Daniel Defoe (1659/1661 [?] – April 24 [?], 1731)^[1] was a British writer, journalist, and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest practitioners of the novel and helped popularize the genre in Britain. In some texts he is even referred to as one of the founders, if not the founder, of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote over five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). He was also a pioneer of economic journalism. Image File history File links Defoe-daniel. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdoms Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. ... This article is about work. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... // Events May 25 - Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth. ... 1661 (MDCLXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdoms Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... SPY may refer to: SPY (spiders), ticker symbol for Standard & Poors Depository Receipts SPY (magazine), a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps SPY (Ivory Coast), airport code for San Pédro, Côte dIvoire SPY (Ship Planning Yard), a U.S. Navy acronym SPY, short for MOWAG SPY, a... For other uses, see Robinson Crusoe (disambiguation). ... This article is about the literary concept. ... The following list of scholarly journals in economics is not comprehensive, as there are hundreds currently published. ...

Biography

Early life

Daniel Foe was probably born in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate, London. (Daniel later added the aristocratic sounding "De" to his name and on occasion claimed descent from the family of De Beau Faux.) Both the date and the place of his birth are uncertain with sources often giving dates of 1659 or 1661. His father, James Foe, though a member of the Butchers' Company, was a tallow chandler. In Daniel's early life he experienced first-hand some of the most unusual occurrences in English history: In 1664, when Defoe was probably about four years old, a Dutch fleet sailed up the River Thames and attacked London. In 1665 70,000 were killed by the plague. On top of all these catastrophes, the Great Fire of London (1666) hit Defoe's neighborhood hard, leaving only his and two other homes standing in the area.^[2] All of this happened before Defoe was around seven years old, and by the age of about twelve, Defoe's mother had died.^[3] Both of his parents were Presbyterian dissenters, and he was educated in a Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington run by Charles Morton (later vice-president of Harvard University). Cripplegate was a gate in London Wall and a name for the region of the City of London outside the gate. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Worshipful Company of Butchers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, England. ... Events March 12 - New Jersey becomes a colony of England. ... Year 1665 (MDCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Detail of painting from 1666 of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist, depicting the fire as it would have appeared on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf. ... 1666 is often called Annus Mirabilis. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... The term dissenter (from the Latin dissentire, to disagree), labels one who dissents or disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. ... , Note: For an area with a similar name, see Newington, in the London Borough of Southwark. ... Harvard redirects here. ...

Although Defoe was a Christian himself he decided not to become a dissenting minister, and entered the world of business as a general merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woolen goods, and wine. Though his ambitions were great and he bought both a country estate and a ship (as well as civet cats to make perfume), he was rarely free of debt. In 1684 Defoe married a woman by the name of Mary Tuffley, receiving a dowry of £3,700. With his recurring debts, their marriage was most likely a difficult one. They had eight children, six of whom survived. In 1685, he joined the ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion, but gained a pardon by which he escaped the assizes of Judge George Jeffreys. In 1692, Defoe was arrested for payments of £700 (and his civets were seized), though his total debts may have amounted to £17,000. His laments were loud, and he always defended unfortunate debtors, but there is evidence that his financial dealings were not always honest. Genera Chrotogale Cynogale Diplogale Hemigalus Arctogalidia Macrogalidia Paguma Paradoxurus Civettictis Viverra Viverricula Civets are mammals, most of which are species in the family Viverridae. ... The Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, was an attempt to overthrow the King of England, James II, who became king when his elder brother, Charles II, died on 6 February 1685. ... The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. ... There were a few people named George Jeffreys: George Jeffreys was an English organ composer George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys was a British politician, better known as Lord Jeffreys or Judge Jeffreys George Jeffreys founder of the Elim Pentecostal Church This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ...

