The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-11
DANIEL D.EFOE AS
NEWSPAPER MAN M 1. !.
Was Not Such Liar as Con-
ternporaries Believed
Him. t88ii
AN INTERESTING LECTURE
.Dr.1vil|liam Peterfesldt Id Trent De 3;
lights Large Audience at
Richmond College.


The Introductory lecture Of the twen-
ty-second course on the Thomas Founda-
ton ut Richmond College was delivered
last evening by Professor w. P. Trent
before a large audience, which contained
many Of the we'll known literary people
of the city. President +. w. Boatright
welcomed the audience and introduced
DR.. F. c. woodward, professor Of Eng
lish in Richmond College, who presented
the speaker, referring to him as one Of
those who opens the door Of literature.
Dr.. Trent, In beginning, spoke briefly
of "how deeply he appreciated the honor
done him by the authorities of Rich
nlond College in allowing him to address
representative audience Of his fellow
Richmonders." He then plunged at once
into the heart Of his subject for the
evening, which was the characteristics
Of the English Literature In the 1!igh-
tcenth Century and the Early Career Of
Daniel Defoe.'
Some men. said the speaker, were born
to love the eighteoath century. which.
Wordsworth and Keats disparaEed, and
among them are such men rs Thack-
cray, Oliver Wendell Holmes, though
the latter are perhaps exceptions. The
great writer's of the period-JoFnson.S
Pope, Collins, Addison and Steele-are
only read in selections, and the read,
ing of Young we procastinate though
we quote him on procrast inatlon daily
The Snovelists. Richardson Sterne and
others, are secure as classics. and while
we read the four members of DR.. ohm.
sons club-G oldsmith, Gibbon. Burke
and Boswell--we neglect the sold doctor
himself.
Much Of this neplect is Legitimate,
The writer who sees clearly. thinks
deeply and studies diligently and intelli-
gently, will. If he is able to express
himself in an adequate style, survive IN
the measure Of his originality and 4im-i
portance Of his subject The nom
imaginative writer will not survive.
The period was one Of change. The
battle ragged around Pope. who domi-
mated in his lifetime. though signs Of q
change were apparent before his death
in tastes and ideas. ut was a time OF,
revival OF interest in athe past In the
middle ages in chivary. In far away
countries, like China. and India, as we'll
as a tendency to regard man In the un-
trammeled country and wilderness or 70
contemplate nature. for herself. Along
with this was tendency to turn from
Roman to Greek literature as more nat
iural, and the beginning Of chemistry
and science.
School Of Pope.
The school Of Pope did what 1t tried
to do we'll In the heroic conflict they
were past masters. They may not have
stirred the emotions; they did appeal to
the intelligence. Some nave denled theI,l
Imagination and criticised them as not.
being poets at all. and, therefore, not
TO be enioyed. But It is best to enjoy
the good we find. a criterion OF poetry
is that 1t be in measured language and
that Pope's verse had to an excessive
degree.
Urbanlty, said the speaker, is the key
note OF the century's literature to pc
polished and well bred, a tone Which
even the Greek street writer's caught.
OF this the highest type Is William COW
per. and urbanityiis the tscharacterl Isl !,
OF Thacl.eray's ~ English Humorists.
But none of those treated by him did
the speaker select for treatment.
Daniel Defoe was a homespun genius. lie
is hardly known as man, for there
is no great biography Of him. and he Is
quite vouminous; his works lying N rare
tracts and newspapers and his lie IN
volved in political intrlgues. There are
some $50 titles attributed to him and he
docs not Yield to even cotton Mother and
Belzac He was the first great story
writer. His Robinson Crusoe includes the
substance of his own life.
The lecturer here reviewed IN incidents
Of Defoe's life; his good education in
English; his rejectionso of the minister's
career intended for him; his business en-
iterprises: his following the unherolc Mon
mouth; his good fortune under the new
King, William Ill, and his III success as
a poet. AS an essayist and pamphleteer,
Dcfoe was successful. His Projects in
fluenced Franklin and in his academies"
he showed himself farsighted In educl-
tIonal reform. He was a keen debater,
and auintcscense Of English sense. He had
no rival as editorial writer except Tom
Paine.
His advice to dssenters caused him
hatred among his own people; while his
''Shortcst Way With Dlssenters," SO keen
in it's sarcasm and so generally misunder-
stood, caused him to be severely punish
ed, and to be covered with obloquy for
years afterwards.
Letters of Dcfoe, published in. 1897,
throws much light on his life and largely
relieves him of the charge of being the
greatest liar that ever lived as some call
ed him. His description of the "grca,
storm, which some said occurred while
he was in prison, Is now proven to bf
the story of an eye witness, In fact, he
was no doubt the most accurate of news
paper reporters, Another controversy
over his story of "rhe Aprarition OF Mrs
Veal" which excited so much interest Il
shown to be n story which he secured
| from Mrs. bBargrovc who told IT. to hin
In good faith. These incidents will cause
critics hereafter TO be slow in accusing De
| foe of lying.
/ IF,.,z..
the study of Defoe taking up his Robin
| son CrusOe. -