Rice University

Defoe's Persona as Author: The Quaker's Sermon

Author(s): John Robert Moore
Source: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 11, No. 3, Restoration and Eighteenth
Century (Summer, 1971), pp. 507-516
Published by: Rice University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/449910
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 as Author:
Persona
Defoe's Sermon
TheQuaker's
JOHN ROBERT MOORE

The Quaker's Sermon: Or, A Holding-Forth Concerning Barabbas

(1711) is a previously unrecognizedtract by Defoe. It is significant
as another of his attacks on Dr. Sacheverell, his defenses of the
Duke of Marlborough,and his uses of a persona. Defoe rarely signed
his name to his writings,but published most of them anonymouslyor
assigned them to any one of eighty-sevendifferentfictitiousperson-
alities-sometimes to conceal his authorship or to stimulate sales, but
more characteristicallyto establish a point of view. Here, as in six
previouslyrecognizedtracts by Defoe, he wrote as a Quaker.

THE HENRY E. HUNTINGTON LIBRARY POS-

sesses a very interestingtract which I have not seen else-
where: The QUAKER'S SERMON: OR, A Holding-Forth
ConcerningBARABBAS. LONDON: Sold by A. Baldwinnear
the OxfordArmsin Warwick-Lane.1711. Price Three Pence.'
This previouslyunrecognizedwork by Defoe (sold by one
of his principalbooksellers,Abigail Baldwin, widow of the
Richard Baldwin who had broughtout two of his earliest
politicalwritings) throwslight on three groups or types of
publicationsto which it is closely related: Defoe's Quaker
tracts,his attacks on Dr. Henry Sacheverelland other High
Church extremists,and his defense of the Duke of Marl-
borough.As an attack on Sacheverelland a defenseof Marl-
boroughit is a good exampleof his controversialpamphleteer-
ing. As a Quakertractit is an exceptionallyclear exampleof
his use of a personaas the supposedauthor.
recognizedthat Defoe's fre-
It has never been sufficiently
quent practiceof writingwith an assumed personalitysatis-
fieda need moresignificantthan mystification of his readers
or an appeal to prospectivebuyers.Very rarely in his 566
books, tracts, and newspapers did he commithimselfto a
directexpressionof his own personalthoughts,feelings,and
experiences.
If we excepta few of his letters,the one extantexampleof

1HEH 306340. 8'. Pp. 3-24. In any subsequentrevisionof my Checklist

of the Writingsof Daniel Defoe (Bloomington,Indiana, 1960, 1962)
this tract will be numbered200a. For assistance in the research for
this paper I am indebtedto Mrs. Maria Klimnach of the Preparations
Departmentof the HuntingtonLibrary.

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508 DEFOE'S PERSONA

an entirelypersonal approach is to be found in the small

manuscriptvolumeof poemscalledMeditacons(1681), unpub-
lishedand almostunknownuntilit was editedby GeorgeHar-
ris Healey in 1946. Here the youngPuritan soughtto express
his religiousthoughtsand feelingsfor no eyes but his own
and God's. Perhaps the lost Historical Collections (1682)
would show a somewhatsimilarquest for the workingof the
Divine Will in humanaffairs.
All ofDefoe's otherworksthatwe knowof bear somemarks
of the master journalist,who wrote on special subjects for
special occasions. Even An Appeal to Honour and Justice
(1715) was not so much an expressionof Defoe himselfas
an effortto reestablishhis connectionwith his formerallies
among Whigs and Dissenters and (if possible) to save the
life of his fallen patronRobertHarley.
The thirdand fourthof his writings(1683 and 1687) are
now lost; but it is clear fromwhat Defoe said of themthat
theywerewrittenfromparticularpointsof view at particular
times (regardingthe siege of Vienna by the Turks, and the
credulityof some of his fellow-Dissenters who were sending
addresses to thank James II for his proposed toleration).
But the fifthof his writings (the firstthat has survivedin
printedform) shows that in 1688 he was already adoptinga
persona-this timeas the "Friend at the Hague" (presumably
an Englishmanlivingin exile) who wroteA Letter to a Dis-
senter.It is truethatthisassumedpersonalitywas a measure
of protectionagainst the veryactive agentsof James IT-like
the colophonwhichassignedthe workof a London printerto
an imaginaryshop in Holland: "Tot de Hague, gedruchtdoor
Hans Verdraeght,1688." But it served also to establishthe
pointof view of the assumedpersona,who was givingadvice
to a reader who was still in danger of religiouspersecution
in England.
For more than fortyyears thereafterDefoe might some-
timesremindhis readersthatthe same authorhad writtenone
of his more popular works (such as The True-BornEnglish-
man or the Review) or some previoustract on the same sub-
ject. He mighteven sign his initials or his name, especially
for some of the writingsin whichhe took pride as a man of
lettersor as a spokesmanfor the nation. His ode, "To the
AthenianSociety" (1692), was signed "D. F., Gent.,"and it
won John Dunton's approval of Defoe as one of "the chief

