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SELECTIONS FROM 
 DEFOE'S MINOR NOVELS 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 GEORGE SAINTSBURY 
 
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 UNIVERglTl 
 
 LONDON 
 PERCIVAL AND CO. 
 
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CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Captain Singleton 
 
 (i) Across Africa '...... i 
 
 (2) William the Quaker ..... 92 
 
 II. Moll Flanders 
 
 (i) A Highwayman Husband . . . -135 
 (2) Moll's Thieveries . . . . . .162 
 
 III. Memoirs of a Cavalier 
 
 ( 1 ) The Passage of the Lech .... 203 
 
 (2) The Retreat from Marston Moor . .. . 218 
 
 IV. Colonel Jack 
 
 (i) Jack's Apprenticeship ...... 243 
 
 (2) A Peaceful Colonel 301 
 
 (3) Jack's Last Courtship . . . . .311 
 
 V. Roxana 
 
 (i) The Storm 320 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Although Defoe has never been edited as a whole, 
 and is, unless a great change takes place in the 
 habits of English book-buyers, very unlikely to be 
 so, he has had his fair share of partial collections in 
 greater or smaller extent. I am not aware, however, 
 of any attempt to deal with him in the way here 
 proposed. The nearest thing to it is the rather 
 abundant bundle of extracts given in Mr. Arber's 
 English Garner^ vol. vii., in which the selections 
 are wholly political. Of such matter I have myself 
 included nothing, the ever famous Shortest Way 
 being reprinted in another volume of this series. The 
 whole of my excerpts here will be from the works of 
 fiction by which Defoe gained his greatest popularity, 
 and in which his unrivalled talents for description 
 and narrative appear. A selection from the lighter 
 passages of his miscellaneous work may follow. 
 
viii hitroduction 
 
 Almost all Defoe's books are particularly susceptible 
 of such treatment, because of their author's extra- 
 ordinary fluency, and of his tendency to mix very 
 dull and tedious passages with the most brilliant of 
 his 'lies like truth,' or of his 'dressings up of others' 
 matter in his own masterly though seeming-care- 
 less form. It may, indeed, be admitted that his 
 besetting defects are rarely absent in any passage of 
 considerable length, and in a selection it is at least 
 possible to select those passages in which they are 
 accompanied by satisfactory presentation of his merits. 
 In the minor novels especially the presentation of the 
 best passages will enable the reader, better than any- 
 thing else, to reconcile or to decide between the lofty 
 eulogy of Charles Lamb and the exaggerated depre- 
 ciation of Macaulay. For there is little doubt that 
 Lamb, who always went to the best things, was 
 attracted by these ; while Macaulay, a faithful and 
 omnivorous reader, was disgusted by the quantity of 
 chaff which Defoe made him swallow with his bread. 
 Here the chaff is, I trust, pretty well winnowed out,» 
 as far as its ubiquity makes it possible. 
 
 Defoe's life and writings have been the subject 
 of a very great deal of discussion ; the life, though 
 not exactly eventful, being interesting and rather i 
 
Introduction ix 
 
 unusually well known in detail, though puzzling in 
 some particulars ; the writings possessing, in addition 
 to the interest of their vast volume and the unusual 
 variety of their certain contents, the attraction of a 
 great appendix of doubtful productions. Daniel Foe, 
 or Defoe (for his father, like De Quincey's, did not 
 use the prefix), was apparently of fair middle -class 
 rank, perhaps yeomanly in origin, certainly of the 
 trading class in his own day. He was J)om in i66i 
 in the parish of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, was brought 
 up a Dissenter, and privately but pretty well educated. 
 He was just of age when he made his appearance as 
 an author with a satire on Roger L'Estrange called 
 Speculum Crapegownorum, and he went on wxiiing-, 
 on almost ever y^conrpivnble, sub ject, and in almost 
 every co nc eivable form, for the rest of his life, whj rh 
 was no short one. No two authorities agree on the 
 exact list of his works j and therefore it is impossible 
 to estimate their quantity exactly. And it may be 
 safely said that no one, save contributors to the daily 
 press for the greater part of a long life, has ever 
 written so much as Defoe. And he was much else 
 besides a mere shedder of ink. He joined Mon- 
 mouth's insurrection in 1685, but escaped Kirke and 
 Jeffreys, as well as Feversham and Churchill, and soon 
 
X Introduction 
 
 afterwards set up as a hosier or hose-factor. He tried 
 the foreign, especially the Peninsular, trade a little, but 
 had to compound with his creditors, and to abscond 
 for some time. Then he became partner in and manager 
 of some tile and brick works at Tilbury — an enter- 
 prise which was ruined by his pillorying and imprison- 
 ment for the Shortest Way. After his release his 
 occupations, which had always been partly, became 
 almost entirely literary, a practical connection with 
 politics being also opened by his becoming an agent 
 of Harley's. During the rest of his life he was always 
 more or less a political journalist, and some of his 
 engagements in that way are not over creditable. He 
 had from time to time fresh troubles about his old or 
 new debts. One of his most respectable employments 
 was the advocacy of the Union with Scotland, for 
 which purpose he both wrote and travelled, residing 
 in the north for a considerable time. But he never 
 quite gave up his fancy for dabbling in business. In 
 T 7 1 2 he made a fresh venture of some sort, of which 
 little is known, but which seems to have had some re- 
 ference to his old connection with the clothing trade ; I 
 and ten years later he speculated in land. Although 
 ^£emingly_wi^l1 -t n»d o h ejvasney^er- far fro m-prison, 
 and sometimes in i t ; and though he had a handsome 
 
Introduction xi 
 
 house at Stoke Newington, he died, apparently in 
 distress, on 24th April 1731, lodging in the same 
 parish where he was born. 
 
 A mere catalogue, without comment, of the certain 
 work of Defoe would occupy far more space than is 
 available for this whole introduction, and would be 
 of very little service for the purpose of this volume. 
 It is sufficient to say th at he wrot ^_gj ^rythin g: — zprose 
 and verse, novel s, histories, religious and moral 
 treatises, sketches of manners, works on political 
 ec onom y, periodicals, to urs, memoirs, pamphlets, 
 lampoons, ess ays, sermons. He achieved the feat, 
 extraordinary even now, and still more extraordinary 
 then, of starting and keeping up with his single pen 
 for nine years a tri- weekly newspaper, entitled A 
 Review of the State of the British Nation^ without 
 allowing this to stop, or greatly to decrease, the vol- 
 ume of his miscellaneous production. Imprisonment, 
 hiding, wandering, business of all kinds, had no effect 
 on the quantity of his writing, and apparently not 
 much upon its quality. And last, but not least, his 
 most imaginative as well as his most masterly works 
 were the product of his declining days, Robinson 
 Crusoe^ with the satellites here represented, all dating 
 from the last ten or twelve years of his life. 
 
xii Introduction 
 
 This is, however, more surprising at first sight than 
 on examination, for the distinguishing and effectual 
 quality of Defoe's work is the same everywhere — a 
 point in which he differs from almost every other 
 writer. No one perhaps with such an entire absence 
 of what is commonly called literary quality of mind 
 has achieved such a peculiar literary character of 
 writing; and the perfection of his expression is as 
 much the secret of his popularity with purely literary 
 critics as the peculiar character of his thought and 
 sympathies is the secret of his vogue with the un- 
 literary. There is in Defoe absolutely nothing high- 
 flying or transcendental. His verse is exceedingly 
 bad — its badness being sufficiently accounted for by 
 the fact that his thought was prosaic in kind, and 
 that, unlike some other writers who share this disad- 
 vantage with him, he had neither time nor fancy for 
 supplying the deficiency by elaborate attention to form. 
 His prose is nearly, if not quite, of the first class, because 
 the criterion of the excellence of prose is the direct and 
 faithful transfer, with only a certain varnish of art, of 
 the purpose, sentiment, information, idea, or what 
 not of the writer. In his faculty of representation 
 Defoe was a consummate no less than an unique 
 artist, accomplishing the * disrealising,' as it has been 
 
Introduction xiii 
 
 called, which is necessary to art, with such a marvel- 
 lous and unerring economy of means that he has 
 sometimes been taken for a mere Realist. His work, 
 generally speaking, has the character as nearly as 
 possible of spoken rather than of written style, — the 
 nature, the freshness, the spirit, the unadorned grace 
 of the best conversation of a certain kind. And this 
 accounts to a certain extent for his wonderful fertility. 
 But this is only half the mystery ; the other half lies 
 in the immense variety, combined with the peculiar 
 pitch, of his thoughts and interests. He is, as it 
 were, sublimated commonplace ; he is the eternal 
 and consummate example of the truth, constantly 
 formulated by critics, that what pleases is that which 
 is just above — not too insolently or conspicuously 
 above — the mind and taste of the reader. Defoe had 
 a va'st number of interests, but he never urged any to 
 that pitch of crotchet, of engoue??ient, which offends. 
 He had an abundance of plain common-sense, and 
 could argue very well indeed ; but he was never 
 seduced by his logical faculty into paradox, into 
 subtlety, into any of those abuses of syllogism which 
 irritate and perplex the ordinary reader. He had an 
 abundant and prolific fancy, which never by any 
 chance became fantastic ; which seldom, indeed, 
 
xiv Introduction 
 
 reached even the borders of imagination proper. He 
 was a sincerely religious man — one who could take 
 persecution for conscience' sake ; but he was not in 
 the least what his own day called an enthusiast, and 
 could perfectly well understand and practise trans- 
 action and compromise. He was a good plain 
 moralist, sturdy and English in his morality ; but he 
 was quite able to make both ends meet, and was not 
 at all troubled by any eccentric point of honour. 
 In fact he was the shrewd, fairly - educated, prosaic, 
 Phihstine, middle-class Englishman in quintessence, — 
 endowed, moreover, with the literary faculty which, 
 while it is commonly supposed to be denied to the 
 English race in general, has in individuals given us 
 a literature second to none of ancient or modern 
 times. His Philistinism might at times disgust if it 
 were not expressed with such genial simplicity — 
 for it is a pity that we have left the adjective of 
 genius in its proper sense to Germans and French- 
 men, who certainly have no better right to it than 
 ourselves. His garrulity might offend if it were 
 not for its astonishing combination of truth to nature 
 and adaptation to artistic ends. His prolixity might 
 weary if it were not that it is entirely free from 
 any combination of pretentiousness. As it is, he is 
 
l7itroductio7i xv 
 
 literally, as I have called him, unique. No language 
 has his fellow ; and it is excessively improbable that 
 either this or any other language will ever produce 
 one. The adjustment of limitations and endowments 
 was made once and for all. 
 
 It was, as has been said, in the last— twelve years 
 of Defoe's life that the extraordinary series of fictions 
 here laid under contribution was published. From 
 the first and greatest of them, which appeared in 
 1 7 19 and the years immediately following, nothing 
 has been taken ; for Robinson Crusoe is not so 
 much in every one's hands as in every one's head, 
 and woe to England when it ceases to be so. The 
 second in order (1720) was Captain Singleton. 1722 
 saw not merely Moll Flanders^ the Memoirs of a 
 Cavalier^ and Colonel Jack, but the well-known 
 Journal of the Plague- Year^ and the very characteristic 
 Religious Courtship — perhaps the most extraordinary 
 turn-out for a single twelvemonth that any man of 
 letters has to his name in the bibliography of the world. 
 Roxana appeared in 1724, and the Neiu Voyage 
 round the World next year. From this last I have 
 taken nothing, for it has less personal interest than 
 any other, and may not improbably be a mere working 
 up of some actual voyage of the half-trading, half- 
 
xvi Introduction 
 
 piratical character then common. Its most striking 
 passages, deaHng with mutiny and the like, bear a 
 curious resemblance to others much more dramati- 
 cally worked up in Robi7ison Crusoe, and may very 
 possibly represent the originals of these. Of the 
 other five — Captain Singleton, Moll Flatiders, the 
 Me77ioirs of a Cavalier, Colonel Jack, and Roxana 
 — extracts will be found. Susceptibilities which 
 deserve respect, if not full sympathy, have required 
 a very little " editing " here and there, and have 
 still more conditioned the selection; but I think 
 it will be found fairly representative for general 
 reading. Like a great deal else in Defoe's work, 
 these novels are to some extent literary puzzles ; and 
 it cannot be said to be exactly certain in even a 
 single case how much of them is frank and imagina- 
 tive invention, how much dexterous vamping and 
 setting off of matter previously existing and represent- 
 ing actual experience. What is certain, however, is 
 that, as in the somewhat similar case of Dumas, there 
 is such a personal, singular, and uniform touch visible 
 in all the best passages of them, that a wise critic will 
 be very little concerned with questions of origin. 
 What we admire in them is beyond all question 
 Defoe's, and no one else's — the marvellous reality of 
 
Introduction > xvii 
 
 touch, the strange idiosyncrasy of character, the in- 
 variable fideHty to one scheme a.nd one sphere of Hfe,^, 
 not very lofty, not in the least romantic, but possible, 
 literary, and true. 
 
 Those who are not satisfied with these generalities 
 (between which and an impossible excursion into 
 detail there is no third way) may be invited to con- 
 sult my own article in the ninth edition of the Ency- 
 clopedia Brifannica, my friend Mr. Minto's volume in 
 the English Men of Letters, or, if they wish to go still 
 further into the matter, the biographies of Wilson, 
 Chadwick, and Lee, and that prefixed to the younger 
 Hazlitt's edition of part of the works. Of the most 
 attractive portion of those works this little volume 
 will, I think, give a sample not ungrateful to the taste, 
 and hardly to be obtained otherwise except by loading 
 the shelves with cumbrous volumes; yet if it sends any 
 reader to those volumes themselves I shall be even 
 better pleased than if he remains satisfied with what 
 I have given. 
 
^4L iFOR^i^^ 
 
 L— 'CAPTAIN SINGLETON' 
 
 {The interest of Captain Singleton, which is con- 
 siderable^ is twofold. One part lies in the remarkable 
 account of the journey across Africa., which Singleton 
 executes with his comrades from Mozambique to Lower 
 Guijiea, and which, long thought to be a mere voyage 
 de fantaisie, has been seen {since Central Africa has 
 . bsen in the last quarter of a century explored) to be so 
 much more close to the truth than the notions on the 
 subject prevalent even in our own day, that it is thought 
 Defoe must have got at the accounts, or at least the 
 maps, of some Portuguese traveller. From this part I 
 take my earlier excerpt, which wants little explanation. 
 Singletoti, a foundling, after various adventures by sea 
 i?t his early youth, is, tvith others, marooned for mutiny 
 froi7i a Portuguese ship in Madagascar. They build a 
 vessel, make for the mainland, and then cross it. They 
 fight their way through the coast fi'inge, capturing a 
 '' black prince,'' who goes with them, and using pagazis, 
 or negro carriers, like all African travellers, with a 
 
 B 
 
2 Defoe's Mi?ior Novels 
 
 few buffaloes to help. They have just had a sharp 
 fight) 
 
 From this part of the country we went on for 
 about fifteen days, and then found ourselves obliged 
 to march up a high ridge of mountains, frightful to 
 behold, and the first of the kind that we met with ; 
 and having no guide but our little pocket-compass, 
 we had no advantage of information as to which was 
 the best or the worst way, but were obliged to choose 
 by what we saw, and shift as well as we could. We 
 met with several nations of wild and naked people in 
 the plain country before we came to those hills ; and 
 we found them much more tractable and friendly than 
 those devils we had been forced to fight with; and 
 though we could learn little from these people, yet we 
 understood, by the signs they made, that there was a 
 vast desert beyond those hills, and, as our negroes 
 called them, much lion, much spotted cat (so they 
 calledrthe leopard) ; and they signed to us also that 
 we must carry water with us. At the last of these 
 nations, we furnished ourselves with as much provi- 
 sions as we could possibly carry, not knowing what 
 we had to suffer, or what length we had to go ; and 
 to make our way as familiar to us as possible, I pro- 
 posed, that of the last inhabitants we could find, we 
 should make some prisoners, and carry them with us 
 for guides, over the desert, and to assist us in carrying 
 
Captain Singleton 3 
 
 provision, and perhaps in getting it too. The advice 
 was too necessary to be slighted ; so, finding by our 
 dumb signs to the inhabitants that there were some 
 people that dwelt at the foot of the mountains, on the 
 other side, before we came to the desert itself, we 
 resolved to furnish ourselves with guides, by fair 
 means or foul. 
 
 Here, by a moderate computation, we concluded 
 ourselves seven hundred miles from the sea-coast, 
 where we began. Our black prince was this day set 
 free from the sling his arm hung in, our surgeon 
 having perfectly restored it, and he showed it to his 
 own countrymen quite well, which made them greatly 
 wonder. Also our two negroes began to recover, and 
 their wounds to heal apace, for our surgeon was very 
 skilful in managing their cure. 
 
 Having, with infinite labour, mounted these hills, 
 and coming to a view of the country beyond them, it 
 was indeed enough to astonish as stout a heart as 
 ever was created. It was a vast hiowling^ wilderness, 
 not a tree, a river, or a green thing to be seen ; for 
 as far as the eye could look, nothing but a scalding 
 sand, which, as the wind blew, drove about in clouds, 
 enough to overwhelm man and beast : nor could we 
 see any end of it, either before us, which was our way, 
 or to the right hand or left : so that truly our men 
 began to be discouraged, and talked of going back 
 again ; nor could we, indeed, think of venturing over 
 
4 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 such a horrid place as that before us, in which we 
 saw nothing but present death. 
 
 I was as much affected at the sight as any of them; 
 but, for all that, I could not bear the thoughts of 
 going back again. I told them we had marched 
 seven hundred miles of our way, and it would be 
 worse than death to think of going back again \ and 
 that, if they thought the desert was not passable, I 
 thought we should rather change our course, and 
 travel south till we came to the Cape of Good Hope, 
 or north to the country that lay along the Nile, where, 
 perhaps, we might find some way or other over to the 
 west sea ; for sure all Africa was not a desert. 
 
 Our gunner, who, as I said before, was our guide, 
 as to the situation of places, told us that he could 
 not tell what to say to going for the Cape ; for it was 
 a monstrous length, being, from the place where we 
 now were, not less than fifteen hundred miles ; and, 
 by his account, we were now come a third part of the 
 way to the coast of Angola, where we should meet 
 with the western ocean, and find ways enough for our 
 escape home. On the other hand, he assured us, 
 and showed us a map of it, that if we went northward, 
 the western shore of Africa w^ent out into the sea 
 above a thousand miles west ; so that we should have 
 so much, and more land to travel afterwards ; which 
 land might, for aught we knew, be as wild, barren, 
 and desert as this. And therefore, upon the whole, 
 
Captain Singleton 5 
 
 he proposed that we should attempt this desert, and 
 perhaps we should not find it so long as we feared ; 
 and, however, he proposed that we should see how 
 far our provisions would carry us, and, in particular, 
 our water; and that we should venture no farther 
 than half so far as our water would last ; and if we 
 found no end of the desert we might come safely 
 back again. 
 
 This advice was so seasonable that all approved of 
 it ; and, accordingly, we calculated that we were able 
 to carry provisions for forty-two days, but that we 
 could not carry water for above twenty days, though 
 we were to suppose it to stink too before that time 
 expired. So that we concluded that, if we did not come 
 
 j at some water in ten days' time, we would return ; but 
 if we found a supply of water, we could then travel 
 
 j twenty-one days, and, if we saw no end of the wilder- 
 
 j ness in that time, we would return also. 
 
 With this regulation of our measures, we descended 
 
 : the mountains, and it was the second day before we 
 quite reached the plain, where, however, to make 
 
 I us amends, we found a fine little rivulet of very good 
 
 ' water, abundance of deer, a sort of creature like a 
 
 'l hare, but not so nimble, and whose flesh we found 
 very agreeable ; but we were deceived in our intelli- 
 gence, for we found no people ; so we got no more 
 prisoners to assist us in carrying our baggage. 
 
 The infinite number of deer, and other creatures 
 
6 Defoe's Minor Novels \ 
 
 which we saw here, we found was occasioned by the 
 neighbourhood of the waste or desert, from whence 
 they retired hither for food and refreshment. We 
 stored ourselves here with flesh and roots of divers 
 kinds, which our negroes understood better than we, 
 and which served us for bread, and with as much 
 water as (by the allowance of a quart a day to a man 
 for our negroes, and three pints a day a man for our- 
 selves, and three quarts a day each for our buffaloes) 
 would serve us twenty days ; and thus loaden for a 
 long miserable march, we set forwards, being all sound 1 
 in health, and very cheerful, but not alike strong for 
 so great a fatigue, and, which was our grievance, were 
 without a guide. 
 
 In the very first entrance of the waste we were 
 exceedingly discouraged ; for we found the sand so 
 deep, and it scalded our feet so much with the heat, 
 that, after we had, as I may call it, waded rather 
 than walked through it about seven or eight miles, 
 we were all heartily tired and faint — even the very 
 negroes lay down and panted, like creatures that had 
 been pushed beyond their strength. 
 
 Here we found the difference of lodging greatly 
 injurious to us, for, as before, we always made us huts 
 to sleep under, which covered us from the night air, 
 which is particularly unwholesome in those hot coun- 
 tries ; but we had here no shelter, no lodging, after so 
 •hard a march, for here were no trees — no, not a shrub 
 
Captain Singleton 7 
 
 near us — and, which was still more frightful, towards 
 night we began to hear the wolves howl, the lions 
 bellow, and a great many wild asses braying, and 
 other ugly noises, which we did not understand. 
 
 Upon this we reflected upon our indiscretion — 
 that w^e had not, at least, brought poles or stakes in 
 our hands, with which we might have, as it were, 
 palisadoed ourselves in for the night, and so we might 
 have slept secure, whatever other inconveniences we 
 suffered. However, we found a way at last, to relieve 
 ourselves a little. For, first, we set up the lances and 
 bows we had, and endeavoured to bring the tops of 
 them as near to one another as we could, and so hung 
 our coats on the top of them, which made us a kind 
 of sorry tent. The leopard's skin, and a few other 
 skins we had put together, made us a tolerable 
 covering, and thus we lay down to sleep, and slept 
 very heartily too for the first night, setting, however, 
 a good watch, being two of our own men with their 
 fusees, whom we relieved in an hour at first, and two 
 hours afterwards ; and it was very well we did this, 
 for they found the wilderness swarmed with raging 
 creatures of all kinds, some of which came directly 
 up to the very enclosure of our tent. But our 
 sentinels were ordered not to alarm us with firing in 
 the night, but to flash in the pan at them, which they 
 did, and found it effectual, for the creatures went off 
 always as soon as they saw it, perhaps with some 
 
8 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 noise or howling, and pursued such other game as 
 they were upon. 
 
 If we were tired with the day's travel, we were all 
 as much tired with the night's lodging : but our black 
 prince told us in the morning he would give us some 
 counsel, and indeed it was very good counsel. He 
 told us we should be all killed, if we went on this 
 journey, and through this desert, without some 
 covering for us at night ; so he advised us to march 
 back again to a little river side, where we lay the 
 night before, and stay there till we could make us 
 houses, as he called them, to carry with us to lodge 
 in every night. As he began a little to understand 
 our speech, and we very well to understand his signs, 
 we easily knew what he meant, and that we should 
 there make mats (for we remembered that we saw a 
 great deal of matting, or bass there, that the natives 
 made mats of) ; I say, that we should make large mats 
 there for covering our huts or tents to lodge in at night. 
 
 We all approved this advice, and immediately 
 resolved to go back that one day's journey, resolving, 
 though we carried less provisions, we would carry 
 mats with us, to cover us in the night. Some of the 
 nimblest of us got back to the river with more ease 
 than we had travelled it but the day before ; but, as 
 we were not in haste, the rest made a halt, encamped 
 another night, and came to us the next day. 
 
 In our return of this day's journe)^, our men, that 
 
Captain Singleton 9 
 
 made two days of it, met with a very surprising thing, 
 that gave them some reason to be careful how they 
 parted company again. The case was this. The 
 second day in the morning, before they had gone half 
 a mile, looking behind them, they saw a vast cloud of 
 sand or dust rise in the air, as we see sometimes 
 in the roads in summer, when it is very dusty, and a 
 large drove of cattle are coming, only very much 
 greater ; and they could easily perceive that it came 
 after them ; and it came on faster than they went from 
 it. The cloud of sand was so great that they could 
 not see what it was that raised it ; and concluded that 
 it was some army of enemies that pursued them ; but 
 then considering that they came from the vast unin- 
 habited wilderness, they knew it was impossible any 
 nation or people that way should have intelligence of 
 them, or the way of their march ; and therefore, if it 
 was an army, it must be of such as they were travelling 
 that way by accident. On the other hand, as they 
 knew that there were no horse in the country, and 
 that they came on so fast, they concluded that it must 
 be some vast collection of wdld beasts, perhaps making 
 to the hill country for food or water, and that they 
 should be all devoured or trampled under foot by 
 their multitude. 
 
 Upon this thought they very prudently observed 
 which way the cloud seemed to point, and they turned 
 a little out of the way to the north, supposing it might 
 
lo Defoe's Mmor Novels 
 
 pass by them. When they were about a quarter of 
 a mile, they halted to see what it might be. One of 
 the negroes, a nimbler fellow than the rest, went back 
 a little, and came in a few minutes, running as fast as 
 the heavy sand would allow; and by signs gave them 
 to know that it was a great herd or drove, or whatever 
 it might be called, of vast monstrous elephants. 
 
 As it was a sight our men had never seen, they 
 were desirous to see it, and yet a little uneasy at the 
 danger too : for though an elephant is a heavy, un- 
 wieldy creature, yet in the deep sand, which was 
 nothing at all to them, they marched at a great rate, 
 and would soon have tired our people, if they had 
 had far to go, and had been pursued by them. 
 
 Our gunner was with them, and had a great mind 
 to have gone close up to one of the outermost of them, 
 and to have clapped his piece to his ear, and to have 
 fired into him, because he had been told no shot 
 would penetrate them ; but they all dissuaded him, 
 lest, upon the noise, they should all turn upon, and 
 pursue us : so he was reasoned out of it, and let them 
 pass, which, in our people's circumstances,, was 
 certainly the right way. 
 
 They were between twenty and thirty in number, 
 but prodigious great ones ; and though they often 
 showed our men that they saw them, yet they did not 
 turn out of their way, or take any other notice of them, 
 than, as we may say, just to look at them. We that 
 
Captazji SiJigleton n 
 
 were before saw the cloud of dust they raised, but we 
 thought it had been our own caravan, and so took no 
 notice ; but as they bent their course one point of 
 the compass, or thereabouts, to the southward of the 
 east, and we went due east, they passed by us at some 
 little distance ; so that we did not see them, or know 
 anything of them, till evening, when our men came to 
 us, and gave us this account of them. How^ever, this 
 w^as a useful experiment for our future conduct in 
 passing the desert, as you shall hear in its place. 
 
 We were now upon our work, and our black prince 
 was head surveyor, Jor he was an excellent mat-maker 
 himself, and all his men understood it ; so that they 
 soon made us near a hundred mats ; and as every 
 man, I mean of the negroes, carried one, it was no 
 manner of load, and w^e did not carry an ounce of 
 provisions the less. The greatest burthen was to 
 carry six long poles, besides some shorter stakes ; but 
 the negroes made an advantage of that, for carrying 
 them between two, they made the luggage of provisions 
 which they had to carry so much the lighter, binding 
 it upon two poles, and made three couple of them. 
 As soon as we saw this, we made a little advantage 
 of it too ; for having three or four bags, called bottles 
 (I mean skins or bladders to carry water), more than 
 the men could carry, we got them filled, and carried 
 them this way, which w^as a day's water and more, for 
 our journe3\ 
 
12 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 Having now ended our work, made our mats, and 
 fully recruited our stores of things necessary, and 
 having made us abundance of small ropes and matting 
 for ordinary use, as we might have occasion, we set 
 forward again, having interrupted our journey eight 
 days in all, upon this affair. To our great comfort, 
 the night before we set out, there fell a very violent 
 shower of rain, the effects of which we found in the 
 sand ; though the one day dried the surface as much 
 as before, yet it was harder at bottom, not so heavy, 
 and was cooler to our feet, by w^hich means we 
 marched, as we reckoned, about fourteen miles instead 
 of seven, and with much mdre ease. 
 
 When we came to encamp we had all things ready, 
 for we had fitted our tent, and set it up for trial, 
 where we made it; so that, in less than an hour, we had 
 a large tent raised, with an inner and outer apartment, 
 and two entrances. In one we lay ourselves, in the 
 other our negroes, having light pleasant mats over us, 
 and others at the same time under us. Also, we had 
 a little place without all, for our buffaloes, for they 
 deserved our care, being very useful to us, besides 
 carrying forage and water for themselves. Their 
 forage was a root, which our black prince directed us 
 to find, not much unlike a parsnip, very moist and 
 nourishing, of which there was plenty wherever we 
 came, this horrid desert excepted. 
 
 When we came the next morning to decamp, our 
 
Captain Singleton 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 negroes took down the tent, and pulled up the stakes, 
 and all was in motion in as little time as it was 
 set up. In this posture we marched eight days, 
 and yet could see no end, no change of our pros- 
 pect, but all looking as wild and dismal as at the 
 beginning. If there was any alteration it was that 
 the sand was nowhere so deep and heavy, as it 
 was the first three days. This we thought might 
 be, because, for six months of the year, the winds 
 blowing west (as for the other six, they blew con- 
 stantly east), the sand was driven violently to the 
 side of the desert where we set out, where the 
 mountains lying very high, the easterly monsoons, 
 when they blew, had not the same power to drive 
 it back again ; and this was confirmed by our finding 
 the Uke depth of sand on the farthest extent of the 
 desert to the west. 
 
 — -^It was the ninth day of our travel in this wilder- 
 ness, when we came to the view of a great lake of 
 water ; and you may be sure this was a particular 
 satisfaction to us, because we had not water left for 
 above two or three days more, at our shortest allow- 
 ance ; I mean, allowing water for our return, if we 
 had been put to the necessity of it. Our water had 
 served us two days longer than expected, our buffaloes 
 having found, for two or three days, a kind of herb 
 like a broad flat thistle, though without any prickle, 
 spreading on the ground, and growing in the sand, 
 
14 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 which they ate freely of, and which supplied them for 
 drink as well as forage. 
 
 The next day, which was the tenth from our setting 
 out, we came to the edge of this lake, and, happily 
 for us, we came to it at the south point of it ; so w^e 
 passed by it, and travelled three days by the side of 
 it, which was a great comfort to us, because it lightened 
 our burthen, there being no need to carry water when 
 we had it in view. And yet, though here was so 
 much wat6r, we found but very little alteration in the 
 desert ; no trees, no grass or herbage, except that 
 thistle, as I called it, and two or three more plants, 
 which we did not understand, of which the desert 
 began to be pretty full. 
 
 But as we were refreshed with the neighbourhood 
 of this lake of water, so we were now gotten among a 
 prodigious number of ravenous inhabitants, the like 
 whereof, it is most certain, the eye of man never saw : 
 for, as I firmly believe, that never man, nor any body 
 of men, passed this desert since the flood, so I believe 
 there is not the like collection of fierce, ravenous, and 
 devouring creatures in the world; I mean, not in any 
 particular place. 
 
 For a day's journey before we came to this lake, 
 and all the three days we were passing by it, and for 
 six or seven days' march after it, the ground was 
 scattered with elephants' teeth, in such a number as 
 is incredible ; and, as some of them may have lain 
 
Captain Singleton 15 
 
 there for some hundreds of years, so, seeing the sub- 
 stance of them scarce ever decays, they may lie there, 
 for aught I know, to the end of time. The size of 
 some of them ' is, it seems, to those to whom I have 
 reported it, as incredible as the number ; and I can 
 assure you there were several so heavy as the strongest 
 man among us could not lift. As to number, I 
 question not there are enough to load a thousand sail 
 of the biggest ships in the world, by which I may be 
 understood to mean, that the quantity is not to be 
 conceived of; seeing, that as they lasted in view for 
 above eighty miles travelling, so they might continue 
 as far to the right hand, and to the left as far, and 
 many times as far, for aught we knew ; for it seems 
 the number of elephants hereabouts is prodigiously 
 great. In one place in particular we saw the head of 
 an elephant, with several teeth in it, but one of the 
 biggest that ever I saw : the flesh was consumed to 
 be sure many hundred years before, and all the other 
 bones ; but three of our strongest men could not lift 
 this skull and teeth : the great tooth, I believe, 
 weighed at least three hundredweight ; and this was 
 particularly remarkable to me, for I observed the 
 whole skull was as good ivory as the teeth ; and, I 
 believe, altogether weighed at least six hundredweight; 
 and though I do not know but, by the same rule, all 
 the bones of the elephant may be ivory, yet I think 
 there is a just objection against it, from the example 
 
1 6 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 before me, that then all the other bones of this 
 elephant would have been there as well as the head. 
 
 I proposed to our gunner, that, seeing we had 
 travelled now fourteen days without intermission, and 
 that we had water here for our refreshment, and no 
 want of food yet, nor any fear of it, we should rest 
 our people a little, and see, at the same time, if, 
 perhaps, we might kill some creatures that were proper 
 for food. The gunner, who had more forecast of 
 that kind than I had, agreed to the proposal, and 
 added, why might we not try to catch some fish out 
 of the lake? The first thing we had before us, was 
 to try if we could make any hooks, and this indeed 
 put our artificer to his trumps ; however, with some 
 labour and difficulty, he did it, and we catched fresh 
 fish of several kinds. How they came there, none 
 but He that made the lake, and all the world, knows ; 
 for, to be sure, no human hands ever put any in 
 there, or pulled any out before. 
 
 We not only catched enough for our present re- 
 freshment, but we dried several large fishes, of kinds 
 which I cannot describe, in the sun, by which we 
 lengthened out our provisions considerably ; for the 
 heat of the sun dried them so effectually without salt, 
 that they were perfectly cured, dry, and hard, in one 
 day's time. 
 
 We rested ourselves here five days ; during which 
 time we had abundance of pleasant adventures with 
 
Captain Singleton 17 
 
 the wild creatures, too many to relate. One of them 
 was very particular, which was a chase between a she- 
 lion or lioness, and a large deer ; and, though the 
 deer is naturally a very nimble creature, and she 
 flew by us like the wind, having, perhaps, about three 
 hundred yards the start of the lion, yet we found 
 the hon, by her strength, and the goodness of her 
 lungs, got ground of her. They passed by us within 
 about a quarter of a mile, and we had a view of them 
 a great way, when, having given them over, we were 
 surprised, about an hour after, to see them come 
 thundering back again on the other side of us, and 
 then the lion was within thirty or forty yards of her ; 
 and both straining to the extremity of their speed, 
 when the deer, coming to the lake, plunged into the 
 water, and swam for her life, as she had before run 
 for it. 
 
 The lioness plunged in after her, and swam a little 
 way, but came back again ; and, when she was got 
 upon the land, she set up the most hideous roar that 
 ever I heard in my life, as if done in the rage of 
 having lost her prey. 
 
 We walked out morning and evening constantly ; 
 the middle of the day we refreshed ourselves under 
 our tent : but one morning early we saw another 
 chase, which more nearly concerned us than the 
 other ; for our black prince, walking by the side of 
 the lake, was set upon by a vast great crocodile, which 
 
 c 
 
1 8 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 came out of the lake upon him ; and though he was 
 very light of foot, yet it was as much as he could do 
 to get away : he fled amain to us, and the truth is 
 w^e did not know w^hat to do, for we were told no 
 bullet would enter her ; and we found it so at first, 
 for though three of our men fired at her, yet she did 
 not mind them ; but my friend the gunner, a ventur- 
 ous fellow, of a bold heart and great presence of 
 mind, went up so near as to thrust the muzzle of his 
 piece into her mouth, and fired, but let his piece fall, 
 and ran for it the very moment he had fired it : the 
 creature raged a great while, and spent its fury upon 
 the gun, making marks upon the very iron with her 
 
 •vteeth, but after some time fainted and died. 
 
 '^ Our negroes spread the banks of the lake all this 
 while for game, and at length killed us three deer, 
 one of them very large, the other two very small. 
 There was water-fowl also in the lake, but we never 
 came near enough to them to shoot any ; and, as for 
 the desert, we saw no fowls anywhere in it, but at 
 the lake. 
 
 We likewise killed two or three civet cats ; but 
 their flesh is the worst of carrion. We saw abundance 
 of elephants at a distance, and observed they always 
 go in very good company, that is to say, abundance 
 of them together, and always extended in a fair line 
 of battle ; and this, they say, is the way they defend 
 themselves from their enemies ; for, if lions or tigers, 
 
Captain Singleton 19 
 
 wolves, or any creatures, attack them, they being 
 drawn up in a line, sometimes reaching five or six 
 miles in length, whatever comes in their way is sure 
 to be trod under foot, or beaten in pieces with their 
 trunks, or lifted up in the air with their trunks : so 
 that if a hundred lions or tigers w^ere coming along, 
 if they meet a line of elephants, they will always fly 
 back till they see room to pass by to the right hand 
 or to the left ; and if they did not, it would be im- 
 possible for one of them to escape ; for the elephant, 
 though a heavy creature, is yet so dexterous and 
 nimble with his trunk that he will not fail to lift up 
 the heaviest lion, or any other wild creature, and 
 throw him up in the air quite over his back, and then 
 trample him to death with his feet. We saw several 
 lines of battle thus ; we saw one so long, that indeed 
 there was no end of it to be seen, and, I believe, 
 there might be two thousand elephants in a row or 
 line. They are not beasts of prey, but live upon the 
 herbage of the field, as an ox does ; and it is said 
 that though they are so great a creature, yet that a 
 smaller quantity of forage supplies one of them than 
 will suffice a horse. 
 
 The numbers of this kind of creature that are in 
 those parts are inconceivable, as may be gathered 
 from the prodigious quantity of teeth, which, as I 
 said, we saw in this vast desert ; and indeed we saw 
 a hundred of them to one of any other kinds. 
 
20 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 One evening we were very much surprised ; we 
 were most of us laid down on our mats to sleep, 
 when our watch came running in among us, being 
 frightened with the sudden roaring of some lions just 
 by them, which, it seems, they had not seen, the 
 night being dark, till they were just upon them. ] 
 There was, as it proved, an old lion and his whole 
 family, for there was the lioness and three young 
 lions, besides the old king, who was a monstrous 
 great one : one of the young ones, who were good 
 large well-grown ones too, leaped up upon one of our 
 negroes, who stood sentinel, before he saw him, at 
 which he was heartily frightened, cried out, and ran 
 into the tent : our other man, who had a gun, had 
 not presence of mind at first to shoot him, but struck 
 him with the but-end of his piece, which made him 
 whine a little, and then growl at him fearfully ; but 
 the fellow retired, and, we being all alarmed, three of 
 our men snatched up their guns, ran to the tent door, 
 where they saw the great old lion by the fire of his 
 eyes, and first fired at him, but, we supposed, missed 
 him, or at least did not kill him, for they went all 
 off, but raised a most hideous roar, which, as if they 
 had called for help, brought down a prodigious 
 number of lions, and other furious creatures, we know 
 not what, about them, for we could not see them ; 
 but there was a noise, and yelling, and howling, and 
 all sort of such wilderness music on every side of us, 
 
 mfirfyi ntrr"' n ._. n . i r i» ■ n i»i ■ m i "*^' 
 
Captain Singleton 21 
 
 as if all the beasts of the desert were assembled to 
 devour us. 
 
 We asked our black prince what we should do 
 with them. ' Me go,' says he, ' and fright them all' 
 So he snatches up two or three of the worst of our 
 mats, and, getting one of our men to strike some fire, 
 he hangs the mat up at the end of a pole, and set it 
 on fire, and it blazed abroad a good while, at which 
 the creatures all moved off, for we heard them roar, 
 and make their bellowing noise at a great distance. 
 ' Well,' says our gunner, ' if that will do, we need not 
 burn our mats, which are our beds to lay under us, 
 and our tilting to cover us. Let me alone,' says he. 
 So he comes back into our tent, and falls to making 
 some artificial fireworks, and the like ; and he gave 
 our sentinels some to be ready at hand upon occasion, 
 and particularly he placed a great piece of wildfire 
 upon the same pole that the mat had been tied to, 
 and set it on fire, and that burnt there so long that 
 all the wild creatures left us for that time. 
 
 However, we began to be weary of such company, 
 and, to get rid of them, we set forward again two 
 days sooner than we intended. We found now that, 
 though the desert did not end, nor could we see any 
 appearance of it, yet that the earth was pretty full of 
 green stuff, of one sort or another, so that our cattle 
 had no want ; and, secondly, that there were several 
 little rivers which ran into the lake, and, so long as 
 
22 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 the country continued low, we found water sufficient, 
 which eased us very much in our carriage, and we 
 went on still sixteen days more Avithout yet coming 
 to any appearance of better soil. After this we found 
 the country rise a little, and by that we perceived 
 that the water would fail us ; so, for fear of the worst, 
 we filled our bladder bottles with water. We found 
 the country rising gradually thus for three days con- 
 tinually, when, on the sudden, we perceived, that 
 though we had mounted up insensibly, yet that we 
 were on the top of a very high ridge of hills, though 
 not such as at first. 
 
 When we came to look down on the other side of 
 the hills, we saw, to the great joy of all our hearts, 
 that the desert was at an end ; that the country was 
 clothed with green, abundance of trees, and a large 
 river ; and we made no doubt but that we should find 
 people and cattle also. And here, by our gunner's 
 account, who kept our computations, we had marched 
 about four hundred miles over this dismal place of 
 horror, having been four-and-thirty days a-doing of it, 
 and, consequently, were come about eleven hundred 
 miles of our journey. 
 
 We would willingly have descended the hills that 
 night, but it was too late. The next morning we saw 
 everything more plain, and rested ourselves under the 
 shade of some trees, which were now the most re- 
 freshing things imaginable to us, who had been 
 
Captain Singleton 23 
 
 scorched above a month without a tree to cover us. 
 We found the country here very pleasant, especially 
 considering that we came from ; and we killed some 
 deer here also, which we found very frequent under 
 the cover of the woods. Also we killed a creature 
 like a goat, whose flesh was very good to eat, but it 
 was no goat. We found also a great number of 
 fowls, like partridge, but something smaller, and were 
 very tame ; so that we lived here very well, but found 
 no people — at least, none that would be seen — no, 
 not for several days' journey ; and, to allay our joy, 
 we were almost every night disturbed with lions and 
 tigers. Elephants we saw none here. 
 
 In three days' march we came to a river, which 
 we saw from the hills, and which we called the Golden 
 river ; and we found it ran northward, which was the 
 first stream we had met with that did so. It ran with 
 a very rapid current, and our gunner, pulling out his 
 map, assured me that this was either the river Nile, 
 or ran into the great lake out of which the river Nile 
 was said to take its beginning ; and he brought out 
 his charts and maps, which, by his instruction, I be- 
 gan to understand very well, and told me he would 
 convince me of it, and indeed he seemed to make it 
 so plain to me that I was of the same opinion. 
 
 But I did not enter into the gunner's reason for 
 this inquiry — not in the least — till he went on with it 
 further, and stated it thus : If this is the river Nile, 
 
24 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 why should we not build some more canoes, and go 
 down this stream, rather than to expose ourselves to any 
 more deserts and scorching sands, in quest of the sea, 
 which, when we are come to, we shall be as much at 
 a loss how to get home as we were at Madagascar. 
 
 The argument was good had there been no objec- 
 tions in the way, of a kind which none of us were 
 capable of answering ; but, upon the whole, it was an 
 undertaking of such a nature that every one of us 
 thought it impracticable, and that upon several 
 accounts ; and our surgeon, who was himself a good 
 scholar, and a man of reading, though not acquainted 
 with the business of sailing, opposed it, and some of 
 his reasons, I remember, were such as these : first, 
 the length of the way, which both he and the gunner 
 allowed, by the course of the water and turnings of 
 the river, would be at least four thousand miles ; 
 secondly, the innumerable crocodiles in the river, 
 which we should never be able to escape ; thirdly, 
 the dreadful deserts in the way ; and, lastly, the 
 approaching rainy season, in which the streams of the 
 Nile would be so furious, and rise so high, spreading 
 far and wide over all the plain country, that we should 
 never be able to know when we were in the channel 
 of the river and when not, and should certainly be 
 cast away, overset, or run aground so often that it 
 would be impossible to proceed by a river so excess- 
 ively dangerous. 
 
Captain Singleton 
 
 25 
 
 This last reason he made so plain to us that we 
 began to be sensible of it ourselves ; so that we 
 agreed to lay that thought aside, and proceed in our 
 first course westw^ards towards the sea : but, as if we 
 had been loath to depart, we continued, by way of 
 refreshing ourselves, to loiter two days upon this 
 river, in which time our black prince, who delighted 
 much in wandering up and down, came one evening, 
 and brought us several little bits of something, he 
 knew not what ; but he found it felt heavy, and 
 looked well, and showed it to me, as what he thought 
 was some rarity. I took not much notice of it to 
 hmi, but stepping out and calling the gunner to me, I 
 showed it to him, and told him what I thought, viz. 
 that it was certainly gold : he agreed with me in that, 
 and also in what followed, that we would take the 
 black prince out with us the next day, and make him 
 show us where he found it ; that, if there was any 
 quantity to be found, we would tell our company of 
 it ; but, if there was but little, we would keep counsel, 
 and have it to ourselves. 
 
 But we forgot to engage the prince in the secret, 
 who innocently told so much to all the rest, as that 
 they guessed what it was, and came to us to see : 
 when we found it was public, we were more concerned 
 to prevent their suspecting that we had any design to 
 conceal it, and openly telling our thoughts of it, we 
 called our artificer, who agreed presently that it was 
 
 /f 
 
 O Or^ THE " \ 
 
26 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 gold ; so I proposed, that we should all go with the 
 prince to the place where he found it, and, if any 
 quantity was to be had, we would lie here some time, 
 and see what we could make of it. 
 
 Accordingly, we went every man of us, for no man 
 was willing to be left behind in a discovery of such a 
 nature. When we came to the place we found it 
 was on the west side of the river, not in the main 
 river, but in another small river or stream which came 
 from the west, and ran into the other at that place. 
 We fell to raking in the sand, and washing it in our 
 hands, and we seldom took up a handful of sand but 
 we washed some little round lumps as big as a pin's 
 head, or sometimes as big as a grape-stone, into our 
 hands, and we found, in two or three hours' time, 
 that every one had got some, so we agreed to leave 
 off, and go to dinner. 
 
 While we were eating, it came into my thoughts, 
 that while we worked at this rate in a thing of such 
 nicety and consequence, it was ten to one if the gold, 
 which was the makebate of the world, did not, first or 
 last, set us together by the ears, to break our good 
 articles and our understanding one among another, 
 and perhaps cause us to part companies, or worse ; I 
 therefore told them that I was indeed the youngest 
 man of the company, but, as they had always allowed 
 me to give my opinion in things, and had been some- 
 times pleased to follow my advice, so I had something 
 
Captain Singleton 27 
 
 to propose now which I thought would be for all our 
 advantages, and I believed they would all like it very 
 well I told them we were in a country where we all 
 knew there was a great deal of gold, and that all the 
 world sent ships thither to get it : that we did not 
 indeed know where it was, and so we might get a 
 great deal, or a little, we did not know whether ; but 
 I offered it to them to consider, whether it would not 
 be the best way for us, and to preserve the good 
 harmony and friendship that had been always kept 
 among us, and which was so absolutely necessary to 
 our safety, that what we found should be brought 
 together to one common stock, and be equally 
 divided at last, rather than to run the hazard of any 
 difference which might happen among us, from any 
 one's having found more or less than another. I 
 told them that, if we were all upon one bottom, we 
 should all apply ourselves heartily to the work ; and, 
 besides that, we might then set our negroes all to 
 work for us, and receive equally the fruit of their 
 labour, and of our own, and being all exactly alike 
 sharers, there could be no just cause of quarrel or 
 disgust among us. 
 
 They all approved the proposal, and every one 
 jointly swore, and gave their hands to one another, 
 that they would not conceal the least grain of gold 
 from the rest ', and consented that, if any one or 
 more should be found to conceal any, all that he had 
 
28 Defois Minor Novels 
 
 should be taken from him, and divided among the 
 rest; and one thing more was added to it by our 
 gunner, from considerations equally good and just, 
 that, if any one of us, by any play, bet, game, or 
 wager, won any money or gold, or the value of any, 
 from another, during our whole voyage, till our return 
 quite to Portugal, he should be obliged by us all to 
 restore it again, on the penalty of being disarmed, and 
 turned out of the company, and of having no relief 
 from us on any account whatsoever. This was to 
 prevent wagering and playing for money, which our 
 men were apt to do by several games, though they 
 had neither cards nor dice. 
 
 Having made this wholesome agreement, we went 
 cheerfully to work, and showed our negroes how to- 
 work for us ; and, working up the stream on both 
 sides, and in the bottom of the river, we spent about 
 three weeks' time dabbling in the water; by which 
 time, as it lay all in our way, we had been gone about 
 six miles, and not more ; and still the higher we went, 
 the more gold we found ; till at last, having passed 
 by the side of a hill, we perceived on a sudden that 
 the gold stopped, and that there was not a bit taken 
 up beyond that place : it presently occurred to my 
 mind, that it must then be from the side of that little 
 hill that all the gold we found was worked down. 
 
 Upon this we went back to the hill, and fell to 
 work with that. We found the earth loose, and of a 
 
Captain Singleton 29 
 
 yellowish loamy colour, and in some places a white 
 hard kind of stone, which, in describing since to some 
 of our artists, they tell me was the spar which is found 
 by ore, and surrounds it in the mine. However, if it 
 had been all gold, we had no instrument to force it 
 out ; so we passed that : but scratching into the loose 
 earth with our fingers, we came to a surprising place, 
 where the earth, for the quantity of two bushels, I 
 believe, or thereabouts, crumbled down with little 
 more than touching it, and apparently showed us that 
 there was a great deal of gold in it. We took it all 
 carefully up, and, washing it in the water, the loamy 
 earth washed away, and left the gold dust free in our 
 hands ; and that which was more remarkable, was, 
 that when this loose earth was all taken away, and we 
 came to the rock or hard stone, there was not one 
 grain of gold more to be found. 
 
 At night we came all together to see what we had 
 got ; and it appeared we had found, in that day's 
 heap of earth, about fifty pound weight of gold dust, 
 and about thirty-four pound more in all the rest of 
 our works in the river. 
 
 It was a happy kind of disappointment to us, that 
 we found a full stop put to our work; for, had the 
 quantity of gold been ever so small, yet, had any at 
 all come, I do not know when we should have given 
 over ; for, having rummaged this place, and not finding 
 the least grain of gold in any other place, or in any of 
 
30 Defoe^s Mmor Novels 
 
 the earth there, except in that loose parcel, we went 
 quite back down the small river again, working it 
 over and over again, as long as we could find any- 
 thing, how small soever ; and we did get six or seven 
 pound more the second time. Then we went into 
 the first river, and tried it up the stream and down 
 the stream, on the one side and on the other. Up 
 the stream we found nothing, no not a grain ; down 
 the stream we found very little, not above the quantity 
 of half an ounce in two miles working ; so back we 
 came again to the Golden river, as we justly called it, 
 and worked it up the stream and down the stream 
 twice more apiece, and every time we found some 
 gold, and perhaps might have done so if we had 
 stayed there till this time ; but the quantity was at 
 last so small, and the work so much the harder, that 
 we agreed by consent to give it over, lest we should 
 fatigue ourselves and our negroes so as to be quite 
 unfit for our journey. When we had brought all our 
 purchase together, w^e had in the whole three pound 
 and a half of gold to a man, share and share alike, 
 according to such a w^eight and scale as our ingenious 
 cutler made for us to weigh it by, which he did indeed 
 by guess, but which, as he said, he was sure was 
 rather more than less, and so it proved at last ; for it 
 was near two ounces more than weight in a pound. 
 Besides this, there was seven or eight pounds' weight 
 left, which we agreed to leave in his hands, to work 
 
Captain Singleton 31 
 
 it into such shapes as we thought fit, to give away to 
 such people as we might yet meet with, from whom 
 we might have occasion to buy provisions, or even to 
 buy friendship, or the hke ; and particularly we gave 
 a pound to our black prince, which he hammered and 
 worked by his own indefatigable hand, and some tools 
 our artificer lent him, into little round bits, as round 
 almost as beads, though not exact in shapS, and, drill- 
 ing holes through them, put them all upAn a string, 
 and wore them about his black neck, and they looked 
 very well there I assure you ; but he was many 
 months a-doing it. And thus ended our first golden 
 adventure. 
 
 We now began to discover what we had not 
 troubled our heads much about before ; and that was, 
 that let the country be good or bad that we were in, 
 we could not travel much farther for a considerable 
 time. We had been now five months and upwards 
 in our journey, and the seasons began to change ; 
 and nature told us, that, being in a climate that had 
 a winter as well as a summer, though of a different 
 kind from what our country produced, we were to 
 expect a wet season, and such as we should not be 
 able to travel in, as well by reason of the rain itself, 
 as of the floods which it would occasion wherever we 
 should come ; and though we had been no strangers 
 to those wet seasons in the island of Madagascar, yet 
 we had not thought much of them since we began 
 
32 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 our travels ; for, setting out when the sun was about 
 the solstice, that is, when it was at the greatest northern 
 distance from us, we had found the benefit of it in 
 our travels. But now it drew near us apace, and we 
 found it began to rain ; upon which we called another 
 general council, in which we debated our present 
 circumstances, and, in particular, whether we should 
 go forward, or seek for a proper place upon the bank 
 of our Golden river, which had been so lucky to us, 
 to fix our camp for the winter. 
 
 Upon the whole, it was resolved to abide where 
 we were ; and it was not the least part of our happi- 
 ness that we did so, as shall appear in its place. 
 
 Having resolved upon this, our first measures 
 were to set our negroes to work, to make huts or 
 houses for our habitation ; and this they did very 
 dexterously, only that we changed the ground where 
 we had at first intended it, thinking, as indeed it 
 happened, that the river might reach it upon any 
 sudden rain. Our camp was like a little town, in 
 which our huts were in the centre, having one large 
 one in the centre of them also, into which all- our 
 particular lodgings opened ; so that none of us went 
 into our apartments but through a public tent, where 
 we all ate and drank together, and kept our councils 
 and society ; and our carpenters made us tables, 
 benches, and stools in abundance, as many as we 
 could make use of 
 
Captain Singleton 33 
 
 We had no need of chimneys — it was hot enough 
 without fire ; but yet we found ourselves at last obliged 
 to keep a fire every night upon a particular occasion ; 
 for, though we had in all other respects a very pleasant 
 and agreeable situation, yet we were rather worse 
 troubled with the unwelcome visits of wild beasts 
 here than in the wilderness itself; for, as the deer 
 and other gentle creatures came hither for shelter 
 and food, so the Hons, and tigers, and leopards, 
 haunted these places continually for prey. 
 
 When first we discovered this, we were so uneasy 
 at it that we thought of removing our situation ; but, 
 after many debates about it, we resolved to fortify 
 ourselves in such a manner as not to be in any danger 
 from it, and this our carpenters undertook, who first 
 palisadoed our camp quite round with long stakes 
 (for we had wood enough), which stakes were not 
 stuck in one by another, like pales, but in an irregular 
 manner — a great multitude of them so placed that 
 they took up near two yards in thickness, some higher, 
 some lower, all sharpened at the top, and about a 
 foot asunder; so that, had any creature jumped at 
 them, unless he had gone clean over, which it was 
 very hard to do, he would be hung upon twenty or 
 thirty spikes. 
 
