The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-08-12
Robinson Crllsoe.

a writer in the Saturday Rcvie,u,
points out some lapses of memory in the
writer of Robinson Crusoe. He says
Crusoe mentions that he had brought from
the wreck pens, ink and paper, "yct in the
next paragraph he audaciously makes this
statement: now found wanted many
things, notwithstanding all that / had
amassed together, and of these things ink
was one. In his diary he states with much
cxactncss, that his pale, or inclosure in
front of his cave, was begun on January Sd
and finished April 18th; yet on the pre-
ceding 8 lst day of October ho tells about
shooting the mother goat, and adds: 'When
/ carried tho old one upon my shoulders
the kid followed me quite to my enclosure,
upon Which laid down the dam and took
the kid In my arms and carried it over nv
pale about two months before any pale
was begun" These points really are, in a
snail way, we'll taken, and they are the
only points well taken in the entire charge.
A considerable stress is laid upon the fact
that, after giving the dates, as above, be-
tween which he worked upon his pale, lie
mentions, few pages further on, and in
| connection with his sad lack nf tools, that,
"lt was near whole year before had
finished my little pale or surrounded habit
alton" Here 1t is plain enough to anyone
not willfully blind that it was the habita-
tion as whole, not that part of 1t only
comprchcndcd in the pale, that required
near whole year to finish. Umbrago is
taken at the "still moro curious Slip"
! which " occurs when he speaks of taking
fish, for he says that he had long line of
ropeyarn, but no hooks; yet in the same
! sentence he states that lie frequently caught
fish enough, without in the least indicating
how he did it," The critic suggests on his
own account: q" Defoe probably meant to
describe, some contrivance, but could not
think of anything at the moments and for.
got to supply the deficiency" We have
not our " Crusoc " by us as we write, but
our remembrance of this passage is that it
contained something, either expressed or
implied, to the effect that the case with
which the fish could be caught without a
hook was another strong proof of how ut
living upon the island and within the waters
which girt it round about. Skipping what
really is wholly unintelligible objection
relating to Crusoe's desire to remove to the
"pleasant valley +" (whcre he subsequently
built the "bower " and his final determin-
alton to remain in tho cave, we come to the
final attempt to make point against the
exactness OF Defoe. Robinson Crusoo, it
may be remembered, when i'll from the
ague, has a dream which frightens him
much, and in telling of his feelings on
awakening he"says: II had, alas, no divine
knowledge; what had received by the
| good instructions of my father was then
worn out by an uninterrupted series (for
eight years. Of seafaring wickedness, and
! was all that tho most hardened. .untbinkinp.
wicked creature, among common sailors eau
be supposed to be; not having tho least
sense, either Of tho fear of God in danger,
or Of thankfulness to God In dolivcrance.
1t is strange that l)efoe, when writing this
impressive passage, should have forgotten
that he made Crusoe say, after describing
the manner in which le was first washed
on shore, that directly he found himself
safe he began to look up and thank ,Proyi,
dence that his lifo was sayed;s 3AT
~ "a, "a. n Y. u