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 JOHN ROBERT MOORE 509

wits of the age." An Essay upon Projects (1697) was ad-

dressedto his patronand friendDalby Thomas in a preface
signed "D. F." A True CollectionOf the Writingsof the
Author Of the True-BornEnglishman (1703) had for its
frontispiecethe firstknownportraitof the author.The most
ambitiousof his works,Jure Divino (1706), was provided
with a new portrait,a prefacesigned "Defoe," and a "Dedi-
cation to Reason" signed by "The True-BornEnglishman."
At this time Defoe liked best to thinkof himselfas satirist
and patriot.
The Historyof the Union (1709), a recordof what Defoe
regardedas theprincipalpoliticalachievementof his life,con-
tained a dedicationto the Queen (signed Daniel Defoe) and
a dedicationto the Queen's High Commissionerin Scotland
(signed D. D. Foe). In 1720, less than a year after the re-
soundingsuccess of RobinsonCrusoe, his ambitioustransla-
tion of a French poem on the art of painting (in direct
rivalry with the currenttranslationof the same work by
Dryden) was offered to thepublicas the workof "D. F. Gent."
This was the last of his writingsto which he laid claim
publicly.
But it was perhapsonlyin A New VoyageRoundThe World
(1725, for 1724) that he failed to adopt a consistentpoint
of view. Here the initial pretenceof concealingthe name of
a merchantengaged with associates on the Continentas a
rival to British interestsin the overseas trade made the
narratornot only unidentifiable but selfcontradictory.
Defoe
did not seem to have made up his mindas to who was speak-
ing, and the reader is likelyto suppose that "I" represents
morethan one man.
ElsewhereDefoe wrotewitha pointof view thatthe reader
would recognize,even if he had no idea of the identityof
the supposedauthor.But veryoftenhe went further,adopt-
ing a specificpersona, like an actor in a Greek tragedy,so
thathe spoke as througha mask. And so it was that in many
of his writingsthe author appeared before his readers as
"Amicus," "The Livery Man," "The Lay-Man," "Mr. Apple-
bee," "A Lay-Handin the Country,""a Friendat the Hague,"
"Legion," "Mr. Reason," "The Ages Humble Servant," "A
Well-Wisherto the Peace of Britain," "ArchibaldMcDonald
of Inverlocky,""Captain Tom," "Isaac Bickerstaff,Sen.,"
"Tom Flockmaker,Clothier,of Worcester,""One, Two, Three,

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510 DEFOE'S PERSONA

Four," "Philopax," "MonsieurMesnager,""General Forster,"