 The entrance into this had larger stakes than the 
 rest, so placed before one another as to make three 
 or four short turnings, which no four-footed beast 
 
 D 
 
34 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 bigger than a dog could possibly come in at ; and 
 that we might not be attacked by any multitude 
 together, and consequently be alarmed in our sleep, 
 as we had been, or be obliged to waste our ammuni- 
 tion, which we were very chary of, we kept a great 
 fire every night without the entrance of our palisado, 
 having a hut for our two sentinels to stand in free 
 from the rain, just within the entrance, and right 
 against the fire. 
 
 To maintain this fire we cut a prodigious deal of 
 wood, and piled it up in a heap to dry, and, with the 
 green boughs, made a second covering over our huts, 
 so high and thick that it might cast the rain off from 
 the first, and keep us effectually dry. 
 
 We had scarce finished all these works, but the 
 rain came on so fierce, and so continued, that we 
 had little time to stir abroad for food, except indeed 
 that our negroes, who wore no clothes, seemed to 
 make nothing of the rain, though to us Europeans, 
 in those hot climates, nothing is more dangerous. 
 
 We continued in this posture for four months — 
 that is, from the middle of June to the middle of 
 October ; for, though the rains went off — at least the 
 greatest violence of them — about the equinox, yet, as 
 the sun was then just over our heads, we resolved 
 to stay awhile till it had passed us a little to the 
 southward. 
 
 During our encampment here we had several 
 
Captain Singleton 35 
 
 adventures with the ravenous creatures of that country ; 
 and, had not our fire been always kept burning, I 
 question much whether all our fence, though v/e 
 strengthened it afterwards with twelve or fourteen 
 rows of stakes or more, would have kept us secure. 
 It was always in the night that we had the disturbance 
 of them, and sometimes they came in such multitudes 
 that we thought all the lions and tigers, and leopards 
 and wolves of Africa, were come together to attack 
 us. One night, being clear moonshine, one of our 
 men being upon the watch, told us he verily believed 
 he saw ten thousand wild creatures, of one sort or 
 another, pass by our little camp ; and as soon as ever 
 they saw the fire they sheered off, but were sure to 
 howl or roar, or whatever it was, when they were 
 past. 
 
 The music of their voices was very far from being 
 pleasant to us, and sometimes would be so very dis- 
 turbing, that we could not sleep for it ; and often our 
 sentinels would call us, that were awake, to come and 
 look at them. It was one windy tempestuous night, 
 after a very rainy day, that we were indeed all called 
 up; for such innumerable numbers of devilish creatures 
 came about us, that our watch really thought they 
 would attack us. They would not come on the side 
 where the fire w^as ; and though we thought ourselves 
 secure everywhere else, yet we all got up, and took to 
 our arms. The moon was near the full, but the air 
 
36 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 full of flying clouds, and a strange hurricane of wind, 
 to add to the terror of the night ; when, looking on 
 the back part of our camp, I thought I saw a creature 
 within our fortification, and so indeed he was, except 
 his haunches ; for he had taken a running leap, I 
 suppose, and with all his might had thrown himself 
 clear over our palisadoes, except one strong pile, 
 which stood higher than the rest, and which had 
 caught hold of him, and by his weight he had hanged 
 himself upon it, the spike of the pile running into his 
 hinder-haunch or thigh, on the inside, and by that he 
 hung growling and biting the wood for rage. I 
 snatched up a lance from one of the negroes that 
 stood just by me, and, running to him, struck it three 
 or four times into him, and despatched him ; being 
 unwilling to shoot, because I had a mind to have a 
 volley fired among the rest, which I could see stand- 
 ing without, as thick as a drove of bullocks going to 
 a fair. I immediately called our people out, and 
 showed them the object of terror which I had seen, 
 and, without any further consultation, fired a full 
 volley among them, most of our pieces being loaded 
 with three slugs or bullets apiece. It made a horrible 
 clatter among them, and in general they all took to 
 their heels, only that we could observe that some 
 walked off with more gravity and majesty than 
 others, being not so much frightened at the noise 
 and fire ; and we could perceive that some were left 
 
Captain Singleton 37 
 
 upon the ground struggling as for life, but we durst 
 not stir out to see what they were. 
 
 Indeed they stood so thick, and were so near us, 
 that we could not well miss killing or w^ounding some 
 of them, and we believed they had certainly the smell 
 of us, and our victuals we had been killing ; for we 
 had killed a deer, and three or four of those creatures 
 like goats, the day before ; and some of the offal had 
 been thrown out behind our camp ; and this, we 
 suppose, drew them so much about us ; but we 
 avoided it for the future. 
 
 Though the creatures fled, yet we heard a fright- 
 ful roaring all night at the place where' they stood, 
 which we supposed was from some that were wounded ; 
 and, as soon as day came, we went out to see what 
 execution we had done, and, indeed, it was a strange 
 sight ; there were three tigers and two wolves quite 
 killed, besides the creature I had killed within our 
 palisado, which seemed to be of an ill -gendered 
 kind, between a tiger and a leopard. Besides this, 
 there was a noble old lion alive, but with both his 
 fore-legs broken, so that he could not stir away, and 
 he had almost beat himself to death with struggling 
 all night ; and we found that this w^as the wounded 
 soldier that had roared so loud, and given us 
 so much disturbance. Our surgeon, looking at him, 
 smiled : ' Now,' says he, ' if I could be sure this lion 
 would be as grateful to me as one of his majesty's 
 
^S Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 ancestors was to Androcles, the Roman slave, I would 
 certainly set both his legs again, and cure him." I 
 had not heard the story of Androcles, so he told it me 
 at large ; but, as to the surgeon, we told him he had 
 no way to know whether the lion would be so or not, 
 but to cure him first, and trust to his honour ; but he 
 had no faith ; so, to despatch him, and put him out 
 of his torment, he shot him into the head, and killed 
 him, for which we called him the king-killer ever 
 after. 
 
 Our negroes found no less than five of these raven- 
 ous creatures wounded and dropt at a distance from 
 our quarters ; whereof, one was a wolf, one a fine 
 spotted young leopard, and the other were creatures 
 that we knew not what to call them. 
 
 We had several more of these sjentlefolks about 
 after that, but no such general rendezvous of them as 
 that was any more; but this ill effect it had to us, 
 that it frightened the deer and other creatures from 
 our neighbourhood, of whose company we were much 
 more desirous, and which were necessary for our 
 subsistence : however, our negroes went out every 
 day a-hunting, as they called it, with bow and arrow, 
 and they scarce ever failed of bringing us home some- 
 thing or other ; and particularly we found in this part 
 of the country, after the rains had fallen some time, 
 abundance of wildfowl, such as we have in England ; 
 duck, teal, widgeon, etc., some geese, and some kinds 
 
Captain Singleton 39 
 
 that we had never seen before, and we frequently 
 killed them. Also we caught a great deal of fresh 
 fish out of the river, so that we wanted no provision ; 
 if we wanted anything, it was salt to eat with our 
 fresh meat, but we had a little left, and we used it 
 sparingly ; for as to our negroes they could not taste 
 it, nor did they care to eat any meat that was seasoned 
 with it. 
 
 The weather began now to clear up, the rains 
 were down, and the floods abated, and the sun, which 
 had passed our zenith, was gone to the south^yard a 
 good way, so we proceeded on our way. 
 
 It was the 12th of October, or thereabouts, that 
 we began to set forward ; and, having an easy country 
 to travel in, as well as to supply us with provisions, 
 though still without inhabitants, we made more de- 
 spatch, travelling sometimes, as we calculated it, twenty 
 or twenty-five miles a day ; nor did we halt anywhere 
 in eleven days' march, one day excepted, which was 
 to make a raft to carry us over a small river, which, 
 having been swelled with the rains, was not yet quite 
 down. 
 
 When we were past this river, which by the way 
 ran to the northward too, we found a great row of 
 hills in our way : we saw indeed the country open to 
 the right at a great distance ; but, as we kept true to 
 our course due west, we were not willing to go a great 
 way out of our way only to shun a few hills ; so we 
 
40 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 advanced ; but we were surprised, when, being not 
 quite come to the top, one of our company, who, 
 with two negroes, was got up before us, cried out, 
 ' The Sea ! the Sea !' and fell a dancing and jumping, 
 as signs of joy. 
 
 The gunner and I were most surprised at it, be- 
 cause we had but that morning been calculating 
 that we were then above a thousand miles from the 
 sea-side, and that we could not expect to reach it till 
 another rainy season would be upon us, so that, when 
 our man cried out, 'The Sea,' the gunner was angry, 
 and said he was mad. 
 
 But we were both in the greatest surprise imagin- 
 able, when, coming to the top of the hill, and, though 
 it was very high, we saw nothing but water, either 
 before us, or to the right hand or the left, being a 
 vast sea, without any bound but the horizon. 
 
 He went down the hill full of confusion of thought, 
 not being able to conceive whereabouts we were, or 
 what it must be, seeing by all our charts the sea was 
 yet a vast way off. 
 
 It was not above three miles from the hill before 
 we came to the shore, or water-edge of this sea, and 
 there, to our further surprise, we found the water 
 fresh and pleasant to drink ; so that, in short, we 
 knew not what course to take : the sea, as we thought 
 it to be, put a full stop to our journey (I mean west- 
 ward), for it lay just in the way. Our next question 
 
Captain Singleton 41 
 
 was, which hand to turn to, to the right or the 
 left ? but this was soon resolved ; for, as we knew 
 not the extent of it, we considered that our way, if it 
 had been the sea really, must be to the north ; and, 
 therefore, if we went to the south now, it must be 
 just so much out of our way at last. So, having 
 spent a good part of the day in our surprise at the 
 thing, and consulting what to do, we set forward to 
 the north. 
 
 We travelled upon the shore of this sea full 
 twenty-three days before we could come to any reso- 
 lution about what it was : at the end of which, early 
 one morning, one of our seamen cried out, 'Land!' 
 and it was no false alarm, for we saw plainly the tops 
 of some hills at a very great distance, on the further 
 side of the water, due west ; but though this satisfied 
 us that it was not the ocean, but an inland sea or lake, 
 yet we saw no land to the northward, that is to say, 
 no end of it ; but were obliged to travel eight 
 days more, and near a hundred miles farther, before 
 we came to the end of it, and then we found this 
 lake or sea ended in a very great river, which ran N. 
 or N. by E., as the other river had done, which I 
 mentioned before. 
 
 My friend the gunner, upon examining, said, that 
 he believed that he was mistaken before, and that 
 this was the river Nile, but was still of the mind that 
 we were of before, that we should not think of a 
 
42 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 voyage into Egypt that way; so we resolved upon 
 crossing this river, which, however, was not so easy as 
 before, the river being very rapid, and the channel 
 very broad. 
 
 It cost us, therefore, a week here to get materials 
 to waft ourselves and cattle over this river ; for 
 though here were store of trees, yet there was none of 
 any considerable growth, sufficient to make a canoe. 
 
 During our march on the edge of this bank we 
 met with great fatigue, and therefore travelled fewer j 
 miles in a day than before, there being such a pro- 
 digious number of little rivers that came down from \ 
 the hills on the east side, emptying themselves into 
 this gulf, all vv'hich waters were pretty high, the rains 
 having been but newly over. 
 
 In the last three days of our travel we met with 
 some inhabitants, but we found they lived upon the 
 little hills, and not by the water-side ; nor were we a 
 little put to it for food in this march, having killed 
 nothing for four or five days, but some fish w^e caught 
 out of the lake, and that not in such plenty as we 
 found before. 
 
 But, to make us some amends, we had no disturb- 
 ance upon all the shore of this lake from any wild 
 beasts ; the only inconveniency of that kind was, that 
 we met an ugly, venomous, deformed kind of a snake 
 or serpent in the wet grounds near the lake, that 
 several times pursued us, as if it would attack us; 
 
Captain Singleton 43 
 
 and, if we struck, or threw anything at it, it would 
 raise itself up, and hiss so loud that it might be heard 
 a great way off; it had a hellish ugly deformed look 
 and voice, and our men would not be persuaded but 
 it was the devil, only that we did not know what 
 business Satan could have there, where there were no 
 people. 
 
 It was very remarkable that we had now travelled 
 a thousand miles without meeting with any people, in 
 the heart of the whole continent of Africa, where, to 
 be sure, never man set his foot since the sons of 
 Noah spread themselves over the face of the whole 
 earth. Here also our gunner took an observation 
 with his forestaff, to determine our latitude, and he 
 found now, that, having marched about thirty-three 
 days northward, we were in 6 degrees 22 minutes 
 south latitude. 
 
 After having, with great difficulty, got over this 
 river, we came into a strange wild country, that began 
 a little to affright us ; for though the country was not 
 a desert of dry scalding sand, as that was we had 
 passed before, yet it was mountainous, barren, and 
 infinitely full of most furious wild beasts, more than 
 any place we had past yet. There was indeed a kind 
 of coarse herbage on the surface, and now and then 
 a few trees or rather shrubs ; but people we could see 
 none, and we began to be in great suspense about 
 victuals ; for we had not killed a deer a great while. 
 
44 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 but had lived chiefly upon fish and fowl, always by 
 the water-side, both which seemed to fail us now ; 
 and we were in the more consternation, because we 
 could not lay in a stock here to proceed upon, as we 
 did before, but were obliged to set out with scarcity, 
 and without any certainty of a supply. 
 
 We had, however, no remedy but patience ; and, 
 having killed some fowls, and dried some fish, as 
 much as, with short allowance, we reckoned would 
 last us five days, we resolved to venture, and venture 
 we did ; nor was it without cause that we were appre- 
 hensive of the danger, for we travelled the five days 
 and met with neither fish, nor fowl, nor four-footed 
 beast whose flesh was fit to eat ; and we were in a 
 most dreadful apprehension of being famished to 
 death ; on the sixth day we almost fasted, or, as we 
 may say, we ate up all the scraps of what we had left, 
 and at night lay down supperless upon our mats with 
 heavy hearts, being obliged, the eighth day, to kill one 
 of our poor faithful servants, the buffaloes, that carried 
 our baggage ; the flesh of this creature was very good, 
 and so sparingly did we eat of it that it lasted us all 
 three days and a half, and was just spent, and we 
 were upon the point of killing another, when we saw 
 before us a country that promised better, having high 
 trees and a large river in the middle of it. 
 
 This encouraged us, and we quickened our march 
 for the river side, though with empty stomachs, and 
 
Captain Singleton 45 
 
 very faint and weak ; but, before we came to this 
 river, we had the good hap to meet with some young 
 deer, a thing we had long wished for. In a word, 
 having shot three of them, we came to a full stop to 
 fill our bellies, and never gave the flesh time to cool 
 before we ate it ; nay, it was much we could stay to 
 kill it, and had not eaten it alive, for we were, in 
 short, almost famished. 
 
 Through all that inhospitable country we saw con- 
 tinually lions, tigers, leopards, civet cats, and abun- 
 dance of kinds of creatures that we did not understand; 
 we saw no elephants, but every now and then we met 
 with an elephant's tooth lying on the ground, and 
 some of them lying, as it were half buried, by the 
 length of time that they had lain there. 
 
 When we came to the shore of this river we found 
 it ran northerly still, as all the rest had done, but with 
 this difference, that, as the course of the other rivers 
 were N. by E. or N.N.E., the course of this lay 
 N.N.W. 
 
 On the farther bank of this river we saw some sign 
 of inhabitants, but met with none for the first day ; 
 but the next day we came into an inhabited country, 
 the people all negroes, and stark naked, without 
 shame, both men and women. 
 
 We made signs of friendship to them, and found 
 them a very frank, civil, and friendly sort of people. 
 They came to our negroes without any suspicion, nor 
 
46 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 did they give us any reason to suspect them of any 
 villainy, as the others had done ; we made signs to 
 them that we were hungry, and immediately some 
 naked women ran and fetched us great quantities of 
 roots, and of things like pumpkins, which we made 
 no scruple to eat ; and our artificer showed them 
 some of his trinkets that he had made, some of iron, 
 some of silver, but none of gold : they had so much 
 judgment as to choose those of silver before the iron ; 
 but when we showed them some gold we found they 
 did not value it so much as either of the other. 
 
 For some of these things they brought us more 
 provisions, and three living creatures as big as calves, 
 but not of that kind ; neither did we ever see any of 
 them before ; their flesh was very good ; and after 
 that they brought us twelve more, and some smaller 
 creatures, like hares ; all which were very welcome 
 to us, who were indeed at a very great loss for 
 provisions. 
 
 We grew very intimate with these people, and 
 indeed they were the civillest and most friendly people 
 that we met with at all, and mightily pleased with us ; 
 and, which was very particular, they were much easier 
 to be made to understand our meaning than any we 
 had met with before. 
 
 At last we began to inquire our way, pointing to 
 the west : they made us understand easily that we 
 could not go that way, but they pointed to us that 
 
Captain Singleton 47 
 
 we might go north-west, so that we presently under- 
 stood that there was another lake in our way, which 
 proved to be true ; for in two days more we saw it 
 plain, and it held us till we passed the equinoctial 
 line, lying all the way on our left hand, though at a 
 great distance. 
 
 Travelling thus northward, our gunner seemed very 
 anxious about our proceedings ; for he assured us, 
 and made me sensible of it by the maps which he 
 had been teaching me out of, that when we came into 
 the latitude of six degrees, or thereabouts, north of 
 the line, the land trenched away to the west, to such 
 a length, that we should not come at the sea under a 
 march of above fifteen hundred miles farther west- 
 ward than the country we desired to go to. I asked 
 i him if there were no navigable rivers that we might 
 I meet with, which, running into the west ocean, might 
 perhaps carry us down their stream, and then, if it 
 w^ere fifteen hundred miles, or twice fifteen hundred 
 miles, we might do well enough, if we could but get 
 provisions. 
 
 Here he showed me the maps again, and that 
 there appeared no river whose stream was of such a 
 length as to do any kindness, till we came perhaps 
 within two or three hundred miles of the shore, except 
 the Rio Grand, as they call it, which lay farther 
 northward from us, at least seven hundred miles ; 
 and that then he knew not what kind of country it 
 
48 Defoe's Minoi' Novels 
 
 might carry us through; for he said it was his opinion 
 that the heats on the north of the Hne, even in the 
 same latitude, were violent, and the country more 
 desolate, barren, and barbarous than those of the 
 south ; and that, when we came among the negroes 
 in the north part of Africa, next the sea, especially ; 
 those who had seen and trafficked with the Europeans, 
 such as Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spaniards, etc., 
 they had most of them been so ill-used at some time 
 or other that they would certainly put all the spite 
 they could upon us in mere revenge. 
 
 Upon these considerations, he advised us that, as 
 soon as we had passed this lake, we should proceed 
 W.S.W., that is to say a little incUning to the south, 
 and that in time we should meet with the great river 
 Congo, from whence the coast is called Congo, being 
 a little north of Angola, where we intended at first 
 to go. 
 
 I asked him if ever he had been on the coast of 
 Congo ? He said, Yes, he had, but was never on 
 shore there. Then I asked him how we should get 
 from thence to the coast where the European ships 
 came, seeing, if the land trenched away west for fifteen 
 hundred miles, we must have all that shore to traverse 
 before we could double the west point of it ? 
 
 He told me it was ten to one but we should hear 
 of some European ships to take us in, for that they 
 often visited the coast of Congo and Angola, in trade 
 
Captain Singleton 49 
 
 with the negroes ; and that if we could not, yet, if we 
 could but find provisions, we should make our way as 
 well along the seashore as along the river, till we 
 came to the gold coast, which, he said, was not above 
 four or five hundred miles north of Congo, besides 
 the turning of the coast west about three hundred 
 more, that shore being in the latitude of 6 or 7 
 degrees ; and that there the English, or Dutch, or 
 French, had settlements or factories, perhaps all of 
 them. 
 
 I confess I had more mind, all the while he 
 argued, to have gone northward, and shipped our- 
 selves in the Rio Grand, or, as the traders call it, the 
 river Negro, or Niger, for I knew that at last it would 
 bring us down to the Cape de Verd, w^here we were 
 'sure of relief; vdiereas at the coast we were going to 
 now we had a prodigious way still to go, either by sea 
 or land, and no certainty w^hich way to get provisions 
 but by force ; but for the present I held my tongue, 
 because it was my tutor's opinion. 
 
 But when, according to his desire, we came to turn 
 southward, having passed beyond the second great 
 ake, our men began all to be uneasy, and said we 
 wTre now out of our way for certain, for that we were 
 going farther from home, and that we were indeed far 
 jenough off already. 
 
 But w^e had not marched above twelve days more, 
 eight whereof was taken up in rounding the lake, and 
 
 E 
 
 I 
 
50 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 four more south-west, in order to make for the river 
 Congo, but we were put to another full stop by enter- 
 ing a country so desolate, so frightful, and so wild, 
 that we knew not what to think or do ; for, besides 
 that it appeared as a terrible and boundless desert, 
 having neither woods, trees, rivers, nor inhabitants, 
 so even the place where we were was desolate of 
 inhabitants, nor had we any way to gather in a stock 
 of provisions for the passing of this desert, as we did 
 before at our entering the first, unless we had marched 
 back four days to the place where we turned the head 
 of the lake. 
 
 Well, notwithstanding this, we ventured ; for, to 
 men that had passed such wild places as we had 
 done, nothing could seem too desperate to under- 
 take : we ventured, I say, and the rather because we 
 saw very high mountains in our way at a great dis- 
 tance, and we imagined wherever there were mountains 
 there would be springs and rivers ; where rivers there 
 would be trees and grass; where trees and grass there 
 would be cattle ; and where cattle some kind of 
 inhabitants. 
 
 At last, in consequence of this speculative philo- 
 sophy, we entered this waste, having a great heap of 
 roots and plants for our bread, such as the Indians 
 gave us, a very little flesh, or salt, and but a little 
 water. 
 
 We travelled two days towards those hills, and still 
 
Captain Singleton 51 
 
 they seemed as far off as they did at first, and it 
 was the fifth day before we got to them ; indeed, 
 we travelled softly, for it was excessively hot, and 
 we were much about the very equinoctial line — 
 (we hardly knew whether to the south or the north 
 of it. 
 
 As we had concluded, that where there were hills 
 there would be springs, so it happened ; but we were 
 not only surprised, but really frightened, to find the 
 first spring we came to, and which looked admirably 
 clear and beautiful, to be salt as brine. It was a 
 terrible disappointment to us, and put us under 
 melancholy apprehensions at first ; but the gunner, 
 who was of a spirit never discouraged, told us we 
 should not be disturbed at that, but be very thankful, 
 for salt was a bait we stood in as much need of as 
 anything, and there was no question but we should 
 find fresh water as well as salt ; and here our surgeon 
 stept in to encourage us, and told us that, if we did 
 not know, he would show us a way how to make that 
 salt water fresh, which indeed made us all more 
 cheerful, though we wondered what he meant. 
 
 Meantime our men, without bidding, had been 
 
 ; seeking about for other springs, and found several ; 
 
 [but still they were all salt; from whence we concluded 
 
 [that there was a salt rock or mineral stone in those 
 
 mountains, and perhaps they might be all of such a 
 
 substance ; but still I wondered by what witchcraft it 
 
52 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 was that our artist, the surgeon, would make this salt 
 water turn fresh ; and I longed to see the experiment, 
 which was indeed a very odd one ; but he went to 
 work with as much assurance as if he had tried it on 
 the very spot before. 
 
 He took two of our large mats, and sewed them 
 together ; and they made a kind of a bag four feet 
 broad, three feet and a half high, and about a foot 
 and a half thick when it was full. 
 
 He caused us to fill this bag with dry sand, and 
 tread it down as close as we could, not to burst the 
 mats. When thus the bag was full within a foot, he 
 sought some other earth, and filled up the rest with 
 it, and still trod all in as hard as he could. When 
 he had done, he made a hole in the upper earth, 
 about as broad as the crown of a large hat, or some- 
 thing bigger, but not so deep, and bade a negro fill it 
 with water, and still, as it shrunk away, to fill it again, 
 and keep it full. The bag he had placed at first 
 across two pieces of wood, about a foot from the 
 ground; and under it he ordered some of our skins 
 to be spread, that would hold water. In about an 
 hour, and not sooner, the water began to come drop- 
 ping through the bottom of the bag, and, to our great 
 surprise, was perfectly fresh and sweet ; and this con- 
 tinued for several hours : but in the end the water 
 began to be a little brackish. When we told him 
 that, ' Well then,' said he, ' turn the sand out and fill 
 
Captain Singleton 53 
 
 it again.' Whether he did this by way of experiment 
 from his own fancy, or whether he had seen it done 
 before, I do not remember. 
 
 The next day we mounted the tops of the hills, 
 where the prospect was indeed astonishing ; for, as 
 far as the eye could look, south, or west, or north- 
 west, there was nothing to be seen but a vast howling 
 wilderness, with neither tree nor river, nor any green 
 thing. The surface we found, as the part we passed 
 I the day before, had a kind of thick moss upon it, of 
 a blackish dead colour, but nothing in it that looked 
 like food, either for man or beast. 
 
 Had we been stored with provisions to have 
 entered for ten or twenty days upon this wilderness, 
 as we were formerly, and with fresh water, we had 
 hearts good enough to have ventured, though we had 
 been obliged to come back again ; for, if we went 
 north, we did not know but we might meet with the 
 same ; but we neither had provisions, neither were we 
 in any place where it was possible to get them. We 
 killed some wild ferine creatures at the foot of these 
 hills : but, except two things, like to nothing that we 
 ever saw before, we met with nothing that was fit to 
 eat. These were creatures that seemed to be between 
 a kind of buffalo and a deer, but indeed resembled 
 neither ; for they had no horns, and had great legs 
 like a cow, with a fine head, and the neck like a deer. 
 We killed also, at several times, a tiger, two young 
 
54 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 lions, and a wolf: but God be thanked, we were not 
 so reduced as to eat carrion. 
 
 Upon this terrible prospect I renewed my motion 
 of turning northward, and, making towards the river \ 
 Niger or Rio Grand, then to turn west towards the 
 English settlements on the gold coast, to which every ( 
 one most readily consented, only our gunner, who 
 was indeed our best guide, though he happened to be 
 mistaken at this time. He moved that, as our coast | 
 was now northward, so we might slant away north- 
 west, that so, by crossing the country, we might per- 
 haps meet with some other river that ran into the 
 Rio Grand northward, or down to the gold coast 
 southward, and so both direct our way and shorten 
 the labour ; as also, because, if any of the country was 
 inhabited and fruitful, we should probably find it j 
 upon the shore of the rivers, where alone we could 
 be furnished with provisions. 
 
 This was good advice, and too rational not to be 
 taken ; but our present business was what to do to 
 get out of this dreadful place we were in. Behind us 
 was a waste, which had already cost us five days' 
 march, and we had not provisions for five days left 
 to go back again the same way. Before us was 
 nothing but horror, as above : so we resolved, seeing 
 the ridge of the hills we were upon had some appear- 
 ance of fruitfulness, and that they seemed to lead 
 away to the northward a great way, to keep under the 
 
Captain Singleton 55 
 
 foot of them on the east side, to go on as far as we 
 could, and in the meantime to look diligently out for 
 food. 
 
 Accordingly, we moved on the next morning, for 
 we had no time to lose ; and to our great comfort we 
 came, in our first morning's march, to very good 
 springs of fresh water; and, lest we should have a 
 scarcity again, we filled all our bladder-bottles, and 
 carried it with us. I should also have observed that 
 our surgeon, who made the salt water fresh, took the 
 opportunity of those salt springs, and made us the 
 quantity of three or four pecks of very good salt. 
 
 In our third march we found an unexpected supply 
 of food, the hills being full of hares ; they were of a 
 kind something different from ours in England, larger, 
 and not so swift of foot, but very good meat. We 
 shot several of them, and the little tame leopard, 
 which I told you we took at the negro town that we 
 plundered, hunted them like a dog, and killed us 
 several every day; but she would eat nothing of them 
 unless we gave it her, which indeed in our own 
 circumstances was very obliging. We salted them a 
 little, and dried them in the sun whole, and carried a 
 strange parcel along with us. I think it was almost 
 three hundred ; for we did not know when we might 
 find any more, either of these, or any other food. 
 We continued our course under these hills very 
 comfortably eight or nine days, when we found, to 
 
56 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 our great satisfaction, the country beyond us began 
 to look with something of a better countenance. As 
 for the west side of the hills, we never examined it 
 till this day, when three of our company, the rest 
 halting for refreshment, mounted the hills again to 
 satisfy their curiosity, but found it all the same ; nor 
 could they see any end of it, not even to the north, 
 the way we w^ere going ; so the tenth day, finding the 
 hills made a turn, and led, as it were, into the vast 
 desert, w^e left them, and continued our course north, 
 the country being very tolerably full of woods, some 
 waste, but not tediously long, till we came, by our 
 gunner's observation, into the latitude of 8 degrees 
 5 minutes, which we were nineteen days in per- 
 forming. 
 
 All this way we found no inhabitants, but abun- 
 dance of wild ravenous creatures, with which we 
 became so well acquainted now, that really we did 
 not much mind them. We saw lions, and tigers, and 
 leopards, every night and morning in abundance ; but, 
 as they seldom came near us, we let them go about 
 their business ; if they offered to come near us we 
 made false fire with any gun that was uncharged, and 
 they would walk off as soon as they saw the flash. 
 
 We made pretty good shift for food all this way ; 
 for sometimes w^e killed hares, sometimes some fowls, 
 but for my life I cannot give names to any of them, 
 except a kind of partridge, and another that was like 
 
Captain Singleton 57 
 
 our turtle. Now and then we began to meet with 
 elephants again in great numbers ; those creatures 
 delighted chiefly in the woody part of the country. 
 
 This long-continued march fatigued us very much, 
 and two of our men fell sick, indeed so very sick that 
 we thought they would have died ; and one of our 
 negroes died suddenly. Our surgeon said it was an 
 apoplexy, but he wondered at it, he said, for he could 
 never complain of his high feeding. Another of them 
 was very ill, but our surgeon with much ado persuad- 
 ing him, indeed it was almost forcing him, to be bled, 
 he recovered. 
 
 We halted here twelve days for the sake of our 
 sick men, and our surgeon persuaded me, and three 
 or four more of us, to be bled during the time of rest, 
 which, with other things he gave us, contributed very 
 much to our continued health, in so tedious a march 
 and in so hot a climate. 
 
 In this march we pitched our matted tents every 
 night, and they were very comfortable to us, though 
 we had trees and woods to shelter us also in most 
 places. We thought it very strange that in all this 
 part of the country we yet met with no inhabitants ; 
 but the principal reason, as we found afterwards, was, 
 that we, having kept a western course first, and then 
 a northern course, were gotten too much into the 
 middle of the country, and among the deserts : 
 whereas the inhabitants are principally found among 
 
58 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 the rivers, lakes, and lowlands, as well to the south- 
 west as to the north. 
 
 What little rivulets we found here were so empty 
 of water, that, except some pits, and little more than 
 ordinary pools, there was scarce any water to be seen 
 in them ; and they rather showed that, during the 
 rainy months, they had a channel, than that they had 
 really any running water in them at that time : by 
 which it was easy for us to judge that we had a great 
 way to go ; but this was no discouragement so long 
 as we had but provisions, and some reasonable shelter 
 from the violent heat, which indeed I thought was 
 greater now than when the sun w^as just over our 
 heads. 
 
 Our men being recovered, we set forward again, 
 very well stored with provisions, and water sufficient, 
 and, bending our course a little to the westward of 
 the north, travelled in hopes of some favourable 
 stream which might bear a canoe ; but we found 
 none till after twenty days' travel, including eight 
 days' rest ; for our men being weak, we rested very 
 often, especially when we came to places which were 
 proper for our purposes, where we found cattle, fowl, 
 or anything to kill for food. In those twenty days' 
 march we advanced four degrees to the northw^ard, 
 besides some meridian distance westward, and we 
 met with abundance of elephants' teeth scattered up 
 and down, here and there, in the woody grounds 
 
Captain Singleton 59 
 
 especially, some of which were very large. But they 
 were no booty to us ; our business was provisions, 
 and a good passage out of the country ; and it had 
 been much more to our purpose to have found a 
 good fat deer, and to have killed it for our food, than 
 a hundred ton of elephants' teeth ; and yet, as you 
 shall presently hear, when we came to begin our pas- 
 sage by water, we once thought to have built a large 
 canoe, on purpose to have loaded it with ivory ; but 
 this was when we knew nothing of the rivers, nor 
 knew anything how dangerous and how difficult a 
 passage it was that we were likely to have in them, 
 nor had considered the weight of carriage to lug them 
 to the rivers where we might embark. 
 
 At the end of twenty days' travels, as above, in 
 the latitude of 3 degrees 16 minutes, we discovered 
 in a valley, at some distance from us, a pretty toler- 
 able stream, which we thought deserved the name of 
 a river, and which ran its course N.N.W., which was 
 just what we wanted. As we had fixed our thoughts 
 upon our passage by water, we took this for the place 
 to make our experiment, and bent our march directly 
 to the valley. 
 
 There was a small thicket of trees just in our way, 
 which we went by, thinking no harm, when on a 
 sudden one of our negroes was very dangerously 
 wounded with an arrow, shot into his back, slanting 
 between his shoulders. This put us to a full stop ; 
 
6o Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 and three of our men, with two negroes, spreading 
 the wood, for it was but a small one, found a negro 
 with a bow, but no arrow, who would have escaped, 
 but our men that discovered him shot him in revenge 
 of the mischief he had done ; so we lost the oppor- 
 tunity of taking him prisoner, which, if we had done, 
 and sent him home with good usage, it might have 
 brought others to us in a friendly manner. 
 
 Going a little farther, we came to five negro huts 
 or houses, built after a different manner from any we 
 had seen yet ; and at the door of one of them lay 
 seven elephants' teeth, piled up against the wall or 
 side of the hut, as if they had been provided against 
 a market : here were no men, but seven or eight 
 women, and near twenty children : we offered them 
 no uncivility of any kind, but gave them every one a 
 bit of silver beaten out thin, as I observed before, 
 and cut diamond-fashion, or in the shape of a bird ; 
 at which the women were overjoyed, and brought out 
 to us several sorts of food, which we did not under- 
 stand, being cakes of a meal made of roots, which 
 they bake in the sun, and which eat very well. We 
 went a little way farther, and pitched our camp for 
 that night, not doubting but our civility to the women 
 would produce some good effect when their husbands 
 might come home. 
 
 Accordingly, the next morning, the women, with 
 eleven men, five young boys and two good big girls, 
 
Captain Singleton 6i 
 
 came to our camp ; before they came quite to us the 
 v/omen called aloud, and made an odd screaming 
 noise, to bring us out; and, accordingly, we came out ; 
 when two of the women, showing us what we had 
 given them, and pointing to the company behind, 
 made such signs as we could easily understand signi- 
 fied friendship. When the men advanced, having 
 bows and arrows, they laid them down on the ground, 
 scraped, and threw sand over their heads, and turned 
 round three times, with their hands laid up upon the 
 tops of their heads. This, it seems, was a solemn 
 vow of friendship. Upon this we beckoned them 
 with our hands to come nearer ; then they sent the 
 boys and girls to us first, which, it seems, was to 
 j bring us more cakes of bread, and some green herbs, 
 to eat, which we received, and took the boys up and 
 kissed them, and the Httle girls too; then the men 
 came up close to us, and sat them down on the 
 ground, making signs that we should sit down by 
 them, which we did. They said much to one another, 
 but we could not understand them, nor could we find 
 any way to make them understand us ; much less 
 whither we were going, or what we wanted, only that 
 we easily made them understand we wanted victuals : 
 whereupon one of the men casting his eyes about 
 him towards a rising ground that was about half a 
 mile off, started up as if he was frightened, flew to 
 the place where they had laid down their bows and 
 
62 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 arrows, snatched up a bow and two arrows, and ran 
 like a racehorse to the place : when he came there, 
 he let fly both his arrows, and came back again to us 
 with the same speed ; we seeing he came with the 
 bow, but without the arrows, were the more inquisitive, 
 but the fellow saying nothing to us, beckons to one 
 of our negroes to come to him, and we bid him go ; 
 so he led him back to the place, where lay a kind of 
 a deer, shot with two arrows, but not quite dead ; 
 and between them they brought it down to us. This 
 was for a gift to us, and was very welcome, I assure 
 you, for our stock was low. These people were all 
 stark naked. 
 
 The next day there came about a hundred men 
 and women to us, making the same awkward signals 
 of friendship, and dancing, and showing themselves 
 very well pleased, and anything they had they gave 
 us. How the man in the wood came to be so 
 butcherly and rude as to shoot at our men, without 
 making any breach first, we could not imagine ; for 
 the people were simple, plain, and inoffensive in all 
 our other conversation with them. 
 
 From hence we went down the bank of the little 
 river I mentioned, and where I found we should see 
 whole nations of negroes ; but whether friendly to 
 us or not, that we could make no judgment of yet. 
 
 The river was of no use to us, as to the design of 
 making canoes, a great while ; and we traversed the 
 
Captain Singleton 63 
 
 country on the edge of it about five days more, when 
 our carpenters, finding the stream increase, proposed 
 to pitch our tents and fall to work to make canoes ; 
 but after we had begun the work, and cut down two 
 or three trees, and spent five days in the labour, 
 some of our men, wandering farther down the river, 
 brought us word that the stream rather decreased 
 than increased, sinking away into the sands, or drying 
 up by the heat of the sun ; so that the river appeared 
 not able to carry the least canoe that could be any 
 way useful to us : so w^e were obliged to give over 
 our enterprise and move on. 
 
 In our farther prospect this way we marched 
 three days full west, the country on the north side 
 being extraordinary mountainous, and more parched 
 and dry than any we had seen yet ; whereas, in the 
 part which looks due west, we found a pleasant 
 valley, running a great way between two great ridges 
 of mountains. The hills looked frightful, being 
 entirely bare of trees or grass, and even white with 
 the dryness of the sand ; but in the valley we had 
 trees, grass, and some creatures that were fit for food, 
 and some inhabitants. 
 
 We passed by some of their huts or houses, and 
 saw people about them ; but they ran up into the 
 hills as soon as they saw us. At the end of this 
 valley we met with a peopled country, and at first 
 it put us to some doubt whether we should go 
 
64 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 among them or keep up towards the hills northerly ; 
 and as our aim was principally, as before, to make 
 our way to the river Niger, we inclined to the latter, 
 pursuing our course by the compass to the N.W. 
 We marched thus without interruption seven days 
 more, when we met with a surprising circumstance, 
 much more desolate and disconsolate than our own, 
 and which, in time to come, will scarce seem credible. 
 
 We did not much seek the conversing, or acquaint- 
 ing ourselves with the natives of the country, except 
 where we found the want of them for our provision, 
 or their direction for our way ; so that, whereas we 
 found the country here begin to be very populous, 
 especially towards our left hand — that is, to the 
 south — we kept at the more distance northerly, still 
 stretching towards the west. 
 
 In this tract we found something or other to kill 
 and eat, which always supplied our necessity, though 
 not so well as we were provided in our first setting 
 out. Being thus, as it were, pushing to avoid the 
 peopled country, we at last came to a very pleasant, 
 agreeable stream of water, not big enough to be 
 called a river, but running to the N.N.W., which 
 was the very course we desired to go. 
 
 On the farthest bank of this brook we perceived 
 some huts of negroes, not many, and in a little low 
 spot of ground, some maize, or Indian corn, growing, 
 which intimated presently to us, that there were some 
 
Captain Singleton 65 
 
 inhabitants on that side, less barbarous than those 
 we had met with in other places where we had been. 
 
 As we went forward, our whole caravan being in 
 a body, our negroes, who were in the front, cried out 
 that they saw a white man ! We were not much 
 surprised at first, it being, as we thought, a mistake 
 of the fellows, and asked them what they meant, 
 when one of them stept up to me, and, pointing to 
 a hut on the other side of the hill, I was astonished 
 to see a white man indeed, but stark naked, very 
 busy near the door of his hut, and stooping down 
 to the ground with something in his hand, as if he 
 had been at some work, and, his back being towards 
 us, he did not see us. 
 
 I gave notice to our negroes to make no noise, 
 and waited till some more of our men were come up, 
 to show the sight to them, that they might be sure 
 I was not mistaken, and we were soon satisfied of 
 the truth ; for the man, having heard some noise, 
 started up, and looked full at us, as much surprised, 
 o be sure, as we were, but whether with fear or hope 
 sve then knew not. 
 
 As he discovered us, so did the rest of the inhabi- 
 pnts belonging to the huts about him, and all 
 prowded together, looking at us at a distance : a 
 ittle bottom, in which the brook ran, lying between 
 IS, the white man, and all the rest, as he told us 
 ifterwards, not knowing well whether they should 
 
 F 
 
65 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 stay or run away. However, it presently came into 
 my thoughts that, if there were white men among 
 them, it would be much easier for us to make them 
 understand what we meant, as to peace or war, than 
 we found it with others ; so, tying a piece of white 
 rag to the end of a stick, we sent two negroes with it 
 to the bank of the water, carrying the pole up as high 
 as they could. It was presently understood, and two 
 of their men and the white man came to the shore 
 on the other side. 
 
 However, as the white man spoke no Portuguese, 
 they could understand nothing of one another but 
 by signs ; but our men made the white man under- 
 stand that they had white men with them too, at 
 which they said the white man laughed. However, 
 to be short, our men came back, and told us they 
 were all good friends, and in about an hour four of 
 our men, two negroes, and the black prince went to 
 the river side, where the w^hite man came to them. 
 
 They had not been half a quarter of an hour 
 there, till a negro came running to me, and told me 
 the white man was Inglese, as he called him : upon 
 which I ran back, eagerly enough you may be sure, 
 with him, and found, as he said, that he was an 
 Englishman, upon which he embraced me very 
 passionately, the tears running down his face. The 
 first surprise of his seeing us was over before we 
 came ; but any one may conceive it by the brief 
 
Captain Singleton 67 
 
 account he gave us afterwards of his very unhappy 
 circumstance, and of so unexpected a deUverance, 
 such as perhaps never happened to any man in the 
 jworld ; for it was a million to one odds that ever he 
 Icould have been relieved — nothing but an adventure 
 that never was heard or read of before could have 
 suited his case, unless heaven, by some miracle that 
 never was to be expected, had acted for him. 
 
 He appeared to be a gentleman, not an ordinary- 
 bred fellow, seaman, or labouring man ; this showed 
 itself in his behaviour, in the first moment of our 
 [conversing with him, and in spite of all the dis- 
 advantages of his miserable circumstances. 
 
 He was a middle-aged man, not above thirty- 
 seven or thirty -eight, though his beard was grown 
 exceedingly long, and the hair of his head and face 
 strangely covered him to the middle of his back and 
 breast ; he was white, and his skin very fine, though 
 discoloured, and in some places blistered, and covered 
 with a brown blackish substance, scurvy, scaly, and 
 nard, which was the effect of the scorching heat of 
 ;he sun ; he was stark naked, and had been so, as he 
 old us, upwards of two years. 
 
 He was so exceedingly transported at our meeting 
 with him that he could scarce enter into any dis- 
 :ourse at all with us for that day ; and, when he 
 :ould get away from us for a little, we saw him 
 talking alone, and showing all the most extravagant 
 
68 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 tokens of an ungovernable joy ; and even afterwards 
 he was never without tears in his eyes for several 
 days, upon the least word spoken by us of his 
 circumstances, or by him of his deliverance. 
 
 We found his behaviour the most courteous and 
 endearing I ever saw in any man whatever, and most 
 evident tokens of a. mannerly well-bred person 
 appeared in all things he did or said ; and our 
 people were exceedingly taken with him. He was 
 a scholar and a mathematician ; he could not speak 
 Portuguese indeed, but he spoke Latin to our 
 surgeon, French to another of our men, and Italian 
 to a third. 
 
 He had no leisure in his thoughts to ask us 
 whence we came, whither we were going, or who 
 we were ; but would have it always as an answer to 
 himself, that to be sure, wherever we were a-going, 
 we came from heaven, and were sent on purpose to 
 save him from the most wretched condition that ever 
 man was reduced to. 
 
 Our men pitching their camp on the bank of a 
 little river opposite to him, he began to inquire 
 what store of provisions we had, and how we pro- 
 posed to be suppUed ; when he found that our 
 store was but small, he said he would talk with the 
 natives, and we should have provisions enough ; for 
 he said they were the most courteous, good-natured 
 part of the inhabitants in all that part of the country, 
 
Captain Singleton 69 
 
 as we might suppose by his living so safe among 
 them. 
 
 The first things this gentleman did for us were 
 indeed of the greatest consequence to us ; for, first, 
 he perfectly informed us where we were, and which 
 was the properest course for us to steer : secondly, he 
 put us in a way how to furnish ourselves effectually with 
 provisions ; and, thirdly, he was our complete inter- 
 preter and peace -maker with all the natives, who 
 now began to be very numerous about us ; and 
 who were a more fierce and politic people than 
 those we had met with before ; not so easily terrified 
 with our arms as those, and not so ignorant as to 
 give their provisions and corn for our little toys, 
 such, as I said before, our artificer made ; but, as 
 they had frequently traded and conversed with the 
 Europeans on the coast, or with other negro nations 
 that had traded and been concerned with them, they 
 were the less ignorant and the less fearful, and 
 consequently nothing was to be had from them but 
 by exchange for such things as they liked. 
 
 This I say of the negro natives, which we soon 
 came among ; but as to these poor people that he 
 lived among, they were not much acquainted with 
 things, being at the distance of above three hundred 
 miles from the coast, only that they found elephants' 
 teeth upon the hills to the north, which they took 
 and carried about sixty or seventy miles south, where 
 
70 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 other trading negroes usually met them, and gave 
 them beads, glass, shells, and cowries for them, such 
 as the English and Dutch, and other traders, furnish 
 them with from Europe. 
 
 We now began to be more familiar with our new 
 acquaintance ; and, first, though we made but a 
 sorry figure as to clothes ourselves, having neither 
 shoe, nor stocking, nor glove, nor hat, among us, and 
 but very few shirts, yet as well as we could we 
 clothed him ; and first, our surgeon having scissors and 
 razors, shaved him, and cut his hair ; a hat, as I say, 
 we had not in all our stores, but he supplied himself 
 by making a cap of a piece of a leopard's skin, most 
 artificially. As for shoes or stockings, he had gone so 
 long without them that he cared not even for the buskins \ 
 and foot-gloves we wore, which I described above. 
 
 As he had been curious to hear the whole story 
 of our travels, and was exceedingly delighted with 
 the relation, so we were no less to know, and pleased 
 with, the account of his circumstance, and the history 
 of his coming to that strange place alone, and in 
 that condition, which we found him in, as above. 
 This account of his would indeed be, in itself, the 
 subject of an agreeable history, and would be as 
 long and as diverting as our own, having in it many 
 strange and extraordinary incidents, but we cannot 
 have room here to launch out into so long a digres- 
 sion : the sum of his history was this. 
 
Captain Singleton 71 
 
 He had been a factor for the EngHsh Guinea 
 company at Sierra Leone, or some other of their 
 settlements which had been taken by the French, 
 where he had been plundered of all his own effects, 
 as well as of what was entrusted to him by the 
 company. Whether it was that the company did 
 not do him justice in restoring his circumstances, or 
 in further employing him, he quitted their service, and 
 was employed by those they called separate traders ; 
 and being afterwards out of employ there also, 
 traded on his own account ; when, passing unwarily 
 into one of the company's settlements, he was either 
 betrayed into the hands of some of the natives, or, 
 somehow or other, was surprised by them. However, 
 as they did not kill him, he found means to escape 
 from them at that time, and fled to another nation 
 of the natives, who, being enemies to the other, 
 entertained him friendly, and with them he lived 
 some time ; but not liking his quarters or his 
 company he fled again, and several times changed 
 his landlords ; sometimes was carried by force, 
 sometimes hurried by fear, as circumstances altered 
 with him (the variety of which deserves a history by 
 itself), till at last he had wandered beyond all 
 possibility of return, and had taken up his abode 
 where we found him, where he was well received 
 by the petty king of the tribe he lived with ; and he, 
 in return, instructed him how to value the product 
 
72 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 of their labour, and on what terms to trade with 
 those negroes who came up to them for teeth. 
 
 As he was naked, and had no clothes, so he was 
 naked of arms for his defence, having neither gun, 
 sword, staff, nor any instrument of war about him, no 
 not to guard himself against the attacks of a wild 
 beast, of which the country was very full. We asked 
 him how he came to be so entirely abandoned of all 
 concern for his safety? He answered. That to him, 
 that had so often wished for death, life was not worth 
 defending ; and that, as he was entirely at the mercy 
 of the negroes, they had much the more confidence 
 in him seeing he had no weapons to hurt them. As 
 for wild beasts he was not much concerned about 
 them ; for he had scarcely ever gone from his hut ; 
 but if he did, the negro king and his men went all 
 armed with bows and arrows, and lances, with which 
 they would kill any of the ravenous creatures, lions as 
 well as others ; but that they seldom came abroad in 
 the day ; and if the negroes wander anywhere in the 
 night they always build a hut for themselves, and 
 make a fire at the door of it, which is guard enough. 
 
 We inquired of him what we should next do 
 towards getting to the seaside : he told us we were 
 about a hundred and twenty English leagues from the 
 coast, where almost all the European settlements and 
 factories were, and which is called the Gold Coast ; 
 but that there were so many different nations of 
 
Captain Singleton 73 
 
 negroes in the way that it was ten to one if we were 
 not either fought with continually, or starved for want 
 of provisions : but that there were two other ways to 
 go, which, if he had had any company to go with 
 him, he had often contrived to make his escape by. 
 The one was to travel full west, which, though it was 
 farther to go, yet was not so full of people ; and the 
 people we should find would be so much the civiller 
 to us, or be so much the easier to fight with ; or, that 
 the other way was, if possible, to get to the Rio 
 Grand, and go down the stream in canoes. We told 
 him that was the way we had resolved on before we 
 met with him ; but then he told us there was a pro- 
 digious desert to go over, and as prodigious woods to 
 go through, before we came to it, and that both to- 
 gether were at least twenty days' march for us, travel 
 as hard as we could. 
 
 We asked him if there were no horses in the 
 country, or asses, or even bullocks or buffaloes, to 
 make use of in such a journey, and we showed him 
 ours, of which we had but three left ; he said no, all 
 the country did not afford anything of that kind. 
 
 He told us that in this great wood there were 
 immense numbers of elephants; and, upon the desert, 
 great multitudes of lions, lynxes, tigers, leopards, etc ; 
 and that it was to that wood, and to that desert, that 
 the negroes went to get elephants' teeth, where they 
 never failed to find a great number. 
 
 Of THE 
 
74 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 We inquired still more, and particularly the way 
 to the gold coast, and if there were no rivers to ease 
 us in our carriage ; and told him as to the negroes 
 fighting with us, we were not much concerned at 
 that ; nor were we afraid of starving, for, if they had 
 any victuals among them we would have our share of 
 it ; and, therefore, if he would venture to show us 
 the way we would venture to go ; and as for himself, 
 we told him we would live and die together, there 
 should not a man of us stir from him. 
 
 He told us, with all his heart ; if we resolved it, 
 and would venture, we might be assured he would 
 take his fate with us, and he would endeavour to 
 guide us in such a way as we should meet with some 
 friendly savages who would use us well, and perhaps 
 stand by us against some others, who were less tract- 
 able ; so, in a word, we all resolved to go full south 
 for the gold coast. 
 
 The next morning he came to us again, and being 
 all met in council, as we may call it, he began to talk 
 very seriously with us ; that, since we were now come, 
 after a long journey, to a view of the end of our 
 troubles, and had been so obliging to him as to offer 
 to carry him with us, he had been all night revolving 
 in his mind what he and we all might do to make 
 ourselves some amends for all our sorrows ; and, first, 
 he said, he was to let me know that we were just 
 then in one of the richest parts of the world, though 
 
Captain Singleton 75 
 
 it was really, otherwise, but a desolate, disconsolate 
 wilderness; 'for,' says he, 'there is not a river but runs 
 gold, not a desert but, without ploughing, bears a crop 
 of ivory. What mines of gold, what immense stores 
 of gold those mountains may contain, from whence 
 these rivers come, or the shores which these waters 
 run by, we know not, but may imagine that they must 
 be inconceivably rich, seeing so much is washed down 
 the stream by the water washing the sides of the land, 
 that the quantity suffices all the traders which the 
 European world send thither.' We asked him how 
 far they went for it, seeing the ships only trade upon 
 the coast. He told us that the negroes on the coast 
 search the rivers up for the length of a hundred and 
 fifty or two hundred miles, and would be out a month, 
 or two or three at a time, and always came home 
 sufficiently rewarded; 'but,' says he, 'they never come 
 thus far, and yet hereabouts is as much gold as there.' 
 Upon this he told us that he believed he might have 
 gotten a hundred pounds' weight of gold since he 
 came hither, if he had employed himself to look and 
 work for it, but as he knew not what to do with it, 
 and had long since despaired of being ever delivered 
 from the misery he was in, he had entirely omitted it. 
 ' For what advantage had it been to me,' said he, ' or 
 what richer had I been, if I had a ton of gold dust, 
 and lay and wallowed in it ? The richness of it,' said 
 he, 'would not give me one moment's felicity, nor 
 
76 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 relieve me in the present exigency. Nay,' says he, 
 ' as you all see, it would not buy me clothes to cover 
 me, or a drop of drink to save me from perishing. 
 It is of no value here,' says he; 'there are several 
 people among these huts that would weigh gold 
 against a few glass beads, or a cockle-shell, and 
 give you a handful of gold dust for a handful of 
 cowries.' 
 
 N.B. — These are little shells, which our children 
 call blackamoors' teeth. 
 
 When he had said this he pulled out a piece of 
 an earthern pot baked hard in the sun : ' Here,' says 
 he, 'is some of the dirt of this country, and if I 
 would, I could have got a great deal more;' and 
 showing it to us, I believe there was in it between 
 two and three pounds' weight of gold dust, of the 
 same kind and colour with that we had gotten already, 
 as before. After we had looked at it awhile, he told 
 us, smiling, we were his deliverers, and all he had, as 
 well as his life, was ours ; and therefore, as this would 
 be of value to us when we came to our own country, 
 so he desired we would accept of it among us, and 
 that this was the only time that he had repented that 
 he had picked up no more of it. 
 
 I spoke for him as his interpreter to my comrades, 
 and in their names thanked him; but, speaking to 
 them in Portuguese, I desired them to refer the 
 acceptance of his kindness to the next morning ; and 
 
Captain Singleton jy 
 
 so I did, telling him we would further talk of this part 
 in the morning ; so we parted for that time. 
 
