English literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism; Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744
Defoe also projected a Royal Military Academy, and an academy for women
which should have only one entrance and a large moat round it. With
these precautions, spies, he observes, would be unnecessary, since, in
his opinion, 'there needs no other care to prevent intriguing than to
keep the men effectually away.' He had the Eastern notion of guarding
women from danger by preventing the access to it, yet he could write:
'A woman of sense and manners is the finest and most delicate
part of God's creation; the glory of her Maker, and the great
instance of His singular regard to man, His darling creature, to
whom He gave the best gift either God could bestow or man
receive. And it is the sordidest piece of folly and ingratitude
in the world to withhold from the sex the due lustre which the
advantages of education gives to the natural beauty of their
minds. A woman well bred and well taught, furnished with the
additional accomplishments of knowledge and behaviour, is a
creature without comparison; her society is the emblem of
sublime enjoyments; her person is angelic and her conversation
heavenly.... She is every way suitable to the sublimest wish,
and the man that has such a one to his portion has nothing to do
but to rejoice in her and be thankful.'
In verse Defoe published the _True Born Englishman_ (1701), in defence
of King William and his Dutch followers:
'William's the name that's spoke by every tongue,
William's the darling subject of my song;
Listen, ye virgins, to the charming sound,
And in eternal dances hand it round.
Your early offerings to this altar bring,
Make him at once a lover and a king.'
The nonsense deepens as the rhyme goes on. For William every tender vow
is to be made, he is to be the first thought in the morning, and his
name will act as a charm, affrighting the infernal powers and guarding
from the terror of the night.
The poem proved very popular, and Defoe writes that had he been able to
enjoy the profit of his own labour he would have gained above £1,000. He
printed nine editions at the price of one shilling a copy, but meanwhile
twelve surreptitious editions were published and sold for a few pence, a
fraud for which he says he had no remedy but patience. Throughout his
busy life of authorship he was indeed continually victimized by pirates.
While in verse Defoe extolled the king as if he were a demi-god, he did
William good service by his pamphlets, and was in some degree admitted
into his confidence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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