Following his release, he probably traveled in Europe and Scotland, and it may have been at this time that he traded in wine to Cadiz, Porto, and Lisbon. By 1695 he was back in England, using the name "Defoe", and serving as a "commissioner of the glass duty", responsible for collecting the tax on bottles. In 1696, he was operating a tile and brick factory in Tilbury, Essex and thought to be living in nearby Chadwell St Mary. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... This article is about the Spanish city. ... Oporto redirects here. ... For other uses, see Lisbon (disambiguation). ... Jan. ... The year 1696 had the earliest equinoxes and solstices for 400 years in the Gregorian calendar, because this year is a leap year and the Gregorian calendar would have behaved like the Julian calendar since March 1500 had it have been in use that long. ... Tilbury is located on the north bank of the River Thames, in the borough of Thurrock in England, at the point where the river suddenly narrows to about 800 yards/740 metres in width. ... Statistics Population: Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ645785 Administration Borough: Thurrock Region: East of England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Essex Historic county: Essex Services Police force: Essex Police Ambulance service: East of England Post office and telephone Post town: GRAYS Postal district: Dialling code...

Memorial to Daniel Defoe, Bunhill Fields, City Road, London.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x1067, 278 KB) Summary Daniel De-Foe monument in Bunhill Fields burial ground, City of London. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x1067, 278 KB) Summary Daniel De-Foe monument in Bunhill Fields burial ground, City of London. ... Blake Memorial in Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a cemetery located in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the Corporation of London. ... City Road is a road in central London, usually referred to by Londoners as the City Road. At its western extremity it starts at the Angel, Islington, as the continuation of Pentonville Road and continues roughly south-east till it passes Moorfields Eye Hospital, when it bears closer to south... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Pamphleteering and prison

Defoe's first notable publication was An Essay upon Projects, a series of proposals for social and economic improvement, published in 1697. From 1697 to 1698, he defended the right of King William III to a standing army during disarmament after the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) had ended the War of the Grand Alliance (1689–97). His most successful poem, The True-Born Englishman (1697), defended the king against the perceived xenophobia of his enemies, satirising the English claim to racial purity. In 1701, Defoe, flanked by a guard of sixteen gentlemen of quality, presented the Legion's Memorial to the Speaker of the House of Commons, later his employer, Robert Harley. It demanded the release of the Kentish petitioners, who had asked Parliament to support the king in an imminent war against France. William III of England, II of Scotland and III of Orange (The Hague, 14 November 1650 – Kensington Palace, 8 March 1702) was a Dutch aristocrat, the Prince of Orange from his birth, Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic from 28 June 1672, King of England and King... A standing army is an army composed of full time professional soldiers. ... Disarmament means the act of reducing or depriving arms i. ... The Treaty of Ryswick was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick (also known as Rijswijk) in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands). ... Combatants  Denmark Dutch Republic, England,[3]  Holy Roman Empire,  Portugal Duchy of Savoy, Spain,  Sweden France, Jacobites Commanders William III, Prince Waldeck, Duke of Savoy, Duke of Lorraine , Elector of Bavaria, Prince of Baden Louis XIV, Duc de Luxembourg â€ , Duc de Villeroi, Duc de Lorge, Duc de Boufflers, Nicolas Catinat... Look up xenophobia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term Speaker is usually the title given to the presiding officer of a countrys lower house of parliament or congress (ie: the House of Commons or House of Representatives). ... Robert Harley (1579-1656) Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer Robert Harley, British comedy writer, most noted for Smack the Pony and Green Wing. ... The English parliament in front of the King, c. ...