 When he was gone I found they were all won- 
 derfully affected with his discourse, and with the 
 generosity of his temper, as well as the magnificence 
 of his present, which in another place had been ex- 
 traordinary. Upon the whole, not to detain you with 
 circumstances, we agreed that, seeing he was now 
 one of our number, and that, as we were a relief to 
 him in carrying him out of the dismal condition he 
 was in, so he was equally a relief to us in being our 
 guide through the rest of the country, our interpreter 
 with the natives, and our director how to manage 
 with the savages, and how to enrich ourselves with 
 the wealth of the country ; that, therefore, we would 
 put his gold among our common stock, and every 
 one should give him as much as would make his up 
 just as much as any single share of our own, and for 
 the future we would take our lot together, taking his 
 solemn engagement to us, as we had before one to 
 another, that we would not conceal the least grain of 
 gold we found one from another. 
 
 In the next conference we acquainted him with 
 the adventures of the Golden river, and how we had 
 shared what we got there ; so that every man had a 
 larger stock than he for his share; that, therefore, 
 instead of taking any from him, we had resolved 
 every one to add a little to him. He appeared very 
 
78 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 glad that we had met with such good success, but 
 would not take a grain from us, till at last, pressing 
 him very hard, he told us that then he would take it 
 thus : that when we came to get any more he would 
 have so much out of the first as should make him 
 even, and then we should go on as equal adventurers ; 
 and thus we agreed. 
 
 He then told us he thought it would not be an 
 unprofitable adventure, if, before we set forward, and 
 after we had got a stock of provisions, we should 
 make a journey north to the edge of the desert he 
 had told us of, from whence our negroes might bring 
 every one a large elephant's tooth, and that he would 
 get some more to assist ; and that, after a certain 
 length of carriage, they might be conveyed by canoes 
 to the coast, where they would yield a very great 
 profit. 
 
 I objected against this, on account of our other 
 design we had of getting gold dust ; and that our 
 negroes, who we knew would be faithful to us, would 
 get much more by searching the rivers for gold for us, 
 than by lugging a great tooth of a hundred and fifty 
 pounds' weight, a hundred miles or more, which 
 would be an insufferable labour to them after so hard 
 a journey, and would certainly kill them. 
 
 He acquiesced in the justice of this answer, but 
 fain would have had us gone to see the woody part 
 of the hill, and the edge of the desert, that we might 
 
Captain Singleton 79 
 
 [ see how the elephants' teeth lay scattered up and 
 down there ; but when we told him the story of what 
 we had seen before, as is said above, he said no more. 
 
 We staid here twelve days, during which time the 
 natives were very obliging to us, and brought us fruits, 
 pompions, and a root like carrots, though of quite 
 another taste, but not unpleasant neither, and some 
 Guinea fowls, whose names we did not know. In 
 short, they brought us plenty of what they had, and 
 we lived very well, and we gave them all such little 
 things as our cutler had made, for he had a whole 
 bag full of them. 
 
 On the thirteenth day we set forward, taking our 
 new" gentleman with us. At parting, the negro king 
 sent two savages with a present to him, of some dried 
 flesh, but I do not remember what it was, and he 
 gave them again three silver birds which our cutler 
 helped him to, which I assure you was a present for 
 a king. 
 
 We travelled now south, a little west, and here we 
 found the first river for above two thousand miles' 
 march, whose water ran south, all the rest running 
 north or west. We followed this river, which was no 
 bigger than a good large brook in England, till it 
 began to increase its water. Every now and then we 
 found our Englishman went down, as it were privately 
 to the water, which was to try the sand. At length, 
 after a day's march upon this river, he came running 
 
8o Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 up to us with his hands full of sand, and saying, 
 ' Look here.' Upon looking, we found that a good 
 deal of gold lay spangled among the sand of the river. 
 ' Now,' says he, ' I think we may begin to work ; ' so 
 he divided our negroes into couples, and set them to 
 work, to search and wash the sand and ooze in the 
 bottom of the water, where it was not deep. 
 
 In the first day and a quarter our men altogether 
 had gathered a pound and two ounces of gold, or 
 thereabouts ; and, as we found the quantity increased 
 the farther we went, we followed it about three days, 
 till another small rivulet joined the first, and then, 
 searching up the stream, we found gold there too ; so 
 we pitched our camp in the angle where the rivers 
 joined, and we diverted ourselves, as I may call it, in 
 washing the gold out of the sand of the river, and in 
 getting provisions. 
 
 Here we staid thirteen days more, in which time 
 we had many pleasant adventures with the savages, 
 too long to mention here, and some of them too 
 homely to tell of : for some of our men had made 
 something free with their women, which, had not our 
 new guide made peace for us with one of their men, 
 at the price of seven bits of silver, which our artificer 
 had cut out into the shapes of lions and fishes, and 
 birds, and had punched holes to hang them up by 
 (an inestimable treasure !), we must have gone to war 
 with them and all their people. 
 
Captain Singleton 8i 
 
 All the while we were busy washing gold dust out 
 of the rivers, and our negroes the like, our ingenious 
 cutler was hammering and cutting, and he was grown 
 so dexterous by use, that he formed all manner of 
 I images. He cut out elephants, tigers, civet cats, 
 I ostriches, eagles, cranes, fowls, fishes, and indeed 
 whatever he pleased, in thin plates of hammered gold, 
 for his silver and iron were almost all gone. 
 
 At one of the towns of these savage nations we 
 
 were very friendly received by their king ; and as he 
 
 was very much taken with our workman's toys, he 
 
 sold him an elephant cut out of a gold plate as thin 
 
 ;as a sixpence at an extravagant rate. He was so 
 
 much taken with it that he would not be quiet till he 
 
 ihad given him almost a handful of gold dust, as they 
 
 kail it. I suppose it might weigh three-quarters of a 
 
 i pound ; the piece of gold that the elephant was made 
 
 !of might be about the weight of a pistole, rather less 
 
 I than more. Our artist was so honest, though the 
 
 [labour and art were all his own, that he brought ah 
 
 [the gold, and put it into our common stock ; but we 
 
 [had indeed no manner of reason in the least to be 
 
 jcovetous, for, as our new guide told us, we that were 
 
 [strong enough to defend ourselves, and had time 
 
 ;enough to stay (for we were none of us in haste), 
 
 might in time get together what quantity of gold we 
 
 pleased, even to a hundred pounds' weight a man if 
 
 we thought fit ; and therefore, he told us, though he 
 
 G 
 
82 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 had as much reason to be sick of the country as any 
 of us, yet, if we thought to turn our march a Httle to 
 the south-east, and pitch upon a place proper for our 
 head-quarters, we might find provisions plenty enough, 
 and extend ourselves over the country among the 
 rivers, for two or three years, to the right and left, 
 and we should soon find the advantage of it. 
 
 The proposal, however good as to the profitable 
 part of it, suited none of us, for we were all more 
 desirous to get home than to be rich, being tired of 
 the excessive fatigue of above a year's continual 
 wandering among deserts and wild beasts. 
 
 However, the tongue of our new acquaintance had 
 a kind of charm in it, and used such arguments, and 
 had so much the power of persuasion, that there was 
 no resisting him. He told us it was preposterous 
 not to take the fruit of all our labours now we were 
 come to the harvest ; that we might see the hazard 
 the Europeans ran, with ships and men, and at great 
 expense, to fetch a little gold ; and that we that were 
 in the centre of it to go away empty-handed was un- 
 accountable ; that we were strong enough to fight our 
 way through whole nations, and might make our 
 journey afterward to what part of the coast we pleased ; 
 and we should never forgive ourselves when we came 
 to our own country to see we had five hundred 
 pistoles in gold, and might . as easily have had five 
 thousand or ten thousand, or what we pleased ; that 
 
Captain Singleton g3 
 
 ihe was no more covetous than we, but, seeing it was 
 'in all our powers to retrieve our misfortunes at once, 
 land make ourselves easy for all our lives, he could 
 [not be faithful to us, or grateful for the good we had 
 
 I done him, if he did not let us see the advantage 
 we had in our hands ; and he assured us he would 
 Imake it clear to our own understanding that we might, 
 I in two years' time, by good management, and by the 
 [help of our negroes, gather every man a hundred 
 pounds' weight of gold, and get together perhaps two 
 hundred tons of teeth ; whereas, if once we pushed 
 on to the coast, and separated, we should never be 
 able to see that place again with our eyes, or do any 
 more than sinners did with heaven — wish themselves 
 there, but know they can never come at it. 
 
 Our surgeon was the first man that yielded to his 
 reasoning, and after him the gunner ; and they two 
 indeed had a great influence over us, but none of the 
 [rest had any mind to stay, nor I either, I must con- 
 ess ; for I had no notion of a great deal of money, 
 pr what to do with myself, or what to do with it if I 
 [lad it. I thought I had enough already, and all the 
 Lhought I had about disposing of it, if I came to 
 Europe, was only how to spend it as fast as I could, 
 |)uy me some clothes, and go to sea again, to be a 
 irudge for more. 
 
 However, he prevailed with us by his good words, 
 it last, to stay but for six months in the country, and 
 
84 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 then, if we did resolve to go, he would submit : so at 
 length we yielded to that, and he carried us about 
 fifty English miles south-east, where we found several 
 rivulets of water, which seemed to come all from a 
 great ridge of mountains which lay to the north-east, 
 and which, by our calculation, must be the beginning 
 that way of the great waste, which we had been 
 forced northward to avoid. 
 
 Here we found the country barren enough ; but 
 yet we had, by his directions, plenty of food ; for 
 the savages round us, upon giving them some of our 
 toys, as I have so often mentioned, brought us in 
 whatever they had ; and here we found some maize, 
 or Indian wheat, which the negro-women planted, as 
 we sow seeds in a garden, and immediately our new 
 providitor ordered some of our negroes to plant it, 
 and it grew up presently, and, by watering it often, 
 we had a crop in less than three months' growth. 
 
 As soon as we were settled, and our camp fixed, 
 we fell to the old trade of fishing for gold in the 
 rivers mentioned above, and our English gentleman 
 so well knew how to direct our search, that we scarce 
 ever lost our labour. 
 
 One time, having set us to work, he asked if we 
 would give him leave, with four or five negroes, to go 
 out for six or seven days to seek his fortune, and 
 see what he could discover in the country, assuring 
 us whatever he got should be for the public stock. 
 
Captain Singleton 85 
 
 We all gave him our consent, and lent him a gun ; 
 and two of our men desiring to go with him, they 
 took then six negroes with them, and two of our 
 buffaloes that came with us the whole journey ; they 
 took about eight days' provision of bread with them, 
 but no flesh, except about as much dried flesh as 
 would serve them two days. 
 
 They travelled up to the top of the mountains I 
 i mentioned just now, where they saw (as our men 
 I afterw^ards vouched it to be) the same desert which 
 I we were so justly terrified at, when w^e were on the 
 [ farther side, and which, by our calculation, could not 
 ; be less than three hundred miles broad, and above 
 ! six hundred miles in length, without knowing where 
 jit ended. 
 
 The journal of their travels is too long to enter 
 
 upon here ; they stayed out two and fifty days, 
 
 ' when they brought us seventeen pounds, and some- 
 
 t thing more (for we had no exact weight), of gold 
 
 ! dust, some of it in much larger pieces than any we 
 
 \ found before ; besides about fifteen tons of elephants' 
 
 teeth, which he had, partly by good usage, and partly 
 
 1 by bad, obliged the savages of the country to fetch 
 
 and bring down to him from the mountains, and 
 
 .which he made others bring with him quite down to 
 
 our camp. Indeed w^e wondered what was coming 
 
 to us when we saw him attended with above two 
 
 hundred negroes ; but he soon undeceived us, when 
 
86 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 he made them all throw down their burthens on a \ 
 heap, at the entrance of our camp. 
 
 Besides this, they brought lions' skins, and five 
 leopards' skins, very large and very fine. He asked 
 our pardon for his long stay, and that he had made 
 no greater a booty, but told us, he had one excursion 
 more to make, which he hoped should turn to a 
 better account. 
 
 So, having rested himself, and rewarded the 
 savages that brought the teeth for him, with some 
 bits of silver and iron cut out diamond-fashion, and 
 with two shaped like little dogs, he sent them away 
 mightily pleased. 
 
 The second journey he went some more of our 
 men desired to go with him, and they made a troop 
 of ten white men, and ten savages, and the two 
 buffaloes to carry their provisions and ammunition. 
 They took the same course, only not exactly the 
 same track, and they stayed thirty-two days only, 
 in which time they killed no less than fifteen 
 leopards, three lions, and several other creatures, and 
 brought us home four and twenty pounds some 
 ounces of gold dust, and only six elephants' teeth, 
 but they were very great ones. 
 
 Our friend the Englishman showed us now that 
 our time was well bestowed ; for in five months, 
 which we had stayed here, we had gathered so much 
 ;rold dustj that, when we came to share it, we had 
 
Captain Singleton 87 
 
 five pounds and a quarter to a man, besides what 
 we had before, and besides six or seven pounds' 
 weight which we had at several times given to our 
 artificer to make baubles with ; and now we talked 
 of going forward to the coast to put an end to our 
 journey ; but our guide laughed at us then : ' Nay, 
 you cannot go now,' says he, ' for the rainy season 
 begins next month, and there will be no stirring 
 then.' This we found indeed reasonable, so we 
 resolved to furnish ourselves with provisions, that 
 we might not be obliged to go abroad too much in 
 the rain, and we spread ourselves, some one way, 
 and some another, as far as we cared to venture, 
 to get provisions, and our negroes killed us some 
 deer, which we cured, as well as we could, in the 
 sun, for we had no salt. 
 
 By this time the rainy months were set in, and 
 we could scarce, for above two months, look out of 
 our huts. But that was not all, for the rivers were 
 so swelled with the landfloods, that we scarce knew 
 the little brooks and rivulets from the great navigable 
 rivers. This had been a very good opportunity to 
 have conveyed by water, upon rafts, our elephants' 
 teeth, of which we had a very great pile ; for, as 
 we always gave the savages some reward for their 
 labour, the very women would bring us teeth upon 
 every opportunity, and sometimes a great tooth 
 carried between two ; so that our quantity was 
 
88 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 increased to about two and twenty tons of 
 teeth. 
 
 As soon as the weather proved fair again, he told 
 us he would not press us to any further stay, since 
 we did not care whether we got any more gold or 
 not : that we were indeed the first men he ever met 
 with in his life that said they had gold enough, and 
 of whom it might be truly said that, when it lay 
 under our feet, we would not stoop to take it up. 
 But since he had made us a promise, he would not 
 break it, nor press us to make any further stay, only 
 he thought he ought to tell us, that now was the 
 time, after the landflood, when the greatest quantity 
 of gold was found ; and that, if we stayed but one 
 month, we should see thousands of savages spread 
 themselves over the whole country to vrash the gold 
 out of the sand, for the European ships which would 
 come on the coast ; that they do it then, because the 
 rage of the floods always works down a great deal of 
 gold out of the hills ; and if we took the advantage 
 to be there before them, we did not know what 
 extraordinary things we might find. 
 
 This was so forcible, and so well argued, that it 
 appeared in all our faces we were prevailed upon ; 
 so we told him we would all stay ; for, though it was 
 true we were all eager to be gone, yet the evident 
 prospect of so much advantage could not be well 
 resisted — that he was greatly mistaken when he 
 
Captain Singleton 89 
 
 suggested that we did not desire to increase our 
 store of gold, and in [short] that we were resolved to 
 make the utmost use of the advantage that was in our 
 hands, and would stay as long as any gold was to 
 be had, if it was another year. 
 
 He could hardly express the joy he was in on 
 this occasion ; and the fair weather coming on, we 
 began, just as he directed, to search about the rivers 
 for more gold. At first we had but little encourage- 
 ment, and began to be doubtful ; but it was very 
 plain that the reason was, the water was not fully 
 fallen, or the rivers reduced to their usual channel. 
 But in a few days we were fully requited, and found 
 much more gold than at first, and in bigger lumps ; 
 and one of our men washed out of the sand a piece 
 of gold as big as a small nut, which weighed, by our 
 estimation, for we had no small weights, almost an 
 ounce and a half. 
 
 This success made us extremely diligent, and in a 
 little more than a month we had altogether gotten 
 near sixty pounds' weight of gold ; but after this, as 
 he told us, we found abundance of the savages, men, 
 women, and children, hunting every river and brook, 
 and even the dry land of the hills, for gold, so that 
 we could do nothing like then, compared to what we 
 had done before. 
 
 But our artificer found a v/ay to make other 
 people find us in gold without our own labour ; 
 
90 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 for, when these people began to appear, he had a 
 considerable quantity of his toys, birds, beasts, etc., 
 such as before, ready for them, and, the English 
 gentleman being the interpreter, he brought the 
 savages to admire them ; so our cutler had trade 
 enough, and, to be sure, sold his goods at a 
 monstrous rate, for he would get an ounce of gold, 
 sometimes two, for a bit of silver, perhaps of the 
 value of a groat — nay, if it were iron — and if it were 
 of gold, they would not give the more for it ; and it 
 was incredible almost to think what a quantity of 
 gold he got that way. 
 
 In a word, to bring this happy journey to a 
 conclusion, we increased our stock of gold here, 
 in three months' stay more, to such a degree that, 
 bringing it all to a common stock, in order to share 
 it, w^e divided almost four pounds' weight again to 
 every man ; and then we set forward for the gold 
 coast, to see w^hat method we could find out for our 
 passage into Europe. 
 
 There happened several very remarkable incidents 
 in this part of our journey, as to how we were, or 
 were not, received friendly by the several nations of 
 savages through which we passed ; how we delivered 1 
 one negro king from captivity w^ho had been a 
 benefactor to our new guide ; and how our guide, 
 in gratitude, by our assistance, restored him to his 
 kingdom, which, perhaps, might contain about three 
 
Captain Singleton 91 
 
 hundred subjects ; how he entertained us ; and how 
 he made his subjects go with our Enghshman, and 
 fetch all our elephants' teeth which we had been 
 obliged to leave behind us, and to carry them for 
 us to the river, the name of which I forgot, where 
 we made rafts, and in eleven days more came down 
 I to one of the Dutch settlements on the gold coast, 
 where we arrived in perfect health, and to our great 
 satisfaction. As for our cargo of teeth, we sold it 
 to the Dutch factory, and received clothes and other 
 necessaries for ourselves and such of our negroes as 
 we thought fit to keep with us ; and it is to be 
 observed that we had four pounds of gunpowder 
 j left when we ended our journey. The negro prince 
 l we made perfectly free, clothed him out of our 
 I common stock, and gave him a pound and a half 
 of gold for himself, which he knew very well how 
 to manage ; and here we all parted after the most 
 friendly manner possible. Our Englishman remained 
 in the Dutch factory some time, and, as I heard 
 afterwards, died there of grief; for he having sent 
 a thousand pounds sterling over to England, by the 
 way of Holland, for his refuge at his return to his 
 friends, the ship was taken by the French, and the 
 effects all lost. 
 
 The rest of my comrades went away, in a small 
 bark, to the two Portuguese factories, near Gambia, 
 in the latitude of 14 degrees ; and I, with two 
 
92 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 negroes which I kept with me, went away to Cape 
 Coast Castle, where I got passage for England, and 
 arrived there in September ; and thus ended my first 
 harvest of wild oats ; the rest were not sowed to so 
 much advantage. 
 
 {In his ' second harvest ' Singleton falls into piratical 
 company^ and the rest of the book is occupied with his 
 experiences thereof. The chief figure of this part — a 
 figure in which Defoe's skill in character-drawing re- 
 appears — is a certain Quaker 7iamed William Walters^ 
 whom the pirates capture^ and who very ingeniously, 
 while declining actually to join them, assists thou in their 
 plans. He finally converts Singleton {after Defoe^s very 
 odd notio?is of conversion^ the pair make their way to 
 England with their gains, Singleto?i mar?'ies William^ s 
 sister, afid all is well. But this is hoiu Williani under- 
 stood 7ieutrality. ) 
 
 We had one very merry fellow here, a quaker, 
 whose name was William Walters, whom we took out 
 of a sloop bound from Pennsylvania to Barbadoes. 
 He was a surgeon, and they called him doctor ; but 
 he was not employed in the sloop as a surgeon, but 
 was going to Barbadoes to get a birth, as the sailors 
 call it. However, he had all his surgeon's chest on 
 board, and we made him go with us, and take all his 
 implements with him. He was a comic fellow indeed. 
 
Captain Singleton 93 
 
 a man of very good solid sense, and an excellent 
 surgeon ; but, what was worth all, very good humoured, 
 and pleasant in his conversation, and a bold stout 
 fellow too, as any we had among us. 
 
 I found William, as I thought, not very averse to 
 go along with us, and yet resolved to do it so that it 
 might be apparent he was taken away by force ; and, 
 to this purpose, he comes to me : ' Friend,' says he, 
 ' thou sayest I must go with thee, and it is not in my 
 power to resist thee, if I would ; but I desire thou 
 wilt oblige the master of the sloop which I am on 
 board, to certify under his hand, that I was taken 
 away by force, and against my will.' And this he 
 said with so much satisfaction in his face, that I 
 could not but understand him. ' Ay, ay,' says 1, 
 ' whether it be against your will or no, I'll make him 
 and all the men give you a certificate of it, or I'll take 
 them all along with us, and keep them till they do.' 
 So I drew up the certificate myself, wherein I wrote 
 that he was taken away by main force, as a prisoner, 
 by a pirate ship ; that they carried away his chest and 
 instruments first, and then bound his hands behind 
 him, and forced him into their boat ; and this was 
 signed by the master and all his men. 
 
 Accordingly, I fell a swearing at him, and called to 
 my men to tie his hands behind him, and so we put 
 him into our boat, and carried him away. When I 
 had him on board, I called him to me; 'Now, friend,' 
 
94 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 says I, ' I have brought you away by force, it is true, 
 but I am not of the opinion I have brought you away 
 so much against your will as they imagine : come,' 
 says I, ' you will be a useful man to us, and you shall 
 have very good usage among us.' So I unbound his 
 hands, and first ordered all things that belonged to 
 him to be restored to him, and our captain gave him 
 a dram. 
 
 'Thou hast dealt friendly by me,' says he, 'and I 
 will be plain with thee, whether I came willingly to 
 thee or not. I shall make myself as useful to thee 
 as I can ; but thou knowest it is not my business to 
 meddle when thou art to fight.' 'No, no,' says the 
 captain, ' but you may meddle a little when we share 
 the money.' 'Those things are useful to furnish a 
 surgeon's chest,' says WilHam, and smiled, 'but I shall 
 be moderate.' 
 
 In short, William was a most agreeable companion ; 
 but he had the better of us in this part, that, if we 
 were taken, we were sure to be hanged, and he was 
 sure to escape ; and he knew it well enough : but, in 
 short, he was a sprightly fellow, and fitter to be 
 captain than any of us. I shall have often an occa- 
 sion to speak of him in the rest of the story. 
 
 Our cruising so long in these seas began now to 
 be so well known, that, not in England only, but in 
 France and Spain, accounts had been made public 
 of our adventures, and many stories told, how we 
 
Captain Singleton 95 
 
 murdered the people in cold blood, tying them back 
 to back and throwing them into the sea : one half of 
 which, however, was not true, though more was done 
 than it is fit to speak of here. 
 
 The consequence of this however, was, that several 
 English men of war were sent to the West Indies, 
 and were particularly instructed to cruise in the bay 
 of Mexico, and the gulf of Florida, and among the 
 Bahama islands, if possible, to attack us. We were 
 not so ignorant of things as not to expect this, after 
 so long a stay in that part of the world ; but the first 
 certain account we had of them was at Honduras, 
 when a vessel, coming in from Jamaica, told us that 
 two English men of war were coming directly from 
 Jamaica thither in quest of us. We were indeed as 
 it were embayed, and could not have made the least 
 shift to have got off, if they had come directly to us ; 
 but as it happened, somebody had informed them 
 that we were in the bay of Campeachy, and they went 
 directly thither, by which we were not only free of 
 them, but were so much to the windward of them 
 that they could not make any attempt upon us, though 
 they had known we were there. 
 
 We took this advantage, and stood away for 
 Carthagena, and from thence with great difficulty 
 beat it up at a distance from under the shore of St. 
 Martha, till we came to the Dutch island of Curasoe, 
 and from thence to the island of Tobago ; which, as 
 
96 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 before, was our rendezvous ; and it being a deserted, 
 uninhabited island, we at the same time made use of it 
 for a retreat : here the captain of the brigantine died, 
 and Captain Harris, at that time my lieutenant, took 
 the command of the brigantine. 
 
 Here we came to a resolution to go away to • the 
 coast of Brazil, and from thence to the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and so for the East Indies : but Captain 
 Harris, as I have said, being now captain of the 
 brigantine, alleged that his ship was too small for so 
 long a voyage; but that, if Captain Wilmot would 
 consent, he would take the hazard of another cruise, 
 and he would follow us in the first ship he could 
 take : so we appointed our rendezvous to be at 
 Madagascar, which was done by my recommendation 
 of the place, and the plenty of provisions to be had 
 there. 
 
 Accordingly he went away from us in an evil hour ; 
 for, instead of taking a ship to follow us, he was taken, 
 as I heard afterwards, by an English man-of-war, and 
 being laid in irons, died of mere grief and anger be- 
 fore he came to England. His lieutenant, I have 
 heard, was afterwards executed in England for a 
 pirate, and this was the end of the man who first 
 brought me into this unhappy trade. 
 
 We parted from Tobago three days after, bending 
 our course for the coast of Brazil, but had not been 
 at sea above twenty-four hours when we were sepa- 
 
Captain Singleton 97 
 
 rated by a terrible storm, which held three days, with 
 
 'very little abatement or intermission. In this juncture 
 
 Captain Wilmot happened unluckily to be on board 
 
 my ship, very much to his mortification ; for we not 
 
 only lost sight of his ship, but never saw her more till 
 
 we came to Madagascar, where she was cast away. 
 
 In short, after having in this tempest lost our fore-top- 
 
 imast, we w^ere forced to put back to the isle of 
 
 [iTobago for shelter, and to repair our damage, which 
 
 brought us all very near our destruction. 
 
 We were no sooner on shore here, and all very 
 busy looking out for a piece of timber for a top-mast, 
 but we perceived, standing in for the shore, an English 
 man-of-war of thirty-six guns : it was a great surprise 
 o us indeed, because we were disabled so much ; but 
 to our great good fortune, we lay pretty snug and 
 lose among the high rocks, and the man-of-w^ar did 
 lot see us, but stood off again upon his cruise : so 
 A^e only observed which way she went, and at night, 
 eaving our work, resolved to stand off to sea, steering 
 :he contrary way from that which we observed she 
 vent; and this we found had the desired success, for 
 ve saw him no more. We had gotten an old mizen 
 op-mast on board, which made us a jury fore-top- 
 nast for the present ; and so we stood away for the 
 sle of Trinidad, w^here, though there were Spaniards 
 >n shore, yet we landed some men with our boat, 
 .nd cut a very good piece of fir to make us a new 
 
 H 
 
 
98 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 top-mast, which we got fitted up effectually ; and also 
 we got some cattle here to eke out our provisions ; 
 and, caUing a council of war among ourselves, we 
 resolved to quit those seas for the present, and steer 
 away for the coast of Brazil. 
 
 The first thing we attempted here was only getting 
 fresh water : but we learnt that there lay the Portu- 
 guese fleet at the bay of All Saints, bound for Lisbon, 
 ready to sail, and only waiting for a fair wind. This 
 made us lie by, wishing to see them put to sea, and, 
 accordingly, as they were with or without convoy, to 
 attack or avoid them. 
 
 It sprung up a fresh gale in the evening, at S.W. 
 by W., which, being fair for the Portugal fleet, and 
 the weather pleasant and agreeable, we heard the 
 signal given to unmoor, and, running in under the 
 island of Si , we hauled our main-sail and fore- 
 sail up in the brails, lowered the top-sail upon the 
 cap, and clewed them up, that we might lie as snug 
 as we could, expecting their coming out, and the next 
 morning saw the whole fleet come out accordingly, 
 but not at all to our satisfaction, for they consisted of 
 twenty-six sail, and most of them ships of force as 
 well as burthen, both merchantmen and men-of-war ; 
 so, seeing there was no meddling, we lay still where 
 we were also, till the fleet was out of sight, and theni 
 stood off and on, in hopes of meeting with further) 
 purchase. 
 
Captain Singleton 99 
 
 It was not long before we saw a sail, and immedi- 
 ately gave her chase ; but she proved an excellent 
 
 j sailor, and, standing out to sea, we saw plainly she 
 
 Intrusted to her heels — that is to say, to her sails. 
 
 j However, as we were a clean ship, we gained upon 
 her, though slowly, and, had we had a day before us, 
 
 \ we should certainly have come up with her ; but it 
 grew dark apace, and in that case we knew we should 
 lose sight of her. 
 
 Our merry quaker, perceiving us to crowd still 
 
 after her in the dark, wherein we could not see which 
 
 i ' 
 
 way she went, came very drily to me : ' Friend Single- 
 ton,' says he, ' dost thee know what we are doing ? ' 
 Says I, 'Yes, why we are chasing yon ship, are we 
 not ?' ' And how dost thou know that ? ' says he, very 
 gravely still. 'Nay, that's true,' says I again, 'we 
 cannot be sure.' 'Yes, friend,' says he, 'I think we 
 may be sure that we are running away from her — not 
 chasing her. I am afraid,' adds he, 'thou art turned 
 [quaker, and hast resolved not to use the hand of 
 power, or art a coward, and art flying from thy 
 enemy.' 
 
 'What do you mean?' says I (I think I swore at 
 him) ; ' what do ye sneer at now ? you have always 
 one dry rub or another to give us.' 
 
 'Nay,' says he, 'it is plain enough the ship stood 
 off to sea due east, on purpose to lose us, and thou 
 mayest be sure her business does not lie that way ; 
 
100 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 for what should she do at the coast of Africa in this 
 latitude, which should be as far south as Congo or 
 Angola? But as soon as it is dark, that we shall 
 lose sight of her, she will tack, and stand away west 
 again for the Brazil coast, and for the bay, where, 
 thou knowest, she was going before ; and are we not 
 then running away from her ? I am greatly in hopes, 
 friend,' says the dry gibing creature, ' thou wilt turn 
 quaker, for I see thou art not for fighting.' 
 
 ' Very well, William,' says I, ' then I shall make an 
 excellent pirate.' However, William was in the right, 
 and I apprehended what he meant immediately ; and 
 Captain Wilmot, who lay very sick in his cabin, over- 
 hearing us, understood him as well as I, and called 
 out to me that William was right, and it was our best 
 way to change our course, and stand away for the 
 bay, where it was ten to one but we should snap her 
 in the morning. 
 
 Accordingly, we went about ship, got our larboard 
 tacks on board, set the top-gallant sails, and crowded 
 for the bay of All Saints, where we came to an anchor, 
 early in the morning, just out of gunshot of the forts. 
 We furled our sails with rope-yarns, that we might 
 haul home the sheets without going up to loose them, 
 and, lowering our main and fore yards, looked just as 
 if we had lain there a good while. 
 
 In two hours after we saw our game standing in 
 for the bay with all the sail she could make, and she 
 
I Captain S-ingleton itJi 
 
 ; came innocently into our very mdutlis, Tor we lay still 
 , till we saw her almost within gunshot, when our fore- 
 mast geers being stretched fore and aft, we first ran 
 I up our yards, and then hauled home the top -sail 
 sheets ; the rope-yarns that furled them giving way of 
 themselves, the sails were set in a few minutes ; at 
 I the same time slipping our cable, we came upon her 
 \ before she could get under way upon the other tack. 
 They were so surprised that they made little or no 
 resistance, but struck after the first broadside. 
 
 We were considering what to do with her, when 
 
 William came to me : ' Hark thee, friend,' says he, 
 
 ' thou hast made a fine piece of work of it now, hast 
 
 thou not ? To borrow thy neighbour's ship here just 
 
 • at thy neighbour's door, and never ask him leave. 
 
 I Now, dost thou not think there are some men-of-war 
 
 in the port ? Thou hast given them the alarm suffi- 
 
 I ciently ; thou wilt have them upon thy back before 
 
 night, depend upon it, to ask thee wherefore thou 
 
 didst so.' 
 
 'Truly, William,' said I, 'for aught I know that 
 : may be true. What, then, shall we do next ? ' Says 
 \ he, ' Thou hast but two things to do, either to go in 
 I and take all the rest, or else get thee gone before 
 i they come out and take thee ; for I see they are 
 j hoisting a top-mast to yon great ship, in order to put 
 !to sea immediately, and they won't be long before 
 I they come to talk with thee ; and what wilt thou say 
 
1 33 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 to them when they ask thee why thou borrowest their 
 ship without leave ? ' 
 
 As WilHam said, so it was : we could see by our 
 glasses they were all in a hurry, manning and fitting 
 some sloops they had there, and a large man-of-war, 
 and it was plain they would soon be with us ; but we 
 were not at a loss what to do. We found the ship 
 we had taken was loaden with nothing considerable 
 for our purpose, except some cocoa, some sugar, and 
 twenty barrels of flour ; the rest of her loading was 
 hides ; so we took out all we thought for our turn, 
 and, among the rest, all her ammunition, great shot, 
 and small arms, and turned her off; we also took a 
 cable and three anchors she had, which were for our 
 purpose, and some of her sails. She had enough 
 left just to carry her into port, and that was all. 
 
 Having done this, we stood on upon the Brazil 
 coast, southward, till we came to the mouth of the 
 river Janeiro : but, as we had two days the wind 
 blowing hard at S.E. and S.S.E., we were obliged to 
 come to an anchor under a little island and wait for 
 a wind. In this time, the Portuguese had, it seems, 
 given notice over land to the governor there, that a 
 pirate was upon the coast ; so that, when we came in 
 view of the port, we saw two men-of-war riding just 
 without the bar, whereof one we found was getting 
 under sail with all possible speed, having slipt her 
 cable, on purpose to speak with us \ the other was 
 
Captain Singleton 103 
 
 .not so forward, but was preparing to follow: in less 
 I than an hour they stood both fair after us, with all 
 the sail they could make. 
 
 Had not the night come on, William's words had 
 
 been made good ; they would certainly have asked us 
 
 the question what we did there? for we found the 
 
 foremost ship gained upon us, especially upon one 
 
 tack ; for we plied away from them to windward ; 
 
 but in the dark losing sight of them, we resolved to 
 
 change our course, and stand away directly to sea, 
 
 not doubting but we should lose them in the night. 
 
 1 Whether the Portuguese commander guessed we 
 
 ! would do so or no, I know not; but in the morning, 
 
 i when the daylight appeared, instead of having lost 
 
 i him, we found him in chase of us, about a league 
 
 i astern ; only, to our great good fortune, we could see 
 
 i but one of the two ; however, this one was a great 
 
 ' ship, carried six and forty guns, and an admirable 
 
 i sailor, as appeared by her outsailing us ; for our ship 
 
 I was an excellent sailor too, as I have said before. 
 
 j When I found this, I easily saw there was no 
 
 , remedy, but we must engage ; and, as we knew we 
 
 I could expect no quarter from those scoundrels the 
 
 I Portuguese, a nation I had an original aversion to, I 
 
 \ let Captain Wilmot know how it was. The captain, 
 
 sick as he was, jumped up in the cabin, and would 
 
 be led out upon the deck (for he was very weak) to 
 
 see how it was. 'Well,' says he, 'we'll fight them.' 
 
I04 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 Our men were all in good heart before ; but, to 
 see the captain so brisk, who had lain ill of a calen- 
 ture ten or eleven days, gave them double courage, 
 and they went all hands to work to make a clear ship 
 and be ready. William the quaker comes to me 
 with a kind of smile : ' Friend,' says he, ' what does 
 yon ship follow us for?' 'Why,' says I, 'to fight us, 
 you may be sure.' ' Well,' says he, ' and will she come 
 up with us, dost thou think?' 'Yes,' said I, 'you 
 see she will.' ' Why, then, friend,' says the dry wretch, 
 ' why dost thou run from her still, when thou seest 
 she will overtake thee? will it be better for us to be 
 overtaken farther off than here ? ' ' Much at one for 
 that,' says I; 'why, what would you have us do?' 
 ' Do ! ' says he, ' let us not give the poor man more 
 trouble than needs must ; let us stay for him, and 
 hear what he has to say to us.' ' He will talk to us 
 in powder and ball,' said I. 'Very well, then,' says 
 he, ' if that be his country language we must talk to 
 him in the same, must we not ? or else how shall he 
 understand us ? ' ' Very well, William,' says I, ' we under- 
 stand you.' And the captain, as ill as he was, called 
 to me, ' William's right again,' says he, ' as good here 
 as a league farther.' So he gave a word of command, 
 ' Haul up the mainsail ; we'll shorten sail for him.' 
 
 Accordingly we shortened sail ; and, as we expected 
 her upon our lee-side, we being then upon our star- 
 board tack, brought eighteen of our guns to the 
 
 I 
 
Captain Singleton 105 
 
 larboard side, resolving to give him a broadside that 
 should warm him ; it was about half an hour before 
 he came up with us, all which time we luffed up, that 
 we might keep the wind of him, by which he was 
 obliged to run up under our lee, as we designed him ; 
 when we got him upon our quarter we edged down, 
 and received the fire of five or six of his guns ; by 
 this time you may be sure all our hands were at their 
 quarters, so we clapped our helm hard a-weather, let 
 go the lee-braces of the main top-sail, and laid it a- 
 back, and so our ship fell athwart the Portuguese 
 ship's hawse ; then we immediately poured in our 
 broadside, raking them fore and aft, and killed them 
 a great many men. 
 
 The Portuguese, we could see, were in the utmost 
 confusion ; and, not being aware of our design, their 
 ship having fresh way, ran their bowsprit into the 
 fore part of our main shrouds, as that they could not 
 easily get clear of us, and so we lay locked after that 
 manner ; the enemy could not bring above two or 
 three guns, besides their small arms, to bear upon us, 
 while we played our whole broadside upon him. 
 
 In the middle of the heat of this fight, as I was 
 very busy upon the quarter-deck, the captain calls to 
 me, for he never stirred from us, ' What the devil is 
 friend William a-doing yonder?' says the captain, 
 'has he any business upon deck?' I stept forward, 
 and there was friend William, with two or three stout 
 
io6 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 fellows, lashing the ship's bowsprit fast to our main- 
 mast, for fear they should get away from us ; and 
 every now and then he pulled a bottle out of his 
 pocket, and gave the men a dram to encourage them. 
 The shot flew about his ears as thick as may be 
 supposed in such an action, where the Portuguese, to 
 give them their due, fought very briskly, believing at 
 first they were sure of their game, and trusting to 
 their superiority ; but there was William, as composed, 
 and in as perfect tranquillity as to danger, as if he 
 had been over a bowl of punch, only very busy secur- 
 ing the matter, that a ship of forty-six guns should 
 not run away from a ship of eight-and-twenty. 
 
 This work, was too hot to hold long; our men 
 behaved bravely ; our gunner, a gallant man, shouted 
 below, pouring in his shot at such a rate that the 
 Portuguese began to slacken their fire ; we had dis- 
 mounted several of their guns by firing in at their 
 forecastle, and raking them, as I said, fore and aft ; 
 and presently comes William up to me : ' Friend,' 
 says he, very calmly, ' what dost thou mean ? Why 
 dost thou not visit thy neighbour in the ship, the 
 door being open for thee?' I understood him im- 
 mediately, for our guns had so torn their hull that 
 we had beat two port-holes into one, and the bulk- 
 head of their steerage was split to pieces, so that they 
 could not retire to their close quarters ; I then gave 
 the word immediately to board them. Our second 
 
Captain Singleton 107 
 
 lieutenant, with about thirty men, entered in an instant 
 over the forecastle, followed by some more, with the 
 boatswain, and cutting in pieces about twenty-five 
 men that they found upon the deck, and then, throw- 
 ing some grenadoes into the steerage, they entered 
 there also \ upon which the Portuguese cried quarter 
 presently, and we mastered the ship, contrary indeed 
 to our own expectation ; for we would have com- 
 pounded with them if they would have sheered off, 
 but laying them athwart the hawse at first, and follow- 
 ing our fire furiously, without giving them any time to 
 get clear of us, and work their ship ; by this means, 
 though they had six-and-forty guns, they were not able 
 to point them forward, as I said above, for we beat 
 them immediately from their guns in the forecastle, 
 and killed them abundance of men between decks, so 
 that, when we entered, they had hardly found men 
 enough to fight us hand to hand upon their deck. 
 
 The surprise of joy, to hear the Portuguese cry 
 quarter, and see their ancient struck, was so great to 
 our captain, who, as I have said, was reduced very 
 weak with a high fever, that it gave him new life. 
 Nature conquered the distemper, and the fever abated 
 that very night ; so that in two or three days he was 
 sensibly better, his strength began to come, and he 
 was able to give his orders effectually in everything 
 that was material, and in about ten days was entirely 
 well, and about the ship. 
 
io8 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 In the meantime I took possession of the Portu- 
 guese man-of-war ; and Captain Wilmot made me, 
 or rather I made myself, captain of her for the present. 
 About thirty of their seamen took service with us, 
 some of whom were French, some Genoese ; and we 
 set the rest on shore the next day, on a httle island 
 on the coast of Brazil, except some wounded men, 
 who were not in a condition to be removed, and 
 whom we were bound to keep on board ; but we had 
 an occasion afterwards to dispose of them at the Cape, 
 where, at their own request, we set them on shore. 
 
 Captain Wilmot, as soon as the ship was taken, 
 and the prisoners stowed, was for standing in for the 
 river Janeiro again, not doubting that we should 
 meet with the other man-of-war, who, not having been 
 able to find us, and having lost the company of her 
 comrade, would certainly be returned, and might be 
 surprised by the ship we had taken, if we carried 
 Portuguese colours ; and our men were all for it. 
 
 But our friend William gave us better counsel ; for 
 he came to me ; ' Friend,' says he, ' I understand the 
 captain is for sailing back to the Rio Janeiro, in 
 hopes to meet with the other ship that was in chase 
 of thee yesterday. Is it true, dost thou intend it ? ' 
 ' Why, yes,' says I, ' William, pray why not ? ' ' Nay,' 
 says he, ' thou mayest do so if thou wilt.' ' Well, I 
 know that too, William,' said I ; ' but the captain is 
 a man who will be ruled by reason ; what have you 
 
Captain Singleton 109, 
 
 to say to it ? ' ' Why,' says William, gravely, ' I only 
 ask what is thy business, and the business of all the 
 people thou hast with thee ? Is it not to get money ?' 
 'Yes, William, it is so, in our honest way.' 'And 
 wouldst thou,' says he, 'rather have money without 
 fighting, or fighting without money ? I mean, which 
 wouldst thou have by choice, suppose it to be left to 
 thee?' 'O William,' says I, 'the first of the two, to 
 be sure.' 'Why then,' says he, 'what great gain hast 
 thou made of the prize thou hast taken now, though 
 it has cost thee the lives of thirteen of thy men, 
 besides some hurt ? It is true thou hast got the 
 ship and some prisoners ; but thou wouldst have had 
 twice the booty in a merchant ship, with not one 
 quarter of the fighting ; and how dost thou know 
 either what force, or what number of men, may be in 
 the other ship, and what loss thou mayest suffer, and 
 what gain it shall be to thee if thou take her? I 
 think indeed thou mayest much better let her alone.' 
 ' Why, William, it is true,' said I, 'and I'll go tell 
 the captain what your opinion is, and bring you word 
 what he says.' Accordingly I went to the captain, 
 and told him William's reasons ; and the captain was 
 of his mind — that our business was indeed fighting 
 when we could not help it, but that our main affair 
 was money, and that with as few blows as we could. 
 So that adventure was laid aside, and we stood along- 
 shore again south for the river de la Plata, expecting 
 
no Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 some purchase thereabouts ; especially we had our 
 eyes upon some of the Spanish ships from Buenos 
 Ayres, which are generally very rich in silver, and 
 one such prize would have done our business. We 
 plied about here, in the latitude of near 22 degrees 
 south, for near a month, and nothing offered ; and 
 here we began to consult what we should do next, for 
 we had come to no resolution yet. Indeed, my 
 design was always for the Cape de Bona Speranza, 
 and so to the East Indies. I had heard some flaming 
 stories of Captain Avery, and the fine things he had 
 done in the Indies, which were doubled and doubled, 
 even ten thousandfold : and from taking a great prize 
 in the bay of Bengal, where he took a lady, said to 
 be the Great Mogul's daughter, with a great quantity 
 of jewels about her, we had a story told us that he 
 took a Mogul ship, so the foolish sailors called it, 
 loaden with diamonds. 
 
 I would fain have had friend William's advice — 
 whither we should go ; but he always put it off with 
 some quaking quibble or other. In short, he did 
 not care for directing us neither. Whether he made 
 a piece of conscience of it, or whether he did not 
 care to venture having it come against him afterwards, 
 or no, this I know not ; but we concluded at last 
 without him. 
 
 ^t * * * * 
 
 At last, our old never-failing friend, William, helped 
 
Captain Singleton 
 
 HI 
 
 us out again, as he had often done at a dead-Uft. 
 His proposal was this, that he should go as master 
 of the ship, and about twenty men, such as we could 
 best trust, and attempt to trade privately, upon the 
 coast of Brazil, with the planters, not at the principal 
 ports, because that would not be admitted. 
 
 We all agreed to this, and appointed to go away 
 ourselves towards the Rio de la Plata, where we had 
 thought of going before, and to wait for him, not 
 I there, but at Port St. Pedro, as the Spaniards call 
 it, lying at the mouth of the river which they call 
 Rio Grande, and where the Spaniards had a small 
 fort and a few people, but we believe there was 
 nobody in it. 
 
 Here we took up our station, cruising off and on, 
 to see if we could meet any ships going to, or 
 coming from, Buenos Ay res, or the Rio de la Plata ; 
 but we met with nothing worth notice. However, 
 we employed ourselves in things necessary for our 
 going off to sea ; for we filled all our water-casks, 
 and got some fish for our present use, to spare as 
 much as possible our ship's stores. 
 
 William, in the meantime, went away to the north, 
 and made the land about the Cape of St. Thomas ; 
 and, betwixt that and the isles of Tuberon, he found 
 means to trade with the planters for all his negroes, as 
 well the women as the men, and at a very good price 
 too ; for William, who spoke Portuguese pretty well. 
 
112 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 told them a fair story enough, that the ship was in 
 scarcity of provisions, that they were driven a great^ 
 way out of their way, and indeed, as we say, out of 
 their knowledge, and that they must go up to the 
 northward as far as Jamaica, or sell there upon 
 the coast. This was a very plausible tale, and was 
 easily believed ; and, if you observe the manner of 
 the negroes' sailing, and what happened in their 
 voyage, was every word of it true. 
 
 By this method, and being true to one another, 
 William past for what he was ; I mean for a very 
 honest fellow, and, by the assistance of one planter, 
 who sent to some of his neighbour planters, and 
 managed the trade among themselves, he got a 
 quick market ; for in less than five weeks William 
 sold all his negroes, and at last sold the ship itself, 
 and shipped himself and his twenty men, with two 
 negro boys whom he had left, in a sloop, one of 
 those which the planters used to send on board 
 for the negroes. With this sloop. Captain William, 
 as we then called him, came away, and found us 
 at Port St. Pedro, in the latitude of 32 degrees 
 30 minutes south. 
 
 Nothing was more surprising to us than to see 
 a sloop come along the coast, carrying Portuguese 
 colours, and come in directly to us, after we were 
 assured he had discovered both our ships. We fired 
 a gun, upon her nearer approach, to bring her to an 
 
Captain Singleton 113 
 
 anchor, but immediately she fired five guns by way 
 "of salute, and spread her English ancient : then we 
 began to guess it was friend William., but wondered 
 what was the meaning of his being in a sloop, 
 whereas we sent him away in a ship of near three 
 hundred tons ; but he soon let us into the whole 
 history of his management, with which we had a 
 great deal of reason to be very well satisfied. As 
 soon as he had brought the sloop to an anchor he 
 came aboard of my ship, and there he gave us an 
 account how he began to trade, by the help of a 
 Portuguese planter, who lived near the sea-side ; how 
 he went on shore, and went up to the first house he 
 could see, and asked the man of the house to sell 
 him some hogs, pretending at first he only stood in 
 upon the coast to take in fresh water, and buy some 
 provisions ; and the man not only sold him seven 
 fat hogs, but invited him in, and gave him, and five 
 men he had met with, a very good dinner; and he 
 invited the planter on board his ship, and, in return 
 for his kindness, gave him a negro girl. 
 
 This so obliged the planter, that the next morning 
 he sent him on board, in a great luggage-boat, a cow 
 and two sheep, with a chest of sweetmeats, and some 
 sugar, and a great bag of tobacco, and invited Captain 
 William on shore again : that, after this, they grew 
 from one kindness to another ; that they began to 
 talk about trading for some negroes ; and William^ 
 
 I 
 
114 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 pretending it was to do him service, consented toJ 
 sell him thirty negroes for his private use in his* 
 plantation, for which he gave William ready money 
 in gold, at the rate of five and thirty moidores per 
 head ; but the planter was obliged to use great 
 caution in the bringing them on shore : for which 
 purpose, he made William weigh and stand out 
 to sea, and put in again, about fifty miles farther 
 north, where, at a little creek, he took the negroes f 
 on shore at another plantation, belonging to a friend 
 of his, whom, it seems, he could trust. 
 
 This remove brought William into a further 
 intimacy, not only with the first planter, but also 
 with his friends, who desired to have some of the 
 negroes also ; so that, from one to another, they 
 bought so many, till one overgrown planter took a 
 hundred negroes, which was all William had left, 
 and sharing them with another planter, that other 
 planter chaffered with William for ship and all, 
 giving him in exchange a very clean, large, well- 
 built sloop of near sixty tons, very well furnished, 
 carrying six guns ; but we made her afterwards 
 carry twelve guns. William had three hundred 
 moidores in gold, besides the sloop, in payment for 
 the ship ; and with this money he stored the sloop 
 as full as she could hold with provisions, especially 
 bread, some pork, and about sixty hogs alive : 
 among the rest, William got eighty barrels of good 
 
Captain Singleton 115 
 
 I, 
 
 [gunpowder, which was very much for our purpose ; 
 land all the provisions which were in the French 
 ship he took out also. 
 
 I This was a very agreeable account to us, especially 
 when we saw that William had received in gold 
 coined, or by weight, and some Spanish silver, sixty 
 thousand pieces of eight, besides a new sloop, and 
 a vast quantity of provisions. 
 
 We were very glad of the sloop in particular, and 
 began to consult what we should do, whether we had 
 not best turn off our great Portuguese ship, and stick 
 to our first ship and the sloop, seeing we had scarce 
 men enough for all three, and that the biggest ship 
 was thought too big for our business ; how^ever, 
 another dispute, which was now decided, brought 
 ithe first to a conclusion. The first dispute w^as, 
 Iw^hither we should go ? My comrade, as I called 
 'him now, that is to say, he that was my captain 
 j before w^e took this Portuguese man-of-war, was 
 |for going to the South Seas, and coasting up the 
 jwest side of America, where we could not fail 
 [of making several good prizes upon the Spaniards ; 
 land that then, if occasion required, we might 
 I come home by the South Seas to the East Indies, 
 land so go round the globe, as others had done 
 j before us. 
 
 But my head lay another way \ I had been in the 
 East Indies, and had entertained a notion, ever since 
 
ii6 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 that, that if we went thither we could not fail of 
 making good work of it, and that we might have a 
 safe retreat, and good beef to victual our ship, among 
 my old friends the natives of Zanguebar, on the 
 coast of Mozambique, or the island of St. Laurence : 
 I say, my thoughts lay this way ; and I read so 
 many lectures to them all, of the advantages they 
 would certainly make of their strength, by the prizes 
 they would take in the gulf of Mocha, or the Red 
 Sea, and on the coast of Malabar, or the bay of 
 Bengal, that I amazed them. 
 
 With these arguments I prevailed on them, and 
 we all resolved to steer away S.E. for the Cape of 
 Good Hope ; and, in consequence of this resolution, 
 we concluded to keep the sloop, and sail with all 
 three, not doubting, as I assured them, but we 
 should find men there to make up the number 
 wanting, and, if not, we might cast any of them off 
 when we pleased. 
 
 We could not do less than make our friend 
 William captain of the sloop, which, with such good 
 management, he had brought us. He told us, 
 though with much good manners, he would not 
 command her as a frigate, but, if we would give 
 her to him for his share of the Guinea ship, which 
 we came very honestly by, he would keep us company 
 as a victualler, if we commanded him, as long as he 
 was under the same force that took him away. 
 
 \ 
 
Captain Smglefon 117 
 
 We understood him, so we gave him the sloop, 
 but upon condition that he should not go from us, 
 and should be entirely under command : however, 
 William was not so easy as before ; and indeed, as 
 we afterwards wanted the sloop to cruise for purchase, 
 and a right thorough-paced pirate in her, so I was in 
 such pain for William that I could not be without 
 him, for he was my privy-councillor and companion 
 upon all occasions ; so I put a Scotsman, a bold 
 enterprising gallant fellow, into her, named Gordon, 
 and made her carry twelve guns, and four petereroes, 
 though, indeed, we wanted men, for we were none 
 of us manned in proportion to our force. 
 
 {A?id this was the way William made Singleton 
 leave off piracy, deserting his men.) 
 
 ' Wilt thou give me leave,' says William, ' to talk 
 
 plainly with thee upon thy present circumstances, 
 
 and thy future prospect of living ; and wilt thou 
 
 promise, on thy word, to take nothing ill of me?' 
 
 I ' With all my heart,' said I, ' William ; I have 
 
 ! always found your advice good ; and your designs 
 
 I have not only been well laid, but your counsel has 
 
 I been very lucky to us ; and therefore say what 
 
 I you will, I promise you I will not take it ill.' 
 
 ' But that is not all my demand,' says William ; 
 ' if thou dost not like what I am going to propose 
 
ii8 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 to thee, thou shalt promise me not to make it pubHc 
 among the men.' 
 
 ' I will not, William,' says I, ' upon my word ; 
 and swore to him too very heartily. 
 
 ' Why then,' says William, ' I have but one thing ' 
 more to article with thee about, and that is, that 
 thou wilt consent, that, if thou dost not approve of 
 it for thyself, thou wilt yet consent that I shall put 
 so much of it in practice as relates to myself and my 
 new comrade doctor, so that it be in nothing to thy 
 detriment and loss.' 
 
 'In anything,' says I, 'William, but leaving me, 
 I will ; but I cannot part with you upon any terms 
 whatever.' 
 
 ' Well,' says William, ' I am not designing to part 
 from thee, unless it is thy own doing ; but assure 
 me in all these points, and I will tell my mind 
 freely.' 
 
 So I promised him everything he desired of me, 
 in the most solemn manner possible, and so seriously 
 and frankly withal, that William made no scruple 
 to open his mind to me. 
 
 ' Why then, in the first place,' says Wilham, 
 ' shall I ask thee if thou dost not think thou and 
 all thy men are rich enough, and have really gotten 
 as much wealth together (by w^hatsoever way it has 
 been gotten, that is not the question), as ye all know 
 what to do with?' 
 
Captain Singleton 119 
 
 ' Why, truly, William,' said I, ' thou art pretty 
 
 . right ; I think we have had pretty good luck.' 
 
 ' ' Well then,' says William, ' I would ask, whether, 
 
 i if thou hast gotten enough, thou hast any thought of 
 
 leaving off this trade ; for most people leave off 
 
 trading when they are satisfied with getting, and 
 
 are rich enough ; for nobody trades for the sake 
 
 of trading ; much less do any men rob for the sake 
 
 of thieving.' 
 
