bably from
no other reason than party difference) characterises him in the
following line:

Earless on high stood unabash'd De Foe.

[Footnote 1: St. James's, January 10, 1702-3. "Whereas Daniel De Foe,
alias De Fooe, is charged with writing a scandalous and seditious
pamphlet, entitled 'The shortest Way with the Dissenters:' he is a
middle-sized spare man, about 40 years old, of a brown complexion, and
dark-brown coloured hair, but wears a wig, a hooked nose, a sharp chin,
grey eyes, and a large mole near his mouth, was born in London, and for
many years was a hose-factor, in Freeman's Yard, in Cornhill, and now is
owner of the brick and pantile works near Tilbury Fort, in Essex;
whoever shall discover the said Daniel De Foe, to one of her Majesty's
Principal Secretaries of State, or any of her Majesty's Justices of
Peace, so as he may be apprehended, shall have a reward of 50_l_. which
her Majesty has ordered immediately to be paid upon such discovery."

_London Gaz_. No. 3679.]

This is one of those instances of injustice and malignity which so
frequently occur in the Dunciad, and which reflect more dishonour on the
author than on the parties traduced. De Foe lay friendless and
distressed in Newgate, his family ruined, and himself without hopes of
deliverance, till Sir Robert Harley, who approved of his principles, and
foresaw that during a factious age such a genius could be converted to
many uses, represented his unmerited sufferings to the Queen, and at
length procured his release. The treasurer, Lord Godolphin, also sent a
considerable sum to his wife and family, and to him money to pay his
fine and the expense of his discharge. Gratitude and fidelity are
inseparable from an honest man; and it was this benevolent act that
prompted De Foe to support Harley, with his able and ingenious pen, when
Anne lay lifeless, and his benefactor in the vicissitude of party was
persecuted by faction, and overpowered, though not conquered,
by violence.

The talents and perseverance of De Foe began now to be properly
estimated, and as a firm supporter of the administration, he was sent
by Lord Godolphin to Scotland, on an errand which, as he says, was far
from being unfit for a sovereign to direct, or an honest man to perform.
His knowledge of commerce and revenue, his powers of insinuation, and
above all, his readiness of pen, were deemed of no small utility, in
promoting the union of the two kingdoms; of which he wrot