as sold, and the sums of money which have been gained
by it. Nor was he lest remarkable in his writings of a serious and
religious turn, witness his Religious Courtship, and his Family
Instructor; both of which strongly inculcate the worship of God, the
relative duties of husbands, wives, parents, and children, not in
a dry dogmatic manner, but in a kind of dramatic way, which excites
curiosity, keeps the attention awake, and is extremely interesting,
and pathetic.

We have already seen, that in his political capacity he was a declared
enemy to popery, and a bold defender of revolution principles. He was
held in much esteem by many great men, and though he never enjoyed any
regular pod under the government, yet he was frequently employed in
matters of trust and confidence, particularly in Scotland, where he
several times was sent on affairs of great importance, especially
those relative to the union of the kingdoms, of which he was one of
the negotiators.

It is impossible to arrive at the knowledge of half the tracts and
pamphlets which were written by this laborious man, as his name is
not prefixed, and many of them being temporary, have perished like all
other productions of that kind, when the subjects upon which they were
written are forgot. His principal performances, perhaps, are these,

A Plan of Commerce, an esteemed Work, in one large vol. 8vo. of which
a new edition was lately published.

Memoirs of the Plague, published in 1665.

Religious Courtship.

Family Instructor. Two Volumes.

History of Apparitions (under the name of Moreton.)

Robinson Crusoe. Two Volumes.

Political History of the Devil.

History of Magic.

Caledonia, a Poem in praise of Scotland.

De Jure Divino, a Poem.

English Tradesman, &c.

History of Colonel Jack.

Cleveland's Memoirs, &c. are also said to be his. Considered as a
poet, Daniel De Foe is not so eminent, as in a political light: he
has taken no pains in verification; his ideas are masculine, his
expressions coarse, and his numbers generally rough. He seems rather
to have studied to speak truth, by probing wounds to the bottom, than,
by embellishing his verification, to give it a more elegant keenness.
This, however, seems to have proceeded more from carelessness in that
particular, than want of ability: for the following lines in his True
Born Englishman, in which he makes Britannia rehearse the praises
of her hero, King William, are harmoniously beautiful,