 'Well, William,' says I, 'now I perceive what it 
 is thou art driving at : I warrant you,' says I, ' you 
 begin to hanker after home.' 
 
 ' Why, truly,' says William, ' thou hast said it, 
 and so I hope thou dost too. It is natural for most 
 men that are abroad to desire to come home again 
 at last, especially when they are grown rich, and 
 when they are (as thou ownest thyself to be) rich 
 enough, and so rich, as they know not what to do 
 with more, if they had it.' 
 
 ' Well, William,' said I, ' but now you think you 
 have laid your preliminary at first so home, that I 
 should have nothing to say ; that is, that when 
 I had got money enough, it would be natural to 
 think of going home ; but you have not explained 
 what you mean by home ; and there you and I shall 
 differ. Why, man, I am at home ; here is my 
 habitation ; I never had any other in my lifetime : 
 I was a kind of a charity-school boy ; so that I can 
 
120 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 have no desire of going anywhere for being rich or 
 poor, for I have nowhere to go.' 
 
 ' Why,' says WilHam, looking a httle confused, 
 'art not thou an EngHshman?' 
 
 'Yes,' says I, 'I think so; you see I speak 
 Enghsh : but I came out of England a child, and 
 never was in it but once since I was a man ; and J 
 then I was cheated and imposed upon, and used 
 so ill that I care not if I never see it more.' 
 
 'Wh)^, hast thou no relations or friends there?' 
 says he : 'no acquaintance ? none that thou hast 
 any kindness, or any remains of respect for?' 
 
 ' Not I, William,' said I ; ' not one, more than I 
 have in the court of the Great Mogul.' 
 
 ' Nor any kindness for the country where thou 
 wast born?' says William. 
 
 ' Not I, any more than for the island of Mada- 
 gascar, nor so much neither ; for that has been a 
 fortunate island to me more than once, as thou 
 knowest, William,' said I. 
 
 William was quite stunned at my discourse, and 
 held his peace ; and I said to him, ' Go on, Williarh ; 
 w^hat hast thou to say further? for I hear you have 
 some project in your head,' says I ; ' come, let's have 
 it out.' 
 
 ' Nay,' says William, ' thou hast put me to silence, 
 and all I had to say is overthrown ; all my projects 
 are come to nothing, and gone.' 
 
Captain Singleton 121 
 
 'Well, but, William,' said I, 'let me hear what 
 they were ; for though it is so that what I have to 
 aim at does not look your way, and though I have 
 no relation, no friend, no acquaintance in England, 
 yet I do not say I like this roving, cruising life so 
 well as never to give it over ; let me hear if thou 
 canst propose to me anything beyond it.' 
 
 ' Certainly, friend,' says William, very gravely, 
 ' there is something beyond it ; ' and lifting up his 
 hands, he seemed very much affected, and I thought 
 I saw tears standing in his eyes ; but I, that was too 
 hardened a wretch to be moved with these things, 
 laughed at him. ' What ! ' says I, ' you mean death, 
 I warrant you ; don't you ? that is beyond this trade. 
 Why, when it comes, it comes ; then we are all 
 provided for.' 
 
 ' Aye,' says William, ' that is true ; but it would 
 be better that some things were thought on before 
 that came.' 
 
 'Thought on !' says I ; 'what signifies thinking of 
 it ? To think of death, is to die ; and to be always 
 thinking of it, is to be all one's life long a-dying : 
 j it is time enough to think of it when it comes.' 
 
 You will easily believe I was well qualified for a 
 
 ^ pirate, that could talk thus ; but let me leave it upon 
 
 record, for the remark of other hardened rogues like 
 
 myself My conscience gave me a pang that I had 
 
 never felt before, when I said — 'What signifies 
 
122 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 thinking of it?' and told me I should one day 
 think of these words with a sad heart ; but the time 
 of my reflection was not yet come ; so I went on. 
 
 Says William, very seriously, ' I must tell thee, 
 friend, I am sorry to hear thee talk so ; they that 
 never think of dying often die without thinking 
 of it.' 
 
 I carried on the jesting way a while further, and 
 said — 'Prithee do not talk of dying; how do we 
 know we shall ever die?' and began to laugh. 
 
 ' I need not answer thee to that,' says William ; 
 ' it is not my place to reprove thee who art com- 
 mander over me here ; but I had rather thou wouldst 
 talk otherwise of death ; it is a coarse thing.' 
 
 ' Say anything to me, William,' said I, ' I will 
 take it kindly.' I began now to be very much 
 moved at his discourse. 
 
 Says William (tears running down his face), ' It 
 is because men live as if they were never to die, 
 that so many die before they know how to live ; but 
 it was not death that I meant, when I said, — That 
 there was something to be thought of beyond this 
 way of living.' 
 
 'Why, William,' said I, 'what was that?' 
 
 ' It was repentance,' says he. 
 
 ' Why,' says I, ' did you ever know a pirate 
 repent?' 
 
 At this he started a Httle, and returned, — ' At the 
 
Captain Singleton 123 
 
 gallows I have known one repent, and I hope thou 
 wilt be the second' 
 
 He spoke this very affectionately, with an appear- 
 ance of concern for me. 
 
 ' Well, William,' says I, ' I thank you, and I am 
 not so senseless of these things, perhaps, as I make 
 myself seem to be ; but come, let me hear your 
 proposal.' 
 
 ' My proposal,' says William, ' is for thy good, as 
 well as my own. We may put an end to this kind 
 of life, and repent ; and I think the fairest occasion 
 offers for both, at this very time, that ever did, or 
 ever will, or indeed can happen again.' 
 
 ' Look you, William,' says I, ' let me have your 
 proposal for putting an end to our present way of 
 living first, for that is the case before us, and you 
 and I will talk of the other afterward. I am not 
 so insensible,' said I, ' as you may think me to be ; 
 but let us get out of this heUish condition we are 
 in first.' 
 
 ' Nay,' says William, ' thou art in the right there ; 
 we must never talk of repenting while we continue 
 pirates.' 
 
 'Well,' says I, 'William, that is what I meant; 
 for if we must not reform, as well as be sorry for 
 what is done, I have no notion what repentance 
 means : indeed, at best I know little of the matter ; 
 but the nature of the thing seems to tell me, that 
 
124 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 the first step we have to take is to break off this 
 wretched course ; and I'll begin there with you, with 
 all my heart.' 
 
 I could see by his countenance that William was 
 thoroughly pleased with the offer ; and if he had 
 tears in his eyes before, he had more now ; but it 
 was from a quite different passion ; for he was so 
 swallowed up with joy he could not speak. 
 
 ' Come, William,' says I, ' thou showest me plain 
 enough thou hast an honest meaning. Dost thou 
 think it is practicable for us to put an end to our 
 unhappy way of living here, and get off?' 
 
 ' Yes,' says he, ' I think it is very practicable for 
 me ; whether it is for thee or no, that will depend 
 upon thyself.' 
 
 ' Well,' says I, ' I give you my word, that as I 
 have commanded you all along, from the time 
 I first took you on board, so you shall command 
 me from this hour, and everything you direct me 
 I'll do.' 
 
 ' Wilt thou leave it all to me ? Dost thou say 
 this freely ? ' 
 
 'Yes, William,' says I, 'freely; and I'll perform it 
 faithfully.' 
 
 'Why then,' says William, 'my scheme is this: — 
 We are now at the mouth of the gulf of Persia ; we 
 have sold so much of our cargo here at Surat, that we 
 have money enough : send me away for Bassora with 
 
Captain Singleton 125 
 
 the sloop, loaden with the China goods we have on 
 board, which will make another good cargo, and I'll 
 warrant thee I'll find means, among the English and 
 the Dutch merchants there, to lodge a quantity of 
 goods and money also as a merchant, so as we will be 
 able to have recourse to it again upon any occasion ; 
 and when I come home we will contrive the rest ; 
 and in the meantime do you bring the ship's crew 
 to take a resolution to go to Madagascar as soon as 
 I return.' 
 
 I told him I thought he need not go so far as 
 Bassora, but might run into Gombaroon, or to Ormus, 
 and pretend the same business. 
 
 ' No,' says he, ' I cannot act with the same freedom 
 there, because the Company's factory are there, and I 
 may be laid hold of there, on pretence of interloping.' 
 
 ' Well, but,' said I, ' you may go to Ormus then ; 
 for I am loath to part with you so long as to go to 
 the bottom of the Persian Gulf.' He returned, that I 
 should leave it to him to do as he should see cause. 
 
 {They levant accordingly, and make much motiey as 
 7ner chants ; but Singleton's conscience grows troublesome) 
 
 It was during my being here, for here we stayed 
 near two months, that I grew very thoughtful about 
 my circumstances ; not as to the danger, neither 
 indeed were we in any, but were entirely concealed 
 
126 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 and unsuspected ; but I really began to have other 
 thoughts of myself, and of the world, than ever I had 
 before. 
 
 William had struck so deep into my unthinking 
 temper, with hinting to me that there was something 
 beyond all this ; that the present time was the time 
 of enjoyment, but that the time of account approached; 
 that the work that remained was gentler than the 
 labour past, viz. repentance, and that it was high 
 time to think of it : I say these, and such thoughts as 
 these, engrossed my hours, and, in a word, I grew 
 very sad. 
 
 As to the wealth I had, which was immensely 
 great, it was all like dirt under my feet ; I had no 
 value for it, no peace in the possession of it, no great 
 concern about me for the leaving of it. 
 
 William had perceived my thoughts to be troubled, 
 and my mind heavy and oppressed for some time ; 
 and one evening, in one of our cool walks, I began 
 with him about the leaving our effects. William was 
 a wise and wary man ; and indeed all the prudentials 
 of my conduct had for a long time been owing to his 
 advice, and so now all the methods for preserving our 
 effects, and even ourselves, lay upon him ; and he 
 had been teUing me of some of the measures he had 
 been taking for our making homeward, and for the 
 security of our wealth, when I took him very short. 
 ' Why, William,' says I, ' dost thou think we shall ever 
 
Captain Singleton 127 
 
 be able to reach Europe with all this cargo that we 
 have about us ? ' 
 
 ' Aye,' says William, ' without doubt, as well as 
 other merchants with theirs, as long as it is not 
 publicly known what quantity or of what value our 
 cargo consists.' 
 
 'Why, William,' says I, smiling, 'do you think 
 that, if there is a God above, as you have so long 
 been telling me there is, and that we must give an 
 account to Him ; I say, do you think, if He be a 
 righteous judge. He will let us escape thus with the 
 plunder, as we may call it, of so many innocent 
 people, nay, I might say nations, and not call us to 
 an account for it before we can get to Europe, where 
 we pretend to enjoy it ? ' 
 
 William appeared struck and surprised at the 
 question, and made no answer for a great while ; and 
 I repeated the question, adding that it was not to be 
 expected. 
 
 After a little pause, says William, 'Thou hast 
 started a very weighty question, and I can make no 
 positive answer to it ; but I will state it thus : first, it 
 is time that, if we consider the justice of God, we 
 have no reason to expect any protection ; but as the 
 ordinary ways of Providence are out of the common 
 road of human affairs, so we may hope for mercy still 
 upon our repentance, and we know not how good 
 He may be to us ; so we are to act as if we rather 
 
128 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 depended upon the last, I mean the merciful part, 
 than claimed the first, which must produce nothing 
 but judgment and vengeance.' 
 
 ' But hark ye, William,' says I, ' the nature of 
 repentance, as you hinted once to me, included re- 
 formation ; and we can never reform ; how then can 
 we repent ? ' 
 
 ' Why can we never reform ? ' says William. 
 
 ' Because,' said I, ' we cannot restore what we have 
 taken away by rapine and spoil.' 
 
 ' It is true,' says William, ' we can never do that ; 
 for we can never come to the knowledge of the 
 owners.' 
 
 ' But what then must be done with our wealth,' 
 said I, ' the effects of plunder and rapine ? If we 
 keep it, we continue to be robbers and thieves ; and 
 if we quit it, we cannot do justice with it, for we can- 
 not restore it to the right owners.' 
 
 'Nay,' says William, "'the answer to it is short. 
 To quit what we have, and do it here, is to throw it 
 away to those who have no claim to it, and to divest 
 ourselves of it, but to do no right with it ; whereas we 
 ought to keep it carefully together, with a resolution 
 to do what right with it we are able ; and who knows 
 what opportunity Providence may put into our hands, 
 to do justice, at least, to some of those we have in- 
 jured ; so we ought, at least, to leave it to Him, and 
 go on. As it is, without doubt, our present business 
 
Captain Smgleton 129 
 
 is to go to some place of safety, where we may wait 
 His will.' 
 
 This resolution of William was very satisfying to 
 me indeed, as, the truth is, all he said, and at all 
 times, was solid and good ; and had not William thus, 
 as it were, quieted my mind, I think, verily, I was so 
 alarmed at the just reason I had to expect vengeance 
 from Heaven upon me for my ill-gotten wealth, that I 
 should have run away from it as the devil's goods, 
 that I had nothing to do with, that did not belong to 
 me, and that I had no right to keep, and was in 
 certain danger of being destroyed for. 
 
 However, William settled my mind to more prudent 
 steps than these, and I concluded that I ought, how- 
 ever, to proceed to a place of safety, and leave the 
 event to God Almighty's mercy ; but this I must 
 leave upon record, that I had, from this time, no joy 
 of the wealth I had got ; I looked upon it as stolen, 
 and so indeed the greatest part of it was ; I looked 
 upon it as a hoard of other men's goods, which I 
 had robbed the innocent owners of, and which I 
 ought, in a word, to be hanged for here, and damned 
 for hereafter ; and now, indeed, I began sincerely to 
 hate myself for a dog; a wretch, that had been a 
 thief, and a murderer ; a wretch, that was in a condi- 
 tion which nobody was ever in ; for I had robbed, 
 and though I had the wealth by me, yet it was 
 impossible I should ever make any restitution ; and 
 
 K 
 
130 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 upon this account it ran in my head that I could 
 never repent, for that repentance could not be sincere 
 without restitution, and therefore must of necessity be 
 damned ; there was no room for me to escape ; I 
 went about with my heart full of these thoughts, little 
 better than a distracted fellow ; in short, running 
 headlong into the most dreadful despair, -and pre- 
 meditating nothing but how to rid myself out of the 
 world ; and, indeed, the devil, if such things are of 
 the devil's immediate doing, followed his work very 
 close with me ; and nothing lay upon my mind for 
 several days but to shoot myself into the head with 
 my pistol. 
 
 I was all this while in a vagrant life, among 
 infidels, Turks, pagans, and such sort of people ; I 
 had no minister, no Christian to converse with, but 
 poor William ; he was my ghostly father, or confessor ; 
 and he was all the comfort I had. As for my know- 
 ledge of religion, you have heard my history ; you 
 may suppose I had not much ; and, as for the word 
 of God, I don't remember that I ever read a chapter 
 in the Bible in my hfetime ; I was httle Bob at 
 Busselton, and went to school to learn my Testament. 
 
 However, it pleased God to make William the 
 quaker everything to me. Upon this occasion I took 
 him out one evening, as usual, and hurried him away 
 into the fields with me, in more haste than ordinary ; 
 and there, in short, I told him the perplexity of my 
 
 \ 
 
Captaifi Singleton 131 
 
 mind, and under what terrible temptations of the devil 
 I had been ; that I must shoot myself, for I could not 
 support the weight and terror that was upon me. 
 
 ' Shoot yourself ! ' says William ; ' why, what will 
 that do for you ? ' 
 
 ' Why,' says I, ' it will put an end to a miserable 
 life.' 
 
 ' Well,' says William, ' are you satisfied the next 
 will be better ? ' 
 
 'No, no,' says I, 'much worse, to be sure.' 
 
 'Why then,' says he, 'shooting yourself is the 
 devil's motion, no doubt ; for it is the devil of a 
 reason, that, because thou art in an ill case, therefore 
 thou must put thyself into a worse.' 
 
 This shocked my reason indeed. ' Well but,' says 
 I, ' there is no bearing the miserable condition I 
 am in.' 
 
 'Very well,' says William; 'but it seems there is 
 some bearing a worse condition ; and so you will 
 shoot yourself, that you may be past remedy ? ' 
 
 ' I am past remedy already,' says I. 
 
 ' How do you know that ? ' says he. 
 
 ' I am satisfied of it,' said I. 
 
 ' Well,' says he, ' but you are not sure ; so you will 
 shoot yourself to make it certain ; for, though on this 
 side death you cannot be sure you will be damned 
 at all, yet the moment you step on the other side of 
 time you are sure of it ; for when it is done, it is not 
 
132 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 to be said then that you will be, but that you are 
 damned.' 
 
 ' Well, but,' says William, as if he had been between 
 jest and earnest, ' pray, what didst thou dream of last 
 night ? ' 
 
 ' Why,' said I, ' I had frightful dreams all night ; 
 and, particularly, I dreamed that the devil came for 
 me, and asked me what my name was ? and I told 
 him. Then he asked me what trade I was ? 
 "Trade!" says I; "I am a thief, a rogue, by my 
 calling; I am a pirate, and a murderer, and ought to 
 be hanged." " x\y, ay," says the devil, "so you do; 
 and you are the man I looked for, and therefore 
 come along with me;" at which, I was most horribly 
 frightened, and cried out, so that it waked me ; and 
 I have been in horrible agony ever since.' 
 
 'Very well,' says William; 'come, give me the 
 pistol thou talkedst of just now.' 
 
 ' Why,' says I, ' what will you do with it ? ' 
 
 'Do with it!' says William, 'why, thou needest 
 not shoot thyself; I shall be obliged to do it for thee : 
 why, thou wilt destroy us all.' 
 
 ' What do you mean, William ? ' said I. 
 
 ' Mean ! ' said he ; ' nay, what didst thou mean, to 
 cry out aloud in thy sleep, I am a thief, a pirate, a 
 murderer, and ought to be hanged ? Why, thou wilt 
 ruin us all ; 'twas well the Dutchman did not under- 
 stand English. In short, I must shoot thee, to save 
 
Captain Singleton 133 
 
 my own life: come, come,' says he, 'give me thy 
 pistol.' 
 
 I confess this terrified me again another way ; and 
 I began to be sensible, that, if anybody had been 
 near me to understand English, I had been undone. 
 The thought of shooting myself forsook me from that 
 time ; and I turned to William ; ' You disorder me 
 extremely, William,' said I ; ' why I am never safe, 
 nor is it safe to keep me company ; What shall I do ? 
 I shall betray you all.' 
 
 'Come, come, friend Bob,' says he, 'I'll put an 
 end to it all, if you will take my advice.' 
 
 ' How's that ? ' said I. 
 
 'Why, only,' says he, 'that the next time thou 
 talkest with the devil, thou wilt talk a little softlier, or 
 we shall be all undone, and you too.' 
 
 This frightened me, I must confess, and allayed a 
 great deal of the trouble of mind I was in ; but 
 William, after he had done jesting with me, entered 
 upon a very long and serious discourse with me about 
 the nature of my circumstances, and about repent- 
 ance ; that it ought to be attended, indeed, with a 
 deep abhorrence of the crime that I had to charge 
 myself with ; but that to despair of God's mercy was 
 no part of repentance, but putting myself into the 
 condition of the devil; indeed, that I must apply my- 
 self with a sincere humble confession of my crime, to 
 ask pardon of God, whom I had offended, and cast 
 
^ 
 
 134 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 myself upon His mercy, resolving to be willing to 
 make restitution, if ever it should please God to put 
 it in my power, even to the utmost of what I had in 
 the world ; and this, he told me, was the method 
 which he had resolved upon himself; and in this, he 
 told me, he had found comfort. 
 
 I had a great deal of satisfaction in William's dis- 
 course, and it quieted me very much ; but William 
 was very anxious ever after about my talking in my 
 sleep, and took care to lie with me always himself, 
 and to keep me from lodging in any house where so 
 much as a word of English was understood. 
 
 {For William^ as will be seen, understood how to 
 make the best of both worlds.) 
 
IL— 'MOLL FLANDERS' 
 
 {In my judgment Moll Flanders is not only the 
 most re7narkable of Defoe! s minor novels, but the most 
 remarkable example of pur e reaUsTji in literature. To 
 read any one of M. Zola^s much-talked-of books, and 
 then to return to this, is to see the difference between 
 talent enisled by theory and genius conducted by art. 
 The book is of course not wholly edifying, containing 
 as it does the history of a woman who allows herself to 
 be led astray by vanity and cupidity quite as nmch as 
 by passion in early youth ; and who afterwards for^ 
 more than forty years lives the life of an adventuress, 
 ending {or all but ending, for there is a fnal rehabili- 
 tation) as a cotnmon thief. But the nature of it is 
 astonishing, a?id the art more astonishing still. The^ 
 author made some apology for the crudity of the sce?tes ; 
 and this crudity, being of course more strongly apparent 
 710W, makes selection a little difficult. But Jhe two 
 following passages are still fairly representative. The 
 
136 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 separation of them from the story does no harm, for 
 there is hardly any plot, though tlure is a certaifi con- 
 catenation of episode. 
 
 In the earlier part of the book the heroine has married, 
 lost her first husband {the brother of her first lover), 
 and being relieved of her children by the family, is 
 left to herself in London, a young widow of four- 
 and- twenty, with some money, no principles, and a 
 distinct inclination to make the most of herself She 
 passes thence through divers hands, and when this ex- 
 tract opens is already in middle age, but still handsome. 
 She has been persuaded by a more artful adventuress, 
 whom she met at Bath, to go to Lancashire ; she does 
 so, and is introduced to the woniaris brother, with a 
 curious 7'esult of' ' cross-biting.^)^ • • . . , ^ 
 
 Well,VI/went with my friend as I called her, into 
 Lancashire ; all the way we went she caressed, me' 
 with the utmost appearance of a sincere undissembled 
 affection ; treated me, except my coach-hire, all the 
 way ; and her brother brought a gentleman's coach 
 to Warrington to receive us, and we were carried 
 from thence to Liverpool with as much ceremony as 
 I could desire. 
 
 We were also entertained at a merchant's house 
 in Liverpool three or four days very handsomely ; I, 
 forbear to tell his name, because of what followed i 
 then she told me she would carry me to an uncle's 
 
 ^'^t^ 
 ^<^ 
 
Moll Flanders 137 
 
 house of hers where we should be nobly entertained ; 
 and her uncle, as she called him, sent a coach and 
 four horses for us, and we were carried near forty 
 miles I know not whither. 
 
 We came however to a gentleman's seat, where 
 was a numerous family, a large park, extraordinary 
 company indeed, and where she was called cousin ; 
 I told her if she had resolved to bring me into such 
 company as this, she should have let me have fur- 
 nished myself with better clothes ; the ladies took 
 notice of that, and told me very genteelly they did 
 not value people in their own country so much by their 
 clothes as they did in London ; that their cousin had 
 fully informed them of my quality, and that I did not 
 want clothes to set me off; in short, fhey entertained 
 me not like what I was, but like what they thought 
 I had been, namely, a widow lady of a great fortune. 
 
 The first discovery I made here was, that the 
 family were all Roman Catholics, and the cousin too ; 
 however, nobody in the world could behave better to 
 me, and I had all the civility shown that I could have 
 had if I had been of their opinion. The truth is, I 
 had not so much principle of any kind, as to be nice 
 in point of religion ; and I presently learned to speak 
 favourably of the Romish church ; particularly I told 
 them I saw little but the prejudice of education in 
 all the differences that were among Christians about 
 religion, and if it had so happened that. my lather 
 
138 Defoe's Alinor Novels 
 
 had been a Roman Catholic, I doubted not but I 
 should have been as well pleased with their religion 
 as my own. 
 
 This obliged them in the highest degree, and as I 
 was besieged day and night with good company, and 
 pleasant discourse, so I had two or three old ladies 
 that lay at me upon the subject of religion too ; I 
 was so complaisant that I made no scruple to be 
 present at their mass, and to conform to all their 
 gestures as they showed me the pattern, but I would 
 not come too cheap ; so that I only in the main 
 encouraged them to expect that I would turn Roman 
 Catholic if I was instructed in the Catholic doctrine, 
 as they called it ; and so the matter rested. 
 
 I stayed here about six weeks ; and then my 
 conductor led me back to a country village, about 
 six miles from Liverpool, where her brother, as she 
 called him, came to visit me in his own chariot, with 
 two footmen in a good livery ; and the next thing was 
 to make love to me. As it happened to me, one 
 would think I could not have been cheated, and 
 indeed I thought so myself, having a safe card at 
 home, which I resolved not to quit unless I could 
 mend myself very much. However, in all appearance 
 this brother was a match worth my listening to, and 
 the least his estate was valued at was ^1000 a year, 
 but the sister said it was worth ;£^i5oo a year, and 
 lay most of it in Ireland. 
 
Moll Flanders 139 
 
 I that was a great fortune, and passed for such, 
 was above being asked how much my estate was ; 
 and my false friend taking it upon a foohsh hearsay, 
 had raised it from ^500 to ^5000, and by the time 
 she came into the country she called it ^^ 15,000. 
 The Irishman, for such I understood him to be, was 
 stark mad at this bait : in short, he courted me, made 
 me presents, and run in debt hke a madman for the 
 expenses of his courtship : he had, to give him his 
 due, the appearance of an extraordinary fine gentle- 
 man ; he was tall, well-shaped, and had an extra- 
 ordinary address ; talked as naturally of his park and 
 his stables, of his horses, his game-keepers, his woods, 
 his tenants, and his servants, as if he had been in a 
 mansion-house, and I had seen them all about me. 
 
 He never so much as asked me about my fortune 
 or estate; but assured me that when we came to 
 DubUn he would jointure me in ^600 a year in good 
 land ; and that he would enter into a deed of settle- 
 ment, or contract here, for the performance of it. 
 
 This was such language indeed as I had not been 
 used to, and I was here beaten out of all my measures; 
 I had a she-devil in my bosom, every hour telling me 
 how great her brother lived : one time she would 
 come for my orders, how I would have my coach 
 painted, and how lined; and another time what clothes 
 my page should wear : in short, my eyes were dazzled, 
 I had now lost my power of saying no, and to cut the 
 
140 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 story short, I consented to be married ; but to be 
 more private, we were carried farther into the country, 
 and married by a priest, which I was assured would 
 marry us as effectually as a Church of England parson. 
 
 But the glittering show of a great estate and of 
 fine things which the deceived creature that was now 
 my deceiver represented every hour to my imagination, 
 hurried me away, and gave me no time to think of 
 London, or of anything there, much less of the obliga- 
 tion I had to a person of infinitely more real merit 
 than what was now before me. 
 
 But the thing was done, I was now in the arms of 
 my new spouse, who appeared still the same as before; 
 great even to magnificence, and nothing less than a 
 thousand pounds a year could support the ordinary 
 equipage he appeared in. 
 
 After we had been married about a month he 
 began to talk of my going to West-chester in order to 
 embark for Ireland. However, he did not hurry me, 
 for we stayed near three weeks longer, and then he 
 sent to Chester for a coach to meet us at the Black 
 Rock, as they call it, over against Liverpool. Thither 
 we went in a fine boat they call a pinnace, with six 
 oars ; his servants, and horses, and baggage going in 
 a ferry-boat. He made his excuse to me that he 
 had no acquaintance at Chester, but he would go 
 before and get some handsome apartments for me at 
 a private house ; I asked him how long we should 
 
Moll Flanders 141 
 
 stay at Chester ? he said, not at all, any longer than 
 one night or two, but he would immediately hire a 
 coach to go to Holyhead ; then I told him he should 
 by no means give himself the trouble to get private 
 lodgings for one night or two, for that Chester being 
 a great place, I made no doubt but there would be 
 very good inns, and accommodation enough ; so we 
 lodged at an inn not far from the cathedral \ I forgot 
 what sign it was at. 
 
 Here my spouse, talking of my going to Ireland, 
 asked me if I had no affairs to settle at London 
 before we went off; I told him no, not of any great 
 consequence, but what might be done as well by letter 
 from Dublin : ' Madam,' says he very respectfully, ' I 
 suppose the greatest part of your estate, which my 
 sister tells me is most of it in money in the Bank of 
 England, lies secure enough, biit in case it required 
 transferring, or any way altering its property, it might 
 be necessary to go up to London, and settle these 
 things before we went over,' 
 
 I seemed to look strange at it, and told him I 
 knew not what he meant ; that I had no effects in 
 the Bank of England that I knew of; and I hope 
 he could not say that I had ever told him I had. 
 ' No,' he said, ' I had not told him so, but his sister had 
 said the greatest part of my estate lay there ; and I 
 only mentioned it, my dear,' said he, ' that if there was 
 any occasion to settle it, or order anything about it. 
 
142 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 we might not be obliged to the hazard and trouble of 
 another voyage back again ; ' for, he added, that he 
 did not care to venture me too much upon the sea. 
 
 I was surprised at this talk, and began to consider 
 what the meaning of it must be ! and it presently 
 occurred to me that my friend, who called him 
 brother, had represented me in colours which were 
 not my due ; and I thought that I would know the 
 bottom of it before I went out of England, and before 
 I should put myself into I know not whose hands, in 
 a strange country. 
 
 Upon this I called his sister into my chamber the 
 next morning, and letting her know the discourse her 
 brother and I had been upon, I conjured her to tell 
 me what she had said to him, and upon what footing 
 it was that she had made this marriage ? She owned 
 that she had told him that I was a great fortune, and 
 said that she was told so at London : ' Told so,' says I 
 warmly, 'did I ever tell you so?' 'No,' she said, 'it 
 was true I never did tell her so, but I had said several 
 times that what I had was in my own disposal.' 'I did 
 so,' returned I very quick, 'but I never told you- 1 
 had anything called a fortune ; no, that I had ^loo 
 or the value of ^loo in the world : and how did it 
 consist with my being a fortune,' said I, ' that I should 
 come here into the north of England with you, only 
 upon the account of living cheap ? ' At these words, 
 which I spoke warm and high, my husband came into 
 
Moll Flanders 143 
 
 the room, and I desired him to come in and sit down, 
 for I had something of moment to say before them 
 both, which it was absolutely necessary he should hear. 
 
 He looked a little disturbed at the assurance with 
 which I seemed to speak it, and came and sat down 
 by me, having first shut the door ; upon which I 
 began, for I was very much provoked, and turning 
 myself to him, ' I am afraid,' says I, ' my dear ' (for I 
 spoke with kindness on his side), ' that you have a 
 very great abuse put upon you, and an injury done 
 you never to be repaired in your marrying me, which, 
 however, as I have had no hand in it, I desire I may 
 be fairly acquitted of it, and that the blame miay He 
 where it ought and nowhere else, for I wash my hands 
 of every part of it.' ' What injury can be done me, my 
 dear,' says he, ' in marrying you ? I hope it is to my 
 honour and advantage every way.' 'I will soon explain 
 it to you,' says I, ' and I fear there will be no reason 
 to think yourself well used, but I will convince you, my 
 dear,' says I again, 'that I have had no hand in it.' 
 
 He looked now scared and wild, and began, I 
 believed, to suspect what followed ; however, looking 
 towards me, and saying only, ' Go on,' he sat silent, as 
 if to hear what I had more to say ; so I went on : ' I 
 asked you last night,' said I, speaking to him, 'if ever 
 I made any boast to you of my estate, or ever told 
 you I had any estate in the Bank of England, or 
 anywhere else, and you owned I had not, as is most 
 
144 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 true ; and I desire you will tell me here, before your 
 sister, if ever I gave you any reason from me to 
 think so, or that ever we had any discourse about it ; ' 
 and he owned again I had not ; but said, I had 
 appeared always as a woman of fortune, and he de- 
 pended on it that I was so, and hoped he was not de- 
 ceived. ' I am not inquiring whether you have been de- 
 ceived,' said I, ' I fear you have, and I too ; but I am 
 clearing myself from being concerned in deceiving you. 
 
 ' I have been now asking your sister if ever I told 
 her of any fortune or estate I had, or gave her any 
 particulars of it ; and she owns I never did : " And 
 pray, madam," said I, "be so just to me, to charge me 
 if you can, if ever I pretended to you that I had an 
 estate ; and why if I had, should I ever come down 
 into this country with you on purpose to spare that 
 little I had, and live cheap ? " ' She could not deny 
 one word, but said she had been told in London that 
 I had a very great fortune, and that it lay in the 
 Bank of England. 
 
 'And now, dear sir,' said I, turning myself to my 
 new spouse again, ' be so just to me as to tell me who 
 has abused both you and me so much, as to make 
 you believe I was a fortune, and prompt you to court 
 me to this marriage ? ' He could not speak a word, 
 but pointed to her ; and after some more pause, flew 
 out in the most furious passion that ever I saw a man 
 in my life ; cursing her, and calling her all the 
 
Moll Flanders 145 
 
 , and hard names he could think of; and that she had 
 J ruined him, declaring that she had told him I had 
 I ;^i 5,000, and that she was to have ;£5oo of him 
 for procuring this match for him : he then added, 
 J directing his speech to me, that she was none of his 
 
 I sister, but had been his for two years before ; 
 
 that she had had ^100 of him in part of this bargain, 
 
 I and that he was utterly undone if things were as I 
 
 j said ; and in his raving he swore he would let her 
 
 I heart's blood out immediately, which frightened her 
 
 I "nd me too. She cried, said she had been told so in 
 
 I he house where I lodged : but this aggravated him 
 
 more than before, that she should put so far upon him, 
 
 and run things such a length upon no other authority 
 
 j than a hearsay ; and then turning to me again, said very 
 
 honestly, he was afraid we were both undone ; ' for to 
 
 [be plain, my dear, I have no estate,' says he; 'what 
 
 little I had, this devil has made me run out in putting 
 
 me into this equipage.' She took the opportunity of 
 
 his being earnest in talking with me, and got out of 
 
 the room, and I never saw her more. 
 
 I was confounded now as much as he, and knew 
 not what to say : I thought many ways that I had 
 ithe worst of it, but his saying he was undone, and 
 that he had no estate neither, put me into a mere 
 distraction. 'Why,' says I to him, 'this has been a 
 hellish juggle, for we are married here upon the 
 foot of a double fraud ; you are undone by the 
 
 L 
 
146 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 disappointment it seems, and if I had had a fortune I 
 had been cheated too, for you say you have nothing.' 
 
 'You would indeed have been cheated, my dear,' 
 says he, ' but you would not have been undone, for 
 ;£i 5,000 would have maintained us both very hand- 
 somely in this country ; and I had resolved to have 
 dedicated every groat of it to you ; I would not have 
 wronged you of a shilling, and the rest I would have 
 made up in my affection to you, and tenderness of 
 you as long as I lived.' 
 
 This was very honest indeed, and I really believe he ' 
 spoke as he intended, and that he was a man that was 
 as wpll qualified to make me happy, as to his temper 
 and behaviour, as any man ever was ; but his having 
 no estate, and being run into debt on this ridiculous j 
 account in the country, made all the prospect dismal and 
 dreadful, and I knew not what to say, or what to think. 
 
 I told him it was very unhappy, that so much love, 
 and so much good nature as I discovered in him, 
 should be thus precipitated into misery ; that I saw 
 nothing before us but ruin, for as to me, it was my 
 unhappiness, that what little I had was not able to 
 reheve us a week, and with that I pulled out a bank- 
 bill of ^20 and eleven guineas, which I told him I had . 
 saved out of my little income ; and that by the account ' 
 that creature had given me of the way of living in 
 that country, I expected it would maintain me three 
 or four years ; that if it was taken from me, I was left 
 
Moll Flanders 147 
 
 destitute, and he knew what the condition of a woman 
 must be, if she had no money in her pocket ; how- 
 ever, I told him, if he would take it, there it was. 
 
 He told me with great concern, and I thought I 
 saw tears in his eyes, that he would not touch it, that 
 he abhorred the thoughts of stripping me and making 
 me miserable ; that he had fifty guineas left, which 
 was all he had in the world, and he pulled it out and 
 threw it down on the table, bidding me take it, though 
 he were to starve for want of it. 
 
 I returned, with the same concern for him, that 
 
 I could not bear to hear him talk so ; that, on the 
 
 contrary, if he could propose any probable method 
 
 of living I would do anything that became me, and 
 
 I that I would live as narrow as he could desire. 
 
 He begged of me to talk no more at that rate, for 
 it would make him distracted ; he said he was bred a 
 gentleman, though he was reduced to a low fortune, 
 and that there was but one way left which he could 
 think of, and that would not do, unless I could answer 
 him one question, which however he said he would 
 not press me to ; I told him I would answer it 
 honestly ; whether it would be to his satisfaction or 
 no that I could not tell. 
 
 'Why then, my deai", tell me plainly,' says he, 'will 
 the little you have keep us together in any figure, or 
 in any station or place, or will it not?' 
 
 It was my happiness that I had not discovered 
 
148 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 myself, or my circumstances, at all ; no, not so much 
 as my name ; and seeing there was nothing to be 
 expected from him, however good-humoured, and 
 however honest he seemed to be, but to live on what 
 I knew would soon be wasted, I resolved to conceal 
 everything but the bank-bill, and eleven guineas, and 
 I would have been very glad to have lost that, and 
 have been set down where he took me up. I had 
 indeed another bank-bill about me of ;^3o, which 
 was the whole of what I brought with me, as well to 
 subsist on in the country, as not knowing what might 
 offer ; because this creature, the go-between that had 
 thus betrayed us both, had made me believe strange 
 things of marrying to my advantage, and I was not 
 willing to be without money, whatever might happen. 
 This bill I concealed, and that made me the freer of 
 the rest, in consideration of his circumstances, for I 
 really pitied him heartily. 
 
 But to return to this question, I told him I never 
 willingly deceived him, and I never would. I was 
 very sorry to tell him that the little I had would not 
 subsist us : that it was not sufficient to subsist me 
 alone in the south country, and that this was the 
 reason that made me put myself into the hands of 
 that woman who called him brother, she having 
 assured me that I might board very handsomely at a 
 town called Manchester, where I had not yet been, 
 for about f^d a year, and my whole income not being 
 
Moll Flanders 149 
 
 above ^£"15 a year, I thought I might live easy upon 
 it, and wait for better things. 
 
 He shook his head, and remained silent, and a 
 very melancholy evening we had ; however we supped 
 together, and abode together that night, and when we 
 had almost supped he looked a little better, and more 
 cheerful, and called for a bottle of wine ; ' Come, my 
 dear,' says he, 'though the case is bad, it is to no 
 purpose to be dejected ; Come, be as easy as you 
 can, I will endeavour to find out some way or other 
 to live ; if you can but subsist yourself, that is better 
 than nothing, I must try the world again ; a man 
 ought to think like a man ; to be discouraged, is to 
 yield to the misfortune.' With this he filled a glass, 
 and drank to me, holding my hand all the while the wine 
 went down, and protesting his main concern was for me. 
 
 It was really a true gallant spirit he was of, and it 
 was the more grievous to me. 'Tis something of 
 relief even to be undone by a man of honour, rather 
 than by a scoundrel ; but here the greatest disappoint- 
 ment was on his side, for he had really spent a great 
 deal of money, and it was very remarkable on what 
 poor terms she proceeded ; first, the baseness of the 
 creature herself is to be observed, who for the getting 
 ^100 herself, could be content to let him spend 
 three or four more, though perhaps it was all he had 
 in the world, and more than all ; when she had not 
 the least ground more than a little tea-table chat, to 
 
i^o 
 
 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 r 
 
 say that I had any estate, or was a fortune, or the 
 Hke. It is true the design of deluding a woman of 
 a fortune, if I had been so, was base enough ; the 
 putting the face of great things upon poor circumstances 
 was a fraud, and bad enough ; but the case a httle J 
 differed too, and that in his favour, for he was not a 
 rake that made a trade to delude women, and as 
 some have done, get six or seven fortunes after one 
 another, and then rifle and run away from them ; but 
 he was already a gentleman, unfortunate and low, 
 but had lived well ; and though if I had had a fortune, 
 I should have been enraged at the slut for betraying 
 me, yet really for the man, a fortune would not have 
 been ill bestowed on him, for he was a lovely person 
 indeed, of generous principles, good sense, and of 
 abundance of good humour. 
 
 We had a great deal of close conversation that 
 night, for we neither of us slept much ; he was as 
 penitent, for having put all those cheats upon me, as 
 if it had been felony, and that he was going to execu- 
 tion ; he offered me again every shilling of the money 
 he had about him, and said he would go into the 
 army and seek for more. 
 
 I asked him why he would be so unkind to carry ^ 
 me into Ireland, when I might suppose he could not 
 have subsisted me there ? He took me in his arms ; 
 ' My dear,' said he, ' I never designed to go to Ireland 
 at all, much less to have carried you thither ; but came 
 
 i 
 
Moll Flanders 151 
 
 hither to be out of the observation of the people, who had 
 heard what I pretended to, and that nobody might ask 
 me for money before I was furnished to supply them.' 
 
 'But, where then,' said I, 'were we to have gone 
 next ? ' 
 
 'Why, my dear,' said he, Tir confess the whole 
 scheme to you, as I had laid it ; I purposed here to 
 ask you something about your estate, as you see I 
 did, and when you, as I expected you would, had 
 entered into some account of the particulars, I would 
 have made an excuse to have put off our voyage to 
 Ireland for some time, and so have gone for London. 
 
 'Then, my dear,' says he, ' I resolved to have con- 
 fessed all the circumstances of my own affairs to you, 
 and let you know I had indeed made use of these arti- 
 fices to obtain your consent to marry me, but had now 
 nothing to do but to ask your pardon, and to tell you 
 how abundantly I would endeavour to make you for- 
 get what was past, by the felicity of the days to come.' 
 
 ' Truly,' said I to him, ' I find you would soon have 
 conquered me ; and it is my affliction now, that I am 
 not in a condition to let you see how easily I should 
 haye been reconciled to you, and have passed by all 
 the tricks you had put upon me, in recompense of so 
 much good humour ; ' but, my dear,' said I, ' what can 
 we do now ? we are both undone, and what better 
 are we for our being reconciled, seeing we have 
 nothing to live on ? ' 
 
152 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 We proposed a great many things, but nothing 
 could offer, where there was nothing to begin with. \ 
 He begged me at last to talk no more of it, for, he 
 said, I would break his heart ; so we talked of other 
 things a little, till at last he took a husband's leave of 
 me, and so went to sleep. 
 
 He rose before me in the morning, and indeed 
 having lain awake almost all night, I was very sleepy, 
 and lay till near eleven o'clock, in this time he took 
 his horses, and three servants, and all his linen and 
 baggage, and away he went, leaving a short but 
 moving letter for me on the table, as follows : 
 
 ' My dear, — I am a dog ; I have abused you ; but 
 I have been drawn in to do it by a base creature, 
 contrary to my principle, and the general practice of 
 my life. Forgive me, my dear ! I ask you pardon 
 with the greatest sincerity ; I am the most miserable 
 of men, in having deluded you : I have been so 
 happy to possess you, and am now so wretched as to 
 be forced to fly from you. Forgive me, my dear ; 
 once more I say, forgive me ! I am not able to see 
 you ruined by me, and myself unable to support you. 
 Our marriage is nothing ; I shall never be able to see 
 you again ; I here discharge you from it ; if you can 
 marry to your advantage do not decline it on my 
 account ; I here swear to you on my faith, and on 
 the word of a man of honour, I will never disturb 
 
Moll Flanders 153 
 
 your repose if I should know of it, which however is 
 not hkely : on the other hand, if you should not 
 marry, and if good fortune should befall me, it shall 
 be all yours wherever you are. 
 
 ' I have put some of the stock of money I have 
 left into your pocket ; take places for yourself and your 
 maid in the stage coach, and go for London ; I hope 
 it will bear your charges thither, without breaking 
 into your own. Again I sincerely ask your pardon, 
 and will do so as often as I shall ever think of you. — 
 Adieu, my dear, for ever ! I am yours most affec- 
 tionately, J. E.' 
 
 Nothing that ever befell me in my life sunk so 
 deep into my heart as this farewell : I reproached 
 him a thousand times in my thoughts for leaving me, 
 for I would have gone with him through the world, if 
 I had begged my bread. I felt in my pocket, and 
 there I found ten guineas, his gold watch, and two 
 little rings, one a small diamond ring, worth only 
 about ;^6, and the other a plain gold ring. 
 
 I sat down and looked upon these things two 
 hours together, and scarce spoke a word, till my maid 
 interrupted me, by telling me my dinner was ready : 
 I ate but little, and after dinner I fell into a violent 
 fit of crying, every now and then calling him by his 
 name, which was James ; ' O Jemmy ! ' said I, ' come 
 back, come back, I'll give you all I have ; I'll beg, 
 
154 • Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 I'll starve with you.' And thus I ran raving about 
 the room several times, and then sat down between 
 whiles, and then walked about again, called upon him 
 to come back, and then cried again ; and thus I 
 passed the afternoon, till about seven o'clock, when it 
 was near dusk in the evening, being August, when to 
 my unspeakable surprise he comes back into the inn, 
 and comes directly up into my chamber. 
 
 I was in the greatest confusion imaginable, and so 
 was he too : I could not imagine what should be the 
 occasion of it ; and began to be at odds with myself 
 whether to be glad or sorry ; but my affection biassed 
 all the rest, and it was impossible to conceal my joy, 
 which was too great for smiles, for it burst out into 
 tears. He was no sooner entered the room, but 
 he ran to me and took me in his arms, holding me 
 fast, and almost stopping my breath with his kisses, 
 but spoke not a word ; at length I began. ' My dear,' 
 said I, ' how could you go away from me ? ' to which he 
 gave no answer, for it was impossible for him to speak. 
 
 When our ecstasies were a little over, he told me 
 he was gone above fifteen miles, but it was not in his 
 power to go any farther, without coming back to see 
 me again, and to take his leave of me once more. 
 
 I told him how I had passed my time, and how 
 loud I had called him to come back again ; he told 
 me he heard me very plain upon Delamere Forest, at 
 a place about twelve miles off. I smiled. ' Nay,' says 
 
Moll Flanders 155 
 
 he, ' do not think I am in jest, for if ever I heard your 
 voice in my Hfe, I heard you call me aloud, and 
 sometimes I thought I saw you running after me.' 
 'Why,' said I, 'what did I say?' for I had not named 
 the words to him. ' You called aloud,' says he, * and 
 said, " O Jemmy ! O Jemmy ! come back, come back.'" 
 
 I laughed at him. ' My dear,' says he, ' do not 
 laugh, for depend upon it, I heard your voice as plain 
 as you hear mine now ; if you please, I'll go before 
 a magistrate and make oath of it ; ' I then began 
 to be amazed and surprised, and indeed frighted, and 
 told him what I had really done, and how I had called 
 after him, as above. When we had amused ourselves 
 awhile about this, I said to him, ' Well, you shall go 
 away from me no more, I'll go all over the world with 
 you rather.' He told me, it would be a very difficult 
 thing for him to leave me, but since it must be, he 
 hoped I would make it as easy to me as I could ; but 
 as for him, it would be his destruction, that he foresaw. 
 
 However, he told me that he had considered he 
 had left me to travel to London alone, which was a 
 long journey ; and that as he might as well go that 
 way as any way else, he was resolved to see me hither, 
 or near it ; and if he did go away then without taking 
 his leave, I should not take it ill of him ; and this he 
 made me promise. 
 
 He told me how he had dismissed his three 
 servants, sold their horses, and sent the fellows away 
 
156 Defoe's Mino7' Novels 
 
 to seek their fortunes, and all in a little time, at a 
 town on the road, I know not where; 'and,' says he, 
 ' it cost me some tears all alone by myself, to think 
 how much happier they were than their master, for 
 they could go to the next gentleman's house to see 
 for a service, whereas,' said he, ' I knew not whither 
 to go, or what to do with myself.' 
 
 I told him I was so completely miserable in parting 
 with him, tjiat I could not be worse ; and that now 
 he was come again, I would not go from him, if he 
 would take me with him, let him go whither he would. 
 And in the meantime I agreed that we would go 
 together to London ; but I could not be brought to 
 consent he should go away at last, and not take his 
 leave of me ; but told him jesting, that if he did, I 
 would call him back again as loud as I did before. 
 Then I pulled out his watch, and gave it him back, 
 and his two rings, and his ten guineas ; but he would 
 not take them, which made me very much suspect 
 that he resolved to go off upon the road, and leave me. 
 
 The truth is, the circumstances he was in, the 
 passionate expressions of his letter, the kind gentle- 
 manly treatment I had from him in all the affair, 
 with the concern he showed for me in it, his manner 
 of parting with that large share which he gave me of 
 his little stock left, all these had joined to make such 
 impressions on me, that I could not bear the thoughts 
 of parting with him. 
 
Moll Flaitders 157 
 
 Two days after this we quitted Chester, I in the 
 stage-coach, and he on horseback ; I dismissed my 
 maid at Chester ; he was very much against my being 
 without a maid, but she being hired in the country 
 (keeping no servant at London), I told him it would 
 have been barbarous to have taken the poor wench, 
 and have turned her away as soon as I came to town ; 
 and it would also have been a needless charge on the 
 road ; so I satisfied him, and he was easy on that score 
 
 He came with me as far as Dunstable, within 
 thirty miles of London, and then he told me fate and 
 his own misfortunes obliged him to leave me, and 
 that it was not convenient for him to go to London, 
 for reasons which it was of no value to me to know, 
 and I saw him preparing to go. The stage-coach we 
 were in did not usually stop at Dunstable, but I 
 desiring it for a quarter of an hour, they were content 
 to stand at an inn-door a while, and we went into the 
 house. 
 
 Being in the inn, I told him I had but one favour 
 more to ask him, and that was, that since he could 
 not go any farther, he would give me leave to stay a 
 week or two in the town with him, that we might in 
 that time think of something to prevent such a ruin- 
 ous thing to us both, as a final separation would be ; 
 and that I had something of moment to offer to him, 
 which perhaps he might find practicable to our 
 advantage. 
 
158 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 This was too reasonable a proposal to be denied, 
 so he called the landlady of the house, and told her 
 his wife was taken ill, and so ill that she could not 
 think of going any farther in a stage-coach, which had 
 tired her almost to death, and asked if she could not 
 get us a lodging for two or three days in a private 
 house where I might rest me a little, for the journey 
 had been too much for me ? The landlady, a good 
 sort of a woman, well-bred, and very obliging, came 
 immediately to see me ; told me, she had two or 
 three very good rooms in a part of the house quite 
 out of the noise, and if I saw them she did not doubt 
 but I would like them, and I should have one of her 
 maids, that should do nothing else but wait on me ; 
 this was so very kind, that I could not but accept of 
 it ; so I went to look on the rooms, and liked them 
 very well, and indeed they were extraordinarily fur- 
 nished, and very pleasant lodgings ; so we paid the 
 stage-coach, took out our baggage, and resolved to 
 stay here awhile. 
 
 Here I told him I would live with him now till 
 all my money was spent, but would not let him spend 
 a shilling of his own : we had some kind squabble 
 about that, but I told him it was the last time I was 
 like to enjoy his company, and I desired that he 
 would let me be master in that thing only, and he 
 should govern in everything else ; so he acquiesced. 
 
 Here one evening, taking a walk into the fields, I 
 
Moll Flanders 159 
 
 told him I would now make the proposal to him I 
 had told him of; accordingly I related to him how 
 I had lived in Virginia, that I had a mother, I be- 
 lieved was alive there still, though my husband was 
 dead some years ; I told him that had not my effects 
 miscarried, which by the way I magnified pretty 
 much, I might have been fortune good enough to 
 him to have kept us from being parted in this manner. 
 Then I entered into the manner of people's settling 
 in those countries, how they had a quantity of land 
 given them by the constitution of the place ; and if 
 not, that it might be purchased at so easy a rate that 
 it was not worth naming. 
 
 I then gave him a full and distinct account of the 
 nature of planting, how with carrying over but two or 
 three hundred pounds' value in English goods, with 
 some servants and tools, a man of appHcation would 
 presently lay a foundation for a family, and in a few 
 years would raise an estate. 
 
 I let him into the nature of the product of the 
 earth, how the ground was cured and prepared, and 
 what the usual increase of it was ; and demonstrated 
 to him, that in a very few years, with such a beginning, 
 we should be as certain of being rich as we were 
 now certain of being poor. 
 
 He was surprised at my discourse ; for we made 
 it the whole subject of our conversation for near a 
 week together, in which time I laid it down in black 
 
i6o Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 and white, as we say, that it was morally impossible, 
 with a supposition of any reasonable good conduct, 
 but that we must thrive there and do very well. 
 
 Then I told him what measures I would take to 
 raise such a sum as ;^3oo or thereabouts ; and I 
 argued with him how good a method it would be to 
 put an end to our misfortunes, and restore our cir- 
 cumstances in the world, to what we had both ex- 
 pected ; and I added, that after seven years we might 
 be in a posture to leave our plantation in good hands, 
 and come over again and receive the income of it, and 
 live here and enjoy it ; and I gave him examples of 
 some that had done so, and lived now in very good 
 figure in London. 
 
 In short, I pressed him so to it, that he almost 
 agreed to it, but still something or other broke it off; 
 till at last he turned the tables, and began to talk 
 almost to the same purpose of Ireland. 
 
 He told me that a man that could confine himself 
 to a country life, and that could but find stock to 
 enter upon any land, should have farms there for j[^<^o 
 a year, as good as were let here for J^2oo 2i year; 
 that the produce was such, and so rich the land, that 
 if much was not laid up, we were sure to live as 
 handsomely upon it as a gentleman of ^^3000 a 
 year could do in England ; and that he had laid a 
 scheme to leave me in London, and go over and try ; 
 and if he found he could lay a handsome foundation 
 
Moll Flanders i6i 
 
 of living, suitable to the respect he had for me, as he 
 doubted not he should do, he would come over and 
 fetch me. 
 
 I was dreadfully afraid that upon such a proposal 
 he would have taken me at my word, viz. to turn my 
 little income into money, and let him carry it over 
 into Ireland and try his experiment with it ; but he 
 was too just to desire it, or to have accepted it if I 
 had offered it ; and he anticipated me in that, for he 
 added, that he would go and try his fortune that way, 
 and if he found he could do anything at it to live, 
 then by adding mine to it when I went over, we 
 should live like ourselves ; but that he would not 
 hazard a shilling of mine till he had made the experi- 
 ment with a little, and he assured me that if he found 
 nothing to be done in Ireland he would then come 
 to me and join in my project for Virginia. 
 
 He was so earnest upon his project being to be 
 tried first that I could not withstand him • however 
 he promised to let me hear from him in a very little 
 time after his arriving there, to let me know whether 
 his prospect answered his design ; that, if there was 
 not a probability of success, I might take the occasion 
 to prepare for our other voyage, and then, he assured 
 me, he would go with me to America with all his 
 heart. 
 
 I could bring him to nothing further than this, 
 and which entertained us near a month, during which 
 
 M 
 
1 62 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 I enjoyed his company, which was the most entertain- 
 ing that ever I met with in my Hfe before. In this 
 time he let me into part of the story of his own Hfe, 
 which was indeed surprising, and full of an infinite 
 variety, sufficient to fill up a much brighter history for 
 its adventures and incidents, than any I ever saw in 
 print ; but I shall have occasion to say more of him 
 hereafter. 
 