Defoe's pamphleteering and political activities resulted in his arrest and placement in a pillory on July 31, 1703, principally on account of a pamphlet entitled "The Shortest Way with the Dissenters", in which he ruthlessly satirised the High church Tories, purporting to argue for the extermination of dissenters. However, according to legend, the publication of his poem Hymn to the Pillory caused his audience at the pillory to throw flowers instead of the customary harmful and noxious objects, and to drink to his health. The historicity of this story, however, is questioned by most scholars, although the scholar J. R. Moore later said that “no man in England but Defoe ever stood in the pillory and later rose to eminence among his fellow men.”^[3] A pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets: for example in order to get people to vote for their favourite politician or to articulate a particular political ideology. ... Gothic pillory (early 16th century) in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany The pillory was a device used in punishment by public humiliation and often additional, sometimes lethal, physical abuse. ... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 2 - Earthquake in Aquila, Italy February 4 - In Japan, the 47 samurai commit seppuku (ritual suicide) February 14 - Earthquake in Norcia, Italy April 21 - Company of Quenching of Fire (ie. ... High Church relates to ecclesiology and liturgy in Christian theology and practice. ... For other uses, see Tory (disambiguation). ...

After his three days in the pillory, Defoe went into Newgate Prison. Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, brokered his release in exchange for Defoe's co-operation as an intelligence agent. Within a week of his release from prison, Defoe witnessed the Great Storm of 1703, which raged from 26–27 November, the only true hurricane ever to have made it over the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles at full strength. It caused severe damage to London and Bristol, uprooted millions of trees, and over 8,000 people lost their lives, mostly at sea. The event became the subject of Defoe's The Storm (1704), a collection of eyewitness accounts of the tempest. In the same year he set up his periodical A Review of the Affairs of France, which supported the Harley ministry, chronicling the events of the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–14). The Review ran tri-weekly without interruption until 1713. When Harley was ousted from the ministry in 1708 Defoe continued writing it to support Godolphin, then again to support Harley and the Tories in the Tory ministry of 1710 to 1714. After the Tories fell from power with the death of Queen Anne, it is widely thought Defoe continued doing intelligence work for the Whig government. Newgate, the old city gate and prison. ... Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724), was an English statesman of the Stuart and early Georgian periods. ... The Great Storm of 1703 is the most severe storm ever recorded in the British Isles. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ... Combatants Habsburg Empire England (1701-6) Great Britain (1707-14)[1] Dutch Republic Kingdom of Portugal Crown of Aragon Duchy of Savoy [2] Kingdom of France Kingdom of Spain Electorate of Bavaria Hungarian Rebels [3] Commanders Eugene of Savoy Margrave of Baden Count Starhemberg Duke of Marlborough Marquis de Ruvigny... The Godolphin Estate, located near Helston, Cornwall, England, is the former seat of the Duke of Leeds. ... // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 3 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. ... Battle of Gangut, by Maurice Baquoi, 1724-27. ... Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding William III of England and II of Scotland. ... The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries. ...

Later life and writings

The extent and particulars of Defoe's writing in the period from the Tory fall in 1714 to the publication of Robinson Crusoe in 1719 is widely contested. Defoe comments on the tendency to attribute author-less tracts to him in his self-vindicatory Appeal to Honour and Justice (1715), a defence of his part in Harley's Tory ministry (1710–14). Other works that are thought to anticipate his novelistic career include: The Family Instructor (1715), an immensely successful conduct manual on religious duty; Minutes of the Negotiations of Monsr. Mesnager (1717), in which he impersonates the titular French plenipotentiary, who negotiated the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); and A Continuation of the Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy (1718), a satire on European politics and religion, professedly written by a Muslim in Paris. For other uses, see Tory (disambiguation). ... Anniversary badge on a 2003 Harley-Davidson V-Rod on the show room floor. ... A map depicting the major changes in Western Europes borders as a result of the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt. ... Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy was an eight-volume collection of articles ostensibly written by an Ottoman spy named Mahmut.[1] Giovanni Paolo Marana is credited for some editions[2], though various British authors are also credited. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... This article is about the capital of France. ...