"John,Duke of Melfort,""Father Andrew,""MerryAndrew,"
"J. B.," "J. R.," "Majr. Alexander Ramkins," "Dickory
Cronke,""JonathanWilde," "Captain Avery,""DorothyDis-
taff,""Rowland WyncheEsq.," "Captain Singleton,""Moll
Flanders," "Col. Jacque," "Captain Charles Johnson,""Jack
Sheppard,""AndrewMoreton,Esq.," "Capt. GeorgeRoberts,"
"Capt. George Carleton,""Robert Drury," "H. D. late Clerk
to JusticeR-," "Don Manoel Gonzales (Late Merchant) of
the Cityof Lisbon in Portugal,""RobinsonCrusoe,Of York,
Mariner," "Mademoiselle de Beleau, afterwards Call'd the
Countess of Wintelsheim,in Germany,Being the Person
knownby the Name of the Lady Roxana, in the Time of King
Charles II.," "A Native of the Universe," "A Rebel," "a
Jobber,""a Merchant,""an EminentHand," "a Free Mason,"
"a Friend of the Person Injured," "Mahomet the Turkish
Spy," "A TurkishMerchantat Amsterdam,""a heartyWell-
Wisherto the PublickCredit,""the Second-SightedHighland-
er," "a CountryWhig," "Some CountryWhigs," "An Honest
Tory in the Country,""Angli-Poloski,Of Lithuania,""Walter
Campbell,""A Memberof the House of Commons,""A Mem-
ber of the Parliamentof North-Britain,""a person of Hon-
our," "the Right Honourablethe Countessof-," "a Gentle-
man," "a Kentish Gentleman,""a Gentlemanof that City,"
"4aGentlemanwho attendedthe Commission,""A Gentleman
in Scotland" "several Scots-Gentlemen that are Merchantsin
England," "A Gentlemanat the Court of St. Germains,""a
Scots Gentlemanin theSweedishService,""a Scots Gentleman
in the Service of the Czar," "an English Gentleman,who
servedfirstin the Armyof GustavusAdolphus,the Glorious
King of Sweden,till his Death; and after that in the Royal
Armyof King Charles the First, fromthe Beginningof the
Rebellionto the End of that War," "An Officer," "An Officer
in the Army,""An Old Officerin the Army," "An Officer,
who was at the Taking and Defence of Gibraltar by the
Prince Hesse, of GloriousMemory;and served in the Town,
duringthe last Siege," "a Citizenwho continuedall the while
in London,""a Street-Walker," "a convertedThief," "a Dis-
senter," "a Dissenter in the City," "a known Dissenter,"
"some Protestant Dissenting Laymen," "a Member of the
Church of England," "one called a Low-Churchman,""a

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 JOHN ROBERT MOORE 511

Clergyman,"or "a MinisteringFriend of the People called

Quakers."
These assumed personalitiescertainlyaided in the sale
of the books or tracts. But Defoe's main purpose in using
any one of them was to justify his special knowledgeand
his assumed point of view. Oftenhis fictitiouspersona was
given such a convincingindividualitythat the world has
been slow to admit that Defoe could have been the author.
As confidentialagentforseveraldifferent governments, under
WilliamIII, Queen Anne,GeorgeI, and GeorgeII, Defoe had
access to documentsand plans unknownto mostotherwriters
and theirreaders.This gave special reasonfor his practiceof
writing "within doors"-as when he professedto be "the
RightHonourablethe Countessof " or the personalemis-
sary of Louis XIV. More oftenhe preferredto write"without
doors"-and then he professed to know nothing about
national secrets except what his persona would be expected
to knowor what any well-informed citizenmightsurmise.
For an author in the age of Queen Anne, Defoe was un-
usuallysympathetic towardthe Quakers.In his discussionof
religiousdifferenceshe referredto theirtenetswith respect.
In 1703 the great Quaker William Penn (togetherwith his
son William) exertedhimselfto secure Defoe's release from
Newgate. In 1725 a Quaker named Thomas Webb, who had
lost his wife,wrote of his deep obligationto Defoe for hav-
hig "acted a generouspart to me and my poor children."2
Probablythis Thomas Webb had formerlyserved as one of
the agents for distributingDefoe's tracts in the country.
About April 1706 Defoe had reportedto Harley that twenty-
fivecopies of his "Remarks &c. Sent into the Country"had
been consignedto "Tho. Webb,Clothr"at Devises.3
One of Defoe's most memorablefictionalcharacterswas
Quaker Williamin Captain Singleton(1720). And when De-
foe launched a devastatingattack on the economicfallacy
underlyingSwift's Drapier's Letters he presented Some
Farther AccountOf The OriginalDisputes In Ireland,About
Farthings and Halfpence (1724) as "a discourse with a
Quaker of Dublin." Elsewhere he used the Quakers' pseudo-