 We parted at last, though with the utmost reluct- 
 ance on my side ; and indeed he took his leave very 
 unwillingly too, but necessity obliged him, for his 
 reasons were very good, why he would not come to 
 London, as I understood more fully afterwards. 
 
 [This husband turns out to be a noted highwayman, 
 for ivhich and other reasons the easy-going heroine 
 indulges herself with yet another, whom she has already 
 held in play. She is happy enough with him, but he 
 dies ; and her circumstances being very much embar- 
 rassed, she has recourse to an old harridan who has 
 before obliged her in awkward straits, and with tvhose 
 connivance she at last takes to shop-lifting. We begi'n 
 after her husband'' s death.) 
 
 I lived two years in this dismal condition, wasting 
 that little I had, weeping continually over my dismal 
 circumstances, and as it were only bleeding to death, 
 without the least hope or prospect of help ; and now 
 
Moll Flanders 163 
 
 I had cried so long, and so often, that tears were 
 exhausted, and I began to be desperate, for I grew 
 poor apace. 
 
 For a little relief, I had put off my house and 
 took lodgings ; and as I was reducing my living, so I 
 sold off most of my goods, which put a little money 
 in my pocket, and I lived near a year upon that, 
 spending very sparingly, and eking things out to the 
 utmost ; but still when I looked before me, my heart 
 would sink within me at the inevitable approach of 
 misery and want. O let none read this part without 
 seriously reflecting on the circumstances of a desolate 
 state, and how they would grapple with want of friends 
 and want of bread ; it will certainly make them think 
 not of sparing what they have only, but of looking up 
 to heaven for support, and of the wise man's prayer, 
 ' Give me not poverty, lest I steal.' 
 
 Let them remember that a time of distress is a 
 time of dreadful temptation^, and all the strength to 
 resist is taken away ; poverty presses, the soul is made 
 desperate by distress, and what can be done ? It 
 was one evening, when being brought, as I may say, 
 to the last gasp, I think I may truly say I was dis- 
 tracted and raving, when prompted by I know not 
 what spirit, and as it were doing I did not know 
 what, or why, I dressed me (for I had still pretty 
 good clothes), and went out : I am very sure I had 
 no manner of design in my head when I went out ; 
 
1 64 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 I neither knew, or considered where to go, or on 
 what business ; but as the devil carried me out, and 
 laid his bait for me, so he brought me to be sure to 
 the place, for I knew not whither I was going or 
 what I did. 
 
 Wandering thus about, I knew not whither, I 
 passed by an apothecary's shop in Leadenhall-street, 
 where I saw he on a stool just before the counter a 
 little bundle wrapt in a white cloth ; beyond it stood 
 a maidservant with her back to it, looking up towards 
 the top of the shop, where the apothecary's apprentice, 
 as I suppose, was standing upon the counter, with his 
 back also to the door, and a candle in his hand, 
 looking and reaching up to the upper shelf, for 
 something he wanted, so that both were engaged, 
 and nobody else in the shop. 
 
 This was the bait ; and the devil who laid the 
 snare, prompted me, as if he had spoke, for I re- 
 member, and shall never forget it, 'twas hke a voice 
 spoken over my shoulder, ' Take the bundle ; be quick ; 
 do it this moment.' It was no sooner said but I 
 stepped into the shop, and with my back to the 
 wench, as if I had stood up for a cart that was going 
 by, I put my hand behind me and took the bundle, 
 and went off with it, the maid or fellow not perceiving 
 me, or any one else. 
 
 It is impossible to express the horror of my soul 
 all the while I did it. When I went away I had no 
 
Moll Flanders 
 
 i6s 
 
 heart to run, or scarce to mend my pace : I crossed 
 the street indeed, and went down the first turning I 
 came to, and I think it was a street that went through 
 into Fenchurch-street ; from thence I crossed and 
 turned through so many ways and turnings, that I 
 could never tell which way it was, nor where I went ; 
 I felt not the ground I stept on, and the farther I 
 was out of danger the faster I went till, tired and out 
 of breath, I was forced to sit down on a little bench 
 at a door, and then found I was got into Thames- 
 street, near Billingsgate : I rested me a little and 
 went on ; my blood was all in a fire, my heart beat 
 as if I was in a sudden fright : in short, I was under 
 such a surprise that I knew not whither I was agoing, 
 or what to do. 
 
 After I had tired myself thus with walking a long 
 way about, and so eagerly, I began to consider, and 
 make home to my lodging, where I came about nine 
 o'clock at night. 
 
 What the bundle was made up for, or on what 
 occasion laid where I found it, I knew not, but when 
 I came to open it, I found there was a suit of child- 
 bed-linen in it, very good, and almost new, the lace 
 very fine ; there was a silver porringer of a pint, a 
 small silver mug, and six spoons, with some other 
 linen, a good smock, and three silk handkerchiefs, 
 and in the mug a paper, i8s. 6d. in money. 
 
 All the while I was opening these things I was 
 
1 66 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 under such dreadful impressions of fear, and in such 
 terror of mind, though I was perfectly safe, that I 
 cannot express the manner of it ; I sat me down, and 
 cried most vehemently ; ' Lord,' said I, ' what am I 
 now ? a thief ! why, I shall be taken next time, and be 
 carried to Newgate, and be tried for my life T and 
 with that I cried again a long time, and I am sure, as 
 poor as I was, if I had durst for fear, I would certainly 
 have carried the things back again ; but that went off 
 after a while. Well, I went to bed for that night, but 
 slept little, the horror of the fact was upon my mind, 
 and I knew not what I said or did all night, and all 
 the next day. Then I was impatient to hear some 
 news of the loss ; and would fain know how it was, 
 whether they were a poor body's goods, or a rich ; 
 'perhaps,' said I, 'it may be some poor widow like 
 me, that had packed up these goods to go and sell them 
 for a little bread for herself and a poor child, and are 
 now starving and breaking their hearts, for want of 
 that little they would have fetched ;' and this thought 
 tormented me worse than all the rest, for three or 
 four days. 
 
 But my own distresses silenced all these reflections, 
 and the prospect of my own starving, which grew 
 every day more frightful to me, hardened my heart 
 by degrees. It was then particularly heavy upon my 
 mind, that I had been reformed, and had, as I hoped, 
 repented of all my past wickedness ; that I had lived 
 
Moll Flanders 167 
 
 a sober, grave, retired life for several years, but now 
 I should be driven by the dreadful necessity of my 
 circumstances to the gates of destruction, soul and 
 body \ and two or three times I fell upon my knees, 
 praying to God, as well as I could, for deliverance • 
 but I cannot but say my prayers had no hope in 
 them : I knew not v.^hat to do, it was all fear without, 
 and dark within ; and I reflected on my past life as 
 not repented of, that heaven was now beginning to 
 punish me, and would make me as miserable as I 
 had been wicked. 
 
 Had I gone on here I had perhaps been a true 
 penitent ; but I had an evil counsellor within, and he 
 was continually prompting me to relieve myself by 
 the worst means ; so one evening he tempted me 
 again by the same wicked impulse that had said, 'Take 
 that bundle,' to go out again and seek for what might 
 happen. 
 
 I went out now by daylight, and wandered about 
 I knew not whither, and in search of I knew not 
 what, when the devil put a snare in my way of a 
 dreadful nature indeed, and such a one as I have 
 never had before or since. Going through Aldersgate- 
 street, there was a pretty little child had been at a 
 dancing-school, and was agoing home all alone ; and 
 my prompter, like a true devil, set me upon this 
 innocent creature. I talked to it, and it prattled to 
 me again, and I took it by the hand and led it along 
 
1 68 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 till I came to a paved alley that goes into Bartholo- 
 mew-close, and I led it in there ; the child said, that 
 was not its way home; I said, 'Yes, my dear,' it is, 
 I'll show you the way home ;' the child had a little 
 necklace on of gold beads, and I had my eye upon 
 that, and in the dark of the alley I stooped, pretend- 
 ing to mend the child's clog that was loose, and took 
 off her necklace and the child never felt it, and so 
 led the child on again. Here, I say, the devil put 
 me upon killing the child in the dark alley, that it 
 might not cry, but the very thought frighted me so 
 that I was ready to drop down ; but I turned the 
 child about and bade it go back again, for that was 
 not its way home ; the child said, so she would, and 
 I went through into Bartholomew -close, and then 
 turned round to another passage that goes into Long- 
 lane, so away into Charterhouse -yard, and out into 
 St. John's-street ; then crossing into Smithfield, went 
 down Chick -lane, and into Field -lane, to Holborn- 
 bridge, when mixing with the crowd of people usually 
 passing there, it was not possible to have been found 
 ^ut ; and thus I made my second sally into the world. 
 The thoughts of this booty put out all the thoughts 
 of the first, and the reflections I had made wore quickly 
 off; poverty hardened my heart, and my own neces- 
 sities made me regardless of anything. The last 
 affair left no great concern upon me, for as I did the 
 poor child no harm, I only thought I had given the 
 
^ 
 
 V 
 
 Moll Flanders 169 
 
 arents a just reproof for their negligence, in leaving 
 the poor lamb to come home by itself, and it would 
 teach them to take more care another time. 
 
 This string of beads was worth about ;£i2 or ;^i4. 
 I suppose it might have been formerly the mother's, 
 for it was too big for the child's wear, but that, per- 
 haps, the vanity of the mother to have her child look 
 fine at the dancing-school, had made her let the child 
 wear it, and no doubt the child had a maid sent to 
 take care of it, but she, like a careless jade, was taken 
 up perhaps with some fellow that had met her, and 
 so the poor baby wandered till it fell into my hands. 
 
 However, I did the child no harm ; I did not so 
 much as fright it, for I had a great many tender 
 thoughts about me yet, and did nothing but what, as 
 I may say, mere necessity drove me to. 
 
 I had a great many adventures after this, but I 
 was young in the business, and did not know how to 
 manage, otherwise than as the devil put things into 
 my head ; and indeed he was seldom backward to me. 
 One adventure I had which was very lucky to me ; I 
 was going through Lombard-street, in the dusk of the 
 evening, just by the end of Three King-court, when 
 on a sudden comes a fellow running by me as swift 
 as lightning, and throws a bundle that was in his 
 hand just behind me, as I stood up against the corner 
 of the house at the turning into the alley ; just as he 
 threw it in, he said, ' God bless you, mistress, let it lie 
 
170 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 there a little,' and away he runs : after him comes two 
 more, and immediately a young fellow without his 
 hat, crying, 'Stop thief;' they pursued the two last 
 fellows so close that they were forced to drop what 
 they had got, and one of them was taken into the 
 bargain ; the other got off free. 
 
 I stood stockstill all this while, till they came back 
 dragging the poor fellow they had taken, and lugging 
 the things they had found, extremely well satisfied 
 that they had recovered the booty, and taken the 
 thief; and thus they passed by me, for I looked only 
 like one who stood u^) while the crowd was gone. 
 
 Once or twice I asked what was the matter, but 
 the people neglected answering me, and I was not 
 very importunate ; but after the crowd was wholly 
 passed, I took my opportunity to turn about and take 
 up what was behind me and walk away : this indeed 
 I did with less disturbance than I had done formerly, 
 for these things I did not steal, but they were stolen 
 to my hand. I got safe to my lodgings w^ith this 
 cargo, which was a piece of fine black lustering silk, 
 and a piece of velvet ; the latter was but part of a 
 piece of about eleven yards ; the former was a whole 
 piece of near fifty yards ; it seems it was a mercer's 
 shop that they had rifled ; I say rifled, because the 
 goods were so considerable that they had lost ; for 
 the goods that they recovered were pretty rnany, and 
 I believe came to about six or seven several pieces of 
 
Moll Flanders 171 
 
 silk : how they came to get so many I could not tell ; 
 but as I had only robbed the thief, I made no scruple 
 at taking these goods, and being very glad of them 
 too. 
 
 I had pretty good luck thus far, and I made 
 several adventures more, though with but small pur- 
 chase, yet with good success, but I went in daily 
 dread that some mischief would befall me, and that I 
 should certainly come to be hanged at last. The 
 impression this made on me was too strong to be 
 slighted, and it kept me from making attempts, that 
 for aught I knew, might have been very safely per- 
 formed ; but one thing I cannot omit, which was a 
 bait to me many a day. I walked frequently out 
 into the villages round the town to see if nothing 
 would fall in my way there ; and going by a house 
 near Stepney, I saw on the window-board two rings, 
 one a small diamond ring, and the other a plain gold 
 ring, to be sure laid there by some thoughtless lady, ^ 
 that had more money than forecast, perhaps only till 
 she washed her hands. 
 
 I walked several times by the window to observe 
 if I could see whether there was anybody in the room 
 or no, and I could see nobody, but still I v/as not 
 sure ; it came presently into my thoughts to rap at 
 the glass, as if I wanted to speak with somebody, and 
 if anybody was there they would be sure to come to 
 the window, and then I would tell them to remove^ 
 
172 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 those rings, for that I had seen two suspicious fellows 
 take notice of them. This was a ready thought ; I 
 rapped once or twice, and nobody came, when I thrust 
 hard against the square of glass, and broke it with 
 little noise, and took out the two rings, and walked 
 away; the diamond ring was worth about ;^3, and 
 the other about 9s. 
 
 I was now at a loss for a market for my goods, 
 and especially for my two pieces of silk. I was very 
 loath to dispose of them for a trifle, as the poor un- 
 happy thieves in general do, who after they have 
 ventured their lives for perhaps a thing of value, are 
 forced to sell it for a song when they have done ; but 
 I was resolved I would not do thus, whatever shift I 
 made ; however, I did not well know what course to 
 take. At last I resolved to go to my old governess, 
 and acquaint myself with her again ; I had punctually 
 supplied the £,^ a year to her for my little boy as long 
 as I was able ; but at last was obliged to put a stop to 
 it. However, I had written a letter to her, wherein I 
 had told her that my circumstances were reduced ; that 
 I had lost my husband, and that I was not able to do 
 it any longer, and begged the poor child might not 
 suffer too much for its mother's misfortunes. 
 
 I now made her a visit, and I found that she 
 drove something of the old trade still, but that she 
 was not in such flourishing circumstances as before ; 
 for she had been sued by a certain gentleman, who 
 
Moll Flanders 173 
 
 had had his daughter stolen from him, and who it 
 seems she had helped to convey away ; and it was 
 very narrowly that she escaped the gallows. The 
 expense also had ravaged her, so that her house was 
 but meanly furnished, and she was not in such repute 
 for her practice as before ; however, she stood upon 
 her legs, as they say, and as she was a bustling 
 woman, and had some stock left, she was turned 
 pawnbroker, and lived pretty well. 
 
 She received me very civilly, and with her usual 
 obliging manner told me she would not have the less 
 respect for me for my being reduced ; that she had 
 taken care my boy was very well looked after, though 
 I could not pay for him, and that the woman that had 
 him was easy, so that I needed not to, trouble myself 
 about him, till I might be better able to do it 
 effectually. 
 
 I told her I had not much money left, but that I 
 had some things that were money's worth, if she could 
 tell me how I might turn them into money. She 
 asked what it was I had ? I pulled out the string of 
 gold beads, and told her it was one of my husband's 
 presents to me ; then I showed her the two parcels 
 of silk which I told her I had from Ireland, and 
 brought up to town with me : and the little diamond 
 ring. As to the small parcel of plate and spoons, I 
 had found means to dispose of them myself before ; 
 and as for the childbed-linen I had, she offered me 
 
174 Defoe s Minoi' Novels 
 
 to take it herself, believing it to have been my own. 
 She told me that she was turned paw^nbroker, and 
 that she w^ould sell those things for me as pawned to 
 her, and so she sent presently for proper agents that 
 bought them, being in her hands, without any scruple, 
 and gave good prices too. 
 
 I now began to think this necessary woman might 
 help me a little in my low condition to some business; 
 for I would gladly have turned my hand to any honest 
 employment if I could have got it ; but honest busi- 
 ness did not come wathin her reach. If I had been 
 younger, perhaps she might have helped me, but my 
 thoughts were off of that kind of livehhood, as being 
 quite out of the way after fifty, which w^as my case, 
 and so I told her. 
 
 She invited me at last to come and be at her 
 house till I could find something to do, and it should 
 cost me very little, and this I gladly accepted of; and 
 now living a little easier, I entered into some measures 
 to have my little son by my last husband taken off; 
 and this she made easy too, reserving a payment only 
 of £iS "^ year, if I could pay it. This was such a 
 help to me, that for a good while I left off the wicked 
 trade that I had so newly taken up ; and gladly I 
 would have got work, but that was very hard to do 
 for one that had no acquaintance. 
 
 However, at last I got some quilting work for 
 ladies' beds, petticoats, and the like ; and this I fiked 
 
Moll Flanders 175 
 
 very well, and worked very hard, and with this I 
 began to live ; but the diligent devil who resolved I 
 should continue in his service, continually prompted 
 me to go out and take a walk, that is to say, to see 
 if anything would offer in the old way. 
 
 One evening I blindly obeyed his summons, and 
 fetched a long circuit through the streets, but met 
 with no purchase ; but not content with that, I went 
 out the next evening too, when going by an alehouse 
 I saw the door of a little room open, next the very 
 street, and on the table a silver tankard, things much 
 in use in public-houses at that time ; it seems some 
 company had been drinking there, and the careless 
 boys had forgot to take it away. 
 
 I went into the box frankly, and setting the silver 
 tankard on the corner of the bench, I sat down before 
 it, and knocked with my foot ; a boy came presently, 
 and I bade him fetch me a pint of warm ale, for it 
 was cold weather ; the boy ran, and I heard him go 
 down the cellar to draw the ale ; while the boy was 
 gone, another boy came, and cried, ' D'ye call ? ' I 
 spoke with a melancholy air, and said, ' No, the boy 
 is gone for a pint of ale for me.' 
 
 While I sat here, I heard the woman in the bar 
 say, ' Are they all gone in the five ? ' which was the 
 box I sat in, and the boy said, 'Yes.' 'Who fetched 
 the tankard away?' says the woman. 'I did,' says 
 another boy, 'that's it,' pointing it seems to another 
 
176 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 tankard, which he had fetched from another box by 
 mistake ; or else it must be that the rogue forgot 
 that he had not brought it in, which certainly he 
 had not. 
 
 I heard all this much to my satisfaction, for I 
 found plainly that the tankard was not missed, and 
 yet they concluded it was fetched away : so I drank 
 my ale, called to pay, and as I went away, I said, 
 'Take care of your plate, child,' meaning a silver pint 
 mug which he brought me to drink in : the boy said, 
 ' Yes, madam, very welcome,' and away I came. 
 
 I came home to my governess, and now I thought 
 it was a time to try her, that if I might be put to the 
 necessity of being exposed she might offer me some 
 assistance. When I had been at home some time, 
 and had an opportunity of talking to her, I told her 
 I had a secret of the greatest consequence in the 
 world to commit to her, if she had respect enough 
 for me to keep it a secret : she told me she had kept 
 one of my secrets faithfully ; why should I doubt her 
 keeping another ? I told her the strangest thing in 
 the world had befallen me, even without any design ; 
 and so told her the whole story of the tankard. ' And 
 have you brought it away with you, my dear ? ' says 
 she. 'To be sure I have,' says I, and showed it her. 
 ' But what shall I do now?' says I, 'must not I carry 
 it again ? ' 
 
 ' Carry it again ! ' says she ; ' ay, if you want to go 
 
Moll Flanda's 177 
 
 to Newgate.' ' Why,' says I, ' they can't be so base to 
 stop me, when I carry it to them again ?' ' You don't 
 know those sort of people, child,' says she ; ' they'll 
 not only carry you to Newgate, but hang you too, 
 without any regard to the honesty of returning it ; or 
 bring in an account of all the other tankards as they 
 have lost, for you to pay for.' ' What must I do then ?' 
 says I. ' Nay,' says she, ' as you have played the cun- 
 ning part and stole it, you must e'en keep it, there's 
 no going back now ; besides, child,' says she, ' don't 
 you want it more than they do ? I wish you could 
 light of such a bargain once a week.' 
 
 This gave me a new notion of my governess, and 
 that, since she was turned pawnbroker, she had a sort 
 of people about her that were none of the honest 
 ones that I had met with there before. 
 
 I had not been long there but I discovered it 
 ^ more plainly than before, for every now and then I 
 saw hilts of swords, spoons, forks, tankards, and all 
 such kind of ware brought in, not to be pawned, but 
 to be sold downright ; and she bought them all 
 without asking any questions, but had good bargains, 
 as I found by her discourse. 
 
 I found also that in following this trade she always 
 melted down the plate she bought, that it might not 
 be challenged ; and she came to me and told me one 
 morning that she was going to melt, and if I would, 
 she would put my tankard in, that it might not be 
 
 N 
 
178 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 seen by anybody ; I told her with all my heart ; so 
 she weighed it, and allowed me the full value in 
 silver again ; but I found she did not do so to the 
 rest of her customers. 
 Hr' Some time after this, as I was at work, and very 
 melancholy, she begins to ask me what the matter 
 was ? I told her my heart was very heavy, I had 
 little work and nothing to live on, and knew not 
 what course to take. She laughed, and told me I 
 must go out again and try my fortune ; it might be 
 that I might meet with another piece of plate. ' O, 
 mother ! ' says I, ' that is a trade that I have no skill 
 in, and if I should be taken I am undone at once.' 
 Says she, ' I could help you to a schoolmistress, that 
 shall make you as dexterous as herself;' I trembled 
 at that proposal, for hitherto I had had no confeder- 
 ates nor any acquaintance among that tribe. But she 
 conquered all my modesty, and all my fears ; and in 
 a little time, by the help of this confederate, I grew 
 as impudent a thief, and as dexterous, as ever Moll 
 Cutpurse was, though, if fame does not belie her, not 
 half so handsome. 
 
 The comrade she helped me to, dealt in three 
 sorts of craft ; viz. shoplifting, stealing of shop-books 
 and pocket-books, and taking off gold watches from 
 the ladies' sides ; and this last she did so dexterously 
 that no woman ever arrived to the perfection of that 
 art, like her. I liked the first and the last of these 
 
Moll Flande7's 179 
 
 things very well, and I attended her some time in the 
 practice, just as a deputy attends a midwife, without 
 any pay. 
 
 At length she put me to practice. She had shown 
 me her art, and I had several times unhooked a 
 watch from her own side with great dexterity ; at last 
 she showed me a prize, and this was a young lady 
 with child, who had a charming watch. The thing 
 was to be done as she came out of the church ; she 
 goes on one side of the lady, and pretends, just as 
 she came to the steps, to fall, and fell against the 
 lady with so much violence as put her into a great 
 fright, and both cried out terribly : in the very 
 moment that she jostled the lady, I had hold of the 
 watch, and holding it the right way, the start she gave 
 drew the hook out and she never felt it ; I made off 
 immediately, and left my schoolmistress to come out 
 of her fright gradually, and the lady too ; and presently ^ 
 the watch was missed; 'Ay,' says my comrade, 'then 
 it was those rogues that thrust me down, I warrant ye ; 
 I wonder the gentlewoman did not miss her watch 
 before, then we might have taken them.' 
 
 She humoured the thing so well that nobody 
 suspected her, and I was got home a full hour before 
 her. This was my first adventure in company ; the 
 watch was indeed a very fine one, and had many 
 trinkets about it, and my governess allowed us ;£^2 
 for it, of which I had half. And thus I was entered 
 
i8o Defoe's Mmor Novels 
 
 a complete thief, hardened to a pitch above all the 
 reflections of conscience or modesty, and to a degree 
 which I never thought possible in me. 
 
 Thus the devil, who began, by the help of an irre- 
 sistible poverty, to push me into this wickedness, 
 brought me to a height beyond the common rate, 
 even when my necessities were not so terrifying ; for 
 I had now got into a little vein of work, and as I was 
 not at a loss to handle my needle, it was very probable 
 I might have got my bread honestly enough. 
 
 I must say, that if such a prospect of work had 
 presented itself at first, when I began to feel the 
 approach of my miserable circumstances ; I say, had 
 such a prospect of getting bread by working presented 
 itself then, I had never fallen into this wicked trade, 
 or into such a wicked gang as I was now embarked 
 with ; but practice had hardened me, and I grew 
 audacious to the last degree ; and the more so, because, 
 I had carried it on so long, and had never been taken ; 
 for in a word, my new partner in wickedness and I 
 went on together so long, without being ever detected, 
 that we not only grew bold, but we grew rich, and 
 we had at one time one-and-twenty gold watches in 
 our hands. 
 
 I remember that one day being a little more 
 serious than ordinary, and finding I had so good a 
 stock beforehand, as I had,- for I had near ;2{^2oo in 
 money for my share ; it came strongly into my mind, 
 
Moll Flanders i8i 
 
 . ftd doubt from some kind spirit, if such there be, 
 that as at first poverty excited me, and my distresses 
 drove me to these dreadful shifts, so seeing those 
 distresses were now reheved, and I could also get 
 something towards a maintenance by working, and 
 had so good a bank to support me, why should I not 
 now leave off, while I was well ; that I could not 
 expect to go always free ; and if I was once surprised, 
 I was undone. 
 
 This was doubtless the happy minute, when, if I 
 had hearkened to the blessed hint, from whatsoever 
 hand it came, I had still a cast for an easy life. But 
 my fate was otherwise determined ; the busy devil 
 that drew me in, had too fast hold of me to let me 
 
 _^.ga_bacfe^ but as poverty brought me in, so avarice 
 kept me in, till there was no going back ; "as to the 
 
 f arguments which my reason dictated for persuading 
 me to lay down, avarice stept in and said, ' Go on, 
 you have had very good luck, go on till you have 
 gotten four or five hundred pounds, and then you 
 shall leave off, and then you may live easy without 
 working at all.' 
 
 Thus I that was once in the devil's clutches, was 
 held fast there as with a charm, and had no power to 
 go without the circle, till I was ingulfed in labyrinths 
 of trouble too great to get out at all. 
 
 However, these thoughts left some impression 
 upon me, and made me act with some more caution 
 
 >»Wi)MVU«H, 
 
1 82 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 than before, and more than my directors used for 
 themselves. My comrade, as I called her (she should 
 have been called my teacher), with another of her 
 scholars, was the first in the misfortune ; for happen- 
 ing to be upon the hunt for purchase, they made an 
 attempt upon a linen-draper in Cheapside, but were 
 snapped by a hawk-eyed journeyman, and seized with 
 two pieces of cambric, which were taken also upon 
 them. 
 
 This was enough to lodge them both in Newgate, 
 where they had the misfortune to have some of their 
 former sins brought to remembrance ; two other in- 
 dictments being brought against them, and the facts 
 being proved upon them, they were both condemned 
 to die ; '■' * ^sf * « 
 
 ^ -;f * * * * 
 
 I went frequently to see them, and condole with 
 them, expecting that it would be my turn next ; but 
 the place gave me so much horror, reflecting that it 
 was the place of my unhappy birth, and of my 
 mother's misfortunes, that I could not bear it, so I 
 left off going to see them. 
 
 And O ! could I but have taken warning by their 
 disasters, I had been happy still, for I was yet free, 
 and had nothing brought against me ; but it could 
 not be, my measure was not yet filled up. 
 
 My comrade, having the brand of an old offender, 
 was executed ; the young offender was spared, having 
 
Moll Flanders 183 
 
 obtained a reprieve ; but lay starving a long while in 
 prison, till at last she got her name into what they 
 call a circuit pardon, and so came off. 
 
 This terrible example of my comrade frighted me 
 heartily, and for a good while I made no excursions ; 
 but one night, in the neighbourhood of my governess's 
 house, they cried, ' Fire ; ' my governess looked out, 
 for we were all up, and cried immediately that such a 
 gentlewoman's house was all of a light fire a-top, and 
 so indeed it was. Here she gives me a jog ; ' Now, 
 child,' says she, ' there is a rare opportunity, the fire 
 being so near that you may go to it before the street 
 is blocked up with the crowd.' She presently gave 
 me my cue; 'Go, child,' says she, 'to the house, and 
 run in and tell the lady, or anybody you see, that you 
 come to help them, and that you came from such a 
 gentlewoman ; that is, one of her acquaintance farther 
 up the street.' 
 
 Aw^ay I went, and, coming to the house, I found 
 them all in confusion, you may be sure ; I ran in, 
 and finding one of the maids, ' Alas ! sweetheart,' said 
 I, ' how came this dismal accident ? where is your 
 mistress ? is she safe ? and where are the children ? 
 
 I come from Madam to help you.' Away runs 
 
 the maid ; ' Madam, madam,' says she, screaming as 
 loud as she could yell, ' here is a gentlewoman come 
 
 from Madam to help us.' The poor woman, 
 
 half out of her wits, with a bundle under her arm, 
 
1 84 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 and two little children, comes towards me ; ' ]\Iadam,' 
 
 says I, ' let me carry the poor children to Madam , 
 
 she desires you to send them ; she'll take care of the 
 poor lambs ; ' and so I takes one of them out of her 
 hand, and she lifts the t'other up into my arms : ' Ay 
 do, for God's sake,' says she, 'carry them; O thank her 
 for her kindness. ' Have you anything else to secure, 
 madam ?' says I ; ' she will take care of it.' ' O dear ! ' 
 says she, ' God bless her, take this bundle of plate and 
 carry it to her too \ O she is a good woman ; O, we 
 are utterly ruined, undone !' And away she runs 
 from me out£of her wits, and the maids after her, 
 and away comes I with the two children and the 
 bundle. 
 
 I w^as no sooner got into the street, but I saw 
 another woman come to me ; ' O !' says she,' mistress,' 
 in a piteous tone, ' you will let fall the child ; come, 
 come, this is a sad time, let me help you;' and im- 
 mediately lays hold of my bundle to carry it for me. 
 ' No,' says I, ' if you will help me, take the child by the 
 hand, and lead it for me but to the upper end of the 
 street ; I'll go with you and satisfy you for your 
 pains.' 
 
 She could not avoid going, after what I said, but 
 the creature, in short, was one of the same business 
 with me, and wanted nothing but the bundle ; how- 
 ever, she went with me to the door, for she could 
 not help it; when we were come there I whispered 
 

 Moll Flanders ^ Y 185'^ 
 
 her, ' Go, child,' said I, ' I understand your trade, you 
 may meet with purchase enough.' 
 
 She understood me and walked off; I thundered 
 at the door with the children, and as the people were 
 raised before by the noise of the fire, I was soon let 
 in, and I said, ' Is madam awake ? pray tell her Mrs. 
 
 desires the favour of her to take the two 
 
 children in ; poor lady, she will be undone, their 
 house is all of a flame.' They took the children in 
 very civilly, pitied the family in distress, and away 
 came I with my bundle. One of the maids asked 
 me if I was not to leave the bundle too ; I said, ' No, 
 sweetheart, 'tis to go to another place, it does not p 
 belong to them.' 
 
 I was a great way out of the hurry now, and so I 
 went on and brought the bundle of plate, which was 
 very considerable, straight home, to my old governess ; 
 she told me she would not look into it, but bade me 
 go again and look for more. 
 
 She gave me the like cue to the gentlewoman of 
 the next house to that which was on fire, and I did 
 my endeavour to go, but by this time the alarm of 
 fire was so great, and so many engines playing, and 
 the street so thronged with people, that I could not 
 get near the house, whatever I could do j so I came 
 back again to my governess's, and taking the bundle 
 up into my chamber I began to examine it. It is 
 with horror that I tell what a treasure I found there ; 
 
1 86 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 'tis enough to say, that besides most of the family 
 plate, which was considerable, I found a gold chain, 
 an old-fashioned thing, the locket of which was broken, 
 so -that I suppose it had not been used some years, 
 but the O'old was not the worse for that : also a little 
 box of burying rings, the lady's wedding-ring, and 
 some broken bits of old lockets of gold, a gold watch, 
 and a purse with about ;£2 4 value in old pieces of 
 gold coin, and several other things of value. 
 
 This was the greatest and the worst prize that ever 
 I was concerned in ; for indeed, though, as I have 
 said above, I was hardened now beyond the power of 
 all reflection in other cases, yet it really touched me 
 to the very soul, when I looked into this treasure ; to 
 think of the poor disconsolate gentlewoman who had 
 lost so much besides ; and who would think to be 
 sure that she had saved her plate and best things ; 
 how she would be surprised when she should find 
 that she had been deceived, and that the person that 
 took her children and her goods, had come, as was 
 pretended, from the gentlewoman in next street, but 
 that the children had been put upon her without her 
 own knowledge. 
 
 I say, I confess the inhumanity of this action 
 moved me very much, and made me relent exceed- 
 ingly, and tears stood in my eyes upon that sub- 
 ject ; but with all my sense of its being cruel and in- 
 human, I could never find in my heart to make any 
 
Moll Flanders 187 
 
 restitution. The reflection wore off, and I quickly 
 forgot the circumstances that attended it. 
 
 Nor was this all ; for though by this job I was 
 become considerably richer than before, yet the 
 resolution I had formerly taken of leaving off this 
 horrid trade when I had gotten a little more ; and 
 the avarice had such success, that I had no more 
 thoughts of coming to a timely alteration of life, 
 though without it I could expect no safety, no tran- 
 quillity in the possession of what I had gained ; a 
 little more, and a little more, was the case still. 
 
 {She escapes continually^ but is caught at last. ) 
 
 I am drawing now towards a new variety of life. 
 Upon my return, being hardened by a long race of 
 crime, and success unparalleled, I had, as I have said, 
 no thoughts of laying down a trade which, if I was to 
 judge by the example of others, must however end at 
 last in misery and sorrow. 
 
 It was on the Christmas-day following, in the even- 
 ing, that, to finish a long train of w^ickedness, I went 
 abroad to see what might offer in my way ; when, 
 going by a working silversmith's in Foster-lane, I saw 
 a tempting bait indeed, and not to be resisted by one 
 of my occupa,tion ; for the shop had nobody in it, 
 and a great deal of loose plate lay in the window, and 
 at the seat of the man, who I suppose worked at one 
 side of the shop. 
 
1 88 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 I went boldly in, and was just going to lay my 
 hand upon a piece of plate, and might have done it, 
 and carried it clear off, for any care that the men 
 who belonged to the shop had taken of it ; but an 
 officious fellow in a house on the other side of the 
 way, seeing me go in, and that there w^as nobody in 
 the shop, comes running over the street, and without 
 asking me what I was, or who, seizes upon me, and 
 cries out for the people of the house. 
 
 I had not touched anything in the shop, and see- 
 ing a glimpse of somebody running over, I had so 
 much presence of mind as to knock very hard with 
 my foot on the floor of the house, and was just calling 
 out too, when the fellow laid hands on me. 
 
 However, as I had always most courage when I 
 was in most danger, so when he laid hands on me I 
 stood very high upon it, that I came in to buy half a 
 dozen of silver spoons ; and to my good fortune, it 
 was a silversmith's that sold plate, as well as worked 
 plate for other shops. The fellow laughed at that 
 part, and put such a value upon the service that he 
 had done his neighbour, that he would have it be 
 that I came not to buy, but to steal; and raising a great 
 crowd, I said to the master of the shop, who by this 
 time Avas fetched home from some neighbouring place, 
 that it was in vain to make a noise, and enter into 
 talk there of the case ; the fellow had insisted that I 
 came to steal, and he must prove it, and I desired w^e 
 
Moll Flanders 189 
 
 might go before a magistrate without any more words ; 
 for I began to see I should be too hard for the man 
 that had seized me. 
 
 The master and mistress of the shop were really 
 not so violent as the man from t'other side of the 
 way ; and the man said, ' Mistress, you might come 
 into the shop with a good design for aught I know, 
 but it seemed a dangerous thing for you to come into 
 such a shop as mine is, when you see nobody there ; 
 and I cannot do so little justice to my neighbour, who 
 was so kind, as not to acknowledge he had reason on 
 his side ; though upon the whole I do not find you 
 attempted to take anything, and I really know not 
 W'hat to do in it.' I pressed him to go before a 
 magistrate with me, and if anything could be proved 
 on me, that was like a design, I should willingly sub- 
 mit, but if not, I expected reparation. 
 
 Just while we were in this debate, and a crowd of 
 people gathered about the door, came by Sir T. B., 
 an alderman of the city, and justice of the peace, and 
 the goldsmith hearing of it, entreated his worship to 
 come in and decide the case. 
 
 Give the goldsmith his due, he told his story with 
 a great deal of justice and moderation, and the fellow 
 that had come over, and seized upon me, told his 
 with as much heat, and foolish passion, which did me 
 good still. It came then to my turn to speak, and I 
 told his worship that I was a stranger in London, 
 
I90 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 being newly come out of the north ; that I lodged in 
 such a place, that I was passing this street, and went 
 into a goldsmith's shop to buy half a dozen of spoons. 
 By great good luck I had an old silver spoon in my 
 pocket, which I pulled out, and told him I had carried 
 that spoon to match it with half a dozen of new ones, 
 that it might match some I had in the country. 
 
 That seeing nobody in the shop, I knocked with 
 my foot very hard to make the people hear, and had 
 also called aloud with my voice : 'tis true, there was 
 loose plate in the shop, but that nobody could say I 
 had touched any of it ; that a fellow came running 
 into the shop out of the street, and laid hands on me 
 in a furious manner, in the very moment while I was 
 calling for the people of the house ; that if he had 
 really had a mind to have done his neighbour any 
 service he should have stood at a distance, and 
 silently watched to see whether I had touched any- 
 thing, or no, and then have taken me in the fact. 
 ' That is very true,' says Mr. Alderman, and turning 
 to the fellow that stopt me, he asked him if it was 
 true that I knocked with my foot ? He said yes, I 
 had knocked, but that might be because of his com- 
 ing. ' Nay,' says the alderman, taking him short, 
 ' now you contradict yourself, for just now you said 
 she was in the shop with her back to you, and did 
 not see you till you came upon her.' Now it was 
 true that my back was partly to the street, but yet as 
 
Moll Flanders 191 
 
 my business was of a kind that required me to have 
 eyes every way, so I really had a glance of him 
 running over, as I said before, though he did not 
 perceive it. 
 
 After a full hearing, the alderman gave it as his 
 opinion that his neighbour was under a mistake, and 
 that I was innocent, and the goldsmith acquiesced in 
 it too, and his wife, and so I was dismissed ; but as I 
 was going to depart, Mr. Alderman said, ' But hold, 
 madam, if you were designing to buy spoons, I hope 
 you will not let my friend here lose his customer by 
 the mistake.' I readily answered, ' No, sir, I'll buy the 
 spoons still, if he can match my odd spoon, which I 
 brought for a pattern,' and the goldsmith showed me 
 some of the very same fashion ; so he weighed the 
 spoons, and they came to 35s., so I pulls out my 
 purse to pay him, in which I had near twenty guineas, 
 for I never went without such a sum about me, what- 
 ever might happen, and I found it of use at other 
 times as well as now. 
 
 When Mr. Alderman saw my money, he said, 
 ' Well, madam, now I am satisfied you were wronged, 
 and it was for this reason that I moved you should 
 buy the spoons, and stayed till you had bought them, 
 for if you had not had money to pay for them I 
 should have suspected that you did not come into the 
 shop to buy, for the sort of people who come upon 
 those designs that you have been charged with, are 
 
192 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 seldom troubled with much gold in their pockets, as 
 I see you are.' 
 
 I smiled, and told his worship, that then I owed 
 something of his favour to my money, but I hoped he 
 saw reason also in the justice he had done me before. 
 He said, yes, he had, but this had confirmed his 
 opinion, and he was fully satisfied now of my having 
 been injured. So I came well off from an affair in 
 which I was at the very brink of destruction. 
 
 It was but three days after this, that not at all 
 made cautious by my former danger, as I used to be, 
 and still pursuing the art which I had so long been 
 employed in, I ventured into a house where I saw the 
 doors open, and furnished myself as I thought verily 
 without being perceived, with two pieces of flowered 
 silks, such as they call brocaded silk, very rich. It 
 was not a mercer's shop, nor a warehouse of a mercer, 
 but looked like a private dwelling-house, and was, it 
 seems, inhabited by a man that sold goods for a 
 weaver to the mercers, like a broker or factor. 
 
 That I may make short of the black part of this 
 story, I was attacked by two wenches that came open- 
 mouthed at me just as I was going out at the door, 
 and one of them pulled me back into the room, while 
 the other shut the door upon me. I would have 
 given them good words, but there was no room for it ; 
 two fiery dragons could not have been more furious ; 
 they tore my clothes, bullied and roared, as if they 
 
Moll Flanders 193 
 
 would have murdered me \ the mistress of the house 
 came next, and then the master, and all outrageous. 
 
 I gave the master very good words, told him the 
 door was open, and things were a temptation to me, 
 that I was poor and distressed, and poverty was what 
 many could not resist, and begged him, with tears, to 
 have pity on me. The mistress of the house was 
 moved with compassion, and inclined to have let me 
 go, and had almost persuaded her husband to it also, 
 but the saucy wenches were run even before they 
 were sent, and had fetched a constable, and then the 
 master said he could not go back, I must go before a 
 justice ; and, answered his wife, that he might come 
 into trouble himself if he should let me go. 
 
 The sight of a constable indeed struck me, and I 
 thought I should have sunk into the ground ; I fell 
 into faintings, and indeed the people themselves 
 thought I would have died, when the woman argued 
 again for me, and entreated her husband, seeing they 
 had lost nothing, to let me go. I offered him to pay 
 for the two pieces, whatever the value was, though I 
 had not got them, and argued that as he had his 
 [jgoods, and had really lost nothing, it would be cruel 
 to pursue me to death, and have my blood for the 
 bare attempt of taking them. I put the constable in 
 mind too that I had broke no doors, nor carried any- 
 thing away ; and when I came to the justice, and 
 pleaded there that I had neither broken anything to 
 
 o 
 
194 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 get in, nor carried anything out, the justice was in- 
 cUned to have released me ; but the first saucy jade 
 that stopped me, affirming that I was going out with 
 the goods, but that she stopped me and pulled me 
 back, the justice upon that point committed me, and 
 I was carried to Newgate, that horrid place ! My 
 very blood chills at the mention of its name ; the 
 place where so many of my comrades had been locked 
 up, and from whence they went to the fatal tree ; the 
 place where my mother suffered so deeply, where I 
 was brought into the world, and from whence I ex- 
 pected no redemption, but by an infamous death : to 
 conclude, the place that had so long expected me, 
 and which with so much art and success I had so long 
 avoided. 
 
 I was now fixed indeed ; 'tis impossible to describe 
 the terror of my mind, when I was first brought in, 
 and when I looked round upon all the horrors of that 
 dismal place : I looked on myself as lost, and that I 
 had nothing to think of but of going out of the world, 
 and that with the utmost infamy ; the hellish noise, 
 the roaring, swearing and clamour, the stench and 
 nastiness, and all the dreadful afflicting things that I 
 saw there, joined to make the place seem an emblem 
 of hell itself, and a kind of an entrance into it. 
 
 Now I reproached myself with the many hints I 
 had had, as I have mentioned above, from my own 
 reason, from the sense of my good circumstances, and 
 
Moll Flaiiders 195 
 
 of the many dangers I had escaped, to leave off while 
 I was well, and how I had withstood them all, and 
 hardened my thoughts against all fear ; it seemed to 
 me that I was hurried on by an inevitable fate to this 
 day of misery, and that now I was to expiate all my 
 offences at the gallows ; that I was now to give satis- 
 faction to justice with my blood, and that I was to 
 come to the last hour of my life and of my wicked- 
 ness together. These things poured- themselves in 
 upon my thoughts in a confused manner, and left me 
 overwhelmed with melancholy and despair. 
 
 Then I repented heartily of all my life past, but 
 that repentance yielded me no satisfaction, no peace, 
 no, not in the least, because, as I said to myself, it 
 was repenting after the power of farther sinning was 
 taken away. I seemed not to mourn that I had com- 
 mitted such crimes, and for the fact, as it was an 
 offence against God and my neighbour ; but that I 
 was to be punished for it ; I was a penitent as I 
 thought, not that I had sinned, but that I was to 
 suffer, and this took away all the comfort of my 
 repentance in my own thoughts. 
 
 I got no sleep for several nights or days after I 
 came into that wretched place, and glad I would have 
 been for some time to have died there, though I did 
 not consider dying as it ought to be considered 
 neither ; indeed nothing could be filled with more 
 horror to my imagination than the very place, nothing 
 
196 Defois Minor Novels 
 
 was more odious to me than the company that was 
 there. O ! if I had but been sent to any place in 
 the world, and not to Newgate, I should have thought 
 myself happy. 
 
 In the next place, how did the hardened wretches 
 that were there before me triumph over me ! What ! 
 Mrs. Flanders come to Newgate at last ? What, Mrs. 
 Mary, Mrs. Molly, and after that plain Moll Flanders ! 
 They thought the devil had helped me, they said, 
 that I had reigned so long ; they expected me there 
 many years ago, they said, and was I come at last ? 
 Then they flouted me with dejection, welcomed me 
 to the place, wished me joy, bid me have a good 
 heart, not be cast down, things might not be so bad 
 as I feared, and the like ; then called for brandy, and 
 drank to me ; but put it all up to my score, for they 
 told me I was but just come to the college, as they 
 called it, and sure I had money in my pocket, though 
 they had none. 
 
 I asked one of this crew how long she had been 
 there. She said four months. I asked her how the 
 place looked to her when she first came into it? 
 ' Just as it did now to me,' says she, ' dreadful and 
 frightful ; ' that she thought she was in hell ; ' and I 
 believe so still,' adds she, ' but it is natural to me now, 
 I don't disturb myself about it' *I suppose,' says I, 
 ' you are in no danger of what is to follow.' ' Nay,' says 
 she, ' you are mistaken there I am sure, for I am under 
 
Moll Flanders 197 
 
 sentence, :??*** 
 
 * '-^ '•' * and I expect 
 
 to be called down next session/ This ' calling down ' 
 is calling down to their former judgment, * 
 
 TF" ^ ^ ^ 7^ 
 
 ^ * ■ * i Well,' says I, ' and are 
 
 you thus easy ?' ' Ay,' says she, ' I can't help myself, 
 what signifies being sad? if I am hanged there's an 
 end of me.' And away she turned dancing, and sings 
 as she goes, the following piece of Newgate wit : 
 
 ' If I swing by the string, 
 I shall hear the bell ring i • 
 And then there's an end of poor Jenny.' 
 
 I mention this because it would be worth the 
 observation of any prisoner, who shall hereafter fall 
 into the same misfortune, and come to that dreadful 
 place of Newgate, how time, necessity, and convers- 
 ing with the wretches that are there, familiarises the 
 place to them ; how at last they become reconciled 
 to that which at first was the greatest dread upon 
 their spirits in the world, and are as impudently 
 cheerful and merry in their misery as they were when 
 out of it. 
 
 I cannot say, as some do, this devil is not so black 
 as he is painted ; for indeed no colours can represent 
 that place to the life ; nor any soul conceive aright of 
 
 ^ The bell at St. Sepulchre's, which tolls upon execution- 
 day. 
 
198 Defo^s Minor Novels 
 
 it, but those who have been sufferers there. But 
 how hell should become by degrees so natural, and 
 not only tolerable, but even agreeable, is a thing un- 
 intelligible, but by those who have experienced it, as 
 I have. 
 
 The same night that I was sent to Newgate I 
 sent the news of it to my old governess, who was sur- 
 prised at it you may be sure, and spent the night 
 almost as ill out of Newgate as I did in it. 
 
 The next morning she came to see me ; she did 
 what she could to comfort me, but she saw that was 
 to no purpose ; however, as she said, to sink under 
 the weight was but to increase the weight ; she im- 
 mediately applied herself to all the proper methods 
 to prevent the effects of it, which we feared, and first 
 she found out the two fiery jades that had surprised 
 me ; she tampered with them, persuaded them, 
 offered them money, and, in a word, tried all imagin- 
 able ways to prevent a prosecution ; she offered one 
 of the wenches ;£ioo to go aw^ay from her mistress, 
 and not to appear against me ; but she was so resolute, 
 that though she was but a servant-maid at £yTy a year 
 wages, or thereabouts, she refused it, and would have 
 refused, as my governess said she believed, if she had 
 offered her ;^5oo. Then she attacked the other 
 maid ; she was not so hard-hearted as the other, and 
 sometimes seemed inclined to be merciful ; but the 
 first wench kept her up, and would not so much as 
 
Moll Flanders 199 
 
 let my governess talk with her, but threatened to 
 have her up for tampering with the evidence. 
 
 Then she applied to the master, that is to say, the 
 man whose goods had been stolen, and particularly 
 to his wife, who was inclined at first to have some 
 compassion for me ; she found the woman the same 
 still, but the man alleged he was bound to prosecute, 
 and that he should forfeit his recognisance. 
 
 My governess offered to find friends that should 
 get his recognisance off the file, as they call it, 
 and that he should not suffer ; but it was not possible 
 to convince him that he could be safe any way in the 
 world but by appearing against me ; so I was to have 
 three witnesses of fact against me, the master and his 
 two maids ; that is to say, I was as certain to be cast 
 for my life as I was that I was alive, and I had nothing 
 to do but to think of dying. I had but a sad founda- 
 tion to build upon for that, as I said before, for all 
 my repentance appeared to me to be only the effect 
 of my fear of death, not a sincere regret for the wicked 
 life that I had lived, and which had brought this 
 misery upon me, or for the offending my Creator, 
 who was now suddenly to be my judge. 
 
 I lived many days here under the utmost horror ; 
 I had death as it were in view, and thought of nothing 
 night or day, but of gibbets and halters, evil spirits 
 and devils ; it is not to be expressed how I was 
 harassed, between the dreadful apprehensions of death, 
 
200 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 and the terror of my conscience reproaching me with 
 my past horrible Hfe. 
 
 The ordinary of Newgate came to me, and talked 
 a Httle in his way, but all his divinity run upon con- 
 fessing my crime, as he called it (though he knew 
 not what I was in for), making a full discovery, and 
 the like, without which he told me God would never 
 forgive me ; and he said so little to the purpose that 
 I had no manner of consolation from him ; and then 
 to observe the poor creature preaching confession and 
 repentance to me in the morning, and find him 
 drunk with brandy by noon, this had something in it 
 so shocking, that I began to nauseate the man, and 
 his work too by degrees, for the sake of the man ; so 
 that I desired him to trouble me no more. 
 
 I know not how it was, but by the indefatigable 
 application of my diligent governess I had no bill 
 preferred against me the first session, I mean to the 
 grand jury, at Guildhall ; so I had another month or 
 five weeks before me, and without doubt this ought 
 to have been accepted by me as so much time given 
 me for reflection upon what was past, and preparation 
 for what was to come ; I ought to have esteemed it 
 as a space given me for repentance, and have em- 
 ployed it as such ; but it was not in me. I was 
 sorry, as before, for being in Newgate, but had few 
 signs of repentance about me. 
 
 On the contrary, like the water in the hollows of 
 
Moll Flanders 201 
 
 mountains, which petrifies and turns into stone what- 
 ever they are suffered to drop upon ; so the continual 
 conversing with such a crew of hell-hounds had the 
 same common operation upon me as upon other 
 people ; I degenerated into stone, I turned first 
 stupid and senseless, and then brutish and thought- 
 less, and at last raving mad as any of them ; in short, 
 I became as naturally pleased and easy with the 
 place, as if indeed I had been born there. 
 
 It is scarce possible to imagine that our natures 
 should be capable of so much degeneracy, as to make 
 that pleasant and agreeable, that in itself is the most 
 complete misery. Here was a circumstance, that I 
 think it is scarce possible to mention a worse ; I was 
 as exquisitely miserable as it was possible for any 
 one to be, that had life and health, and money to 
 help them as I had. 
 
 I had a weight of guilt upon me, enough to sink 
 any creature who had the least power of reflection 
 left, and had any sense upon them of the happiness 
 of this life, or the misery of another ; I had at first 
 some remorse indeed, but no repentance ; I had now 
 neither remorse or repentance. I had a crime 
 charged on me, the punishment of which was death ; 
 the proof so evident, that there was no room for me, 
 so much as to plead Not guilty ; I had the name of 
 an old offender, so that I had nothing to expect but 
 death, neither had I myself any thoughts of escaping, 
 
202 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 and yet a certain strange lethargy of soul possessed me ; 
 I had no trouble, no apprehensions, no sorrow about 
 me ; the first surprise was gone ; I was, I may well 
 say, I know not how ; my senses, my reason, nay, my 
 conscience, were all asleep ; my course of life for 
 forty years had been a horrid complication of wicked- 
 ness, whoredom, adultery, incest, lying, theft, and, in 
 a word, everything but murder and treason had been 
 my practice, from the age of eighteen, or thereabouts, 
 to threescore ; and now I was ingulfed in the misery 
 of punishment, and had an infamous death at the 
 door, and yet I had no sense of my condition, no 
 thought of heaven or hell, at least that went any 
 further than a bare flying touch, like the stitch or 
 pain that gives a hint and goes off; I neither had a 
 heart to ask God's mercy, or indeed to think of it. 
 And in this I think I have given a brief description 
 of the completest misery on earth. 
 
 {hi Newgate she ?fieefs her highwayman husba?2d, is 
 condemned to death but reprieved^ ajid is 7vith him sent to 
 A??2erica, where she has i?i early life unwittingly married 
 her brother. She comes to terms with her family there, 
 becotnes prosperous, and dies in the odour of sanctity. 
 But the interest ceases with her reprieve.^ 
 
IIL_' MEMOIRS OF A CAVALIER' 
 
 (These Memoirs rmik second to {or may even be 
 bracketed witli) Moll Flanders among Defoe^s inventions 
 other than Robinson Crusoe, supposing that they are 
 i?iventio7ts, or rather {for the facts are exactly enough 
 drawn from Clarendo7i and other sources^ workings up of 
 public niaterial. If they are anything else, it is practi- 
 cally incomprehensible that they should not have been 
 chmned. They are purely descriptive, and have little 
 or no ifiterest of character, though an early scene with 
 an Italian courtezan {not in the modern taste) has 
 rejnarkable merits. The first passage I take shall be 
 the passage of the lech, for the Cavalier, like Captain 
 Dalgetty, serves the great Gustavus. ) 
 
 Tilly was now joined with the Duke of Bavaria, 
 and might together make about twenty-two thousand 
 men ; and in order to keep the Swedes out of the 
 country of Bavaria, had planted themselves along the 
 banks of the river Lech, which runs on the edge of 
 
204 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 the duke's territories ; and having fortified the other 
 side of the river, and planted his cannon for several 
 miles, at all the convenient places on the river, 
 resolved to dispute the king's passage, 
 
 I shall be the longer in relating this account of 
 the Lech, being esteemed in those days as great an 
 action as any battle or siege of that age, and particu- 
 larly famous for the disaster of the gallant old general 
 Tilly ; and for that I can be more particular in it 
 than other accounts, having been an eye-witness to 
 every part of it. 
 
 The king being truly informed of the disposition 
 of the Bavarian army, was once of the mind to have 
 left the banks of the Lech, have repassed the Danube, 
 and so setting down before Ingolstat, the duke's 
 capital city, by the taking that strong town, to have 
 made his entrance into Bavaria and the conquest of 
 such a fortress, one entire action ; but the strength of 
 the place, and the difficulty of maintaining his army 
 in an enemy's country, while Tilly was so strong in 
 the field, diverted him from that design ; he therefore 
 concluded that Tilly was first to be beaten out of the 
 country, and then the siege of Ingolstat would be 
 easier. 
 
