[A] "The Life of Daniel Defoe." By Thomas Wright, Principal of Cowper
School, Olney. London: Cassell & Co.
[B] _Romances and Narratives by Daniel Defoe_. Edited by George A.
Aitken. Vols. i., ii., and iii. Containing the Life and Adventures,
Farther Adventures, and Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe. With a
General Introduction by the Editor. London: J.M. Dent & Co.
[C] Upon this suggestion Mr. Aitken, in a postscript to his seventh
volume of the _Romances and Narratives_, has since remarked as
follows:--
"In a discussion in _The Speaker_ upon Defoe's supposed
period of 'silence,' published since the appearance of the
first volume of this edition, Mr. Quiller Couch, while
agreeing, for the reasons I have given (vol. i. p. lvii.),
that there is no mistake in the date of Robinson Crusoe's
departure from his island (December, 1686), has suggested
that perhaps the error in the chronology lies, not in the
length of time Crusoe is said to have lived on the island,
but in the date given for his landing (September, 1659). That
this suggestion is right appears from a passage which has
hitherto escaped notice. Crusoe was born in 1632, and Defoe
makes him say (vol. i. p. 147), 'The same day of the year I
was born on, viz. the 30th of September, that same day I had
my life so miraculously saved twenty-six years after, when I
was cast ashore on this island.' Crusoe must, therefore, have
reached his island on September 30, 1658, not 1659, as twice
stated by Defoe; and by adding twenty-eight years to 1658 we
get 1686, the date given for Crusoe's departure.
"It is, however, questionable whether this rectification
helps us to interpret the allegory in _Robinson Crusoe_. It
is true that if, in accordance with the 'key' suggested by
Mr. Wright, we add twenty-seven years to the date of the
shipwreck (1658) in order to find the corresponding event in
Defoe's life, we arrive at September, 1685, when Jeffreys was
sentencing many of those who--like Defoe--took part in
Monmouth's rising. But we have no evidence that Defoe
suffered seriously in consequence of the part he took in this
rebellion; and the addition of twenty-seven years to the date
of Crusoe's departure from the island (December, 1686) does
not bring us to any corresponding event in Defoe's own story.
Those who are curious will find the question discussed at
greater length in _The Speaker_ for April 13 and 20, and May
4, 1895."