2See my Daniel Defoe: Citizen of the Modern World (Chicago, 1958),

pp. 133-136,144, 334-335,349.
'The Letters of Daniel Defoe, ed. George Harris Healey (Oxford,1955),
p. 116.

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512 DEFOE'S PERSONA

biblicalstyleto presentwhat he offeredas the valid pointof

view. There was a drolltouchof humorin the apparentsim-
plicityofhis Quakers,whoaddressedmenin highpublicoffices
by theirgiven names,and who rebukedclergymen, noblemen,
and statesmenas if theywere disobedientschoolboys.
A Dublin reprintcalled Proper Lessons Writtenby a Quak-
er4 is virtuallyidenticalwith Defoe's London tract Proper
Lessons for the Tories (1716).5 If this Dublin tract was re-
printedfroman unknownand previouslyunsuspectedLondon
original,theattributionto a Quakerwouldexplainthe biblical
stylein whichbothtractsare presented.6
It has been recognizedthat Defoe wrote as a Quaker in
six othertracts,each in the formof a letterof admonition
or advice to some individual prominentin public affairs.
Four7 were professedlywrittenby "One of the People called
Quakers" (later identifiedas "the same Friend that wrote
to ThomasBradbury,the Dealer in manyWords,and to Henry
Sacheverell,the High-Priestof St. Andrew's Holbourn"and
finallyas "Ebenezer"). There was a slight inconsistencyon
the title-pageof A Seasonable Expostulation,wherethe name
of Sacheverell's church (previouslyidentifiedwith Quaker
plainnessas "Andrew'sHolbourn") was giventhe name used
"by menof this world": "St. Andrew'sHolbourn."An attack
on the Earl of Mar8 was attributedto "Obadiah," but A
FriendlyRebuke to Bishop Benjamin Hoadly9was assigned
onlyto "One of the People called Quakers."
All six of these tracts were effective;they sold well, and
Defoe continuedto make use of the same device. The Quaker
locutionsgave an archnessto what one of Defoe's rivals called
"his spinningway of writing";the demureprofessionof non-

4HEH 356790.
'Checklist No. 333.
See HuntingtonLibrary Quarterly,XXVIII, (November,1964), 46-47.
7A FriendlyEpistle By Way of Reproof From one of the People called
Quakers, To Thomas Bradbury, A dealer in many Words (1715); A
Sharp Rebuke From one of the People called Quakers to Henry Sache-
verell, The High-Priest of Andrew's Holbourn (1715); A Seasonable
Expostulation with, and friendlyReproofunto James Butler, Who, by
the Men of this World,is Stil'd Duke of O-d (1715); A Declaration
of Truth to Benjamin Hoadly, One of the High Priests of the Land,
And Of the degree whom Men call Bishops (1711).
8A Trumpet Blown in the North, And sounded in the ears of John
Erskine, Call'd by Men of the World,Duke of Mar (1715).
9A Friendly Rebuke To one Parson Benjamin (1719).