 'Whereupon the king resolved to go and view the 
 situation of the enemy. His majesty went out the 
 2nd of April with a strong party of horse, which I had 
 the honour to command ; we marched as near as we 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 205 
 
 could to the banks of the river, not to be too much 
 exposed to the enemy's cannon, and having gained a 
 httle height, where the whole course of the river 
 might be seen, the king halted, and commanded to 
 draw up. The king alighted, and calling me to him, 
 examined every reach and turning of the river by his 
 glass, but finding the river run a long and almost a 
 straight course, he could find no place which he 
 liked, but at last turning himself north, and looking 
 down the stream, he found the river fetching a long 
 reach, double short upon itself, making a round and 
 very narrow point. 'There's a point will do our 
 business,' says the king, 'and, if the ground be good, 
 I'll pass there, let Tilly do his worst.' 
 
 He immediately ordered a small party of horse to 
 view the ground, and to bring him word particularly 
 how high the bank was on each side and at the point ; 
 'and he shall have fifty dollars,' says the king, 'that will 
 bring me word how deep the water is.' I asked his 
 majesty leave to let me go, which he would by no 
 means allow of; but as the party was drawing out, a 
 Serjeant of dragoons told the king, if he pleased to 
 let him go disguised as a boor, he would bring him 
 an account of everything he desired. The king liked 
 the motion well enough, and the fellow being very 
 well acquainted with the country, puts on a plough- 
 man's habit, and went away immediately with a long 
 pole upon his shoulder ; the horse lay all this while 
 
2o6 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 in the woods, and the king stood undiscerned by the 
 enemy on the Httle hill aforesaid. The dragoon with 
 his long pole comes down boldly to the bank of the 
 river, and calling to the sentinels which Tilly had 
 placed on the other bank, talked with them, asked 
 them if they could not help him over the river, and 
 pretended he wanted to come to them. At last be- 
 ing come to the point, where, as I said, the river 
 makes a short turn, he stands parleying with them a 
 great while, and sometimes pretending to wade over, 
 he puts his long pole into the water, then finding it 
 pretty shallow, he pulls off his hose and goes in, still 
 thrusting his pole in before him, till being gotten up 
 to his middle, he could reach beyond him, where it 
 was too deep, and so shaking his head, comes back 
 again. The soldiers on the other side laughing at 
 him, asked him if he could swim ? He said no. 
 'Why you fool you,' says one of the sentinels, 'the 
 channel, of the river is twenty feet deep.' ' How do 
 you know that ? ' says the dragoon. ' Why our 
 engineer,' says he, 'measured it yesterday.' This 
 was what he wanted, but not yet fully satisfied ; ' Ay 
 but,' says he, ' may be it may not be very broad, and 
 if one of you would wade in to meet me till I could 
 reach you with my pole, I'd give him half a ducat to 
 pull me over.' The innocent way of his discourse so 
 deluded the soldiers, that one of them immediately 
 strips and goes in up to the shoulders, and our 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 207 
 
 dragoon goes in on this side to meet him ; but the 
 stream took the other soldier away, and he being a 
 good swimmer, came swimming over to this side. 
 The dragoon was then in a great deal of pain for fear 
 of being discovered, and was once going to kill the 
 fellow, and make off; but at last resolved to carry on 
 the humour, and having entertained the fellow with a 
 tale of a tub, about the Swedes stealing his oats, the 
 fellow being cold, wanted to be gone, and as he was 
 willing to be rid of him, pretended to be very sorry 
 he could not get over the river, and so makes off. 
 
 By this, however, he learned both the depth and 
 breadth of the channel, the bottom and nature of 
 both shores, and everything the king wanted to know. 
 We could see him from the hill by our glasses very 
 plain, and could see the soldier naked with him ; says 
 the king, 'He will certainly be discovered and knocked 
 on the head from the other side : he is a fool,' says 
 the king, ' if he does not kill the fellow and run off; ' 
 but when the dragoon told his tale, the king was ex- 
 tremely well satisfied with him, gave him one hundred 
 dollars, and made him a quarter-master to a troop of 
 cuirassiers. 
 
 The king having further examined the dragoon, he 
 gave him a very distinct account of the shore and 
 ground on this side, which he found to be higher 
 than the enemy's by ten or twelve foot, and a hard 
 gravel. 
 
2o8 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 Hereupon the king resolves to pass there, and in 
 order to it, gives himself particular directions for such 
 a bridge as I believe never army passed a river on 
 before nor since. 
 
 His bridge was only loose planks laid upon large 
 trestles, in the same homely manner as I have seen 
 bricklayers raise a low scaffold to build a brick wall ; 
 the trestles were made higher than one another to 
 answer to the river, as it became deeper or shallower, 
 and [it] was all framed and fitted before any appear- 
 ance was made of attempting to pass. 
 
 When all was ready, the king brings his army 
 down to the bank of the river, and plants his cannon 
 as the enemy had done, some here and some there, 
 to amuse them. 
 
 At night, April 4th, the king commanded about 
 two thousand men to march to the point, and to 
 throw up a trench on either side, and quite round it, 
 with a battery of six pieces of cannon at each end, 
 besides three small mounts, one at the point and one 
 of each side, which had each of them two pieces upon 
 them. This work was begun so briskly, and so well 
 carried on, the king firing all the night from the other 
 parts of the river, that by daylight all the batteries at 
 the new work were mounted, the trench lined with 
 two thousand musketeers, and all the utensils of the 
 bridge lay ready to be put together. 
 
 Now the imperialists discovered the design, but it 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 209 
 
 j was too late to hinder it The musketeers in the 
 j great trench, and the five new batteries, made such 
 I continual fire, that the other bank which, as before, 
 lay twelve feet below them, was too hot for the 
 imperialists ; whereupon Tilly, to be provided for the 
 king, at his coming over, falls to work in a wood right 
 against the point, and raises a great battery for twenty 
 pieces of cannon, with a breastwork, or line, as near 
 the river as he could, to cover his men, thinking that 
 when the king had built his bridge, he might easily 
 beat it down with his cannon. 
 
 But the king had doubly prevented him, first, by 
 laying his bridge so low that none of Tilly's shot could 
 hurt it ; for the bridge lay not above half a foot above 
 the water's edge, by which means the king, who in 
 that showed himself an excellent engineer, had 
 secured it from any batteries to be made within the 
 land, and the angle of the bank secured it from the 
 remoter batteries on the other side, and the continual 
 fire of the cannon and small shot beat the imperialists 
 from their station just against it, they having no 
 iworks to cover them. 
 
 ' And in the second place, to secure his passage, he 
 [sent over about two hundred men, and after that two 
 jhundred more, who had orders to cast up a large 
 jravelin on the other bank, just where he designed to 
 land his bridge ; this was done with such expedition 
 ;oo, that it was finished before night, and in condition 
 
 p 
 
210 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 to receive all the shot of Tilly's great battery, and 
 effectually covered his bridge. While this was doing, 
 the king on his side lays over his bridge. Both sides 
 wrought hard all day and all night, as if the spade, 
 not the sword, had been to decide the controversy, 
 and that he had got the victory whose trenches and 
 batteries were first ready. In the meanwhile the 
 cannon and musket bullets flew like hail, and made 
 the service so hot, that both sides had enough to do 
 to make their men stand to their work ; the king in 
 the hottest of it, animated his men by his presence, 
 and Tilly, to give him his due, did the same ; for the 
 execution was so great, and so many officers killed, 
 General Attringer wounded, and two serjeant-majors 
 killed, that at last Tilly himself was obliged to expose 
 himself, and to come up to the very face of our line 
 to encourage his men, and give his necessary orders. 
 
 And here, about one o'clock, much about the 
 time that the king's bridge and works were finished, 
 and just as they said he had ordered to fall on upon 
 our ravelin with three thousand foot, was the brave 
 old Tilly slain with a musket bullet in the thigh. He 
 was carried off to Ingolstat, and lived some days after, 
 but died of that wound the same day as the king had 
 his horse shot under him at the siege of that town. 
 
 We made no question of passing the river here, 
 having brought everything so forward, and with such 
 extraordinary success ; but we should have found it a 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 211 
 
 very hot piece of work if Tilly had lived one day 
 more ; and, if I may give my opinion of it, having 
 seen Tilly's battery and breastwork, in the face of 
 which we must have passed the river, I must say, 
 that whenever we had marched, if Tilly had fallen in 
 with his horse and foot, placed in that trench, the 
 whole army would have passed as much danger as in 
 the face of a strong town in the storming a counter- 
 scarp. The king himself, when he saw with what 
 judgment Tilly had prepared his works, and w^hat 
 danger he must have run, would often say, that day's 
 success w^as every way equal to the victory of Leipsic. 
 
 Tilly being hurt and carried off, as if the soul of 
 the army had been lost, they began to draw off; the 
 Duke of Bavaria took horse, and rid away as if he 
 had fled out of battle for his life. 
 
 The other generals, with a little more caution, as 
 well as courage, drew off by degrees, sending their 
 cannon and baggage away first, and leaving some to 
 continue firing on the bank of the river to conceal 
 their retreat. The river preventing any intelligence, 
 we knew nothing of the disaster befallen them ; and 
 the king, who looked for blows, having finished his 
 bridge and ravelin, ordered to run a line of palisadoes, 
 to take in more ground on the bank of the river, to 
 cover the first troops he should send over ; this being 
 finished the same night, the king sends over a party 
 of his guards to relieve the men who were in the 
 
212 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 ravelin, and commanded six hundred musketeers to 
 man the new Hne out of the Scots' brigade. 
 
 Early in the morning, a small party of Scots, com- 
 manded by one Captain Forbes, of my Lord Rea's 
 regiment, were sent out to learn something of the 
 enemy, the king observing they had not fired all 
 night ; and while this party were abroad, the army 
 stood in battalia, and my old friend. Sir John 
 Hepburn, whom of all men the king most depended 
 upon for any desperate service, was ordered to pass 
 the bridge with his brigade, and to draw up without 
 the line, with command to advance as he found the 
 horse, who were to second him, came over. 
 
 Sir John being passed without the trench, meets 
 Captain Forbes with some prisoners, and the good 
 news of the enemy's retreat. He sends him directly 
 to the king, who was by this time at the head of his 
 army, in full battaha, ready to follow his vanguard, 
 expecting a hot day's work of it. Sir John sends 
 messenger after messenger to the king, entreating 
 him to give him orders to advance ; but the king 
 would not suffer him ; for he was ever upon his 
 guard, and would not venture a surprise ; so the 
 army continued on this side the Lech all day and the 
 next night. In the morning the king sent for me, 
 and ordered me to draw out three hundred horse, 
 and a colonel with six hundred horse, and a colonel 
 with eight hundred dragoons, and ordered us to enter 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 213 
 
 the wood by three ways, but so as to be able to reHeve 
 one another; and then ordered Sir John Hepburn, 
 with his brigade, to advance to the edge of the w^ood, 
 to secure our retreat ; and at the same time com- 
 manded another brigade of foot to pass the bridge, if 
 need w^ere, to second Sir John Hepburn, so warily 
 did this prudent general proceed. 
 
 We advanced with our horse into the Bavarian 
 camp, which we found forsaken ; the plunder of it 
 was inconsiderable, for the exceeding caution the king 
 had used gave them time to carry of£ all their bag- 
 gage ; we followed them three or four miles, and 
 returned to our camp. 
 
 I confess I was most diverted that day with view- 
 ing the works which Tilly had cast up, and must own 
 again, that had he not been taken off, we had met 
 with as desperate a piece of work as ever w^as 
 attempted. The next day the rest of the cavalry 
 came up to us, commanded by Gustavus Horn, and 
 the king and the whole army followed ; we advanced 
 through the heart of Bavaria, took Rain at the first 
 summons, and several other small towns, and sat 
 dow^n before Ausburg. 
 
 Ausburg, though a protestant city, had a popish 
 Bavarian garrison in it of above five thousand men, 
 commanded by a Fiigger, a great family in Bavaria. 
 The governor had posted several little parties, as out- 
 scouts, at the distance of two miles and a half, or 
 
214 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 three miles, from the town. The king, at his coming 
 up to this town, sends me with my Httle troop, and 
 three companies of dragoons, to beat in these out- 
 scouts. The first party I Hght on was not above 
 sixteen men, who had made a small barricado across 
 the road, and stood resolutely upon their guard. I 
 commanded the dragoons to alight, and open the 
 barricado, which, while they resolutely performed, the 
 sixteen men gave them two volleys of their muskets, 
 and through the enclosures made their retreat to a 
 turnpike about a quarter of a mile farther. We 
 passed their first traverse, and coming up to the 
 turnpike I found it defended by two hundred 
 musketeers. I prepared to attack them, sending 
 word to the king how strong the enemy was, and 
 desired some foot to be sent to me. My dragoons 
 fell on, and though the enemy made a very hot fire, 
 had beat them from this post before two hundred 
 foot, which the king had sent me, had come up. 
 Being joined with the foot, I followed the enemy, 
 who retreated fighting, till they came under the can- 
 non of a strong redoubt, where they drew up, and I 
 could see another body of foot of about three hundred 
 join them out of the works ; upon which I halted, 
 and considering I was in view of the town, and a 
 great way from the army, I faced about, and began to 
 march off; as we marched I found the enemy followed, 
 but kept at a distance, as if they only designed to 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 215 
 
 observe me. I had not marched far, but I heard a 
 volley of small shot, answered by two or three more, 
 which I presently apprehended to be at the turnpike, 
 where I had left a small guard of twenty-six men, 
 with a lieutenant. Immediately I detached one 
 hundred dragoons to relieve my men, and secure my 
 retreat, following myself as fast as the foot could 
 march. The lieutenant sent me back word the post 
 was taken by the enemy, and my men cut off} upon 
 this I doubled my pace, and when I came up I found 
 it as the lieutenant said ; for the post was taken and 
 manned with three hundred musketeers, and three 
 troops of horse \ by this time also I found the party 
 in my rear made up towards me, so that I was like to 
 be charged, in a narrow place, both in front and 
 rear. 
 
 I saw there was no remedy but with all my force 
 to fall upon that party before me, and so to break 
 through before those from the town could come up 
 with me ; wherefore, commanding my dragoons to 
 alight, I ordered them to fall on upon the foot ; their 
 horse were drawn up in an enclosed field on one side 
 of the road, a great ditch securing the other side, so 
 that they thought, if I charged the foot in front, they 
 would fall upon my flank, while those behind would 
 charge my rear ; and indeed had the other come in 
 time, they had cut me off. My dragoons made three 
 fair charges on their foot, but were received with so 
 
2i6 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 much resolution, and so brisk a fire, that they were 
 beaten off, and sixteen men killed. Seeing them so 
 rudely handled, and the horse ready to fall in, I 
 relieved them with one hundred musketeers, and they 
 renewed the attack at the same time with my troop 
 of horse ; flanked on both wings with fifty musketeers, 
 I faced their horse, but did not offer to charge them ; 
 the case grew now desperate, and the enemy behind 
 were just at my heels, with near six hundred men. 
 The captain who commanded the musketeers, who 
 flanked my horse, came up to me ; says he, ' If we 
 do not force this pass all will be lost; if you will 
 draw out your troop and twenty of my foot, and fall 
 in, I'll engage to keep off the horse with the rest.' 
 ' With all my heart,' says I. 
 
 Immediately I wheeled off my troop, and a small 
 party of the musketeers followed me, and fell in with 
 the dragoons and foot, who seeing the danger too, as 
 well as I, fought like madmen ; the foot at the turn- 
 pike were not able to hinder our breaking through, 
 so we made our way out, killing about one hundred 
 and fifty of them, and put the rest into confusion. 
 
 But now was I in as great a difficulty as before, 
 how to fetch off my brave captain of foot, for they 
 charged home upon him. He defended himself with 
 extraordinary gallantry, having the benefit T)f a piece 
 of a hedge to cover him ; but he lost half his men, 
 and was just upon the point of being defeated, when 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 217 
 
 the king, informed by a soldier that escaped from the 
 turnpike, one of twenty -six, had sent a party of six 
 hundred dragoons to bring me off. These came 
 upon the spur, and joined with me just as I had 
 broke through the turnpike ; the enemy's foot rallied 
 behind their horse, and by this time their other party 
 was come in, but seeing our relief, they drew off 
 together, 
 
 I lost above a hundred men in these skirmishes, 
 and killed them about one hundred and eighty ; we 
 secured the turnpike, and placed a company of foot 
 there, with a hundred dragoons, and came back well 
 beaten to the army. The king, to prevent such un- 
 certain skirmishes, advanced the next day in view of 
 the town, and, according to his custom, sits down 
 with his whole army within cannon-shot of their 
 walls. 
 
 The king won this great city by force of words ; 
 for by two or three messages and letters to and from 
 the citizens, the town was gained, the garrison not 
 daring to defend them against their wills. His 
 majesty made his public entrance "into the city on 
 the 14th of April, and, receiving the comphments of 
 the citizens, advanced immediately to Ingolstat, which 
 is accounted, and really is, the strongest town in all 
 these parts. 
 
 The town had a very strong garrison in it, and the 
 Duke of Bavaria lay intrenched with his army under 
 
2i8 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 the walls of it, on the other side of the river. The 
 king, who never loved long sieges, having viewed the 
 town, and brought his army within musket-shot of it, 
 called a council of war, where it was the king's 
 opinion, in short, that the town would lose him more 
 than it was worth, and therefore he resolved to raise 
 his siege. 
 
 Here the king going to view the town, had his 
 horse shot with a cannon-bullet from the works, which 
 tumbled the king and his horse over one another, 
 that everybody thought he had been killed, but he 
 received no hurt at all ; that very minute, as near as 
 could be learnt. General Tilly died in the town, of 
 the shot he received on the bank of the Lech as 
 aforesaid. 
 
 {The seco7id piece must of necessity be the famous retreat 
 from Marston Moor^ which good Jtidges hax^e pro?iounced 
 to be, if it be the invented work of a civilia?t of letters, 
 the most extraordinary thing of the kind ever dojie.) 
 
 I had but very coarse treatment in this fight; for 
 returning with the prince from the pursuit of the right 
 wing, and finding all lost, I halted, with some .other 
 officers, to consider what to do ; at first we were for 
 making our retreat in a body, and might have done 
 so well enough, if we had known what had happened 
 before we saw ourselves in the middle of the enemy ; 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 219 
 
 for Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had got together his 
 scattered troops, and joined by some of the left wing, 
 knowing who we were, charged us with great fury. 
 It was not a time to think of anything but getting 
 away, or dying upon the spot ; the prince kept on in 
 the front, and Sir Thomas Fairfax, by this charge, cut 
 off about three regiments of us from our body, but 
 bending his main strength at the prince, left us, as it 
 were, behind him, in the middle of the field of battle. 
 We took this for the only opportunity we could have 
 to get off, and joining together, we made across the 
 place of battle in as good order as we could, with our 
 carbines presented. In this posture we passed by 
 several bodies of the enemy's foot, who stood with 
 their pikes charged to keep us off; but they had no 
 occasion, for we had no design to meddle with them, 
 but to get from them. Thus we made a swift march, 
 and thought ourselves pretty secure ; but our work 
 was not done yet, for, on a sudden, we saw ourselves 
 under a necessity of fighting our way through a great 
 body of Manchester's horse, who came galloping upon 
 us over the moor. They had, as we- suppose, been 
 pursuing 'some of our broken troops which were fled 
 before, and seeing us, they gave us a home charge. 
 We received them as well as we could, but pushed to 
 get through them, which at last we did with a consid- 
 erable loss to them. However, we lost so many men, 
 either killed or separated from us (for all could not 
 
220 Defoe^s Miiior Novels 
 
 follow the same way), that of our three regiments we 
 could not be above four hundred horse together when 
 we got quite clear, and these were mixt men, some of 
 one troop and regiment, some of another. Not that 
 I believe many of us were killed in the last attack, 
 for we had plainly the better of the enemy ; but our 
 design being to get off, some shifted for themselves 
 one way, and some another, in the best manner they 
 could, and as their several fortunes guided them. 
 Four hundred more of this body, as I afterwards 
 understood, having broke through the enemy's body 
 another way, kept together, and got into Pontefract 
 Castle, and three hundred more made northward, and 
 to Skipton, where the* Prince afterwards fetched them 
 off. 
 
 These few of us that were left together, with whom 
 I was, being now pretty clear of pursuit, halted, and 
 began to inquire who and what we were, and what we 
 should do ; and on a short debate I proposed we 
 should make to the first garrison of the king's that we 
 could recover, and that we should keep together, lest 
 the country-people should insult us upon the roads. 
 With this resolution we pushed on westward for 
 Lancashire ; but our misfortunes were not yet at an 
 end : we travelled very hard, and got to a village upon 
 the river Wharf, near Wetherby. At Wether by there 
 was a bridge, but we understood that a party from 
 Leeds had secured the town and the post, in order to 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 221 
 
 stop the flying cavaliers, and that it would be very 
 hard to get through there, though, as we understood 
 afterwards, there were no soldiers there but a guard of 
 the townsmen. In this pickle we consulted what 
 course to take ; to stay where we w^ere till morning, 
 we all concluded would not be safe ; some advised to 
 take the stream with our horses, but the river, which 
 is deep, and the current strong, seemed to bid us 
 have a care what we did of that kind, especially in 
 the night. We resolved therefore to refresh ourselves 
 and our horses, which indeed is more than we did, 
 and go on till we might come to a ford or bridge, 
 where we might get over. Some guides we had, but 
 they either were foolish or false, for after we had rid 
 eight or nine miles, they plunged us into a river at a 
 place they called a ford, but it was a very ill one, for 
 most of our horses swam, and seven or eight were 
 lost, but we saved the men ; however, we got all 
 ovqr. 
 
 ''IWe made bold with our first convenience to tres- 
 pass upon the country for a few horses, where we 
 could find them, to remount our men whose horses 
 were drowned, and continued our march ; but being 
 obliged to refresh ourselves at a small village on the 
 edge of Bramham-moor, we found the country alarmed 
 by our taking some horses, and we were no sooner 
 got on' horseback in the morning, and entering on the 
 moor, but we understood we were pursued by some 
 
222 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 troops of horse. There was no remedy but we must 
 pass this moor ; and though our horses were exceed- 
 ingly tired, yet we pressed on upon a round trot, and 
 recovered an enclosed country on the other side, 
 where we halted. And here, necessity putting us 
 upon it, we were obliged to look out for more horses, 
 for several of our men were dismounted, and others' 
 horses disabled by carrying double, those who lost 
 their horses getting up behind them ; but we were 
 supplied by our enemies against their will. 
 
 The enemy followed us over the moor, and we 
 having a woody enclosed country about us, where we 
 were, I observed by their moving, they had lost sight 
 of us ; upon which I proposed concealing ourselves 
 till we might judge of their numbers. We did so, 
 and lying close in a wood, they past hastily by us, 
 without skirting or searching the wood, which was 
 what on another occasion they would not have done. 
 I found they were not above a hundred and fifty 
 horse, and considering that to let them go before us, 
 would be to alarm the country, and stop our design ; 
 I thought, since we might be able to deal with them, 
 we should not meet with a better place for it, and 
 told the rest of our officers my mind, which all our 
 party presently (for we had not time for a long debate) 
 agreed to. Immediately upon this I caused two men 
 to fire their pistols in the wood, at two different places, 
 as far asunder as I could. This I did to give them 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 223 
 
 an alarm, and amuse them ; for being in the lane, 
 they would otherwise have got through before we had 
 been ready, and I resolved to engage them there, as 
 soon as it was possible. After this alarm, we rushed 
 out of the wood, with about a hundred horse, and 
 charged them on the flank in a broad lane, the wood 
 being on their right. Our passage into the lane 
 being narrow, gave us some difficulty in our getting 
 out \ but the surprise of the charge did our work ; for 
 the enemy thinking we had been a mile or two before, 
 had not the least thoughts of this onset, till they heard 
 us in the wood, and then they who were before could 
 not come back. We broke into the lane just in the 
 middle of them, and by that means divided them ; 
 and facing to the left, charged the rear. First our 
 dismounted men, which were near fifty, lined the edge 
 of the wood, and fired with their carabines upon those 
 which were before, so warmly, that they put them into 
 a great disorder. Meanwhile, fifty more of our horse 
 from the farther part of the wood showed themselves 
 in the lane upon their front ; this put them of the 
 foremost party into a great perplexity, and they began 
 to face about, to fall upon us who were engaged in 
 the rear ; but their facing about in a lane where there 
 was no room to wheel, and [as ?] one who understands 
 the manner of wheeling a troop of horse must imagine, 
 put them into a great disorder. Our party in the 
 head of the lane taking the advantage of this mistake 
 
224 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 of the enemy, charged in upon them, and routed them, 
 entirely. Some found means to break into the en- 
 closures on the other side of the land, and get away. 
 About thirty were killed, and about twenty-five made 
 prisoners, and forty very good horses were taken ; all 
 this while not a man of ours was lost, and not above 
 seven or eight wounded. Those in the rear behaved 
 themselves better ; for they stood our charge with a 
 great deal of resolution, and all we could do could 
 not break them ; but at last our men, w^ho had fired 
 on foot through the hedges at the other party, coming 
 to do the like here, there was no standing it any 
 longer. The rear of them faced about, and retreated 
 out of the lane, and drew up in the open field to 
 receive and rally their fellows. We killed about 
 seventeen of them, and followed them to the end of 
 the lane, but had no mind to have any more fighting 
 than needs must ; our condition at that time not 
 making it proper, the towns round us being all in the 
 enemy's hands, and the country but indifferently 
 pleased with us ; however, we stood facing them till 
 they thought fit to march away. Thus we were sup- 
 plied with horses enough to remount our men, and 
 pursued our first design of getting into Lancashire, 
 As for our prisoners, we let them off on foot. 
 
 But the country being by this time alarmed, and 
 the rout of our army everywhere known, we foresaw 
 abundance of difficulties before us ; we were not 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 225 
 
 strong enough to venture into any great towns, and 
 we were too many to be concealed in small ones. 
 Upon this we resolved to halt in a great wood, about 
 three miles beyond the place where we had the last 
 skirmish, and sent out scouts to discover the country, 
 and learn what they could, either of the enemy or of 
 our friends. 
 
 Anybody may suppose we had but indifferent 
 quarters here, either for ourselves or for our horses ; 
 but, however, we made shift to lie here two days and 
 one night. In the interim I took upon me, with two 
 more, to go to Leeds to learn some news ; we were 
 disguised like country ploughmen ; the clothes we got 
 at a farmer's house, which for that particular occasion 
 we plundered ; and I cannot say no blood was shed 
 in a manner too rash, and which I could not have 
 done at another time ; but our case was desperate, 
 and the people too surly, and shot at us out of the 
 window, wounded one man, and shot a horse, which 
 
 : we counted as great a loss to us as a man, for our 
 safety depended upon our horses. Here we got 
 
 : clothes of all sorts, enough for both sexes ; and thus, 
 dressing myself up a la paisant, with a white cap on 
 
 i my head, and a fork on my shoulder, and one of my 
 
 i comrades in the farmer's wife's russet gown and 
 petticoat, like a wom^n, the other with an old crutch 
 like a lame man, and all mounted on such horses as 
 we had taken the day before from the country, away 
 
 Q 
 
226 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 we go to Leeds by three several ways, and agreed to 
 meet upon the bridge. My pretended countrywoman 
 acted her part to the hfe, though the party was a 
 gentleman of good quality of the Earl of Worcester's 
 family ; and the cripple did as well as he ; but I 
 thought myself very awkward in my dress, which 
 made me very shy, especially amorig the soldiers. 
 We passed their sentinels and guards at Leeds un- j 
 observed, and put up our horses at several houses in 
 the town, from whence we went up and down to 
 make our remarks. My cripple was the fittest to go 
 among the soldiers, because there was less danger of 
 being pressed. There he informed himself of the 
 matters of war, particularly that the enemy sat down 
 again to the siege of York ; that flying parties were in 
 pursuit of the cavaliers ; and there he heard that five 
 hundred horse of the Lord Manchester's men had 
 followed a party of cavaliers over Bramham-moor ; 
 and that, entering a lane, the cavaliers, who were a 
 thousand strong, fell upon them, and killed them all 
 but about fifty. This, though it was a lie, was very 
 pleasant to us to hear, knowing it was our party, ' 
 because of the other part of the story, which was 
 thus : that the cavaliers had taken possession of such 
 a wood where they rallied all the troops of their fly- 
 ing army \ that they had plundered the country as 
 they came, taking all the good horses they could get; 
 that they had plundered Goodman Thompson's house, 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 227 
 
 which was the farmer I mentioned, and killed man, 
 woman, and child ; and that they were about two 
 thousand strong. 
 
 My other friend in woman's clothes got among 
 the good wives at an inn, where she set up her horse, 
 and there she heard the same sad and dreadful tid- 
 ings ; and that this party was so strong none of the 
 neighbouring garrisons durst stir out ; but that they 
 had sent expresses to York for a party of horse to 
 come to their assistance. 
 
 I walked up and down the town, but fancied my- 
 self so ill-disguised, and so easy to be known, that I 
 cared not to talk with anybody. We met at the 
 Dridge exactly at our time, and compared our intelli- 
 gence, found it answered our end of coming, and that 
 vve had nothing to do but to get back to our men ; 
 out my cripple told me he would not stir till he 
 30ught some victuals, so away he hops with his 
 :rutch, and buys four or live great pieces of bacon, as 
 nany of hung beef, and two or three loaves ; and, 
 )orrowing a sack at the inn (which I suppose he 
 |iever restored), he loads his horse, and, getting a 
 arge leather bottle, he filled that of aqua vitse instead 
 if small beer ; my woman comrade did the hke. I 
 /as uneasy in my mind, and took no care but to get 
 ut of the town; however^ we all came off well, 
 nough ; but it was well for me that I had no pro- 
 isions with me, as you will hear presently. We 
 
228 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 came, as I said, into the town by several ways, and so 
 we went out ; but about three miles from the town 
 we met again exactly where we had agreed. I being 
 about a quarter of a mile from the rest, I met three 
 country fellows on horseback ; one had a long pole 
 on his shoulder, another a fork, the third no weapon 
 at all, that I saw ; I gave them the road very orderly, 
 being habited like one of their brethren ; but one of 
 them stopping short at me, and looking earnestly, 
 calls out, ' Hark thee, friend,' says he, in a broad 
 north-country tone, ' whar hast thou thilk horse ? ' I 
 must confess I was in the utmost confusion at the 
 question, neither being able to answer the question, 
 nor to speak in his tone ; so I made as if I did not 
 hear him, and went on. ' Na, but ye's not gang soa,' 
 says the boor, and comes up to me, and takes hold of 
 the horse's bridle to stop me ; at which, vexed at 
 heart that I could not tell how to talk to him, I 
 reached him a great knock on the pate with my fork, 
 and fetched him off his horse, and then began to 
 mend my pace. The other clowns, though it seems 
 they knew not what the fellow wanted, pursued me, 
 and, finding they had better heels than I, I saw there 
 was no remedy but • to make use of my hands, and 
 faced about. The first that came up with me was he 
 that had no weapons, so I thought I might parley, 
 with him ; and, speaking as country-like as I could, I 
 asked him what he wanted? 'Thou'st knaw that 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 229 
 
 soon,' says Yorkshire, 'and I'se but come at thee.' 
 'Then keep awa', man,' said I, 'or I'se brain thee.' 
 By this time the third man came up, and the parley 
 ended ; for he gave me no words, but laid at me with 
 his long pole, and that with such fury that I began 
 to be doubtful of him. I was loath to shoot the 
 fellow, though I had pistols under my grey frock, as 
 well for that the noise of a pistol might bring more 
 people in, the village being in our rear, and also 
 because I could not imagine what the fellow meant, 
 or would have ; but at last, finding he would be too 
 many for me with that long weapon, and a hardy 
 strong fellow, I threw myself off my horse, and, run- 
 ning in with him, stabbed my fork into his horse ; the 
 horse, being wounded, staggered awhile, and then fell 
 down, and the booby had not the sense to get down 
 in time, but fell with him ; upon which, giving him a 
 knock or two with my fork, I secured him. The 
 other, by this time, had furnished himself with a great 
 stick out of a hedge, and, before I was disengaged 
 from the last fellow, gave me two such blows, that if 
 [the last had not missed my head, and hit me on the 
 shoulder, I had ended the fight and my life together. 
 lit was time to look about me now, for this was a 
 [madman ; I defended myself with my fork, -but it 
 would not do ; at last, in short, I was forced to pistol 
 him, and get on horseback again, and, with all the 
 speed I could make, get away to the wood to our men. 
 
230 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 If my two fellow spies had not been behind, I had 
 never known what was the meaning of this quarrel of 
 the three countrymen, but my cripple had all the 
 particulars ; for he being behind us, as I have already 
 observed, when he came up to the first fellow, who 
 began the fray, he found him beginning to come to 
 himself; so he gets off, and pretends to help him, 
 and sets him upon his breech, and, being a very 
 merry fellow, talked to him, ' Well, and what's the 
 matter now ? ' says he to him. ' Ah, wae's me,' says 
 the fellow, Tse killed !' 'Not quite, mon,' says the 
 cripple. 'O that's a fause thief,' says he, and thus 
 they parleyed. My cripple got him on his feet, and 
 gave him a dram of his aqua vitae bottle, and made 
 much of him, in order to know what was the occasion 
 >of the quarrel. Our disguised woman pitied the 
 fellow too, and together they set him up again upon 
 his horse, and then he told them that that fellow was 
 got upon one of his brother's horses who lived at 
 Wetherby; they said the cavaliers stole him, but it 
 was like such rogues (no mischief could be done in 
 the country, but it was the poor cavaliers must bear 
 the blame), and the like ; and thus they jogged on 
 till they came to the place where the other two lay. 
 The first fellow they assisted as they had done the 
 other, and gave him a dram out of the leather bottle ; • 
 but the last fellow was past their care ; so they came 
 away. For when they understood that it was my 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 231 
 
 horse they claimed, they began to be afraid that their 
 own horses might be known too, and then they had 
 been betrayed in a worse pickle than I, and must 
 have been forced to have done some mischief or 
 other to have got away. 
 
 I had sent out two troopers to fetch them off, if 
 there was any occasion ; but their stay was not long, 
 and the two troopers saw them at a distance coming 
 towards us, so they returned. 
 
 I had enough of going for a spy, and my com- 
 panions had enough of staying in the wood ; for other 
 inteUigences agreed with ours, and all concurred in 
 this, that it was time to be going : however, this use 
 we made of it, that, while the country thought us so 
 \ strong, we were in the less danger of being attacked, 
 though in the more of being observed ; but all this 
 while we heard nothing of our friends, till the next 
 day. We then heard Prince Rupert, with about a 
 thousand horse, was at Skipton, and from thence 
 marched away to Westmoreland. 
 
 We concluded now we had two or three days' 
 I time good ; for, since messengers were sent to York 
 for a party to suppress us, we must have at least two 
 days' march of them, and therefore all concluded we 
 were to make the best of our way. Early in the 
 morning, therefore, we decamped from those dull 
 quarters ; and as we marched through a village we 
 found the people very civil to us, and the women 
 
232 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 cried out, 'God bless them, it is a pity the round- 
 heads should make such work with such brave men,' 
 and the like. Finding we were among our friends, 
 we resolved to halt a little and refresh ourselves ; 
 and, indeed, the people were very kind to us, gave us 
 victuals and drink, and took care of our horses. It 
 happened to be my lot to stop at a house where the 
 good woman took a great deal of pains to provide for 
 us ; but I observed the good man walked about with 
 a cap upon his head, and very much out of order. I 
 took no great notice of it, being very sleepy, and hav- 
 ing asked my landlady to let me have a bed, I lay 
 down and slept heartily : when I waked I found my 
 landlord on another bed, groaning very heavily. 
 
 When I came downstairs I found my cripple talk- 
 ing with my landlady; he was now out of his disguise, 
 but we called him cripple still ; and the other, who 
 put on the woman's clothes, we called Goody 
 Thompson. As soon as he saw me, he called me 
 out; 'Do you know,' says he, 'the man of the house 
 you are quartered in ? ' ' No, not I,' says I. ' No, 
 so I believe, nor they you,' says he ; 'if they did, the 
 good wife would not have made you a posset, and 
 fetched a white loaf for you.' ' What do you mean ? ' 
 says I. ' Have you seen the man ? ' says he. ' Seen 
 him,' says I, ' yes, and heard him too ; the man is 
 sick, and groans so heavily,' says I, 'that I could not 
 lie upon the bed any longer for him.' 'Why, this is 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 233 
 
 the poor man,' says he, ' that you knocked down with 
 your fork yesterday, and I have had all the story out 
 yonder at the next door.' I confess it grieved me to 
 have been forced to treat one so roughly who was one 
 of our friends, but to make some amends we con- 
 trived to give the poor man his brotlier's horse ; and 
 my cripple told him a formal story, that he believed 
 the horse was taken away from the fellow by some of 
 our men ; and, if he knew him 'fegain, if it was his 
 friend's horse, he should have him. The man came 
 down upon the news, and I caused six or seven 
 horses, which were taken at the same time, to be 
 shown him ; he immediately chose the right ; so I 
 gave him the horse, and we pretended a great deal of 
 sorrow for the man's hurt ; and that we had not 
 knocked the fellow on the head as well as took away 
 the horse. The man was so overjoyed at the revenge 
 he thought was taken on the fellow, that we heard him 
 groan no more. We ventured to stay all day at this 
 town, and the next night, and got guides to lead us 
 to Blackstone-Edge, a ridge of mountains which parts 
 this side of Yorkshire from Lancashire. Early in the 
 morning we marched, and kept our scouts very care- 
 fully out every way, who brought us no news for this 
 day : we kept on all night, and made our horses do 
 penance for that little rest they had, and the next 
 morning we passed the hills, and got into Lancashire, 
 to a town called Littleborough, and from thence to 
 
234 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 Rochdale, a little market-town. And now we thought 
 ourselves safe as to the pursuit of enemies from the 
 side of York ; our design was to get to Bolton, but 
 all the country was full of the enemy in flying parties, 
 and how to get to Bolton we knew not. At last we 
 resolved to send a messenger to Bolton ; but he came 
 back and told us he had, with lurking and hiding, 
 tried all the ways that he thought possible, but to no 
 purpose ; for he could not get into the town. We 
 sent another, and he never returned ; and some time 
 after we understood he was taken by the enemy. At 
 last one got into the town, but brought us word they 
 were tired out with constant alarms, had been straitly 
 blocked up, and every day expected a siege, and 
 therefore advised us either to go northward, where 
 Prince Rupert and the Lord Goring ranged at liberty ; 
 or to get over Warrington bridge, and so secure our 
 retreat to Chester. This double direction divided 
 our opinions ; I was for getting into Chester, both to 
 recruit myself with horses and with money, both 
 which I wanted, and to get refreshment, which we all 
 wanted ; but the major part of our men were for the 
 north. First, they said, there was their general, and 
 it was their duty to the cause, and the king's interest 
 obliged us, to go w^here we could do best service ; and 
 there were their friends, and every man might hear 
 some news of his own regiment, for we belonged to 
 several regiments; besides, all the towns to the left 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 235 
 
 of us were possessed by Sir William Brereton ; 
 Warrington and Northwich garrisoned by the enemy, 
 and a strong party at Manchester ; so that it was very 
 likely we should be beaten and dispersed before we 
 could get to Chester. These reasons, and especially 
 the last, determined us for the north, and we had re- 
 solved to march the next morning, when other intelli- 
 gence brought us to more speedy resolutions. We 
 kept our scouts continually abroad, to bring us intelli- 
 gence of the enemy, whom we expected on our backs, 
 and also to keep an eye upon the country ; for, as we 
 lived upon them something at large, they were ready 
 enough to do us any ill turn, as it lay in their power. 
 The first messenger that came to us was from our 
 friends at Bolton, to inform us that ^hey were prepar- 
 ing at Manchester to attack us. One of our parties 
 had been as far as Stockport, on the edge of Cheshire, 
 and was pursued by a party of the enemy, but got 
 off by the help of the night. Thus all things looking 
 black to the south, we had resolved to march north- 
 ward in the morning, when one of our scouts from 
 the side of Manchester assured us Sir Thomas 
 Middleton, with some of the parliament forces, and 
 the country troops, making above twelve hundred 
 men, were on their march to attack us, and would 
 certainly beat up our quarters that night. Upon this 
 advice we resolved to be gone ; and getting all things 
 in readiness, we began to march about two hours 
 
236 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 before night ; and having gotten a trusty fellow for a 
 guide, a fellow that we found was a friend to our side, 
 he put a project into my head which saved us all for 
 that time ; and that was, to give out in the village 
 that we were marched back to Yorkshire, resolving to 
 get into Pontefract Castle ; and, accordingly, he leads 
 us out of the town the same way we came in ; and 
 taking a boy with him, he sends the boy back just at 
 night, and bade him say he saw us go up the hills at 
 Blackstone-Edge ; and it happened very well ; for this 
 party- were so sure of us that they had placed four 
 hundred men on the road to the northward, to inter- 
 cept our retreat that way, and had left no way for us, 
 as they thought, to get away, but back again. 
 
 About ten o'clock at night they assaulted our 
 quarters, but found we were gone ; and being in- 
 formed which way, they followed upon the spur, and 
 travelling all night, being moonlight, they found 
 themselves the next day about fifteen miles east, just 
 out of their way ; for we had, by the help of our 
 guide, turned short at the foot of the hills, and 
 through blind untrodden paths, and with difficulty 
 enough, by noon the next day, had reached almost 
 twenty-five miles north, near a town called Clithero. 
 Here we halted in the open field, and sent out our 
 people to see how things were in . the country. This 
 part of the country, almost unpassable, and walled 
 round with hills, was indifferent quiet ; and we got 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 237 
 
 some refreshment for ourselves, but very little horse 
 meat, and so went on ; but we had not marched far 
 before we found ourselves discovered ; and the four 
 hundred horse sent to lie in wait for us as before, 
 having understood which way we went, followed us 
 hard ; and, by letters to some of their friends at 
 Preston, we found we were beset again. Our guide 
 began now to be out of his knowledge ; and our 
 scouts brought us word the enemy's horse was posted 
 before us ; and we knew they were in our rear. In 
 this exigence we resolved to divide our small body, 
 and so amusing them, at least one might get off if 
 the other miscarried. I took about eighty horse with 
 me, among which were all that I had of my own 
 regiment, amounting to above thirty-two, and took 
 the hills towards Yorkshire. Here we met with such 
 unpassable hills, vast moors, rocks, and stony ways, 
 as lamed all our horses, and tired our men ; and 
 sometimes I was ready to think we should never be 
 able to get over them, till our horses failing, and 
 jack-boots being but indifferent things to travel in, we 
 might be starved before w6 should find any road or 
 towns, for guide we had none, but a boy who knew 
 but little, and would cry when we asked him any 
 questions. I believe neither men nor horses ever 
 passed in some places where we went, and for twenty 
 hours we saw not a town nor a house, excepting 
 sometimes from the top of the mountains, at a vast 
 
238 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 distance. I am persuaded we might have encamped 
 here, if we had had provisions, till the war had been 
 over, and have met with no disturbance ; and I have 
 often wondered since how we got into such horrible 
 places, as much as how we got out. That which was 
 worse to us than all the rest was, that we knew not 
 where we were going, nor what part of the country 
 we should come into, when we came out of those 
 desolate crags. At last, after a terrible fatigue, we 
 began to see the western parts of Yorkshire, some few 
 villages, and the country at a distance looked a little 
 like England ; for I thought before it looked hke old 
 Brennus's hill, which the Grisons call the grandfather 
 of the Alps. We got some relief in the villages, 
 which indeed some of us had so much need of that 
 they were hardly able to sit their horses, and others 
 were forced to help them off, they were so faint. I 
 never felt so much of the power of hunger in my life, 
 for having not eaten in thirty hours, I was as ravenous 
 as a hound ; and if I had had a piece of horseflesh, I 
 believe I should not have had patience to have stayed 
 dressing it, but have fallen upon it raw, and have 
 eaten it as greedily as a Tartar. 
 
 However, I ate very cautiously, having often seen 
 the danger of men's eating heartily after long fasting. 
 Our next care was to inquire our way. Halifax, they 
 told us, was on our right ; there we durst not think 
 of going ; Skipton was before us, and there w^e knew 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 239 
 
 not how it was ; for a body of three thousand horse, 
 sent out by the enemy in pursuit of Prince Rupert, 
 had been there but two days before, and the country 
 people could not tell us whether they were gone or 
 no ; and Manchester's horse, which were sent out after 
 our party, were then at Halifax, in quest of us, and 
 afterwards marched into Cheshire. In this distress 
 we would have hired a guide, but none of the country 
 people would go with us ; for the roundheads would 
 hang them, they said, when they came there. Upon 
 this I called a fellow to me, ' Hark ye friend,' says I, 
 ' dost thee know the way so as to bring us into West- 
 moreland, and not keep the great road from York ? ' 
 ' Ay marry,' says he, ' I ken the ways weel enou.' 
 ' And you would go and guide us,' said I, ' but that 
 you are afraid the roundheads will hang you ? ' ' In- 
 deed would I,' says the fellow. ' Why then,' says I, 
 ' thou hadst as good be hanged by a roundhead as a 
 cavalier ; for, if thou will not go, I'll hang thee just 
 now.' ' Na, and ye serve me soa,' says the fellow, 
 ' I'se ene gang with ye ; for I care not for hanging ; 
 and ye'll get me a good horse, I'se gang and be one 
 of ye, for I'll nere come heame more.' This pleased 
 us still better, and we mounted the fellow, for three 
 of our men died that night with the extreme fatigue 
 of the last service. 
 
 Next morning, when our new trooper was mounted 
 and clothed, we hardly knew him ; and this fellow led 
 
240 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 us by such ways, such wildernesses, and yet with such 
 prudence, keeping the hills to the left, that we might 
 have the villages to refresh ourselves, that without 
 him we had certainly either perished in those moun- 
 tains or fallen into the enemy's hands. We passed 
 the great road from York so critically as to time, that 
 from one of the hills he showed us a party of the 
 enemy's horse who were then marching into West- 
 moreland. We lay still that day, finding we were not 
 discovered by them ; and our guide proved the best 
 scout that we could have had ; for he would go out 
 ten miles at a time, and bring us in all the news of 
 the country. Here he brought us word that York 
 was surrendered upon articles, and that Newcastle, 
 which had been surprised by the king's party, was 
 besieged by another army of Scots, advanced to help 
 their brethren. 
 
 Along the edges of those vast mountains we past, 
 with the help of our guide, till we came into the 
 forest of Swale ; and finding ourselves perfectly con- 
 cealed here, for no soldier had ever been here all the 
 war, nor perhaps would not, if it had lasted seven 
 years, we thought we wanted a few days' rest, at least 
 for our horses, so we resolved to halt, and while we 
 did so, we made some disguises, and sent out some 
 spies into the country ; but, as here were no great 
 towns, nor no post road, we got very little intelligence. 
 We rested four days, and then marched again ; and, 
 
Memoirs of a Cavalier 241 
 
 indeed, having no great stock of money about us, and 
 not very free of that we had, four days was enough 
 for those poor places to be able to maintain us. 
 
 We thought ourselves pretty secure now ; but our 
 chief care was how to get over those terrible moun- 
 tains ; for, having passed the great road that leads 
 from York to Lancaster, the crags, the farther north- 
 ward we looked, looked still the worse, and our 
 business was all on the other side. Our guide told 
 us he would bring us out if we would have patience, 
 which we were obliged to, and kept on this slow 
 march till he brought us to Stanhope, in the county 
 of Durham, where some of Goring's horse, and two 
 regiments of foot had their quarters. This was nine- 
 teen days from the battle of Marston-moor. The 
 prince, who was then at Kendal, in Westmoreland, 
 and who had given me over as lost, when he had 
 news of our arrival sent an express to me to meet 
 him at Appleby. I went thither accordingly, and 
 gave him an account of our journey ; and there I 
 heard the short history of the other part of our men, 
 whom we parted from in Lancashire. They made 
 the best of their way north. They had two resolute 
 gentlemen who commanded ; and being so closely 
 pursued by the enemy that they found themselves 
 under the necessity of fighting, they halted, and faced 
 about, expecting the charge. The boldness of the 
 action made the officer wlio led the enemy's horse 
 
 R 
 
242 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 (which it seems were the county horse only), afraid of 
 them ; which they perceiving, taking the advantage of 
 his fears, bravely advance, and charge them ; and, 
 though they were above two hundred horse, they 
 routed them, killed about thirty or forty, got some 
 horses and some money, and pushed on their march 
 night and day ; but coming near Lancaster they were 
 so waylaid and pursued that they agreed to separate, 
 and shift every man for himself; many of them fell 
 into the enemy's hands, some were killed attempting 
 to pass through the river Lune, some went back 
 again, six or seven got to Bolton, and about eighteen 
 got safe to Prince Rupert. 
 
IV.— 'COLONEL JACK' 
 
 {The memory of Colonel Jack is preserved by one 
 famous and admirable passage at the beginning, describ- 
 ing the Colonel's experiences as a youthful thief which 
 will be presently given in full. I have selected two others 
 rom later parts of the book because they illustrate very 
 well the curiously unheroic view of life which distinguished 
 \pefoe, and which ivas, I think, more common among 
 ^he English of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
 hqn it sonietimes suits us to acknowledge. On the whole 
 'he novel is a sort of compound of the theines of Moll 
 landers and of the Memoirs of a Cavalier [for Jack, 
 \hough he cuts so bad a figure in the second of our 
 xtracts, afterwards served with credit abroad), and it 
 eems to me as a whole inferior to both. There can, 
 lowever, be no doubt about the following account of 
 ^ack^s initiation into pilfering.) 
 
 The subtle devil, never absent from his business, 
 lut ready at all occasions to encourage his servants, 
 
244 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 removed all these difficulties, and brought him into 
 an intimacy with one of the most exquisite divers, or 
 pickpockets, in the town ; and this, our intimacy, 
 was of no less a kind than that, as I had an inclina- 
 tion to be as wicked as any of them, he was for 
 taking care that I should not be disappointed. 
 
 He was above the little fellows who went about 
 stealing trifles and baubles in Bartholomew fair, and 
 ran the risk of being mobbed for three or four shillings. 
 His aim was at higher things, even at no less than 
 considerable sums of money, and bills for more. 
 
 He solicited me earnestly to go and take a walk 
 with him as above, adding, that after he had shown 
 me my trade a little, he would let me be as wicked 
 as I would ; that is, as he expressed it, that after he 
 had made me capable, I should set up for myself, if 
 I pleased, and he would only wish me good luck. 
 
 Accordingly, as Major Jack went with his gentle- 
 man, only to see the manner, and receive the purchase, 
 and yet come in for a share \ so he told me if he had 
 success I should have my share as much as if I had 
 been principal; and this he assured me was a custom 
 of the trade, in order to encourage young beginners, 
 and bring them into the trade with courage, for that 
 nothing was to be done if a man had not the heart of 
 the lion. 
 
 I hesitated at the matter a great while, objecting 
 the hazard, and telling the story of Captain Jack, my 
 
Colonel Jack 245 
 
 elder brother, as I might call him. ' Well, colonel,' 
 says he, ' I find you are faint-hearted, and to be faint- 
 .hearted is indeed to be unfit for our trade, for nothing 
 but a bold heart can go through stitch with this 
 work ; but, however, as there is nothing for you to 
 do, so there is no risk for you to run in these things 
 the first time. If I am taken,' says he, ' you have 
 nothing to do in it, they will let you go free ; for it 
 shall be easily made appear that whatever I have 
 done you had no hand in it.' JU- 
 
 Upon those persuasions I ventured out with him ; 
 
 but I soon found that my new friend was a thief of 
 
 quality, and a pickpocket above the ordinary rank, 
 
 and that aimed higher abundantly than my brother 
 
 Jack. He was a bigger boy than I a great deal ; for 
 
 though I was now near fifteen years old, I was not 
 
 big of my age, and as to the nature of the thing, I 
 
 was perfectly a stranger to it. I knew indeed what 
 
 at first I did not, for it was a good while before I 
 
 understood the thing as an offence. I looked on 
 
 picking pockets as a trade, and thought I was to go 
 
 1 apprentice to it. It is true, this was when I was 
 
 I young in the society, as well as younger in years, but 
 
 I even now I understood it to be only a thing for 
 
 i which, if we were catched, we ran the risk of being 
 
 ducked or pumped, which we call soaking, and then 
 
 all was over; and we made nothing of having our 
 
 rags wetted a little ; but I never understood, till a 
 
246 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 great while after, that the crime was capital, and that 
 we might be sent to Newgate for it, till a great fellow, 
 almost a man, one of our society, was hanged for it ; 
 and then I was terribly frighted, as you shall hear by 
 and by. 
 
 Well, upon the persuasions of this lad I walked 
 out with him ; a poor innocent boy, and (as I re- 
 member my very thoughts perfectly well) I had no 
 evil in my intentions ; I had never stolen anything 
 in my life ; and if a goldsmith had left me in his 
 shop, with heaps of money strewed all round me, and 
 bade me look after it, I should not have touched it, 
 I was so honest ; but the subtle tempter baited his 
 hook for me, as I was a child, in a manner suitable 
 to my childishness, for I never took this picking of 
 pockets to be dishonesty, but, as I have said above, 
 I looked on it as a kind of trade that I was to be 
 bred up to, and so I entered upon it, till I became 
 hardened in it beyond the power of retreating ; and 
 thus I was made a thief involuntarily, and went on a 
 length that few boys do, without coming to the 
 common period of that kind of life, I mean to the 
 transport-ship, or to the gallows. 
 
 The first day I went abroad with my new in- 
 structor, he carried me directly into the city, and as 
 we went first to the water-side, he led me into the 
 long-room at the Custom-house ; we were but a couple 
 of ragged boys at best, but I was much the worse ; 
 
Colonel Jack 247 
 
 my leader had a hat on, a shirt, and a neckcloth \ as 
 for me, I had neither of the three, nor had I spoiled 
 my manners so much as to have a hat on my head 
 since my nurse died, which was now some years. 
 His orders to me were to keep always in sight, and 
 near him, but not close to him, nor to take any notice 
 of him at any time till he came to me ; and if any 
 hurlyburly happened I should by no means know 
 him or pretend to have anything to do with him. 
 
 I observed my orders to a tittle. While he peered 
 into every corner, and had his eye upon everybody, 
 I kept my eye directly upon him, but went always at 
 a distance, and on the other side of the long-room, 
 looking as it were for pins, and picking them up out 
 of the dust as I could find them, and then sticking 
 them on my sleeve, where I had at last got forty or 
 fifty good pins ; but still my eye was upon my com- 
 rade, who, I observed, was very busy among the 
 crowds of people that stood at the board doing 
 business with the officers who pass the entries, and 
 make the cocquets, etc. 
 
 At length he comes over to me, and stooping as 
 if he would take up a pin close to me, he put some- 
 thing into my hand, and said, ' Put that up, and 
 follow me down stairs quickly ; ' he did not run, but 
 shuffled along apace through the crowd, and went 
 down, not the great stairs which we came in at, but 
 a little narrow staircase at the other end of the long 
 
248 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 room ; I followed, and he found I did, and so went 
 on, not stopping below as I expected, nor speaking 
 one word to me, till through innumerable narrow 
 passages, alleys, and dark ways, we were got up into 
 Fenchurch - street, and through Billiter - lane into 
 Leadenhall-street, and from thence into Leadenhall- 
 market. 
 
