. St. Nicholas [serial]. York, Mariner. Daniel Defoe was born about 1661 in Lon-don, at Cripplegate, one of the East-End dis-tricts, and was the son of a butcher. His father was named simply Foe, but our author probablyput the De on his name in order to make hispen-name sound more sonorous, the sug-gestion, it is thought by some, having origi-nally come from writing his name D. Foe. He had a knowledge of Spanish, Italian,Latin, and Greek, and could speak French flu-ently. His intimate acquaintance with geog-raphy, coupled with a great ease of expressionand invention resulting from years of act
. St. Nicholas [serial]. York, Mariner. Daniel Defoe was born about 1661 in Lon-don, at Cripplegate, one of the East-End dis-tricts, and was the son of a butcher. His father was named simply Foe, but our author probablyput the De on his name in order to make hispen-name sound more sonorous, the sug-gestion, it is thought by some, having origi-nally come from writing his name D. Foe. He had a knowledge of Spanish, Italian,Latin, and Greek, and could speak French flu-ently. His intimate acquaintance with geog-raphy, coupled with a great ease of expressionand invention resulting from years of activityas a newspaper editor and writer, equipped himfor writing his famous work with that wonder-ful plausibility which has made it a classic. 496 THE AUTHOR OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. [April, Defoes career was a very eventful in the stirring times between the years1661 and 1731, a man of his character couldnot but be prominent in any part which hetook in the doings of the day. He was educated for the ministry, but he. DEFOE IN THE PILLORY. never entered it, engaging instead in the hosierytrade. It seems, however, a strict attention tobusiness did not prevent him from writing nu-merous pamphlets on topics of the day, andespecially political subjects. One of his early pamphlets—The Short-est Way to Deal with the Dissenters—wascondemned by the House of Commons andordered to be burned, and Defoe was fined twohundred marks and had to stand three timesin the pillory for its authorship. The people, however,—who seemed to be greatly attached to Defoe, — took the stingfrom his trying ordeal; for, instead of hissingand jeering at him as he stood with his headand hands in the pillory board, they formed aguard of honor about him, and decorated withflowers the instrument of punishment. In the reward which at onetime was offered for the captureof Defoe for one of his publi-cations against the government,he is described as follows, theextract appearing in the Ga-zette of January 1
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