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 JOHN ROBERT MOORE 513

partisan observationmade them hard to answer. Even so

experienceda controversialist as Bishop Hoadly would have
foundit difficultto spar witha bystanderwho addressedhim
like this: "Verily,Benjamin,thououghtestnotto say further
concerningany thingwhichthe Man call'd a Dean has said
amiss, until thou hast reconciledthis thy Doctrinewith thy
Practice; whichI do not see thou art enclin'din thyHeart to
do."10
But there was some danger that the pretenceof Quaker
authorshipmight backfire.When Defoe, writingmerelyas
an anonymousauthor,attackedthe morals of the Court of
GeorgeI in The fears of thePretenderturn'dintothefears of
debauchery (1715), there was no reason why the members of
any one sect shouldfeel personalconcern.But when the at-
tack was repeatedverysoonthereafterin A FriendlyEpistle,
issued by the same publisherbut attributedto "one of the
People called Quakers,"there may have been pressurefrom
someonein Court circles,so that disclaimersfrom Quakers
were publishedin London newspapers.'1In the sixth edition
of A FriendlyEpistle Defoe added A Letterfromthe Author
to the Publisher, relating to the Threats and Menaces of
several of the People called Quakers,for publishingthe said
Book. On p. 40 he warnedKeimerto make "the Amendments
marked,"adding that "so shall thy Enemies be ashamed of
theirDesign to hurtthee."
Defoe told elsewherehow he had been trained in public
speakingwhen he was studyingfor the ministryat Morton's
academy in Newington Green, and the tradition that he
servedfora timeas a lay preachernear Londonhas consider-
able support in attacks on him by anonymouscontempor-
aries.'2 The poemswhichhe attemptedin the formof Pindaric
odes were called Hymns,'3and some of his editorialwritings
were called Sermons.' In 1717 he publisheda so-calledora-
tion by a French clergyman,ostensiblytranslatedfromthe

"Rebuke, p. 6.
"London Gazette, March 5, 1715; Daily Courant, March 7, 1715.
"Daniel Defoe: Citizen of the Modern World,pp. 36-37, 39-40.
"A Hymnto thePillory (1703); A Hymn to the Funeral Sermon (1703);
A Hymn to Victory (1704); A Hymn to Peace (1706); A Hymn to
the Mob (1715).
"The Lay-Man's Sermon upon the Late Storm (1704); A Sermon
Preach'd by Mr. Daniel Defoe: On the fittingup of Dr. Burges's late
Meeting-House [17061; A CommendatorySermon Preach'd November
the 4th [17091.

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514 DEFOE'S PERSONA

fourthedition.15But it was apparentlyonlyin The Quaker's

Sermon(1711) thathe adoptedtheformof an Englishsermon
addressedto an audiencein a place of worship.
The beginningseems harmless enough, as the unnamed
speakerrises to quotehis textfrommemoryas a preliminary
to his "Holding-Forth"to his fellow Quakers: "The Words
of the EvangelistJohncomingnow into my Mind,I mean to
hold forthupon them.Then cried theyall again, saying,not
thisMan butBarabbas, now Barabbas was a Robber."
Presumably the speaker addresses an audience, but he
speaks to each hearer individuallyas "Friend." Gradually
but steadilyhe movesfromquestioningwhyChristwas loaded
with infamywhile the seditiousBarabbas was set at liberty
with acclamation.Soon we read that Barabbas reviled the
person of Christ and his doctrine,but appealed to the mob
throughhis abilityto lead seditiousriots.The resemblanceto
Dr. Henry Sacheverell becomes more personal when the
Quaker declares that Barabbas had a powerfulsway among
the women,althoughthe Holy Women stood at a distance.
By page 6 the preliminariesare over and the Quaker strikes
directlyat the mark: "Let us, Friend, bring this mattera
littlehome to our selves; we have a Barabbas in our Time:
HenryS-I is the Barabbcasof these Days, as Barabbas was
the Henry S-I of those." Soon afterwardshe advances to
HenryBarabbas and DoctorBarabbas, the leader of riotswho
was set free when the blessed Peacemaker was persecuted.
Like Sacheverell,Barabbas had his picturekissedby Church-
women,and he stoodat his trial to swear (as Sacheverellhad
donebeforethe House of Lords), "callingGod to Witness,that
his Wordshad no such meaningas theyalways bear."
The attack on Barabbas-Sacheverellleads up to a defense
of the Duke of Marlborough(then in imminentdangerof im-
peachmentby St. Johnand Harley). The argumentshere are
virtuallythe same whichDefoe had used as far back as 1706
in Remarkson theLetterto theAuthorof the State-Memorial
(1706) and veryrecentlyin Seldom Comes a Better (1710),
Atalantis Major (1711, for 1710), and especially A Short
Narrative of the Life and Actions of His Grace John,D. of
Marlborough(1711).