 '■ It was not a meat-market day, so we had room to 
 sit down upon one of the butchers' stalls, and he bid 
 me lug out. What he had given me was a little 
 leather letter-case, with a French almanack stuck in 
 the inside of it, and a great many papers in it of 
 several kinds. 
 
 We looked them over, and found there were seve- 
 ral valuable bills in it, such as bills of exchange, and 
 other notes, things I did not understand ; but among 
 the rest was a goldsmith's note, as he called it, of one 
 Sir Stephen Evans, for ^300, payable to the bearer, 
 and at demand ; besides this, there was another note 
 for ;^i2:ios., being a goldsmith's bill too, but I 
 forget the name ; there was a bill or two also written 
 in French, which neither of us understood, but which 
 it seems were things of value, being called foreign 
 bills accepted. 
 
 The rogue, my master, knew what belonged to the 
 goldsmith's bills well enough, and I observed, when 
 he read the bill of Sir Stephen, he said, ' This is too 
 big for me to meddle with ; ' but when he came to the 
 
Colonel Jack 249 
 
 bill ^12 : I OS., he said to me, 'This will do, come 
 hither, Jack ; ' so away he runs to Lombard-street, 
 and I after him, huddling the other papers into the 
 letter-case. As he went along, he inquired the name 
 out immediately, and went directly to the shop, put 
 on a good grave countenance, and had the money 
 paid him without any stop or question asked ; I stood 
 on the other side the way looking about the street, as 
 not at all concerned with anybody that way, but 
 observed that when he presented the bill he pulled 
 out the letter-case, as if he had been a merchant's 
 boy, acquainted with business, and had other bills 
 about him. 
 
 They paid him the money in gold, and he made 
 haste enough in telling it over, and came away, passing 
 by me, and going into Three-King-court, on the other 
 side of the way ; then we crossed back into Clement's- 
 lane, made the best of our way to Cole-harbour, at 
 the water-side, and got a sculler for a penny to carry 
 us over the water to St. Mary-Over's stairs, where we 
 landed, and were safe enough. 
 
 Here he turns to me ; ' Colonel Jack,' says he, ' I 
 believe you are a lucky boy, this is a good job ; we'll 
 go away to St. George's Fields and share our booty.' 
 Away we went to the Fields, and sitting down in the 
 grass, far enough out of the path, he pulled out the 
 money ; ' Look here, Jack,' says he, ' did you ever 
 see the like before in your life ? ' ' No, never,' says 
 
250 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 I, and added very innocently, ' Must we have it all ? ' 
 ' We have it ! ' says he, ' who should have it ? ' 
 ' Why,' says I, ' must the man have none of it again 
 that lost it ? ' ' He have it again ; ' says he, ' what 
 d'ye mean by that ? ' ' Nay, I don't know,' says I ; 
 ' why you said just now you would let him have the 
 t'other bill again ; that you said was too big for you.' 
 
 He laughed at me ; ' You are but a little boy,' 
 says he, ' that's true, but I thought you had not been 
 such a child neither ; ' so he mighty gravely explained 
 the thing to me thus : that the bill of Sir Stephen 
 Evans was a great bill for ;£^3oo, 'And if I,' says he, 
 ' that am but a poor lad, should venture to go for the 
 money, they will presently say, how should I come 
 by such a bill, and that I certainly found it or stole 
 it; so they will stop me,' says he, 'and take it away 
 from me, and it may bring me into trouble for it too ; 
 so,' says he, ' I did say it was too big for me to 
 meddle with, and that I would let the man have it 
 again, if I could tell how ; but for the money, Jack, 
 the money that we have got, I warrant you he should 
 have none of that ; besides,' says he, ' whoever he be 
 that has lost this letter-case, to be sure, as soon as he 
 missed it, he would run to the goldsmith and give 
 notice that if anybody came for the money they 
 would be stopped ; but I am too old for him there,' 
 says he. 
 
 ' Why,' says I, ' and what will you do with the 
 
Colonel Jack 25 1 
 
 bill ; will you throw it away ? if you do, somebody 
 else will find it,' says I, 'and they will go and take 
 the money.' 'No, no,' says he, 'then they will be 
 stopped and examined, as I tell you I should be.' I 
 did not know well what all this meant, so I talked no 
 more about that ; but we fell to handling the money. 
 As for me, I had never seen so much together in all 
 my life, nor did I know what in the world to do with 
 it, and once or twice I was going to bid him keep it 
 for me, which would have been done like a child 
 indeed, for, to be sure, I had never heard a word 
 more of it, though nothing had befallen him. 
 
 However, as I happened to hold my tongue as to 
 that part, he shared the money very honestly with 
 me ; only at the end he told me that though it was 
 true he promised me half, yet as it was the first time, 
 and I had done nothing but look on, so he thought 
 it was very well if I took a little less than he did ; so 
 he divided the money, which was ;£i2 : los., into 
 two exact parts, viz., ^6 : 5s., in each part; then he 
 took ^i : 5 s., from my part, and told me I should 
 give him that for hansel. ' Well,' says I, ' take it 
 then, for I think you deserve it all:' so, however, I 
 took up the rest ; ' and what shall I do with this now,' 
 says I, 'for I have nowhere to put it?' 'Why, have 
 you no pockets?' says he; 'Yes,' says I, 'but they 
 are full of holes.' I have often thought since that, 
 and with some mirth too, how I had really more 
 
252 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 wealth than I knew what to do with, for lodging I 
 had none, nor any box or drawer to hide my money 
 in, nor had I any pocket, but such as I say was full 
 of holes ; I knew nobody in the world that I could go 
 and desire them to lay it up for me ; for being a poor 
 naked, ragged boy, they would presently say, I had 
 robbed somebody, and perhaps lay hold of me, and 
 my money would be my crime, as they say it often is 
 in foreign countries ; and now, as I was full of wealth, 
 behold I was full of care, for what to do to secure my 
 money I could not tell ; and this held me so long, 
 and was so vexatious to me the next day, that I truly 
 sat down and cried. 
 
 Nothing could be more perplexing than this money 
 was to me all that night. I carried it in my hand a 
 good while, for it was in gold, all but 1 4s. ; and that is 
 to say, it was in four guineas, and that 14s., was more 
 difficult to carry than the four guineas ; at last I sat 
 down, and pulled off one of my shoes, and put the 
 four guineas into that ; but after I had gone a while, 
 my shoe hurt me so I could not go, so I was fain to 
 sit down again and take it out of my shoe, and carry 
 it in my hand ; then I found a dirty linen rag in the 
 street, and I took that up, and wrapt it all together, 
 and carried it in that a good way. I have often since 
 heard people say, when they have been talking of 
 money that they could not get in, ' I wish I had it in 
 a foul clout :' in truth, I had mine in a foul clout ; for 
 
Colonel Jack 253 
 
 it was foul, according to the letter of that saying, but 
 it served me till I came to a convenient place, and 
 then I sat down and washed the cloth in the kennel, 
 and so then put my money in again. 
 
 Well, I carried it home with me to my lodging in 
 the glass-house, and when I went to go to sleep I 
 knew not what to do with it ; if I had let any of the 
 black crew I was with know of it, I should have been 
 smothered in the ashes for it, or robbed of it, or some 
 trick or other put upon me for it ; so I knew not 
 what to do, but lay with it in my hand, and my hand 
 in my bosom, but then sleep went from my eyes : O, 
 the weight of human care ! I, a poor beggar-boy, could 
 not sleep so soon as I had but a little money to keep, 
 who, before that could have slept upon a heap of 
 brick-bats, stones, or cinders, or anywhere, as sound 
 as a rich man does on his down bed, and sounder too. 
 
 Every now and then dropping asleep, I should 
 dream that my money was lost, and start like one 
 frighted ; then, finding it fast in my hand, try to go 
 to sleep again, but could not for a long while, then 
 drop and start again. At last a fancy came into my 
 head that if I fell asleep I should dream of the 
 money, and talk of it in my sleep, and tell that I had 
 money, which if I should do, and one of the rogues 
 should hear me, they would pick it out of my bosom, 
 and of my hand too, without waking me ; and after 
 that thought I could not sleep a wink more ; so that 
 
254 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 I passed that night over in care and anxiety enough ; 
 and this, I may safely say, was the first night's rest 
 that I lost by the cares of this life and the deceitful- 
 ness of riches. 
 
 As soon as it was day I got out of the hole we lay 
 in, and rambled abroad in the fields towards Stepney, 
 and there I mused and considered what I should do 
 with this money, and many a time I wished that I 
 had not had it ; for, after all my ruminating upon it, 
 and what course I should take with it, or where I 
 should put it, I could not hit upon any one thing, or 
 any possible method to secure it, and it perplexed me 
 so, that at last, as I said just now, I sat down and 
 cried heartily. 
 
 When my crying was over, the case was the same ; 
 I had the money still, and what to do with it I could 
 not tell. At last it came into my head that I would 
 look out for some hole in a tree, and see to hide it 
 there till I should have occasion for it. Big with this 
 discovery, as I then thought it, I began to look about 
 me for a tree ; but there were no trees in the fields 
 about Stepney or Mile-end that looked fit for my 
 purpose ; and if there were any that I began to look 
 narrowly at, the fields were so full of people that they 
 would see if I went to hide anything there, and I 
 thought the people eyed me as it were, and that two 
 men in particular followed me to see what I intended 
 to do. 
 
Colonel Jack 255 
 
 This drove me farther off, and I crossed the road 
 at Mile-end, and in the middle of the town went down 
 a lane that goes away to the Blind Beggar's at Bednal- 
 green ; when I came a little way in the lane I found 
 a footpath over the fields, and in those fields several 
 trees for my turn, as I thought ; at last, one tree had 
 a little hole in it, pretty high out of my reach, and I 
 climbed up the tree to get it, and when I came there 
 I put my hand in, and found (as I thought) a place 
 very fit, so I placed my treasure there, and was mighty 
 well satisfied with it ; but, behold, putting my hand 
 in again to lay it more commodiously, as I thought, 
 of a sudden it slipped away from me, and I found the 
 tree was hollow, and my little parcel was fallen in 
 quite out of my reach, and how far it might go in I 
 knew not ; so that, in a word, my money was quite 
 gone, irrecoverably lost ; there could be no room so 
 much as to hope ever to see it again, for 'twas a vast 
 great tree. 
 
 As young as I was, I was now sensible what a fool 
 I was before, that I could not think of ways to keep 
 my money, but I must come thus far to throw it into 
 
 \ a hole where I could not reach it. Well, I thrust my 
 hand quite up to my elbow, but no bottom was to be 
 found, or any end of the hole or cavity ; I got a stick 
 
 I of the tree, and thrust it in a great way, but all was 
 one ; then I cried, nay, roared out, I was in such a 
 passion; then I got down the tree again, then up 
 
256 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 again, and thrust in my hand again till I scratched 
 my arm and made it bleed, and cried all the while 
 most violently ; then I began to think I had not so 
 much as a halfpenny of it left for a halfpenny roll, 
 and I was hungry, and then I cried again ; then I 
 came away in despair, crying and roaring like a little 
 boy that had been whipped ; then I went back again 
 to the tree, and up the tree again, and thus I did 
 several times. 
 
 The last time I had gotten up the tree I happened 
 to come down not on the same side that I went up 
 and came down before, but on the other side of the 
 tree, and on the other side of the bank also ; and, 
 behold, the tree had a great open place, in the side of 
 it close to the ground, as old hollow trees often have ; 
 and looking into the open place, to my inexpressible 
 joy there lay my money and my linen rag, all wrapped 
 up just as I had put it into the hole ; for the tree 
 being hollow all the way up there had been some 
 moss or light stuff, which I had not judgment enough 
 to know, was not firm, and had given way when it 
 came to drop out of my hand, and so it had slipped 
 quite down at once. 
 
 I was but a child, and I rejoiced like a child, for 
 I hollo'd quite out aloud when I saw it ; then I ran 
 to it, and snatched it up, hugged and kissed the dirty 
 rag a hundred times; then danced and jumped about, 
 ran from one end of the field to the other, and, in 
 
Colonel Jack 257 
 
 short, I knew not what, much less do I know now 
 what I did, though I shall never forget the thing 
 either what a sinking grief it was to my heart, when I 
 thought I had lost it, or what a flood of joy over- 
 whelmed me when I had got it again. 
 
 While I was in the first transport of my joy, as I 
 have said, I ran about, and knew not what I did ; 
 but when that was over I sat down, opened the foul 
 clout the money was in, looked at it, told it, found it 
 was all there, and then I fell a-crying as savourly as I 
 did before, when I thought I had lost it. 
 
 It would tire the reader should I dwell on all the 
 little boyish tricks that I played in the ecstacy of my 
 joy and satisfaction, when I had found my money; so 
 I break off here. Joy is as extravagant as grief, and 
 since I have been a man I have often thought that 
 bad such a thing befallen a man, so to have lost all he 
 had, and not have a bit of bread to eat, and then so 
 Istrangely to find it again, after having given it so effect- 
 Jaally over, — I say, had it been so with a man, it might 
 liave hazarded his using some violence upon himself 
 
 Well, I came away with my money, and, having 
 :aken sixpence out of it, before I made it up again, I 
 vent to a chandler's shop in Mile-end, and bought a 
 Halfpenny roll and a halfpenny-worth of cheese, and 
 iat down at the door after I bought it, and ate it very 
 leartily, and begged some beer to drink with it, which 
 he good woman gave me very freely. 
 
 s 
 
258 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 Away I went then for the town, to see if I could 
 find any of my companions, and resolved I would try 
 no more hollow trees for my treasure. As I came 
 along Whitechapel, I came by a broker's shop, over 
 against the church, where they sold old clothes, for I 
 had nothing on but the worst of rags ; so I stopped 
 at the shop, and stood looking at the clothes which 
 hung at the door. 
 
 'Well, young gentleman,' says a man that stood at 
 the door, ' you look wishfully ; do you see anything 
 you like, and will your pocket compass a good coat 
 now, for you look as if you belonged to the ragged 
 regiment?' I was affronted at the fellow. 'What's 
 that to you,' says I, 'how ragged I am? if I had seen 
 anything I liked I have money to pay for it ; but I 
 can go where I shan't be huffed at for looking.' 
 
 While I said thus, pretty boldly to the fellow, 
 comes a woman out, 'What ails you,' says she to the 
 man, ' to bully away our customers so ? a poor boy's 
 money is as good as my lord mayor's ; if poor people 
 did not buy old clothes what would become of our 
 business ? ' and, then turning to me, ' Come hither, 
 child,' says she, ' if thou hast a mind to anything I 
 have, you shan't be hectored by him ; the boy is a 
 pretty boy, I assure you,' says she, to another woman 
 that was by this time come to her. ' Ay,' says the 
 t'other, ' so he is, a very well-looking child, if he was 
 clean and well dressed, and may be as good a gentle- 
 
Colonel Jack 259 
 
 man's son for anything we know, as any of those that 
 are well dressed. Come, my dear,' says she, ' tell me 
 what is it you would have ?' She pleased me mightily 
 to hear her talk of my being a gentleman's son, and 
 it brought former things to my mind ; but when she 
 talk'd of my being not clean, and in rags, then I cried. 
 
 She pressed me to tell her if I saw anything that I 
 wanted ; I told her no, all the clothes I saw there 
 were too big for me. ' Come, child,' says she, ' I 
 have two things here that will fit you, and I am sure 
 you want them both ; that is, first, a little hat, and 
 there,' says she (tossing it to me), ' I'll give you that 
 for nothing; and here is a good warm pair of breeches; 
 I dare say,' says she, ' they will fit you, and they are 
 very tight and good ; and,' says she, ' if you should 
 ever come to have so much money that you don't 
 know what to do with it, here are excellent good 
 pockets,' says she, ' and a little fob to put your gold 
 in, or your watch in, when you get it' 
 
 It struck me with a strange kind of joy that I 
 should have a place to put my money in, and need 
 not go to hide it again in a hollow tree ; that I was 
 ready to snatch the breeches out of her hands, and 
 wondered that I should be such a fool never to think 
 of buying me a pair of breeches before, that I might 
 have a pocket to put my money in, and not carry it 
 about two days together in my hand, and in my shoe, 
 and I knew not how ; so, in a word, I gave her two 
 
26o Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 shillings for the breeches, and went over into the 
 churchyard, and put them on, put my money into my 
 new pockets, and was as pleased as a prince is with 
 his coach and six horses. I thanked the good 
 woman too for the hat, and told her I would come 
 again when I got more money, and buy some other 
 things I wanted ; and so I came away. 
 
 I was but a boy 'tis true, but I thought myself a 
 man, now I had got a pocket to put my money in, 
 and I went directly to find out my companion, by 
 whose means I got it ; but I was frighted out of my 
 wits when I heard that he was carried to Bridewell ; 
 I made no question but it was for the letter-case, and 
 that I should be carried there too ; and then my poor 
 brother Captain Jack's case came into my head, and 
 that I should be whipped there as cruelly as he was, 
 and I was in such a fright that I knew not what 
 to do. 
 
 But in the afternoon I met him ; he had been 
 carried to Bridewell, it seems, upon that very affair, 
 but was got out again. The case was thus : having 
 had such good luck at the custom-house the day 
 before he takes his walk thither again, and as he was 
 in the long-room, gaping and staring about him, a 
 fellow lays hold of him, and calls to one of the clerks 
 that sat behind, ' Here,' says he, ' is the same young 
 rogue that I told you I saw loitering about t'other 
 day, when the gentleman lost his letter-case and his 
 
Colonel Jack 26 1 
 
 goldsmith's bills ; I dare say it was he that stole 
 them.' Immediately the whole crowd of people 
 gathered about the boy, and charged him point blank ; 
 but he was too well used to such things to be frighted 
 into a confession of what he knew they could not 
 prove, for he had nothing about him belonging to it, 
 nor had any money, but sixpence and a few dirty 
 farthings. 
 
 They threatened him, and pulled and hauled him, 
 till they almost pulled the clothes off his back, and 
 the commissioners examined him ; but all was one, 
 he would own nothing, but said he walked up through 
 the room only to see the place, both then and the 
 time before, for he had owned he was there before ; 
 so as there was no proof against him of any fact, no, 
 nor of any circumstances relating to the letter-case, 
 they were forced at last to let him go ; however, they 
 made a show of carrying him to Bridewell, and they 
 did carry him to the gate to see if they could make him 
 confess anything ; but he would confess nothing, and 
 they had no mittimus ; so they durst not carry him 
 into the house, nor would the people have received 
 him, I suppose, if they had, they having no warrant 
 for putting him in prison. 
 
 Well, when they could get nothing out of him 
 they carried him into an alehouse, and there they 
 told him that the letter-case had bills in it of a very 
 great value, that they would be of no use to the rogue 
 
262 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 that had them, but they would be of infinite damage 
 to the gentleman that had lost them; and that he 
 had left word with the clerk, who the man that stopped 
 this boy had called to, and who was there with him, 
 that he would give ;£"3o to any one that would bring 
 them again, and give all the security that could be 
 desired that he would give them no trouble, whoever 
 it was. 
 
 He was just come from out of their hands when 
 I met with him, and so he told me all the story; 
 ' but,' says he, ' I would confess nothing, and so I 
 got off, and am come away clear.' 'Well,' says I, 
 'and what will you do with the letter-case, and the 
 bills, will not you let the poor man have his bills 
 again ?' ' No, not I,' says he, ' I won't trust them, 
 what care I for their bills?' It came into my head, 
 as young as I was, that it was a sad thing indeed to 
 take a man's bills away for so much money, and not 
 have any advantage by it either; for I concluded 
 that the gentleman who owned the bills must lose 
 all the money, and it was strange he should keep the 
 bills and make a gentleman lose so much money for 
 nothing. I remember that I ruminated very much 
 about it, and, though I did not understand it very 
 well, yet it lay upon my mind, and I said every now 
 and then to him, ' Do let the gentleman have his 
 bills again ; do, pray do ; ' and so I teazed him with 
 do, and pray do, till at last I cried about them. He 
 
Colonel Jack 263 
 
 said, ' What, would you have me be found out and 
 sent to Bridewell, and be whipped, as your brother 
 Captain Jack was?' I said, 'No, I would not have 
 you whipped, but I would have the man have his 
 bills, for they will do you no good, but the gentleman 
 will be undone, it may be ; ' and then, I added again, 
 ' Do let him have them.' He snapped me short, 
 ' Why,' says he, ' how shall I get them to him ? Who 
 dare carry them ? I dare not, to be sure, for they 
 will stop me, and bring the goldsmith to see if he 
 does not know me, and that I received the money, 
 and so they will prove the robbery, and I shall be 
 hanged \ would you have me be hanged. Jack ? ' 
 
 I was silenced a good while with that, for when he 
 said, 'Would you have me be hanged. Jack ?' I had no 
 more to say ; but one day after this he called to me, 
 ' Colonel Jack,' says he, ' I have thought of a way 
 how the gentleman shall have his bills again ; and 
 you and I shall get a good deal of money by it if 
 you will be honest to me, as I was to you.' ' Indeed,' 
 says I, ' Robin,' that was his name, ' I will be very 
 honest ; let me know how it is, for I would fain have 
 him have his bills.' 
 
 ' Why,' says he, ' they told me that he had left 
 word at the clerk's place in the long-room, that he 
 would give ^30 to any one that had the bills, and 
 would restore them, and would ask no questions. 
 Now, if you will go, like a poor innocent boy, as you 
 
264 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 are, into the long-room, and speak to the clerk, it 
 may do ; tell him, if the gentleman will do as he 
 promised, you believe you can tell him who has it ; 
 and if they are civil to you, and willing to be as good 
 as their words, you shall have the letter-case, and 
 give it them.' 
 
 I told him, ' Ay, I would go with all my heart.' 
 ' But, Colonel Jack,' says he, ' what if they should 
 take hold of you, and threaten to have you whipped, 
 won't you discover me to them?' 'No,' says I, 'if 
 they would whip me to death I won't.' ' Well, then,' 
 says he, ' there's the letter-case, do you go.' So he 
 gave me directions how to act, and what to say ; but 
 I would not take the letter-case with me, lest they 
 should prove false, and take hold of me, thinking to 
 find it upon me, and so charge me with the fact ; so 
 I left it with him, and the next morning I went to 
 the custom-house, as was agreed ; what my directions 
 were, will, to avoid repetition, appear in what happened; 
 it was an errand of too much consequence indeed to 
 be entrusted to a boy, not only so young as I was, 
 but so little of a rogue as I was yet arrived to -the 
 degree of. 
 
 Two things I was particularly armed with, which I 
 resolved upon : i. That the man should have his 
 bills again ; for it seemed a horrible thing to me that 
 he should be made to lose his money, which I sup- 
 posed he must, purely because we would not carry 
 
Colonel Jack 265 
 
 the letter-case home. 2. That whatever happened to 
 me, I was never to tell the name of my comrade 
 Robin, who had been the principal. With these two 
 pieces of honesty, for such they were both in them- 
 selves, and with a manly heart, though a boy's head, 
 I went up into the long-room in the Custom-house 
 the next day. 
 
 As soon as I came to the place where the thing 
 was done, I saw the man sit just where he had sat 
 before, and it ran in my head that he had sat there 
 ever since ; but I knew no better ; so I went up, and 
 stood just at that side of the writing-board that goes 
 upon that side of the room, and which I was but just 
 tall enough to lay my arms upon. 
 
 While I stood there, one thrust me this way, and 
 another thrust me that way, and the man that sat 
 behind began to look at me ; at last he called out to 
 me ; ' What does that boy do there ? get you gone, 
 sirrah ; are you one of the rogues that stole the 
 gentleman's letter-case on Monday last?' Then he 
 turns his tale to a gentleman that was doing business 
 
 with him, and goes on thus : ' Here was Mr. 
 
 had a very unlucky chance on Monday last, did not 
 you hear of it ?' ' No, not I,' says the gentleman. 
 *Why, standing just there, where you do,' says he, 
 * making his entries, he pulled out his letter-case, 
 and laid it down, as he says, but just at his hand, 
 while he reached over to the standish there for a 
 
266 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 penful of ink, and somebody stole away his letter- 
 case.' 
 
 ' His letter-case ! ' says t'other, ' what, and was there 
 any bills in it?' 
 
 ' Ay,' says he, ' there was Sir Stephen Evans's note 
 in it for ;£3oo, and another goldsmith's bill for about 
 ^12, and, which is worse still for the gentleman, he 
 had two foreign accepted bills in it for a great sum, I 
 know not how much, I think one was a French bill 
 for 1 200 crowns.' 
 
 ' And who could it be ? ' says the gentleman. 
 
 ' Nobody knows,' says he, ' but one of our room- 
 keepers says he saw a couple of young rogues like 
 that,' pointing at me, 'hanging about here, and that 
 on a sudden they were both gone.' 
 
 ' Villains ! ' says he again ; ' why, what can they 
 do with them, they will be of no use to them ? I 
 suppose he went immediately and gave notice to 
 prevent the payment.' 
 
 'Yes,' says the clerk, 'he did; but the rogues 
 were too nimble for him with the little bill of ;2^ i 2 
 odd money ; they went and got the money for that, 
 but all the rest are stopped ; however, 'tis an unspeak- 
 able damage to him for want of his money.' 
 
 'Why, he should pubhsh a reward for the en- 
 couragement of those that have them to jDring them 
 again ; they would be glad to bring them, I warrant 
 you.' 
 
Colonel Jack 267 
 
 ' He has posted it up at the door, that he will give 
 ^30 for them.' 
 
 'Ay, but he should add, that he will promise not 
 to stop, or give any trouble to the person that brings 
 them.' 
 
 ' He has done that too,' says he, ' but I fear they 
 won't trust themselves to be honest, for fear he should 
 break his word.' 
 
 ' Why, it is true, he may break his word in that 
 case, but no man should do so ; for then no rogue 
 will venture to bring home anything that is stolen, 
 and so he would do an injury to others after him.' 
 
 ' I durst pawn my life for him, he would scorn it.' 
 
 Thus far they discoursed of it, and then went off 
 to something else. I heard it all, but did not know 
 what to do a great while ; but at last, watching the 
 gentleman that went away, when he was gone, I ran 
 after him to have spoken to him, intending to have 
 broke it to him, but he went hastily into a room or two, 
 full of people, at the hither end of the long-room ; 
 and when I went to follow, the doorkeepers turned 
 me back and told me, I must not go in there ; so I 
 went back, and loitered about, near the man that sat 
 behind the board, and hung about there till I found 
 the clock struck twelve, and the room began to be 
 thin of people ; and at last he sat there writing, but 
 nobody stood at the board before him, as there had 
 all the rest of the morning ; then 1 came a little 
 
268 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 nearer, and stood close to the board, as I did before ; 
 when, looking up from his paper, and seeing me, says 
 he to me, 'You have been up and down there all 
 this morning, sirrah, what do you want? you have 
 some business that is not very good, I doubt.' 
 
 ' No, I han't,' said I. 
 
 ' No ? it is well if you han't,' says he ; ' pray what 
 business can you have in the long-room, sir ; you are 
 no merchant ?' 
 
 ' I would speak with you,' said I. 
 
 ' With me,' says he, ' what have you to say to me ?' 
 
 ' I have something to say,' said I, ' if you will do 
 me no harm for it.' 
 
 ' I do thee harm, child, what harm should I do 
 thee?' and spoke very kindly. 
 
 'Won't you indeed, sir?' said I, 
 
 ' No, not I, child ; I'll do thee no harm ; what is 
 it ? do you know anything of the gentleman's letter- 
 case?' 
 
 I answered, but spoke softly, that he could not 
 hear me : so he gets over presently into the seat next 
 him, and opens a place that was made to come out, 
 and bade me come in to him ; and I did. 
 
 Then he asked me again if I knew anything of 
 the letter-case. 
 
 I spoke softly again, and said, Folks would hear 
 him. 
 
 Then he whispered softly, and asked me again. 
 
Colonel Jack 269 
 
 i I told him I believed I did ; but that, indeed, I 
 had it not, nor had no hand in steahng it, but it was 
 gotten into the hands of a boy that would have burnt 
 it, if it had not been for me ; and that I heard him 
 say that the gentleman would be glad to have them 
 again, and give a good deal of money for them. 
 
 ' I did say so, child,' said he, ' and if you can get 
 them for him he shall give you a good reward, no 
 less than ^30, as he has promised.' 
 
 ' But you said too, sir, to the gentleman just now,' 
 said I, ' that you was sure he would not bring them 
 into any harm that should bring them.' 
 
 ' No, you shall come to no harm ; I will pass my 
 word for it.' 
 
 Boy. Nor shan't they make me bring other people 
 into trouble ? 
 
 Gent. No, you shall not be asked the name of 
 anybody, nor to tell who they are. 
 
 Boy. I am but a poor boy, and I would fain have 
 the gentleman have his bills, and indeed I did not 
 take them away, nor I han't got them. 
 
 Ge7it. But can you tell how the gentleman shall 
 have them ? 
 
 Boy. If I can get them I will bring them to you 
 to-morrow morning. 
 
 Gent. Can you not do it to-night ? 
 
 Boy. I believe I may if I knew where to come. 
 
 Gent. Come to my house, child. 
 
270 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 Boy. I don't know where you live. 
 
 Gent. Go along with me now, and you shall see. 
 So he carried me up into Tower-street, and showed 
 me his house, and ordered me to come there at five 
 o'clock at night ; which accordingly I did, and carried 
 the letter-case with me. 
 
 When I came the gentleman asked me if I had 
 brought the book, as he called it. 
 
 ' It is not a book,' said I. 
 
 ' No, the letter-case, that's all one,' says he. 
 
 'You promised me,' said I, 'you would not hurt 
 me,' and cried. 
 
 ' Don't be afraid, child,' says he, ' I will not hurt 
 thee, poor boy ; nobody shall hurt thee.' 
 
 ' Here it is,' said I, and pulled it out. 
 
 He then brought in another gentleman, who it 
 seems owned the letter-case, and asked him if that 
 was it ? and he said, ' Yes.' 
 
 Then he asked me if all the bills were in it ? 
 
 I told him I heard him say there was one gone, 
 but I believed there was all the rest. 
 
 'Why do you believe so?' says he. 
 
 ' Because I heard the boy that I believe stole them, 
 say they were too big for him to meddle with.' 
 
 The gentleman, then, that owned them, said, 
 ' Where is the boy?' 
 
 Then the other gentleman put in, and said, ' No, 
 you must not ask him that ; I passed my word that 
 
Colonel Jack 27 r 
 
 you should not, and that he should not be obliged to 
 tell it to anybody.' 
 
 'Well, child,' says he, 'you will let us see the 
 letter-case opened, and whether the bills are in it?' 
 
 'Yes,' says I. 
 
 Then the first gentleman said, ' How many bills 
 were there in it?' 
 
 ' Only three,' says he, ' besides the bill oi £^\2 : los. ; 
 there was Sir Stephen Evans's note for ^300, and 
 two foreign bills.' 
 
 'Well, then, if they are in the letter-case, the boy 
 shall have ^30, shall he not?' 'Yes,' says the 
 gentleman, 'he shall have it freely.' 
 
 'Come then, child,' says he, 'let me open it.' 
 
 So I gave it him, and he opened it, and there 
 were all three bills, and several other papers, fair and 
 safe, nothing defaced or diminished, and the gentle- 
 man said, ' All is right.' 
 
 Then said the first man, 'Then I am security to 
 the poor boy for the money.' 'Well, but,' says the 
 gentleman, 'the rogues have got the £,\2 : los.; they 
 ought to reckon that as part of the £^0.'' Had he 
 asked me, I should have consented to it at first word ; 
 but the first man stood my friend. ' Nay,' says he, 
 'it was since you knew that the ^12 : los. was re- 
 ceived that you offered ^30 for the other bills, and 
 published it by the crier, and posted it up at the 
 custom-house door, and I promised him the ^30 this 
 
272 
 
 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 morning.' They argued long, and I thought would 
 have quarrelled about it. 
 
 However, at last they both yielded a little, and the 
 gentleman gave me £,2^ in good guineas. When he 
 gave it me, he bade me hold out my hand, and he 
 told the money into my hand ; and when he had 
 done, he asked me if it was right ? I said I did not 
 know, but I believed it was: 'Why,' says he, 'can't 
 you tell it ? ' I told him. No ; I never saw so much 
 money in my life, nor I did not know how to tell 
 money. ' Why,' says he, ' don't you know that they 
 are guineas ? ' No, I told him, I did not know how 
 much a guinea was. 
 
 'Why, then,' says he, 'did you tell me you be- 
 lieved it was right ? ' I told him because I believed 
 he would not give it me wrong. 
 
 ' Poor child,' says he, ' thou knowest little of the 
 world, indeed ; what art thou ? ' 
 
 ' I am a poor boy,' says I, and cried. 
 
 'What is your name?' says he — 'but hold, I for- 
 got,' said he; ' I promised I would not ask your name, 
 so you need not tell me.' 
 
 ' My name is Jack,' said I. 
 
 'Why, have you no surname?' said he. 
 
 'What is that?' said I. 
 
 ' You have some other name besides Jack,' says 
 he, 'han't you?' 
 
 'Yes,' says I, 'they call me Colonel Jack.' 
 
Colonel Jack 273 
 
 'But have you no other name?' 
 
 'No,' said I. 
 
 ' How came you to be called Colonel Jack, pray ? 
 
 ' They say,' said I, * my father's name was Colonel 
 
 'Is your father or mother alive?' said he. 
 
 'No,' said I, 'my father is dead.' 
 
 'Where is your mother then?' said he. 
 
 ' I never had e'er a mother,' said I. 
 
 This made him laugh. ' What,' said he, ' had you 
 never a mother, what then ? ' 
 
 ' I had a nurse,' said I, ' but she was not my 
 mother. ' 
 
 'Well,' says he to the gentleman, 'I dare say this 
 boy was not the thief that stole your bills.' 
 
 ' Indeed, sir, I did not steal them,' said I, and 
 cried again. 
 
 ' No, no, child,' said he, ' we don't believe you 
 did. This is a very clever boy,' says he, to the other 
 gentleman, ' and yet very ignorant and honest ; 'tis 
 [pity some care should not be taken of him, and 
 [something done for him ; let us talk a little more 
 livith him.' So they sat down and drank wine, and 
 j^ave me some, and then the first gentleman talked to 
 ne again. 
 
 'Well,' says he, 'what wilt thou do with this 
 oney now thou hast it ?' 
 ' I don't know,' said I. 
 ' Where will you put it ? ' said he. 
 
 T 
 
274 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 ' In my pocket,' said I. 
 
 ' In your pocket,' said he ; 'is your pocket whole ? 
 shan't you lose it ? ' 
 
 'Yes,' said I, 'my pocket is whole.' 
 
 ' And where will you put it, when you get home ? ' 
 
 ' I have no home,' said I ; and cried again. 
 
 ' Poor child ! ' said he, ' then what dost thou do 
 for thy living ? ' 
 
 'I go of errands,' said I, ' for the folks in Rose- 
 mary-lane.' 
 
 ' And what dost thou do for a lodging at night ? ' 
 
 ' I lie at the glass-house,' said I, ' at night.' 
 
 ' How, lie at the glass-house ! have they any beds 
 there ? ' says he. 
 
 ' I never lay in a bed in my life,' said I, ' as I : 
 remember.' 
 
 ' Why,' says he, ' what do you lie on at the glass- 
 house ? ' 
 
 'The ground,' says I, 'and sometimes a little 
 straw, or upon the warm ashes.' 
 
 Here the gentleman that lost the bills, said, ' This 
 poor child is enough to make a man weep for the 
 miseries of human nature, and be thankful for him- 
 self; he puts tears into my eyes.' 'And into mine 
 too,' says the other. 
 
 'Well, but hark ye. Jack,' says the first gentleman, 
 ' do they give you no money when they send you of 
 errands ? ' 
 
Colonel Jack 275 
 
 'They give me victuals,' said I, 'and that's better.' 
 
 ' But what,' says he, ' do you do for clothes ?' 
 
 ' They give me sometimes old things,' said I, 
 "such as they have to spare.' 
 
 ' Why, you have never a shirt on, I believe,' said 
 le, ' have you ?' 
 
 ' No, I never had a shirt,' said I, ' since my nurse 
 iied.' 
 
 ' How long ago is that ?' said he. 
 
 ' Six winters, when this is out,' said I. 
 
 'Why, how old are you?' said he. 
 
 ' I can't tell,' said I. 
 
 'Well,' says the gentleman, 'now you have this 
 noney won't you buy some clothes, and a shirt with 
 ome of it ?' 
 
 'Yes,' said I, I would buy some clothes. 
 
 ' And what will you do with the rest ?' 
 
 ' I can't tell,' said I, and cried. 
 
 'What do'st cry for, Jack?' said he. 
 
 ' I am afraid,' said I ; and cried still. 
 
 'What art afraid of?' 
 
 ' They wdll know I have money.' 
 
 'Well, and what then?' 
 
 ' Then I must sleep no more in the warm glass- 
 ouse, and I shall be starved with cold. They will 
 ike away my money.' 
 
 ' But why must you sleep there no more ?' 
 
 Here the gentlemen observed to one another how 
 
276 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 naturally anxiety and perplexity attend those that 
 have money. ' I warrant you,' says the clerk, ' when 
 this poor boy had no money he slept all night in the 
 straw, or on the warm ashes in the glass-house, as 
 soundly and as void of care as it would be possible 
 for any creature to do ; but now, as soon as he has 
 gotten money, the care of preserving it brings tears 
 into his eyes, and fear into his heart.' 
 
 They asked me a great many questions more, to 
 which I answered in my childish way as well as I 
 could, but so as pleased them well enough ; at last I 
 was going away with a heavy pocket, and I assure 
 you not a light heart, for I was so frighted with 
 having so much money that I knew not what in the 
 earth to do with myself: I w^ent away, however, and 
 walked a little way, but I could not tell what to do ; 
 so, after rambling two hours or thereabout, I went 
 back again, and sat down at the gentleman's door, 
 and there I cried as long as I had any moisture in 
 my head to make tears of, but never knocked at the 
 door. 
 
 I had not sat long, I suppose, but somebody be- 
 longing to the family got knowledge of it, and a maid 
 came and talked to me, but I said little to her, only 
 cried still ; at length it came to the gentleman's ears. 
 As for the merchant, he was gone. When the gentle- 
 man heard of me, he called me in, and began to talk 
 with me again, and asked me what I stayed for ? 
 
Colonel Jack 277 
 
 I told him I had not stayed there all that while, 
 for I had been gone a great while, and was come again. 
 
 ' Well,' says he, ' but what did you come again for ?' 
 
 * I can't tell,' says I. 
 
 'And what do you cry so for?' said he. ' I hope 
 you have not lost your money, have you?' 
 
 No, I told him, I had not lost it yet, but I was 
 afraid I should. 
 
 'And does that make you cry?' says he. 
 
 I told him. Yes, for I knew I should not be able 
 to keep it, but they would cheat me of it, or they 
 would kill me, and take it away from me too. 
 
 ' They,' says he, ' who ? what sort of gangs of 
 people art thou with ? ' 
 
 I told him they were all boys, but very wicked 
 boys ; ' Thieves and pickpockets,' said I, ' such as 
 stole this letter-case, a sad pack, I can't abide them.' 
 
 'Well, Jack,' said he, 'what shall be done for 
 thee ? Will you leave it with me ? shall I keep it for 
 you ? ' 
 
 ' Yes,' said I, with all my heart, ' if you please.' 
 
 ' Come, then,' says he, ' give it me ; and that you 
 bay be sure that I have it, and you shall have it 
 lonestly again, I'll give you a bill for it, and for the 
 nterest of it, and that you may keep safe enough. 
 >Tay,' added he, ' and if you lose it, or anybody takes 
 t from you, none shall receive the money but your- 
 ielf, or any part of.it.' 
 
278 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 I presently pulled out all the money, and gave it 
 to him, only keeping about 15 s. for myself to buy 
 some clothes ; and thus ended the conference between 
 us on the first occasion, at least for the first time. 
 Having thus secured my money to my full satisfaction 
 I was then perfectly easy, and, accordingly, the sad 
 thoughts that afflicted my mind before began to 
 vanish away. 
 
 This w^as enough to let any one see how all the 
 sorrows and anxieties of men's lives come about ; how 
 they rise from their restless pushing at getting of 
 money, and the restless cares of keeping it when 
 they have got it. I that had nothing, and had 
 not known what it was to have had anything, knew 
 nothing of the care either of getting or of keeping it ; 
 I wanted nothing, who wanted everything ; I had no 
 care, no concern about where I should get my victuals, 
 or how I should lodge ; I knew not what money was, 
 or what to do with it ; and never knew what it was 
 not to sleep till I had money to keep and was 
 afraid of losing it. 
 
 I had, without doubt, an opportunity at this time, 
 if I had not been too foolish, and too much a child 
 to speak for myself; I had an opportunity, I say, to 
 have got into his service, or perhaps to be under some 1 
 of the care and concern of these gentlemen ; for they 
 seemed to be very fond of doing something for me, 
 and were surprised at the innocence of my talk to 
 
Colonel Jack 279 
 
 them, as well as at the misery (as they thought it) of 
 my condition. 
 
 But I acted indeed like a child. ; and leaving my 
 money, as I have said, I never went near them for 
 several years after. What course I took, and what 
 befel me in that interval, has so much variety in it, 
 and carries so much instruction in it, that it requires 
 an account of it by itself 
 
 The first happy chance that offered itself to me in 
 the world was now over ; I had got money, but I 
 neither knew the value of it nor the use of it ; the 
 way of living I had begun was so natural to me I 
 had no notion of bettering it ; I had not so much as 
 any desire of buying me any clothes, no, not so much 
 as a shirt, and much less had I any thought of getting 
 any other lodging than that in the glass-house, and 
 loitering about the streets, as I had done ; for I knew 
 no good, and had tasted no evil ; that is to say, the 
 life I had led being not evil in my account. 
 
 In this state of innocence I returned to my really 
 miserable life, so it was in itself, and was only not so 
 to me, because I did not understand how to judge of 
 it, and had known no better. 
 
 My comrade that gave me back the bills, and 
 who, if I had not pressed him, designed never to 
 have restored them, never asked me what I had 
 given me, but told me if they gave me anything it 
 should be my own ; for as, he said, he would not run 
 
28o Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 the venture of being seen in the restoring them, I 
 deserved the reward if there was any ; neither did he 
 trouble his head with inquiring what I had, or whether 
 I had anything or no ; so my title to what I had got 
 was clear. 
 
 I went now up and down just as I did before ; I had 
 money indeed in my pocket, but I let nobody know 
 it ; I went of errands cheerfully as before, and accepted 
 of what anybody gave me, with as much thankfulness 
 as ever ; the only difference that I made with myself, 
 was, that if I was hungry, and nobody employed me, 
 or gave me anything to eat, I did not beg from door 
 to door, as I did at first, but went to a boiling-house, 
 as I said once before, and got a mess of broth and a 
 piece of bread, price a half-penny ; very seldom any 
 meat, or if I treated myself, it was a half-penny worth 
 of cheese ; all which expense did not amount to 
 above twopence or threepence a week ; for, contrary 
 to the usage of the rest of the tribe, I was extremely 
 frugal, and I had not disposed of any of the guineas 
 which I had at first ; neither, as I said to the custom- 
 house gentleman, could I tell what a guinea was 
 made of, or what it was worth. 
 
 After I had been about a month thus, and had 
 done nothing, my comrade, as I called him, came to 
 me one morning ; ' Colonel Jack,' says he, ' when 
 shall you and I take a walk again ? ' ' When you 
 will,' said I. ' Have you got no business yet ? ' says 
 
Colo?tel Jack 2 8 1 
 
 he. ' No/ says I ; and so one thing bringing in 
 another, he told me I was a fortunate wretch, and he 
 beheved I would be so again ; but that he must make 
 a new bargain with me now ; ' for,' says he, ' Colonel, 
 the first time we always let a'^ raw brother come in 
 for full share to encourage him, but afterwards, except 
 it be when he puts himself forward well, and runs 
 equal hazard, he stands to courtesy ; but as we are 
 gentlemen, we always do very honourable by one 
 another ; and if you are willing to trust it, or leave it 
 to me, I shall do handsomely by you, that you may 
 depend upon.' I told him I was not able to do 
 anything, that was certain, for I did not understand 
 it, and therefore I could not expect to get anything, 
 but I would do as he bade me ; so we walked abroad 
 together. 
 
 We went no more to the Custom-house, it was too 
 bold a venture ; besides, I did not care to show my- 
 self again, especially with him in company ; but we 
 went directly to the Exchange, and we hankered 
 about in Castle-alley, and in Swithin's-alley, and at 
 the coffee-house doors. It was a very unlucky day, 
 for we got nothing all day but two or three handker- 
 chiefs, and came home to the old lodgings at the 
 glass-house ; nor had I anything to eat or drink all 
 day, but a piece of bread which he gave me, and 
 some water at the conduit at the Exchange-gate. So 
 when he was gone from me, for he di|^jjQtHe in the 
 
 V 
 
 X^ Of THE ^ 
 
 UNIVEBSITl 
 
 
282 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 glass-house as I did, I went to my old broth-house 
 for my usual bait, and refreshed myself, and the next 
 day early went to meet him again, as he appointed me. 
 
 Being early in the morning, he took his walk to 
 Billingsgate, where it seems two sorts of people make 
 a great crowd as soon as it is light, and at that time 
 a-year, rather before daylight ; that is to say, crimps, 
 and the masters of coal ships, who they call collier- 
 masters ; and, secondly, fishmongers, fish-sellers, and 
 buyers of fish. 
 
 It was the first of these people that he had his 
 eye upon. So he gives me my orders, which was 
 thus: 'Go you,' says he, 'into all the alehouses, as 
 we go along, and observe where any people are telling 
 of money ; and when you find any, come and tell me.' 
 So he stood at the door, and I went into the houses. 
 As the collier-masters generally sell their coals at the 
 gate, as they call it, so they generally receive their 
 money in those alehouses ; and it was not long before 
 I brought him word of several. Upon this he went 
 in, and made his observations, but found nothing to 
 his purpose ; at length I brought him word that there 
 was a man in such a house who had received a great 
 deal of money of somebody, I believed of several 
 people, and that it lay all upon the table in heaps, 
 and he was very busy writing down the sums, and 
 putting it up in several bags. 'Is he ? ' says he, ' I'll 
 warrant him I will have some of it ; ' and in he goes. 
 
Colonel Jack 283 
 
 He walks up and down the house, which had several 
 open tables and boxes in it, and he listened to hear, 
 if he could, what the man's name was ; and he heard 
 somebody call him Cullum, or some such name. 
 Then he watches his opportunity, and steps up to 
 him, and tells him a long story, that there were two 
 gentlemen at the Gun tavern, sent him to inquire for 
 him, and to tell him they desired to speak with him. 
 
 The collier- master had his money lying before 
 him, just as I had told him, and had two or three 
 small payments of money, which he had put up in 
 little black dirty bags, and lay by themselves ; and as 
 it was hardly broad day, he found means, in deliver- 
 ing his message, to lay his hand upon one of those 
 bags, and carry it off perfectly undiscovered. 
 
 When he had got it, he came out to me, who 
 stood but at the door ; and pulling me by the sleeve, 
 ' Run, Jack,' says he, ' for our lives ; ' and away he 
 scours, and I after him, never resting, or scarce look- 
 ing about me, till we got quite up into Fenchurch- 
 street, through Lime -street, into Leadenhall- street, 
 down St. Mary-Axe, to London-wall, then through 
 Bishopsgate-street, and down Old Bedlam into Moor- 
 fields. By this time we were neither of us able to 
 run very fast, nor need we have gone so far, for I 
 never found that anybody pursued us. When we got 
 into Moorfields, and began to take breath, I asked 
 him what it was frighted him so ? ' Fright me, you 
 
284 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 fool,' says he, ' I have got a devihsh great bag of 
 money.' ' A bag ! ' said L ' Ay, ay,' said he, ' let us 
 get out into the fields where nobody can see us, and 
 I'll show it you.' So away he had me through Long- 
 alley, and cross Hog-lane, and HoUoway-lane, into 
 the middle of the great field, which, since that, has 
 been called the Farthing Pie -house Fields. There 
 we would have sat down, but it was all full of water ; 
 so we went on, crossed the road at Anniseed Cleer, 
 and went into the field where now the great hospital 
 stands ; and finding a bye place, we sat down, and he 
 pulls out the bag. ' Thou art a lucky boy. Jack,' says 
 he, ' thou deservest a good share of this job truly, for 
 it is all along of thy lucky news.' So he pours it all 
 out into my hat, for, as I told you, I now wore a hat. 
 How he did to whip away such a bag of money 
 from any man that was awake and in his senses I 
 cannot tell ; but there was a great deal in it, and 
 among it a paper -full by itself When the paper 
 dropt out of the bag, ' Hold,' says he, ' that is gold ! ' 
 and began to crow and hollow hke a mad boy. But 
 there he was baulked, for it was a paper of old 
 thirteenpence - halfpenny pieces, half and quarter 
 pieces, with ninepences, and fourpence-halfpennies, 
 all old crooked money, Scotch and Irish coin ; so he 
 was disappointed in that; but as it was, there was 
 about ;£"i7 or ;^i8 in the bag, as I understood by 
 him ; for I could not tell money, not I. 
 
Colonel Jack 285 
 
 Well, he parted this money into three ; that is to 
 say, into three shares, two for himself, and one for 
 me, and asked, if I was content ? I told him. Yes, I 
 had reason to be contented ; besides, it was so much 
 money added to that I had left of his former adven- 
 ture, that I knew not what to do with it, or with my- 
 self, while I had so much about me. 
 
 This was a most exquisite fellow for a thief; for 
 he had the greatest dexterity at conveying anything 
 away, that he scarce ever pitched upon anything in 
 his eye but he carried it off with his hands, and 
 never, that I know of, missed his aim, or was caught 
 in the fact. 
 
 He was an eminent pickpocket, and very dexterous 
 at ladies' gold watches ; but he generally pushed 
 higher, at such desperate things as these ; and he 
 came off the cleanest, and with the greatest success 
 imaginable ; and it was in these kinds of the wicked 
 art of thieving that I became his scholar. 
 
 As we were now so rich he would not let me lie 
 any longer in the glass-house, or go naked and ragged, 
 as I had done ; but obliged me to buy two shirts, a 
 waistcoat, and a great coat ; for a great coat was more 
 for our purpose in the business we were upon than 
 any other. So I clothed myself as he directed, and 
 he took me a lodging in the same house with him, and 
 we lodged together in a little garret fit for our quality. 
 
 Soon after this we walked out again, and then we 
 
286 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 tried our fortune in the places by the Exchange a 
 second time. Here we began to act separately, and 
 I undertook to walk by myself; and the first thing I 
 did accurately was a trick I played that required 
 some skill for a new beginner, for I had never seen 
 any business of that kind done before. I saw two 
 gentlemen mighty eager in talk, and one pulled out a 
 pocket-book two or three times, and then slipt it into 
 his coat-pocket again, and then out it came again, 
 and papers were taken out, and others were put in ; 
 and then in it went again, and so several times ; the 
 man being still warmly engaged with another man, 
 and two or three others standing hard by them. The 
 last time he put his pocket-book into his pocket, he 
 might be said to throw it in, rather than put it in 
 with his hand, and the book lay end-way, resting upon 
 some other book, or something else in his pocket ; so 
 that it did not go quite down, but one corner of it 
 was seen above his pocket. 
 
 This careless way of men putting their pocket- 
 books into a coat-pocket, which is so easily dived into 
 by the least boy that has been used to the trade, can 
 never be too much blamed ; the gentlemen are in 
 great hurries, their heads and thoughts entirely taken 
 up, and it is impossible they should be guarded enough 
 against such little hawk-eyed creatures as we were ; 
 and, therefore, they ought either never to put their 
 pocket-books up at all, or to put them up more 
 
Colonel Jack 287 
 
 secure, or to put nothing of value into them. I 
 happened to be just opposite to this gentleman in 
 that they call Swithin's-alley ; or that alley rather 
 which is between Swithin's-alley and the Exchange, 
 just by a passage that goes out of the alley into the 
 Exchange ; when seeing the book pass and repass 
 into the pocket, and out of the pocket as above, it 
 came immediately into my head, certainly I might get 
 that pocket-book out if I were nimble, and I warrant 
 Will would have it, if he saw it go and come to and 
 again as I did ; but when I saw it hang by the way, 
 as I have said ; ' Now it is mine,' said I to myself, and, 
 crossing the alley, I brushed smoothly, but closely, by 
 the man, with my hand down flat to my own side, 
 and, taking hold of it by the corner that appeared, 
 the book came so light into my hand, it was impos- 
 sible the gentleman should feel the least motion, or 
 anybody else see me take it away. I went directly 
 forward into the broad place on the north side of the 
 Exchange, then scoured down Bartholomew-lane, so 
 into Tokenhouse-yard, into the alleys which pass 
 through from thence to London -wall, so through 
 Moorgate, and sat down on the grass in the second 
 of the quarters of Moorfields, towards the middle 
 field ; which was the place that Will and I had ap- 
 pointed to meet at if either of us got any booty. 
 When I came thither, Will was not come, but I saw 
 him a coming in about half an hour. 
 
288 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 As soon as Will came to me, I asked him what 
 booty he had gotten? He looked pale, and, as I 
 thought, frighted; but he returned, 'I have got 
 nothing, not I ; but, you lucky young dog,' says he, 
 ' what have you got ? Have not you got the gentle- 
 man's pocket-book in Swithin's-alley ? ' 'Yes,' says I, 
 and laughed at him ; ' why, how did you know it ? ' 
 ' Know it ! ' says he, ' why the gentleman is raving 
 and half distracted ; he stamps and cries, and tears 
 his very clothes ; he says he is utterly undone and 
 ruined, and the folks in the alley say there is I know 
 not how many thousand pounds in it ; what can be 
 in it ? ' says Will ; ' come, let us see.' 
 
 Well, we lay close in the grass in the middle of 
 the quarter, so that nobody minded us ; and so we 
 opened the pocket-book, and there was a great many 
 bills and notes under men's hands ; some goldsmiths', 
 and some belonging to insurance offices, as they call 
 them, and the like; but that which was it seems 
 worth all the rest was that in one of the folds of the 
 cover of the book, where there was a case with several 
 partitions, there was a paper full of loose diamonds. 
 The man, as we understood afterward, was a Jew, who 
 dealt in such goods, and who indeed ought to have 
 taken more care of the keeping of them. 
 
 Now was this booty too great, even for Will him- 
 self, to manage ; for though by this time I was come 
 to understand things better than I did formerly, when 
 
Colonel Jack 289 
 
 I knew not what belonged to money ; yet Will was 
 better skilled by far in those things than I. But this 
 puzzled him too, as well as me. Now were we some- 
 thing like the cock in the fable ; for all these bills, 
 and I think there was one bill of Sir Henry Furness's 
 for ^1200, and all these diamonds, which were worth 
 about ^150, as they said; I say, all these things 
 were of no value to us, one little purse of gold would 
 have been better to us than all of it. ' But come,' 
 says Will, 'let us look over the bills for a little one.' 
 