From 1719 to 1724, Defoe published the novels for which he is now famous (see below). In the final decade of his life, he also wrote conduct manuals, including Religious Courtship (1722), The Complete English Tradesman (1726), and The New Family Instructor (1727). He published a number of books decrying the breakdown of the social order, such as The Great Law of Subordination Considered (1724) and Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business (1725), and works on the supernatural, like The Political History of the Devil (1726), A System of Magick (1726), and An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions (1727). His works on foreign travel and trade include A General History of Discoveries and Improvements (1727) and Atlas Maritimus and Commercialis (1728). Perhaps his greatest achievement alongside the novels is the magisterial A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724–27), which provided a panoramic survey of British trade on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. A tour thro the Whole Island of Great Britain by Daniel Defoe, 1724-27 A non-fiction work that gives a matter-of-fact account of Defoes visits to various places, at a time when there were no ready reference works. ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ...

Daniel Defoe died on April 26, 1731, probably whilst in hiding from his creditors. He was interred in Bunhill Fields, London, where his grave can still be visited. is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdoms Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. ... Blake Memorial in Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a cemetery located in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the Corporation of London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Novels

Defoe's famous novel Robinson Crusoe (1719) tells of a man's shipwreck on a deserted island and his subsequent adventures. The author may have based his narrative on the true story of the Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk. The work has been variously read as an allegory for the development of civilisation, as a manifesto of economic individualism, and as an expression of European colonial desires. But it also shows the importance of repentance and illustrates the strength of Defoe's religious convictions. Early critics, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, admired it, saying that the footprint scene in Crusoe was one of the four greatest in English literature, and most unforgettable.^[2] It has inspired a new genre, the Robinsonnade, as works like Johann Wyss's The Swiss Family Robinson (1812) adapt its basic precis, and has provoked postcolonial responses, including J. M. Coetzee's Foe (1986). Two sequels followed, Defoe's Farther Adventures (1719) and his Serious Reflections (1720). Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) in part parodies Defoe's adventure novel. U.S. merchant seamen try to revive a shipwrecked Filipino fisherman rescued in the South China Sea. ... Alexander Selkirk, born Alexander Selcraig, (1676–13 December 1721) was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway on an uninhabited island; it is probable that his travails provided the inspiration for Defoes Robinson Crusoe. ... Johann Rudolf Wyss (1782 - 1830) was a Swiss author, writer & folklorist. ... The Swiss Family Robinson (Der Schweizerische Robinson) is a novel, first published in 1812, about a Swiss family who is shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Port Jackson, Australia. ... John Maxwell Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee (pronounced kut-SAY-uh) (born 9 February 1940) is a South African/Australian author, having emigrated from South Africa in 2002, and having been granted Australian citizenship on 6 March 2006. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish cleric, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and... First Edition of Gullivers Travels Gullivers Travels (1726, amended 1735), officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. ...

Defoe's next novel was Captain Singleton (1720), a bipartite adventure story whose first half covers a traversal of Africa, and whose second half taps into the contemporary fascination with piracy. It has been commended for its depiction of the homosocial relationship between the eponymous hero and his religious mentor, the Quaker, William Walters. For other uses, see Robinson Crusoe (disambiguation). ... The Life, Adventures and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton Attributed to Daniel Defoe. ... This article is about maritime piracy. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ...

Colonel Jack (1722) follows an orphaned boy from a life of poverty and crime to colonial prosperity, military and marital imbroglios, and religious conversion, always guided by a quaint and misguided notion of becoming a gentleman.

Also in 1722 Defoe wrote Moll Flanders, another picaresque first-person narration of the fall and eventual redemption of a lone woman in seventeenth century England. The titular heroine appears as a whore, bigamist and thief, lives in The Mint, commits adultery and incest, yet manages to keep the reader's sympathy. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders is a 1722 novel by Daniel Defoe. ... The picaresque novel (Spanish: picaresco, from pícaro, for rogue or rascal) is a popular subgenre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts in realistic and often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a... The Mint was a district in Southwark in London named for King Henry VIII having set up his mint there. ...

Moll Flanders and Defoe's final novel Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724) are examples of the remarkable way in which Defoe seems to inhabit his fictional (yet "drawn from life") characters, not least in that they are women. The latter narrates the moral and spiritual decline of a high society courtesan.

