The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-03-05
Whirns Of the til 1d |: \ !.
fi'DEFOE'S N1DEA OF "A Old MIC x.,,''a..

"Bad as ttc rs the Devil may te 4
Be falsely charged aud cnuselessly u
accused ~ Fl Fl & IS
Wien men, unwilling to be blamed x
alone, II. Is i5S n 5.5i "a II 5l Y
SHIFT sc {, The crimes which are their
s. FL own "a ~ VI X. x III
Il As II is tho desire even ot the humblcst
\ OF us 10 BIO considered 'literary, Fontl as
u ,thts honest soul actually has caught the
contnglon. he Is going to write book
4 review or 34'''crItiquc,,' as the wlso ones
call II. Il A; ,5.3 81 "a ..g.ss ff
True, le., hasn't read the --latest novels
tho last $50 published. and now being
discussed BY tho current events" clubs
but lle is rapidly gnlloping abreast Of the the
/ painting processio,,. and soon will not he
more than u century behind It.
And So With this little ,prefacc--5ap ology.
]. IL you wlll-thc diHldent critic announces
that tho book JIG is to review, though
penned 40 years ago-six years before
dear llttle; George washington was born
s. ncverthclcsa touches upon q very 1--we
subject-orc that affects every household
h and cycry:cltizcn III, the body polite. sal III
short, NO arc about To have n. learned
dIscusslot, oil that dear old book. ''"Ihc
y History OF the Devil By Daniel Defoe.s
4 It 3 more than probable that that large
y and presumably nminble class so Ssooth-
#ingly addressed as Gentle Reader
4 knows farfmore about Tho subject matter
Z OF Mr.. Dcfoc's book than about Mr.fD De-
foe himself. &3
l And vet It was this same Defoe (whose
name by rights. ard until II became neces.
4 sary for lin Ii 5llse an alias, was Fo.e)
I "a the author, Of q novel that every boy
yet born has read, and that acvcra MIL
r lion boys stlll to be born intend reading
to-wit: {"Robinson Crusoc. " Fl, s ii.
Before We give the Devil his dne-he
always getait sooner or aater--iet's pause
for Il minute or SO with the man who
And lost tho plously inclined already
feel apprnhensiye that something dread
E FIJI ia TO follow. let tho critic say ut the
4 outset that THO History, Of tho Devil,
was written by Ii man who came mighty
near being u preacher Defoe, who was
4 born In 1861 and was--Oh, The shame Of
git!--thc son df n prosperous but cher, was
educated a "a dissenting academy at
L Eewington ~ Green, near London. was
strongly Impressed by his teachers and
n by both his parents with8rcligious senti-
1nents and principles. and after leaving
E the academy in 1850 was nomina ted a
n Presbyt erun minister. III sSs @ tgs
I t was his disaster as he expresses It,
first 10 be set apart for and then
TO BIO set apart from, that sacred
employ. In other words, he went into
tho opposite. cxtreme-got into politics,
and. 1t goes without saying, Into trouble.
S8s And as $if the sin OF politicating were
not enough. Daniel Defoe acquired anoti1-
er vice-that Of scribbling for the press
and writing books and pamphlets on
every conceivable subject. The man was
thousand tines worse than our pres
cnt day friends, Senex. ''&'.Verlt Ia All. and
PRO Bono PiIblico.' Before lie died at
the age orEtseventy. Defoe had become
the author OF 30 books and pamphlets
good stuff. too. But Hlyl, how the eds
tors must have scooted when they s saw: "
him coming. IL x VA ", s
Although Mr.. Defoe was never meas,
urcd by the Bertillon system. and through
misfortune due to premature BIRTH
escaped having his picture In the Police
4 Gazette. he nevertheless found trouble
plenty, and had n we'll established
;ss.'triminal record" Tie was twice }imprts--f
q Qned In NeWEHte. and furthermore was
forced to enjoy a brief spell OF involun-33
tary Inactivity In the pillory concerning
which dread engine Of justice he wrote
A shymn. wherein he described the instru-i
ment Of torture as
t "a shieroglyphic state machine y
Condemned to punish fancy In"
But worst OF all the punlshments-at
least I'VE litterateurs'' 80 Intervals that
act OF justice whereby the common hang
man was ordered TO burn one Of Defoe's
pamphlets. How 1t must have hurt tho
redoibtable son OF "a butcher to be thus
humIliated-howii would hurt any OF us
Z TO sec our precious literary productions de-.
2stroyed-how It would hurt me to have
the editor discard this article:1 But De-
foe lived through It all. The vicissltudes
OF lilo didn't bump him. AS witness
thereof no summed up his career In q dis
f itch like this: .
mo man has tasted different fortunes
stss more, l{ n !, b
And thirteen times i have been rich and
poor. "a. " - 81 So
Such was Daniel Dcfoe the man who
wrote "The History: OF the Devil. Not.
"a bad fellow methinks, and merely a
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