the autumn Of the eaue year
Further Adventures Of Robinson Cr1soe: Be-
ing the second and I-sst Part Of his LILO. and
OF the Strange 6yrpYising Account OF his Tray
els round other Parts Of the Globe- Written
BY himself. To which is added Map Of tbs
World, in Which il delineated the Foya8ea Of
Robinson Crusoe-" Incited evidently by the
profitable and continuous sale those concerned
in the matter published in ITO another Sequel,
..serious Roae1tions during the Life Of Robin.
con Crusoo, With his Vision Of the Angelic
World" But this was failure: the public
enamored Of his Adventures, cared little fol
his + Reflections"
The wonderful success OF Robinson Crusoe
Gusee OF scores Of oditiops> va
mainly due to belief in its thorough
truthfulness- Its probabilities and i'm,
probabilities were alike 50 mastery rendered
IA rfn ~ t,s
public did not ut first aBeociato the book in any
w1ytwith Daniel Desoo; but this WINS speedily
don't By other literary man Of tho day; one o1
whom, Charles Gildes. puhlished, in the au
tunn of IT'S, 1.-THE Iifo aud Strange Su8pris
WHO lived above Fifty Years By himself IN Ii.
Kingdom Of North and South Dntain. Ths
VARIOUS shapes lie hiss Appeard in, and th,
Discoveries he has made for the beneft Of hi,
Country. In q Dialogue between him ant
ConicAl upon the Life Of Crusoe." It wa
. poor alrair, inst sufficient to ahov
that Defoe wss believed to bo the rea
! Crusoe, and to point him out IS target fo
his many enemies tDefoc Vas alwayB in hot
! water IS ramFhleteer and political wziter) tt
! Rhoot at
| 4 question hroee soon .fte1vard, and ha.
been raised many tinea since, whether Defoe
really owed anything 70 Selkrk's story and I
30, how muchs What aErasement he nndt
| with his publisher Is not known, but both O.
them evidently wished the story OF Robinson
true. No sooner had the first volume (ths Cru
soe} appeared than numerous abzdgeneutI
were unfairly published In the Preiac,
70 the Second Volume, Dsfoe com
planned of this, saying, aIhs iniur,
is practice ii honest men abhor: and he Be
lieyes he may challenge them to show the dit
ference between that and robbery on the high
way. or breaking open house." He pointes
out TINT the bridging had been mainly eYecte
added: "by this they leave the work naked Q
ita brightest ornaments. And il they would
at the ssme time, pretend that the Anthor ha
suYplied the storv ont Of his invention, the
take from it the improvement which Alon
recommends that inFention to wise and goo
men"
That the anthor or editor Of 'sRohinso
Crueoe" was Daniel Defoe soon becam
generally admitted; but throughout th
last century tho other question aboy
adrerted to was much discussed. B
some the work was xscribed t
ford. There is memorandum. in the hAnf
writing Of Thomas Wazton, the poet 1aureat
Tin the British Museuln), which, under dat
July 10, 1T4, runs as follows: "In the yes
17ss, was told BY The Rev. Benisnin Hollf
WAY, Rector Of Middleton Stony, IN OHort
shire, then about seventy years Of age, an
in the early past of his life domestic ehap1Ai
to Lord Sunderland, that he hAd often hast
Lord Sunderland say that Lord Oxford, Will
prisoner in the Tower OF London, w1ote tt
htH volume of the History Of Robineo
Crusoe,' merely IS m Atnueerneut ind,
confinement, and gave it TO Daniel D
!: foe, who frequently visited Lord Q.
ford in the Tower, and was one of b
pamphlet writcrn That Dcfoe, BY Lord o:
. 3ords permission, printed It "a his own. m
md f4S arfr add
. himself The second volume, tho infe1indty
which is generally Acknowledged. 4r. Hou
way also told me, from Lord Sunderland, th
Lcfd Oxford dictated sous parts Of the mani