Defoe

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

DANIEL (de-fō), an English writer; born in London in 1661. In 1685 he joined the insurrection of the Duke of Monmouth, and had the good fortune to escape; after which he made several unsuccessful attempts at business, and at last turned his attention to literature. In 1701 appeared his satire in verse, "The Trueborn Englishman," in favor of William III. As a zealous Whig and Dissenter he was frequently in trouble. For publishing "The Shortest Way with the Dissenters " (1702), he was pilloried and imprisoned in Newgate. While in Newgate , in 1704, he began the "Review," a literary and political periodical which lasted for nine years. In 1705 he wrote a short account of the "Apparition of One Mrs. Veal ," a fictitious narrative. In 1706 he published his longest poem, entitled "Jure Divino," a satire on the doctrine of divine right. In 1719 appeared the most popular of all his per- DANIEL DEFOE vgate. Ban formances, "The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe," the favorable reception of which was immediate and universal. The success of Defee in this performance induced him to write a number of other lives and adventures in character , as "Moll Flanders," "Captain Singleton," "Roxana," "Duncan," "Campbell," " The Memoirs of a Cavalier," "Journal of the Plague,” etc. After the accession of George I. he was employed by the government in some underhand work connected with the obnoxious Jacobite press. He died in London, April 26, 1731. ventor, born at Council Bluffs, Ia., 1873.