 We looked over all the bills, and, among them, vv^e 
 found a bill under a man's hand for ^^32 ; 'Come,' 
 says Will, 'let us go and inquire where this man lives.' 
 So he went into the city again, and Will went to the 
 post-house, and asked there ; they told him he lived 
 at Temple-bar: 'Well,' says Will, 'I will venture, I'll 
 go and receive the money ; it may be he has not re- 
 membered to send to stop the payment there.' 
 
 But it came into his thoughts to take anothei 
 course ; ' Come,' says Will, ' I'll go back to the alley 
 and see if I can hear anything of what has happened, 
 for I believe the hurry is not over yet. It seems the 
 man who lost the book was carried into the King's- 
 head tavern, at the end of that alley, and a great 
 crowd was about the door.' 
 
 Away goes Will, and watches and waits about the 
 place ; and then, seeing several people together, for 
 they were not all dispersed, he asks one or two what 
 
 u 
 
290 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 was the matter ; they tell him a long story of ai 
 gentleman who had lost his pocket-book, with a great 
 bag of diamonds in it, and bills for a great many 
 thousand pounds, and I know not what ; and that* 
 they had been just; crying it, and had offered 
 ;^ioo reward to any one who would discover and 
 restore it. | 
 
 'I wish,' said he, to one of them that parleyed 
 with him, ' I did but know who has it, I don't doubt 
 but I could help him to it again ; does he remember 
 nothing of anybody, boy, or fellow, that was near him ? 
 if he could but describe him, it might do.' Some-l 
 body that overheard him was so forward to assist the 
 poor gentleman that they went up and let him know 
 what a young fellow, meaning Will, had been talking 
 at the door ; and down comes another gentleman 
 from him, and, taking Will aside, asked him what h^ 
 had said about it ? Will was a grave sort of a youn^ 
 man, that, though he was an old soldier at the trade 
 had yet nothing of it in his countenance ; and he 
 answered that he was concerned in business where 
 great many of the gangs of little pickpockets haunted' 
 and if he had but the least description of the persor* 
 they suspected he durst say he could find him out 
 and might perhaps get the things again for him 
 Upon this he desired him to go up with him to thi; 
 gentleman, which he did accordingly ; and there, h 
 said, he sat leaning his head back to the chair, pal \ 
 
Colonel Jack 291 
 
 as a cloth ; disconsolate to a strange degree, and, as 
 Will described him, just like one under a sentence. 
 
 fc When they came to ask him whether he had seen 
 no boy, or shabby fellow, lurking near where he stood, 
 or passing, or repassing, and the like, he answered, 
 ' No, not any ; ' neither could he remember that any- 
 body had come near him. 'Then,' said Will, 'it will 
 be very hard, if not impossible, to find them out. 
 However,' said Will, 'if you think it worth while, I 
 will put myself among those rogues, though,' says he, 
 ' I care not for being seen among them ; but I will 
 put in among them, and if it be in any of those gangs, 
 it is ten to one but I shall hear something of it.' 
 
 They asked him then, if he had heard what terms 
 the gentleman had offered to have it restored ; he 
 answered, ' No ' (though he had been told at the 
 door); they answered, 'He had offered ;^ioo.' 
 'That is too much,' says Will; 'but if you please to 
 leave it to me, I shall either get it for you for less 
 than that, or not be able to get it for you at all' 
 Then the losing gentleman said to one of the other, 
 'Tell him, that if he can get it lower, the overplus 
 shall be to himself.' William said he would be very 
 glad to do the gentleman such a service, and would 
 leave the reward to himself. ' Well, young man,' says 
 one of the gentlemen, ' whatever you appoint to the 
 young artist that has done this roguery (for I warrant 
 
 ihe is an artist, let it be who it will), he shall be paid, 
 
292 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 if it be within the ;^ioo, and the gentleman is wilHng 
 to give you £,^0 besides for your pains.' 
 
 ' Truly, sir,' says Will, very gravely, ' it was by 
 mere chance, that, coming by the door, and seeing 
 the crowd, I asked what the matter was ? but if I 
 should be instrumental to get the unfortunate gentle- 
 man his pocket-book, and the things in it again, I 
 shall be very glad ; nor am I so rich neither, sir, 
 but ^50 is very well worth my while too.' Then 
 he took directions who to come to, and who to 
 give his account to if he learned anything, and 
 the like. 
 
 Will stayed so long, that, as he and I agreed, I 
 went home, and he did not come to me till night ; 
 for we had considered before that it would not be 
 proper to come from them directly to me, lest they 
 should follow him and apprehend me. If he had 
 made no advances towards a treaty, he would have 
 come back in half an hour, as we agreed ; but staying 
 late, we met at our night rendezvous, which was in 
 Rosemary-lane. 
 
 When he came he gave an account of all the dis- 
 course, and particularly what a consternation the 
 gentleman was in who lost the pocket-book, and that 
 he did not doubt but we should get a good round[ 
 sum for the recovery of it. 
 
 We consulted all the evening about it, and con 
 eluded he should let them hear nothing of them the 
 
 %■ 
 
Colonel Jack 293 
 
 next day at all ; and that the third day he should go, 
 but should make no discovery, only that he had got 
 a scent of it, and that he believed he should have it, 
 and make it appear as difficult as possible, and to 
 start as many objections as he could. Accordingly, 
 the third day after he met with the gentleman, who 
 he found had been uneasy at his long stay, and told 
 him they were afraid that he only flattered them to 
 get from them ; and that they had been too easy in 
 letting him go without a further examination. 
 
 He took upon him to be very grave with them, 
 and told them that if that was what he was like to 
 have for being so free as to tell them he thought he 
 might serve them they might see that they had 
 wronged him, and were mistaken by his coming again 
 to them ; that if they thought they could do anything 
 by examining him, they might go about it, if they 
 pleased, now ; that all he had to say to them was, 
 that he knew where some of the young rogues 
 haunted, who were famous for such things ; and that 
 by some inquiries, offering them money, and the like, 
 he believed they would be brought to betray one 
 another, and that so he might pick it out for them ; 
 and this he would say before a justice of peace, if 
 they thought fit ; and then all that he had to say 
 further to them was, to tell them he had lost a day 
 or two in their service, and had got nothing, but to 
 be suspected for his pains ; and that after that he 
 
294 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 had done, and they might seek their goods where 
 they could find them. 
 
 They began to listen a little upon that, and asked 
 him if he could give them any hopes of recovering 
 their loss ; he told them that he was not afraid to 
 tell them that he believed he had heard some news of 
 them, and that what he had done had prevented all 
 the bills being burnt, book and all ; but that now he 
 ought not to be asked any more questions till they 
 should be pleased to answer him a question or two. 
 They told him they would give him any satisfaction 
 they could, and bid him tell what he desired. 
 
 'Why, sir,' says he, 'how can you expect any thief 
 that had robbed you to such a considerable value as 
 this, would come and put himself into your hands, 
 confess he had your goods, and restore them to you, 
 if you do not give them assurance that you will not 
 only give them the reward you agreed to, but also 
 give assurance that they shall not be stopped, que? 
 tioned, or called to account before a magistrate ? ' ;| 
 
 They said they would give all possible assurance 
 of it. ' Nay,' says he, ' I do not know what assurance 
 you are able to give ; for when a poor fellow is in 
 your clutches, and has shown you your goods, you 
 may seize upon him for a thief, and it is plain he 
 must be so ; then you go, take away your goods, send 
 him to prison, and what amends can he have of you 
 afterward ? ' v 
 
 '-» 
 
Colonel Jack 295 
 
 They were entirely confounded with the difficulty ; 
 they asked him to try if he could get the things into 
 his hands, and they would pay him the money before 
 he let them go out of his hand, and he should go 
 away half an hour before they went out of the room. 
 
 ' No, gentlemen,' says he, ' that won't do now. If 
 you had talked so before you had talked of appre- 
 hending me for nothing, I should have taken your 
 word ; but now it is plain you have had such a 
 thought in your heads, and how can I, or any one 
 else, be assured of safety ? ' 
 
 Well, they thought of a great many particulars, 
 but nothing would do; at length the other people 
 who were present put in that they should give 
 security to him, by a bond of ;^iooo, that they would 
 not give the person any trouble whatsoever. He 
 pretended they could not be bound, nor could their 
 obligation be of any value, and that their own goods 
 being once seen, they might seize them ; ' and what 
 would it signify,' said he, ' to put a poor pickpocket to 
 sue for his reward ? ' They could not tell what to say : 
 but told him, that he should take the things of the 
 boy, if it was a boy ; and they would be bound to 
 pay him the money promised. He laughed at them, 
 and said, ' No, gentlemen, as I am not the thief, so I 
 shall be very loath to put myself in the thief's stead, 
 and lie at your mercy.' 
 
 They told him they knew not what to do then, 
 
296 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 and that it would be very hard he would not trust 
 them at all. He said, he was very willing to trust 
 them, and to serve them ; but that it would be very 
 hard to be ruined and charged with the theft, for en- 
 deavouring to serve them. 
 
 They then offered to give it him under their hands 
 that they did not in the least suspect him ; that they 
 would never charge him with anything about it ; that 
 they acknowledged he went about to inquire after the 
 goods at their request ; and that if he produced them, 
 they would pay him so much money, at or before the 
 delivery of them, without obliging him to name or 
 produce that person he had them from. 
 
 Upon this writing, signed by three gentlemen who 
 were present, and by the person in particular who 
 lost the things, the young gentleman told them he 
 would go and do his utmost to get the pocket-book, 
 and all that was in it. 
 
 Then he desired that they would in writing, before- 
 hand, give him a particular of all the several things 
 that were in the book ; that he might not have it 
 said, when he produced it, that there was not all ; 
 and he would have the said writing sealed up, and he 
 would make the book be sealed up when it was given 
 to him. This they agreed to ; and the gentleman 
 accordingly drew up a particular of all the bills that 
 he remembered, as he said, was in the book ; and 
 also of the diamonds, as follows : 
 
Colonel Jack 297 
 
 One bill under Sir Henry Furness's hand for 
 ^1200. 
 
 One bill under Sir Charles Duncomb's hand for 
 ^800, ;£'25o indorsed off. — ^550. 
 
 One bill under the hand of J. Tassel, goldsmith, 
 ^165. 
 
 One bill of Sir Francis Child, £,z^' 
 
 One bill of one Stewart, that kept a wager-office 
 and insurance, ^350. 
 
 A paper containing thirty-seven loose diamonds, 
 value about ;i^2 5o. 
 
 A little paper, containing three large rough dia- 
 monds, and one large one polished, and cut, value 
 
 ^185. 
 
 For all these things they promised, first, to give 
 
 him whatever he agreed with the thief to give him, 
 
 not exceeding ^£^50, and to give him J^^o more for 
 
 himself for procuring them. 
 
 Now he had his cue, and now he came to me, 
 and told me honestly the whole story as above ; so I 
 delivered him the book, and he told me that he 
 thouEjht it was reasonable we should take the full 
 sum ; because he would seem to have done them 
 some service, and so make them the easier. All this 
 I agreed to ; so he w^ent the next day to the place 
 and the gentlemen met him very punctually. 
 
 He told them at the first word he had done their 
 work, and, as he hoped, to their mind ; and told 
 
298 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 them, if it had not been for the diamonds, he could 
 have got all for ;£io, but that the diamonds had 
 shone so bright in the boy's imagination that he talked 
 of running away to France or Holland, and living there 
 all his days like a gentleman ; at which they laughed. 
 ' However, gentlemen,' said he, ' here is the book ; ' 
 and so pulled it out, wrapt up in a dirty piece of a 
 coloured handkerchief, as black as the street could 
 make it, and sealed with a piece of sorry wax, and 
 the impression of a farthing for a seal. 
 
 Upon this, the note being also unsealed, at the 
 same time he pulled open the dirty rag, and showed 
 the gentleman his pocket-book ; at which he was so 
 over-surprised with joy, notwithstanding all the pre- 
 paratory discourse, that he was fain to call for a glass 
 of wine or brandy to drink, to keep him from fainting. 
 
 The book being opened, the paper of diamonds 
 was first taken out, and there they w^ere every one, 
 only the little paper was by itself; and the rough 
 diamonds that were in it were loose among the rest ; 
 but he owned they were all there safe. 
 
 Then the bills were called over, one by one, and 
 they found one bill for ;£8o more than the account 
 mentioned ; besides several papers which were not for 
 money, though of consequence to the gentleman, and 
 he acknowledged that all was very honestly returned ; 
 'And now, young man,' said they, 'you shall see we 
 will deal as honestly by you ; ' and so, in the first 
 
Colonel Jack 299 
 
 place, they gave him ;^ 50 for himself, and then they 
 told out the £,^0 for me. 
 
 He took the £,^0 for himself, and put it up in his 
 pocket, wrapping it in paper, it being all in gold : 
 then he began to tell over the other ;£" 50 ; but when 
 he had told out ^30, ' Hold, gentlemen,' said he, 'as 
 I have acted fairly for you, so you shall have no 
 reason to say I do not do so to the end. I have 
 taken ;£^3o, and for so much I agreed with the boy; 
 and so there is ^20 of your money again.' 
 
 They stood looking one at another a good while, 
 as surprised at the honesty of it ; for till that time 
 they were not quite without a secret suspicion that he 
 was the thief, but that piece of policy cleared up his 
 reputation to them. The gentleman that had got his 
 bills said softly to one of them, ' Give it him all ; ' 
 but the other said (softly too), ' No, no, as long as he 
 has got it abated, and is satisfied with the £,^0 you 
 have given him, 'tis very well, let it go as it is.' This 
 was not spoke so softly but he heard it, and said, 
 ' No,' too ; ' I am very w^ell satisfied, I am glad I 
 have got them for you ; ' and so they began to part. 
 
 But just before they were going away one of the 
 gentlemen said to him, ' Young man, come, you see 
 we are just to you, and have done fairly, as you have 
 also, and we will not desire you to tell us who this 
 cunning fellow is that got such a prize from this 
 gentleman ; but as you have talked with him, pr'ythee. 
 
300 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 can you tell us nothing of how he did it, that we may- 
 beware of such sparks again ? ' 
 
 ' Sir,' says Will, ' when I shall tell you what they 
 say, and how the particular case stood, the gentleman 
 would blame himself more than anybody else, or as 
 much at least. The young rogue that catched this 
 prize was out, it seems, with a comrade, who is a 
 nimble experienced pickpocket as most in London, 
 but at that time the artist was somewhere at a dis- 
 tance, and this boy never had picked a pocket in his 
 life before ; but, he says, he stood over against the 
 passage into the Exchange, on the east side, and the 
 gentleman stood just by the passage ; that he was 
 very earnest in talking with some other gentleman, 
 and often pulled out this book and opened it, and 
 took papers out, and put others in, and returned it 
 into his coat-pocket ; that the last time it hitched at 
 the pocket-hole, or stopt at something that was in the 
 pocket, and hung a little out, which the boy, who 
 had watched it a good while, perceiving, he passes 
 by close to the gentleman, and carried it smoothly 
 off, without the gentleman's perceiving it at all,' 
 
 He went on ; and said, ' 'Tis very strange gentle- 
 men should put pocket-books which have such things 
 in them into those loose pockets, and in so careless 
 a manner.' 'That's very true,' says the gentleman; 
 and so, with some other discourse of no great signifi- 
 cation, he came away to me. 
 
Colonel Jack 301 
 
 {Jack returning from Virginia^ whither he has been 
 transported^ marries a wife under evil stars (^Defoe's 
 heroes a?id heroines, though they marry very much, are 
 seldom forttmate, Jack least of all), and his wife, after 
 very ill behaviour, leaves him.) 
 
 I was extremely satisfied with this proceeding, 
 and took care to let her hear of it, though I gave 
 no answer at all to her letter ; and as I had taken 
 care before, that whenever she played such a prank 
 as this she should not be able to carry much with 
 her, so, after she was gone, I immediately broke up 
 housekeeping, sold my furniture by public outcry, 
 and in it everything in particular that was her own, 
 and set a bill upon my door, giving her to understand 
 by it that she had passed the Rubicon ; that as she 
 had taken such a step of her own accord, so there 
 was no room left her ever to think of coming back 
 again. 
 
 This was what any one may believe I should not 
 have done, if I had seen any room for a reformation ; 
 but she had given me such testimonies of a mind 
 alienated from her husband, in particular espousing 
 her own unsufferable levity, that there was indeed no 
 possibility of our coming afterwards to any terms 
 again. 
 
 However, I kept a couple of trusty agents so 
 near her that I failed not to have a full account of 
 
302 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 her conduct, though I never let her know anything 
 
 of me but that I was gone over to France ; as to 
 
 her bills which she said she would draw upon me, 
 
 she was as good as her word in drawing one of ;^3o, 
 
 which I refused to accept, and never gave her leave 
 
 to trouble me with another. 
 
 * -A^ * * * * 
 
 I lived retired, because I knew she had contracted 
 debts which I should be obliged to pay, and I was 
 resolved to be gone out of her reach with what 
 speed I could; but it was necessary that I should 
 stay till the Virginia fleet came in, because I looked 
 for at least three hundred hogsheads of tobacco from 
 thence, which I knew would heal all my breaches ; 
 for indeed the extravagance of three years with this 
 lady had sunk me most effectually, even far beyond 
 her own fortune, which was considerable, though not 
 quite ^1500, as she had called it. 
 
 But all the mischiefs I met with on account of 
 this match were not over yet ; for when I had been 
 parted with her about three months, and had refused 
 to accept her bill of ^£"30 which I mentioned above, 
 though I was removed from my first lodgings too, 
 and thought I had effectually secured myself from 
 being found out, yet there came a gentleman well 
 dressed to my lodgings one day, and was let in 
 before I knew of it, or else I should scarce have 
 admitted him. 
 
Colonel Jack 303 
 
 He was led into a parlour, and I came down to 
 him in my gown and slippers ; when I came into the 
 room, he called me as familiarly by my name as if 
 he had known me twenty years, and pulling out a 
 pocket-book, he shows me a bill upon me, drawn by 
 my wife, which was the same bill for ;2^3o that I had 
 refused before. 
 
 'Sir,' says I, 'this bill has been presented before, 
 and I gave my answer to it then.' 
 
 ' Answer, sir ! ' says he, with a kind of jeering, 
 taunting air ; 'I do not understand what you mean 
 by an answer ; it is not a question, sir, it is a bill to 
 be paid.' 
 
 ' Well, sir,' says I, 'it is a bill, I know that, and 
 I gave my answer to it before.' 
 
 ' Sir, sir,' says he, very saucily, ' your answer ! 
 there is no answer to a bill, it must be paid ; bills 
 are to be paid, not to be answered ; they say you are 
 a merchant, sir ; merchants always pay their bills.' 
 
 I began to be angry too a little, but I did not 
 like my man, for I found he began to be quarrel- 
 some ; however, I said, ' Sir, I perceive you are not 
 much used to presenting bills ; sir, a bill is always 
 first presented, and presenting is a question, it is 
 asking if I will accept or pay the bill, and then 
 whether I say Yes or No, it is an answer one way or 
 other ; after it is accepted, it indeed requires no 
 more answer but payment when it is due j if you 
 
304 Defoe s Minor Novels 
 
 please to inform yourself this is the usage which all 
 merchants, or tradesmen of any kind, who have bills 
 drawn upon them, act by.' 
 
 'Well, sir,' says he, 'and what then? What is 
 this to the paying me the ;^3o?' 
 
 ' Why, sir,' says I, ' it is this to it, that I told the 
 person that brought it I should not pay it.' 
 
 'Not pay it !' says he, 'but you shall pay it; ay, 
 ay, you will pay it.' 
 
 ' She that draws it has no reason to draw any 
 bills upon me, I am sure,' said I; 'and I shall pay 
 no bills she draws, I assure you.' 
 
 Upon this he turns short upon me ; ' Sir, she 
 that draws this bill is a person of too much honour 
 to draw any bill without reason, and it is an affront 
 to say so of her, and I shall expect satisfaction of 
 you for that by itself; but first the bill, sir, the 
 bill, you must pay the bill, sir.' 
 
 I returned as short ; ' Sir, I affront nobody, I 
 know the person as well as you I hope, and what 
 I have said of her is no affront ; she can have no 
 reason to draw bills upon me, for I owe her nothing.' 
 
 I omit intermingling the oaths he laced his speech 
 with, as too foul for my paper ; but he told me he 
 would make me know she had friends to stand by 
 her, that I had abused her, and he would let me 
 know it, and do her justice ; but first, I must pay 
 his bill. 
 
Colonel Jack 30 
 
 o'-^:) 
 
 I answered in short, I would not pay the bill, 
 nor any bills she should draw. 
 
 With that he steps to the door and shuts it, and 
 swore by G — d he would make me pay the bill 
 before we parted ; and laid his hand upon his 
 sword, but did not draw it out. 
 
 I confess I was frightened to the last degree, for 
 I had no sword, and if I had, I must own that, 
 though I had learned a great many good things in 
 France to make me look like a gentleman, I had 
 forgot the main article of learning, how to use a 
 sword, a thing so universally practised there ; and 
 to say more, I had been perfectly unacquainted with 
 quarrels of this nature ; so that I was perfectly 
 surprised when he shut the door, and knew not 
 what to say or do. 
 
 However, as it happened, the people of the house 
 hearing us pretty loud, came near the door, and 
 made a noise in the entry, to let me know they were 
 at hand ; and one of the servants going to open the 
 door, and finding it locked, called out to me, ' Sir, 
 for God's sake open the door ! what is the matter ? 
 shall w^e fetch a constable?' I made no answer, but 
 it gave me courage, so I sat down composed in one 
 of the chairs, and said to him j ' Sir, this is not the 
 way to make me pay the bill ; you had much 
 better be easy, and take your satisfaction another 
 way. ' 
 
 X 
 
3o6 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 He understood me of fighting, which upon my 
 word was not in my thoughts, but I meant that he 
 had better take his course at law. 
 
 ' With all my heart,' says he ; ' they say you are 
 a gentleman, and they call you colonel ; now, if you 
 are a gentleman, I accept your challenge, sir, and 
 if you will walk out with me, I will take it for full 
 payment of the bill, and will decide it as gentlemen 
 ought to do.' 
 
 ' I challenge you, sir !' said I ; 'not I, I made no 
 challenge ; I said, this is not the way to make me 
 pay a bill that I have not accepted ; that is, that you 
 had better seek your satisfaction at law.' 
 
 ' Law ! ' says he, ' law ! gentleman's law is my 
 law; in short, sir, you shall pay me or fight me ;' and 
 then, as if he had mistaken, he turns short upon me, 
 ' Nay,' says he, ' you shall both fight me and pay me, 
 for I will maintain her honour;' and in saying this 
 he bestowed about six or seven dammes and oaths 
 by way of parenthesis. 
 
 This interval delivered me effectually, for just at 
 the word 'fight me, for I will maintain her honour,' 
 the maid had brought in a constable, with three or 
 four neighbours to assist him. 
 
 He heard them come in, and began to be a little 
 in a rage, and asked me if I intended to mob him 
 instead of paying ; and laying his hand on his sword, 
 told me if any man offered to break in upon him 
 
Colonel Jack 307 
 
 he would run me through the first moment, that he 
 might have the fewer to deal with afterwards. 
 
 I told him he knew I had called for no help 
 (beheving he could not be in earnest in what he had 
 said), and that, if anybody attempted to come in 
 upon us, it was to prevent the mischief he threatened, 
 and which he might see I had no weapons to resist. 
 
 Upon this the constable called, and charged us 
 both in the king's name to open the door ; I was 
 sitting in a chair, and offered to rise ; he made a 
 motion as if he would draw, upon which I sat down 
 again, and the door not being opened, the constable 
 set his foot against it and came in. 
 
 'Well, sir,' says my gentleman, 'and what now? 
 what is your business here?' 'Nay, sir,' says the 
 constable, ' you see my business, I am a peace-officer, 
 all I have to do is to keep the peace, and I find the 
 people of the house frightened for fear of mischief 
 between you, and they have fetched me to prevent 
 it' 'What mischief have they supposed you should 
 find ? ' says he. ' I suppose,' says the constable, 
 ' they were afraid you should fight.' ' That is, 
 because they did not know this fellow here ; he 
 never fights ; they call him colonel,' says he ; 'I 
 suppose he might be born a colonel, for I dare say 
 he was born a coward ; he never fights, he dares not 
 see a man ; if he would have fought, he would have 
 walked out with me, but he scorns to be brave ; they 
 
3o8 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 would never have talked to you of fighting if they 
 had known him : I tell you, Mr. Constable, he is a 
 coward, and a coward is a rascal ;' and with that he 
 came to me, and stroked his finger down my nose 
 pretty hard, and laughed and mocked most horridly, 
 as if I was a coward. Now, for aught I knew, it 
 might be true, but I was now what they call a 
 coward made desperate, which is one of the worst 
 of men in the world to encounter with, for being 
 in a fury, I threw my head in his face, and closing 
 with him, threw him fairly on his back by main 
 strength, and had not the constable stepped in and 
 taken me off, I had certainly stamped him to death 
 with my feet, for my blood was now all in a flame, 
 and the people of the house were frightened now as 
 much the other way, lest I should kill him, though I 
 had no weapon at all in my hand. 
 
 The constable too reproved me in his turn ; but 
 I said to him, ' Mr. Constable, do not you think I 
 am sufficiently provoked ? can any man bear such 
 things as these ? I desire to know who this man is, 
 and who sent him hither?' 
 
 'I am,' says he, 'a gentleman, and come with a 
 bill to him for money, and he refuses to pay it.' 
 ' Well,' says the constable very prudently, ' that is 
 none of my business, I am no justice of the peace 
 to hear the cause ; be that among yourselves, but 
 keep your hands off one another, and that is as 
 
Colo7tel Jack 309 
 
 much as I desire ; and therefore, sir,' says the con- 
 stable to him, 'if I may advise you, seeing he will 
 not pay the bill, and that must be decided between 
 you as the law directs, I would have you leave it for 
 the present, and go quietly away.' 
 
 He made many impertinent harangues about the 
 bill, and insisted that it was drawn by my own wife ; 
 
 I said angrily, ' Then it was drawn by a ; ' 
 
 he bullied me upon that, told me I durst not tell 
 him so anywhere else ; so I answered, I would very 
 
 soon publish her for a to all the world, and 
 
 cry her down ; and thus we scolded for near half an 
 hour, for I took courage when the constable v;as 
 there, for I knew that he would keep us from 
 fighting, which indeed I had no mind to, and so at 
 length I got rid of him. 
 
 I was heartily vexed at this rencounter, and the 
 more, because I had been found out in my lodging, 
 which I thought I had effectually concealed ; how- 
 ever, I resolved to remove the next day, and in the 
 meantime I kept within doors all that day till the 
 evening, and then I went out in order not to return 
 thither any more. 
 
 Being come out into Gracechurch-street, I observed 
 a man follow me, with one of his legs tied up in a 
 string, and hopping along with the other, and two 
 crutches ; he begged for a farthing, but I inclining 
 not to give him anything, the fellow followed me 
 
3IO Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 still, till I came to a court, when I answered hastily 
 to him, ' I have nothing for you ! Pray do not be 
 so troublesome ! ' with which words he knocked me 
 down with his crutches. 
 
 Being stunned with the blow, I knew nothing 
 what was done to me afterwards ; but coming to 
 myself again, I found I was wounded very frightfully 
 in several places, and that among the rest my nose 
 was slit upwards, one of my ears almost cut off, and 
 a great cut with a sword on the side of the forehead, 
 also a stab into the body, though not dangerous. 
 
 Who had been near me, or struck me, besides 
 the cripple that struck me with his crutch, I knew 
 not, nor do I know to this hour ; but I was terribly 
 wounded, and lay bleeding on the ground some time, 
 till coming to myself I got strength to cry out for 
 help, and people coming about me, I got some 
 hands to carry me to my lodging, where I lay by. It 
 was more than two months before I was well enough 
 to go out of doors, and when I did go out, I had 
 reason to believe that I was waited for by some 
 rogues, who watched an opportunity to repeat the 
 injury I had met with before. 
 
 This made me very uneasy, and I resolved to get 
 myself out of danger if possible, and to go over to 
 France, or home, as I called it, to Virginia, so to be 
 out of the way of villains and assassinations ; for 
 every time I stirred out here I thought I went in 
 
Colonel Jack 3 1 1 
 
 danger of my life ; and therefore, as before, I went 
 out at night, thinking to be concealed, so now I 
 never went out but in open day, that I might be 
 safe, and never without one or two servants to be 
 my lifeguard. 
 
 {Jack {who, by the 7vay, had not finally got rid of his 
 wife, but was to be reconciled to her long afteriuards) 
 improved considerably in his manner of dealijig with 
 the conjugal misfortwies which stuck to him co?ista?itly, 
 and are quaintly celebrated on his title-page. He 
 ran a marquis through the body abroad, a?id caned 
 a captain heartily at hojne, for misdemeanours towards 
 two of his spouses. But he was never either a fire- 
 eater or a high-fiier ; and the account of his courtship 
 of his fourth wife is an inimitable instance of Defoe's 
 kindly and unconscious Fhilistinis7?i.) 
 
 My wife being now dead, I knew not what course 
 to take in the world, and I grew so disconsolate and 
 discouraged, that I was next door to being dis- 
 tempered, and sometimes, indeed, I thought myself 
 a little touched in my head. But it proved nothing 
 but vapours, and the vexation of this affair, and in 
 about a year's time, or thereabouts, it wore off again. 
 
 I had rambled up and down in a most discon- 
 tented unsettled posture after this, I say, about a 
 year, and then I considered I had three innocent 
 
:> 
 
 12 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 children, and I could take no care of them, and 
 that I must either go away, and leave them to the 
 wide world, or settle here and get somebody to look 
 after them, and that better a mother-in-law than no 
 mother, for to live such a wandering life it would 
 not do ; so I resolved I would marry as anything 
 offered, though it was mean, and the meaner the 
 better. I concluded my next wife should be only 
 taken as an upper servant, that is to say, a nurse to 
 my children, and housekeeper to myself, ' And let her 
 
 be or honest woman,' said I, ' as she likes best, 
 
 I am resolved I will not much concern myself about 
 that ;' for I was now one desperate, that valued not 
 how things went. 
 
 In this careless, and indeed rash, foolish humour, 
 I talked to myself thus : ' If I marry an honest woman, 
 my children will be taken care of; if she be a slut, 
 and abuses me, as I see everybody does, I will 
 kidnap her and send her to Virginia, to my planta- 
 tions there, and there she shall work hard enough, and 
 fare hard enough to keep her chaste, I'll warrant her. 
 
 I knew well enough at first that these were mad 
 hair-brained notions, and I thought no more of being 
 serious in them than I thought of being a man in the 
 moon : but I know not how it happened to me, I 
 reasoned and talked to myself in this wild manner so 
 long, that I brought myself to be seriously desperate ; 
 that is, to resolve upon another marriage, with all the 
 
Colonel Jack 313 
 
 suppositions of unhappiness that could be imagined 
 to fall out. 
 
 And yet even this rash resolution of my senses 
 did not come presently to action ; for I was half a 
 year after this before I fixed upon anything ; at last, 
 as he that seeks mischief shall certainly find it, so it 
 was with me. There happened to be a young, or 
 rather, a middle-aged woman in the next town, which 
 was but a half mile off, who usually was at my house, 
 and among my children, every day when the weather 
 was tolerable ; and though she came but merely as a 
 neighbour, and to see us, yet she was always helpful 
 in directing and ordering things for them, and mighty 
 handy about them, as well before my wife died as after. 
 
 Her father was one that I employed often to go 
 to Liverpool, and sometimes to Whitehaven, and do 
 business for me ; for having, as it were, settled myself 
 in the northern parts of England, I had ordered part 
 of my effects to be shipped, as occasion of shipping 
 offered, to either of those two towns, to which, the 
 war continuing very sharp, it was safer coming, as 
 to privateers, than about through the Channel to 
 London. 
 
 I took a mighty fancy at last that this girl would 
 answer my end, particularly that I saw she was 
 mighty useful among the children ; so, on the other 
 hand, the children loved her very well, and I resolved 
 to love her too ; flattering myself mightily, that as I 
 
314 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 had married two gentlewomen and one citizen, and 
 they proved all three naught, I should "now find 
 what I wanted in an innocent country wench. 
 
 I took up a world of time in considering of this 
 matter ; indeed scarce any of my matches were done 
 without very mature consideration ; the second was 
 the worst in that article ; but in this, I thought of 
 it, I believe, four months most seriously before I 
 resolved, and that very prudence spoiled the whole 
 thing ; however, at last being resolved, I took Mrs. 
 Margaret one day as she passed by my parlour door, 
 called her in, and told her I wanted to speak with 
 her ; she came readily in, but blushed mightily when 
 I bade her sit down in a chair just by me. 
 
 I used no great ceremony with her, but told her 
 that I had observed she had been mighty kind to J 
 my children, and was very tender to them, and that 
 they all loved her, and that if she and I could agree 
 about it, I intended to make her their mother, if she 
 was not engaged to somebody else. The girl sat 
 still, and said never a word, till I said those words, 
 ' if she was not engaged to somebody else ; ' when 
 she seemed struck. However, I took no notice of 
 it, other than this, ' Look ye. Moggy,' said I (so they 
 call them in the country), ' if you have promised 
 yourself, you must tell me.' For we all knew that 
 a young fellow, a good clergyman's wicked son, had 
 hung about her a great while, two or three years, 
 
Colonel Jack 315 
 
 and made love to her, but could never get the girl 
 in the mind, it seems, to have him. 
 
 She knew I was not ignorant of it, and therefore, 
 
 after her first surprise was over, she told me Mr. 
 
 had, as I knew, often come after her, but she had 
 never promised him anything, and had, for several 
 years, refused him ; her father always telling her that 
 he was a wicked fellow, and that he would be her 
 ruin if she had him. 
 
 ' Well, Moggy, then,' says I, ' what dost say to 
 me? art thou free to make me a wife?' She* blushed 
 and looked down upon the ground, and would not 
 speak a good while ; but, when I pressed her to tell 
 me, she looked up, and said, she supposed I was 
 but jesting with her ; well, I got over that, and told 
 her I was in very good earnest with her, and I took 
 her for a sober, honest, modest girl, and, as I said, 
 one that my children loved mighty well, and I was 
 in earnest with her ; if she would give me her 
 consent, I would give her my word that I would 
 have her, and we would be married to-morrow 
 morning. She looked up again at that, and smiled 
 a little, and said, ' No, that was too soon to say Yes ;' 
 she hoped I would give her some time to consider 
 of it, and to talk with her father about it. 
 
 I told her she needed not much time to consider 
 about it ; but, however, I would give her till to- 
 morrow morning, which was a great while. By this 
 
3i6 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 time I had kissed Moggy two or three times, and 
 she began to be freer with me ; and, when I pressed 
 her to marry me the next morning, she laughed, and 
 told me it was not lucky to be married in her old 
 clothes. 
 
 I stopped her mouth presently with that, and told 
 her she should not be married in her old clothes, for 
 I would give her some new. ' Ay, it may be after- 
 wards,' says Moggy, and laughed again. ' No, just 
 now,' says I, ' come along with me. Moggy ; ' so I 
 carried her upstairs into my wife's room that was, 
 and showed her a new morning gown of my wife's, 
 that she had never worn above two or three times, 
 and several other fine things. ' Look you there. 
 Moggy,' says I, 'there is a wedding-gown for you; 
 give me your hand now that you will have me 
 to-morrow morning; and as to your father, you 
 know he has gone to Liverpool on my business, 
 but I will answer for it he shall not be angry when 
 he comes home to call his master son-in-law, and I 
 ask him no portion ; therefore, give me thy hand for 
 it. Moggy,' says I, very merrily to her, and kissed 
 her again ; and the girl gave me her hand, and very 
 pleasantly too, and I was mightily pleased with it, 
 I assure you. 
 
 There lived about three doors from us an ancient 
 gentleman, who passed for a doctor of physic, but 
 who was really a Romish priest in orders, as there 
 
Colonel Jack 317 
 
 are many in that part of the country ; and in the 
 evening I sent to speak with him. He knew that 
 I understood his profession, and that I had hved 
 in popish countries, and, in a word, beHeved me a 
 Roman too, for I was such abroad. When he came 
 to me, I told him the occasion for which I sent for 
 him, and that it was to be to-morrow morning; he 
 readily told me if I would come and see him in the 
 evening, and bring Moggy with me, he would marry 
 us in his own study, and that it was rather more 
 private to do it in the evening than in the morning ; 
 so I called Moggy again to me, and told her, since 
 she and I had agreed the matter for to-morrow, it 
 was as well to be done over night, and told her what 
 the doctor had said. 
 
 Moggy blushed again, and said she must go home 
 first, that she could not be ready before to-morrow. 
 ' Look ye. Moggy,' says I, ' you are my wife now, 
 and you shall never go away from me a maid ; I 
 know what you mean, you would go home to shift 
 you. Come, Moggy,' says I, ' come along with me 
 again upstairs.' So I carried her to a chest of hnen, 
 where were several new shifts of my last wife's, which 
 she had never worn at all, and some that had been 
 worn. 
 
 ' There is a clean smock for you. Moggy,' says I, 
 ' and to-morrow you shall have all the rest.' When 
 I had done this, ' Now, Moggy,' says I, ' go and 
 
3i8 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 dress you ; ' so I locked her in, and went downstairs. 
 ' Knock,' says I, ' when you are dressed.' 
 
 After some time. Moggy did not knock, but down 
 she came into my room, completely dressed, for 
 there were several other things that I bade her take, 
 and the clothes fitted her as if they had been made 
 for her ; it seems she shpped the lock back. 
 
 'Well, Moggy,' says I, 'now you see you shall 
 not be married in your old clothes;' so I took her 
 in my arms, and kissed her, and well pleased I was, 
 as ever I was in my life, or with anything I ever did 
 in my life. As soon as it was dark Moggy slipped 
 away beforehand, as the doctor and I had agreed, 
 to the old gentleman's housekeeper, and I came in 
 about half an hour after, and there we were married 
 in the doctor's study, that is to say, in his oratory, 
 or chapel, a little room within his study, and we 
 stayed and supped with him afterwards. 
 
 When, after a short stay more, I went home first, 
 because I would send the children all to bed, and 
 the other servants out of the way, and Moggy came 
 some time after. * '•' -^ % ^ 
 
 The next morning I let all the family know that 
 Moggy was my wife, and my three children were 
 rejoiced at it to the last degree. And now I was 
 a married man a fourth time ; and, in short, I was 
 really more happy in this plain country girl, than 
 with any of all the wives I had had. She was not 
 
Colon el Jack 3 1 9 
 
 young, being about thirty-three, but she brought me 
 a son the first year ; she was very pretty, well shaped, 
 and of a merry cheerful disposition, but not a beauty ; 
 she was an admirable family manager, loved my 
 former children, and used them not at all the worse 
 for having some of her own. In a word, she made 
 me an excellent wife, but lived with me but four 
 years, and died of a hurt she got of a fall while 
 she was with child, and in her I had a very great 
 loss indeed. 
 
V.—' ROXANA ' 
 
 (Roxana, or the Fortunate Mistress, is^ on the 
 whole, the least good of Defoe's 7ni?ior novels, though 
 there are good things in it ; and it is one of the most 
 puzzling. Its title-page speaks of the heroine as having 
 been known as the Lady Roxana ' in the time of 
 Charles the Second,'' and there are passages which 
 directly point to that king, and to the Duke of Mon- 
 mouth; yet the openifig words tell us that she only came to 
 England in 1683, and the next page that she was then 
 but te7i years old. Moreover, in the latter part there , 
 are huge episodes and digressions which square very ill 
 with the rest. The opening, however, though not suit- 
 able for selection here, contains remai'kable passages, and 
 the following extract is Defoe in his unmistakable 
 vein. A very interesting parallel, or rather con- 
 trast, might be drawn between Roxana and Manon 
 Lescaut, considerably to Roxana' s disadvantage ; for 
 she is a cold-blooded creature, the most disagreeable of 
 Defoe's heroines, without a touch of the natural and 
 
Roxana 321 
 
 healthy animalism which redeems Moll Flanders^ and 
 with much more than Moll's scheming and calculation. 
 She has, however, found favour in some eyes ; and the 
 less edifying parts of her adventures have recently been 
 translated into French, where they look well e?tough. 
 This extract, as I have said, bears Defoe's mark 
 on every line of it. Roxaiia and her maid Amy are 
 Journeying fro7?t France, where, as elseivhere, they have 
 had adve?ttures none too creditable, to Fngland.) 
 
 When I passed in the ship between Dover and 
 Calais, and saw beloved England once more under 
 my view; England, which I counted my native 
 country, being the place I was bred up in, though 
 not born there ; a strange kind of joy possessed my 
 mind, and I had such a longing desire to be there, 
 that I would have given the master of the ship twenty 
 pistoles to have stood over and set me on shore in 
 the Downs ; and when he told me he could not do 
 it, that is, that he durst not do it, if I would have 
 given him a hundred pistoles, I secretly wished that a 
 storm would rise that might drive the ship over to the 
 coast of England, whether they would or not, that I 
 might be set on shore anywhere upon English ground. 
 
 This wicked wish had not been out of my thoughts 
 
 above two or three hours, but the master steering away 
 
 to the north, as was his course to do, we lost sight of 
 
 land on that side, and only had the Flemish shore in 
 
 ! Y 
 
322 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 view on our right hand, or, as the seamen call it, the 
 starboard side ; and then, with the loss of the sight, 
 the wish for landing in England abated, and I con- 
 sidered how foolish it was to wish myself out of the 
 way of my business ; that if I had been on shore in 
 England, I must go back to Holland on account of 
 my bills, which were so considerable, and I having no 
 correspondence there, that I could not have managed 
 it without going myself But we had not been out 
 of sight of England many hours before the weather 
 began to change, the winds whistled and made a noise, 
 and the seamen said to one another that it would 
 blow hard at night. It was then about two hours 
 before sunset, and we were passed by Dunkirk, and I 
 think they said we were in sight of Ostend ; but then 
 the wind grew high, and the sea swelled, and all 
 things looked terrible, especially to us that understood 
 nothing but just what we saw before us ; in short, 
 night came on, and very dark it was, the wind 
 freshened, and blew harder and harder, and about 
 two hours within night it blew a terrible storm. 
 
 I was not quite a stranger to the sea, having come 
 from Rochelle to England when I was a child, and 
 gone from London, by the river Thames, to France 
 afterward, as I have said. But I began to be 
 alarmed a little with the terrible clamour of the men 
 over my head, for I had never been in a storm, and 
 so had never seen the like, or heard it ; and once 
 
Roxana 323 
 
 oifering to look out at the door of the steerage, as 
 they called it, it struck me with such horror (the 
 darkness, the fierceness of the wind, the dreadful 
 height of the waves, and the hurry the Dutch sailors 
 were in, whose language I did not understand one 
 word of, neither when they cursed nor when they 
 prayed), I say, all these things together filled me with 
 terror, and, in short, I began to be very much 
 frighted. 
 
 When I was come back into the great cabin, there 
 sat Amy, who was very sea-sick, and I had a little 
 before given her a sup of cordial waters to help her 
 stomach. When Amy saw me come back and sit 
 down without speaking, for so I did, she looked two 
 or three times up at me ; at last she came running to 
 me : ' Dear madam,' says she, ' what is the matter ? 
 What makes you look so pale ? Why, you an't well, 
 what is the matter?' I said nothing still, but held up 
 my hands two or three times. Amy doubled her 
 importunities ; upon that I said no more but, ' Step to 
 the steerage-door, and look out, as I did ; ' so she went 
 away immediately, and looked too, as I had bidden 
 her, but the poor girl came back again in the greatest 
 amazement and horror that ever I saw any poor 
 creature in, wringing her hands and crying out, she 
 , was undone ! she was undone ! she should be 
 I drowned ! they were all lost ! Thus she ran about 
 I the cabin like a mad thing, and as perfectly out of 
 
324 Defo^s Minor Novels 
 
 her senses as any one in such a case could be sup- 
 posed to be. I was frighted myself, but when I saw 
 the girl in such a terrible agony it brought me a 
 little to myself, and I began to talk to her, and put 
 her in a little hope. I told her there was many a 
 ship in a storm that was not cast away, and I hoped 
 we should not be drowned ; that it was true the 
 storm was very dreadful, but I did not see that the 
 seamen were so much concerned as we were ; and so 
 I talked to her as well as I could, though my heart 
 was full enough of it, as well as Amy's ; and death 
 began to stare in my face, ay, and something else too, 
 that is to say, conscience, and my mind was very 
 much disturbed ; but I had nobody to comfort me. 
 
 But Amy, being in so much worse a condition, 
 that is to say, so much more terrified at the storm 
 than I was, I had something to do to comfort her. 
 She was, as I have said, like one distracted, and went 
 raving about the cabin, crying out she was undone ! 
 undone ! she should be drowned ! and the like ; and 
 at last, the ship giving a jerk, by the force, I suppose, 
 of some violent wave, it threw poor Amy quite down, 
 for she was weak enough before with being sea-sick, 
 and as it threw her forward, the poor girl struck her 
 head against the bulk-head, as the seamen call it, of 
 the cabin, and laid her as dead as a stone upon the 
 floor or deck ; that is to say, she was so to all 
 appearance. 
 
Roxana 325 
 
 I cried out for help, but it had been all one to 
 have cried out on the top of a mountain, where no- 
 body had been within five miles of me, for the 
 seamen were so engaged, and made so much noise, 
 that nobody heard me or came near me. I opened 
 the great cabin door, and looked into the steerage to 
 cry for help, but there, to increase my fright, was two 
 seamen on their knees at prayers, and only one man 
 who steered, and he made a groaning noise too, 
 which I took to be saying his prayers, but it seems it 
 was answering to those above, when they called to 
 him to tell him which way to steer. 
 
 Here was no help for me, or for poor Amy, and 
 there she lay still so, and in such a condition that I 
 did not know whether she was dead or alive. In this 
 fright I went to her, and lifted her a little way up, 
 setting her on the deck, with her back to the boards of 
 the bulk-head ; and I got a little bottle out of my 
 pocket, and I held it to her nose, and rubbed her 
 temples, and what else I could do, but still Amy 
 showed no signs of life, till I felt for her pulse, but 
 could hardly distinguish her to be alive. However, 
 after a great while, she began to revive, and in about 
 half an hour she came to herself, but remembered 
 nothing at first of what had happened to her for a 
 good while more. 
 
 When she recovered more fully she asked me 
 where she was ? I told her she was in the ship yet. 
 
326 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 but God knows how long it might be. 'Why, 
 madam,' says she, ' is not the storm over ? ' ' No, 
 no,' says I, 'Amy.' 'Why, madam,' says she, ' it was 
 calm just now ' (meaning when she was in the swoon- 
 ing fit occasioned by her fall). 'Calm, Amy,' says 
 I, ' 'tis far from calm ; it may be it will be calm by 
 and by, when we are all drowned and gone to 
 heaven.' 
 
 ' Heaven, madam ! ' says she, ' what makes you 
 talk so ? Heaven ! I go to heaven ! No, no, if I am 
 drowned I am damned ! Don't you know what a 
 wicked creature I have been ? * * * 
 
 * * * J \x2c\iQ lived a wretched abominable 
 life of vice and wickedness for fourteen years. O 
 madam, you know it, and God knows it, and, now I 
 am to die \ to be drowned ! Oh ! what will become 
 of me ! I am undone for ever ! ay, madam, for ever ! 
 to all eternity ! Oh ! I am lost ! I am lost ! if I am 
 drowned, I am lost for ever ! ' 
 
 All these, you will easily suppose, must be so many 
 stabs into the very soul of one in my own case. It 
 immediately occurred to me, ' Poor Amy ! what art 
 thou that I am not ? What hast thou been that I 
 have not been ? Nay, I am guilty of my own sin 
 and thine too.' Then it came to my remembrance 
 that I had not only been the same with Amy, but 
 that I had been the devil's instrument to make her 
 wicked. % % % % ^ 
 
 I 
 
Roxana 327 
 
 * # vf * vf * 
 
 that she had but followed me, I had been her wicked 
 example ; and I had led her into all ; and that as we 
 had sinned together, now we were likely to sink 
 together. 
 
 All this repeated itself to my thoughts at that very 
 moment, and every one of Amy's cries sounded thus 
 in my ears ; ' I am the wicked cause of it all ! I have 
 been thy ruin. Amy ! I have brought thee to this, 
 and now thou art to suffer for the sin I have enticed 
 thee to ! and if thou art lost for ever, what must I be ? 
 what must be my portion ? ' 
 
 It is true, this difference was between us, that I 
 said all these things within myself, and sighed and 
 mourned inwardly ; but Amy, as her temper was more 
 violent, spoke aloud, and cried, and called out aloud, 
 like one in an agony. 
 
 I had but small encouragement to give her, and 
 indeed could say but very little, but I got her to 
 compose herself a httle, and not let any of the people 
 of the ship understand what she meant or what she 
 said ; but even in her greatest composure she 
 continued to express herself with the utmost dread 
 and terror on account of the wicked life she had lived, 
 and crying out she should be damned, and the like, 
 which was very terrible to me, who knew what con- 
 dition I was in myself. 
 
 Upon these serious considerations, 1 was very 
 
328 Defoe^s Minor Novels 
 
 penitent too for my former sins, and cried out, though 
 softly, two or three times, ' Lord have mercy upon me ! ' 
 to this I added abundance of resolutions of what a 
 life I would live if it should please God but to spare 
 my life but this one time ; how I would live a single 
 and a virtuous life, and spend a great deal of what I had 
 thus wickedly got in acts of charity and doing good. 
 
 Under these dreadful apprehensions I looked back 
 on the life I had led with the utmost contempt and 
 abhorrence. I blushed, and wondered at myself how 
 I could act thus, how I could divest myself of 
 modesty and honour, ^ '^ % ^ % 
 
 and I thought if ever it should please God to spare 
 me this one time from death it would not be possible 
 that I should be the same creature again. 
 
 Amy went further ; she prayed, she resolved, she 
 vowed to lead a new life, if God would spare her but 
 this time. It now began to be daylight, for the storm 
 held all night long, and it was some comfort to see 
 the light of another day, which none of us expected ; 
 but the sea went mountains high, and the noise of the 
 water was as frightful to us as the sight of the waves ; 
 nor was any land to be seen, nor did the seamen 
 know whereabout they were. At last, to our great 
 joy, they made land, which was in England, and on 
 the coast of Suffolk ; and the ship being in the utmost 
 distress, they ran for the shore at all hazards, and 
 with great difficulty got into Harwich, where they were 
 
Roxana 329 
 
 safe, as to the danger of death ; but the ship was so 
 full of water, and so much damaged, that if they had 
 not laid her on shore the same day, she would have 
 sunk before night, according to the opinion of the 
 seamen, and of the workmen on shore too, who were 
 hired to assist them in stopping their leaks. 
 
 Amy was revived as soon as she heard they had 
 espied land, and went out upon the deck, but she 
 soon came in again to me : ' Oh, madam,' says she, 
 ' there's the land indeed to be seen. It looks like a 
 ridge of clouds, and may be all a cloud for aught I 
 know ; but if it be land, 'tis a great way off, and the 
 sea is in such a combustion, we shall all perish before 
 we can reach it. 'Tis the dreadfullest sight to look 
 at the waves that ever was seen. Why, they are as 
 high as mountains ; we shall certainly be all swallowed 
 up, for all the land is so near.' 
 
 I had conceived some hope, that if they saw land 
 we should be delivered ; and I told her she did not 
 understand things of that nature ; that she might be 
 sure if they saw land they would go directly towards 
 it, and would make into some harbour ; but it was, 
 as Amy said, a frightful distance to it. The land 
 looked like clouds, and the sea went as high as 
 mountains, so that no hope appeared in the seeing 
 the land, but we were in fear of foundering before we 
 could reach it. This made Amy so desponding still ; 
 but as the wind, which blew from the east, or that 
 
330 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 way, drove us furiously towards the land, so when, 
 about half an hour after, I stepped to the steerage 
 door and looked out, I saw the land much nearer 
 than Amy represented it ; so I went in and encouraged 
 Amy again, and indeed was encouraged myself 
 
 In about an hour, or something more, we see, to 
 our infinite satisfaction, the open harbour of Harwich, 
 and the vessel standing directly towards it, and in a 
 few minutes more the ship was in smooth water, to 
 our inexpressible comfort ; and thus I had, though 
 against my will, and contrary to my true interest, 
 what I wished for, to be driven away to England, 
 though it was by a storm. 
 
 Nor did this incident do either Amy or me much 
 service, for the danger being over, the fears of death 
 vanished with it, ay, and our fear of what was beyond 
 death also. Our sense of the life we had lived went 
 off, and with our return to life, our wicked taste of 
 life returned, and we were both the same as before, 
 if not worse. So certain is it, that the repentance 
 which is brought about by the mere apprehensions of 
 death, wears off as those apprehensions wear off ; and 
 death-bed repentance, or storm repentance, which is 
 much the same, is seldom true. 
 
 However, I do not tell you that this was all at 
 once neither ; the fright we had at sea lasted a little 
 while afterwards, at least, the impression was not quite 
 blown off as soon as the storm ; especially poor Amy, 
 
Roxana 331 
 
 as soon as she set her foot on shore, she fell flat upon 
 the ground and kissed it, and gave God thanks for 
 her deliverance from the sea; and turning to me 
 when she got up, ' I hope, madam,' says she, ' you 
 will never go upon the sea again.' 
 
 I know not what ailed me, not I ; but Amy was 
 much more penitent at sea, and much more sensible 
 of her deliverance when she landed and was safe, 
 than I was. I was in a kind of stupidity, I know not 
 well what to call it ; I had a mind full of horror in the 
 time of the storm, and saw death before me as plainly 
 as Amy, but my thoughts got no vent, as Amy's did. 
 I had a silent sullen kind of grief, which could not 
 break out either in words or tears, and which was 
 therefore much the worse to bear. 
 
 I had a terror upon me for my wicked life past, 
 and firmly believed I was going to the bottom, 
 launching into death, where I was to give an account 
 of all my past actions ; and in this state, and on that 
 account, I looked back upon my wickedness with 
 abhorrence, as I have said above; but I had no 
 sense of repentance from the true motive of repent- 
 ance ; I saw nothing of the corruption of nature, the 
 sin of my life, as an offence against God, as a thing 
 odious to the holiness of His being, as abusing His 
 mercy, and despising His goodness. In short, I had 
 no thorough effectual repentance, no sight of my sins 
 in their proper shape, no view of a Redeemer, or 
 
332 Defoe's Minor Novels 
 
 hope in Him. I had only such a repentance as a 
 criminal has at the place of execution, who is sorry, 
 not that he has committed the crime, as it is a crime, 
 but sorry that he is to be hanged for it. 
 
 {The most inte7'esting part of the rest is a long and 
 curious account of a sple7idid eiitertaiiiment which 
 Roxana gives to the King ( Charles II.) and the Duke 
 of Monmouth. The latter end of the book is — owing 
 to the interpolations^ as they most probably are, above 
 referred to — nearly unreadable, and the bad ends to 
 which both 7?iaid and mistress come, though sufficiently 
 well deserved, are deferred too long, and brought on 
 ivithout dramatic propriety f) 
 
 THE END 
 
 Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh 
 
 ^> 
 
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