A work that is often read as if it were non-fiction is his account of the Great Plague of London in 1665: A Journal of the Plague Year, a complex historical novel published in 1722. In November of 1703, a hurricane-like storm hit London, now known as The Great Storm. (It remains one of the greatest storms in British history.) Yet another of the remarkable events in Defoe's life, the storm was the subject of his book The Storm.^[2] Defoe describes the aftermath of the incident this way: “The streets lay so covered with tiles and slates from the tops of the houses [. . .] that all the tiles in fifty miles round would be able to repair but a small part of it."^[2] Later, Defoe also wrote Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720), set during the Thirty Years War and the English Civil Wars. A bill of mortality for the plague year of 1665. ... Year 1665 (MDCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... A Journal of the Plague Year is a novel by Daniel Defoe. ... The Great Storm of 1703 is the most severe storm ever recorded in the British Isles. ... See also: 1703 in literature, other events of 1704, 1705 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720) is a work of historical fiction by Daniel Defoe, set during the Thirty Years War and the English Civil Wars. ... The victory of Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) The Thirty Years War was a conflict fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally in the central European territory of the Holy Roman Empire, but also involving most of the major continental powers. ... These military conflicts are known as English civil wars. ...

Defoe and the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707

No fewer than 545 titles, ranging from satirical poems, political and religious pamphlets and volumes have been ascribed to Defoe (Note: in their Critical Bibliography (1998), Furbank and Owens argue for the much smaller number of 276 published items). His ambitious business ventures saw him bankrupt by 1692, with a wife and seven children to support. In 1703 he published a satirical pamphlet against the High Tories and in favour of religious tolerance entitled A short way with Dissenters. As has happened with ironical writings before and since, this pamphlet was widely misunderstood, but eventually its author was prosecuted for seditious libel, sentenced to be pilloried, fined 200 marks, and be detained at the Queen's pleasure. Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (individuals, organizations, states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Religious is a term with both a technical definition and folk use. ... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... Events February 2 - Earthquake in Aquila, Italy February 4 - In Japan, the 47 samurai commit seppuku (ritual suicide) February 14 - Earthquake in Norcia, Italy April 21 - Company of Quenching of Fire (ie. ... High Church is a term that may now be used in speaking of viewpoints within a number of denominations of Protestant Christianity in general, but it is one which has traditionally been employed in Churches associated with the Anglican tradition in particular. ... Freedom of religion is the individuals right or freedom to hold whatever religious beliefs he or she wishes, or none at all. ... Ironic redirects here. ... Sedition refers to a legal designation of non-overt conduct that is deemed by a legal authority as being acts of treason, and hence deserving of legal punishment. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ... It has been suggested that Pranger be merged into this article or section. ...

In despair he wrote to William Paterson, the London Scot, and founder of the Bank of England and part instigator of the Darien scheme, who was in the confidence of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, leading Minister and spymaster in the English Government. Harley accepted Defoe's services and released him in 1703. He immediately published The Review, which appeared weekly, then three times a week, written mostly by himself. This was the main mouthpiece of the English Government promoting the Act of Union 1707. Sir William Paterson. ... Headquarters Coordinates , , Governor Mervyn King Central Bank of United Kingdom Currency Pound sterling ISO 4217 Code GBP Base borrowing rate 5. ... The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to establish a colony on the Isthmus of Panama. ... Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724), was an English statesman of the Stuart and early Georgian periods. ... A Spymaster is a ringleader of a spy ring, run by a secret service. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right)1 Capital London Head of State King of England Parliament Parliament of England This article is about the historical state called the Kingdom of England (927-1707). ... Events February 2 - Earthquake in Aquila, Italy February 4 - In Japan, the 47 samurai commit seppuku (ritual suicide) February 14 - Earthquake in Norcia, Italy April 21 - Company of Quenching of Fire (ie. ... The Acts of Union were twin Acts of Parliament passed in 1707 (taking effect on 26 March) by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. ...