'6A Curious Little Oration,Deliver'd by Father Andrew,Concerningthe

Present Great Quarrels, That divide the Clergy of France (1717).

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 JOHN ROBERT MOORE 515

In The Quaker's Sermon,as elsewhere,Defoe blames the

attacks on Marlboroughon a detractoror detractorsamong
his fellow-countrymen. He cites a passage from The Tatler
in which the fall of Hannibal was attributedto the malice
of his fellowcountrymanHanno, and he expressesfear that
Marlboroughwill be cheated of his triumphover France by
similartreacheryat home."This did Hanno against Hannibal,
and by that Means ruined both him and his Country;and
the same Trick perhaps may be played again against a Hero
not inferiourto him. This was most vigorouslypractised
against Hannibal, when he had just in a Manner conquered
Rome; and the same Methodmay be used against a modern
Hannibal, as he is just finishinghis Conquestsof F-nce."'I6
The accountof Hanno's conspiracyagainst Hannibal is a
paraphraseof Steele's letterfrom"Pasquin of Rome to Isaac
Bickerstaffof London,"'17 but the Quaker charges that The
Tatlerhad plagiarizedit fromhimself:"IsctacBickerstaff has
publisheda letter of mine, but withoutany Authorityfor
doing it from me, wherein I mentionedsomethingof the
State of Carthage, and their brave and victoriousGeneral
Hannibal.""8
Earlier in his sermonthe Quaker had said that the com-
parisonbetweenBarabbas and Christcouldnotbe balancedby
any modernequivalentfor Christ:
I cannotsay the Comparisonwill hold throughout,
it will hold howeverin a very materialPoint. I dare
not pretendto bringany Instanceto equal the Son of
God; but this myfears suggest,that if the mostrigh-
teous Person that has since that Time Appeared on
Earth, had stood in Competitionwith this Henry,
he would have met withas littleesteemand favourin
Comparisonof Henry,with Henry his Mob, as Jesus
Christdid in Comparisonof old Barabbas.19
As Defoe would have done when he was writingin his own
person, the Quaker recalls how William III (like Marl-
borough) had been opposed by factionsat home.20He says
that a friendhas a manuscriptwhichhas a different reading
of the name Hanno, "making it look like a more modern

16The Quaker's Sermon, p. 21.

"The Tatler, No. 187, June 17 to 20, 1710.
'The Quaker's Sermon,p. 19.
"The Quaker's Sermon,pp. 6-7.
"The Quaker's Sermon,p. 20.

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516 DEFOE'S PERSONA

Name [Henry St. John], by the Variation only of two or

threeLetters."'2'
In his Conclusionthe Quaker revertsfromthe betrayalof
Marlboroughby his enemiesat hometo the "steeple-church"
abettorsof the modern Sacheverell-Barabbas:"They affect
to be called High-Church,and I thinkthe Name suits them
not ill. It exactly answerethto the Pinacle of the Temple,
whereSatan carriedJesusChrist; but we findthe Saviour of
the Worldwouldnotlongbe detainedthere; it was not a Place
suitedto his Meeknessand Humility,and thereforesure none
of his trueFollowersshouldaffectit."22
The Quaker's Sermon is one of Defoe's abler defensesof
Marlborough, althoughless convincingand muchless detailed
than A Short Narrative of the Life and Actions.It is one of
the betterexamplesof his multifariousattackson Sacheverell
and the High-Churchbigots,althoughit lacks the superlative
quality of The Shortest Way with the Dissenters. But it is
morecloselyknitthan any otherof his Quakertracts.Instead
of banteringridicule it mountsan earnest attack on what
Defoe regardedas two great public evils.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY

2lThe Quaker's Sermon,p. 20.

22TheQuaker's Sermon,p. 24.

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