Defoe began his campaign in The Review and other pamphlets aimed at English opinion, claiming that it would end the threat from the north, gaining for the Treasury an "inexhaustible treasury of men", a valuable new market increasing the power of England. By September 1706 Harley ordered Defoe to Edinburgh as a secret agent, to do everything possible to help secure acquiescence of the Treaty. He was very conscious of the risk to himself. Thanks to books such The Letters of Daniel Defoe, (edited by GH Healey, Oxford 1955) which are readily available far more is known about his activities than is usual with such agents. The term treasury was first used in classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or the many buildings put up in Olympia, Greece by competing city-states, to impress each other during the Ancient Olympic Games. ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Events March 27 - Concluding that Emperor Iyasus I of Ethiopia had abdicated by retiring to a monastery, a council of high officials appoint Tekle Haymanot I Emperor of Ethiopia May 23 - Battle of Ramillies September 7 - The Battle of Turin in the War of Spanish Succession - forces of Austria and... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... Secret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

His first reports were of vivid descriptions of violent demonstrations against the Union. "A Scots rabble is the worst of its kind," he reported. Years later John Clerk of Penicuik, a leading Unionist, wrote in his memoirs that, Sir John Clerk, known as John Clerk of Penicuik, 1676 - 1755, was a Scottish politician, lawyer, judge, composer and architect, The son of a member of the Parliament of Scotland, Clerk went on to serve in that capacity himself, for the Whig party. ...

He was a spy among us, but not known as such, otherwise the Mob of Edinburgh would pull him to pieces.

Defoe being a Presbyterian, who suffered in England for his convictions, was accepted as an adviser to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and committees of the Parliament of Scotland. He told Harley that he was "privy to all their folly", but "Perfectly unsuspected as with corresponding with anybody in England". He was then able to influence the proposals that were put to Parliament and reported back: The 2004 Assembly with Dr Alison Elliot as Moderator The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Churchs governing body. ... The parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland. ...

Having had the honour to be always sent for the committee to whom these amendments were referrèd,
I have had the good fortune to break their measures in two particulars via the bounty on Corn and
proportion of the Excise.

For Scotland he used different arguments, even the opposite of those he used in England, for example, usually ignoring the English doctrine of the Sovereignty of Parliament, telling the Scots that they could have complete confidence in the guarantees in the Treaty. Some of his pamphlets were purported to be written by Scots, misleading even reputable historians into quoting them as evidence of Scottish opinion of the time. The same is true of a massive history of the Union which Defoe published in 1709 and which some historians still treat as a valuable contemporary source for their own works. Defoe took pains to give his history an air of objectivity by giving some space to arguments against the Union, but always having the last word for himself. “Sovereign” redirects here. ... This is a list of historians. ... // Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ...

He disposed of the main Union opponent, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, by just ignoring him. Nor does he account for the deviousness of the Duke of Hamilton, the official leader of the Squadrone Volante against the Union, who finally acted against his comrades in the decisive stages of the debate. Andrew Fletcher This article is about the Scottish patriot. ... Shield of the Dukes of Hamilton since 1656 The Dukedom of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1643, the holder is the premier peer of Scotland. ... The so called Squadrone Volante was the seventeenth century independent and free thinking cardinal movement within the Catholic Church which also was known as the Flying Squad. ...

Defoe made no attempt to explain why the same Parliament of Scotland which was so vehement for its independence from 1703 to 1705 became so supine in 1706. He received very little reward from his paymasters and, of course, no recognition for his services by the government. He made use of his Scottish experience to write his Tour thro' the whole Island of Great Britain, published in 1726, where he actually admitted that the increase of trade and population in Scotland, which he had predicted as a consequence of the Union, was "not the case, but rather the contrary". Events February 2 - Earthquake in Aquila, Italy February 4 - In Japan, the 47 samurai commit seppuku (ritual suicide) February 14 - Earthquake in Norcia, Italy April 21 - Company of Quenching of Fire (ie. ... // Events Construction begins on Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England. ... Events March 27 - Concluding that Emperor Iyasus I of Ethiopia had abdicated by retiring to a monastery, a council of high officials appoint Tekle Haymanot I Emperor of Ethiopia May 23 - Battle of Ramillies September 7 - The Battle of Turin in the War of Spanish Succession - forces of Austria and...

Defoe's description of Glasgow (Glaschu) as a "Dear Green Place" has often been misquoted as a Gaelic translation for the town. The Gaelic Glas could mean grey or green, chu means dog or hollow. Glaschu probably actually means 'Green Hollow'. The "Dear Green Place", like much of Scotland, was a hotbed of unrest against the Union. The local Tron minister urged his congregation "to up and anent for the City of God". The 'Dear Green Place' and "City of God" required government troops to put down the rioters tearing up copies of the Treaty, as at almost every mercat cross in Scotland. For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... The St Georges-Tron Church in Glasgow, commonly known simply as The Tron, is a Church of Scotland parish church in Glasgows city centre, located in Nelson Mandela Place near Queen Street Station. ... For other types of minister, see Minister In Christian churches, a minister is a man or woman who serves a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such persons can minister as a Pastor, Preacher, Bishop, Chaplain, Deacon or Elder. ... The mercat cross in Cockburnspath A mercat cross is a market cross found in Scottish cities and towns where trade and commerce was a part of economic life. ...

When Defoe revisited in the mid 1720s he claimed that the hostility towards his party was, "because they were English and because of the Union, which they were almost universally exclaimed against". Events and Trends Manufacture of the earliest surviving pianos. ...

See also

• English Dissenters
• Libertatia
• Category:Works of Daniel Defoe

English Dissenters were dissenters from England who opposed State interference in religious matters and founded their own communities over the 16th to 18th century period. ... Libertatia (also known as Libertalia) was a legendary country, or free colony, forged by pirates, under the leadership of Captain Misson in the late 1600s. ...

Notes

1. ^ According to Paul Duguid in "Limits of self organization", First Monday (September 11, 2006): "Most reliable sources hold that the date Defoe’s his birth was uncertain and may have fallen in 1659 or 1661. The day of his death is also uncertain."
2. ^ ^{a b c d} West, Richard. Daniel Defoe: The Life and Strange, Surprising Adventures. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. 1998.
3. ^ ^{a b} Richetti, John J. The Life of Daniel Defoe. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005.

This article is about the television show First Monday. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carroll & Graf Publishers is an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group specializing in history, biography, and fiction. ...

Bibliography

• Daniel Defoe, A General History of the Pyrates ISBN 0-486-40488-9 (Dover Publications, 1999) (on Libertatia, a pirate utopia)
• Daniel Defoe, The Storm ISBN 0-14-143992-0 Penguin Classics, 2005
• A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, 1724–27
• Daniel Defoe, a biography by William Minto for the "English Men of Letters" series.

A tour thro the Whole Island of Great Britain by Daniel Defoe, 1724-27 A non-fiction work that gives a matter-of-fact account of Defoes visits to various places, at a time when there were no ready reference works. ... William Minto (October 10, 1845 - March 1, 1893), Scottish man of letters, was born at Auchintoul, Aberdeenshire. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Daniel Defoe

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Daniel Defoe

• Works by Daniel Defoe at Project Gutenberg
• Daniel Defoe fiction at The Literature Network
• Full online versions of various copies of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and the Robinsonades
• An account of his life and works
• Summary of Robinson Crusoe
• Robinson Crusoe (London: W. Taylor, 1719), commented html-text of the first edition.
• Works by Daniel Defoe in ebook
• Defoe's Review - a user-annotated online edition in blog format
• complete text downloads in HTML, PDF, text formats at ebooktakeaway.com