Daniel Defoe

“ Hence, Gratitude is not the national Virtue, nor is encouraging Virtue any Branch of the Manufacture of the Place; long Services often meet here with unjust Censures; overgrown Merit with necessary Contempt: He must be a bold Man that dares oblige them; he is sure to provoke them by it to use him very severely. ”

“ This makes them Cholerick, Envious, and above all Contentious, so that the Nation is ever divided into Parties and Factions: They pursue their Feuds with the most eagerness imaginable in their Turns, commit all Kinds of Errors even on both Sides alternately, as they get uppermost.
This occasions much Heat, tho' the Country is Cold, little Charity, and above all, (which the Climate has the blame off) they are by their own Confession, of short Memories, partly as to Injuries, but especially as to Kindnesses, Services and inherent Merit. ”

“ Among the Persons turn'd out of Employ, or very much envy'd in it, we find two great Personages, Men of the greatest Eminency in their Station that the Age had produc'd in that Island, their Country had no Error to find in their Conduct except it were that it was so much in debt to their Services, that they could not be capable of rewarding it, therefore like the corrupted Nature of the whole Race of Man, they hate the Men, as a late Author says, because they hate to be in debt beyond the Power of Payment. ”

“ Had any British-Man of Sense, that understands the Language of the Countenance, but seen the Astonishment, the Chagrin, the Vexation and Anguish of Soul, that appear'd on the Faces of these Atalantic Noblemen, at this surprizing Event; how they gnashed [42] their Teeth for Anger, and curst the Hour that ever they were Members of this grand Council; how they Bann'd, (an Atalantis Word used there, for what we call Swearing and Damning in our Country;) how they raged at Greenwiccio, and the Lord of the Isles, who they said had Betray'd them ”

“ That they were Men generally speaking distinguish'd for their constant Loyalty to their Prince, but ever with a view to the Fundamental Laws: That they had always Wisdom enough to know their Countries Rights, and [37] Courage enough to defend them; Men of Honour, Men of Prudence, Men of Resolution: In short, They were Men admirably suited to the Character of their Leader; as he on the other hand, thought it his Honour to be at the Head of so illustrious a Body of Men, equally valuable for their Virtue, Capacities, Wisdom and Integrity. ”

“ The Nobility of that Island, as I find it too much the Fate of all the Nobility in the World, were unhappily divided into Factions and separate Interests, and therefore before I proceed to the Relation, it will be necessary to give you a brief Account of these several Divisions, and as to the Characters of the Persons, it will necessarily fall into the Course of the Story.
The Divisions and Animosities which, as I say, were among the Nobility, were very unhappily occasion'd upon two several Foundations, [7] and therefore consisted of two several Kinds. ”

“ The Act of Union provided for the election of sixteen Scottish peers who would represent all of the Scottish nobility in the House of Lords.3 If he could ensure that all sixteen of these peers were Tory, Harley would be certain of a large block of loyal votes in the upper house, or, at worst, he would have to arrange for the creation of only a few new peers to neutralize the Whigs' strength. ”

“ Like Defoe, they both discovered that politics often make strange bedfellows. Godolphin, faced with a large Whig majority in the House of Commons after the General Election of 1708, found that his fortunes were bound to those of the Junto. Harley, after the General Election of 1710, discovered the necessity of courting the High-Church Tories far more than he would have liked.
[vii] Argyll's slate of Scottish peers for the November election included men who were even more extreme in their Toryism than the majority of High-Church English Tories. ”

“ How he was disappointed in his ambitious Views of being made General against the Tartarians; whereas, he had on the contrary, the Mortification, to see the great Commander continu'd, with an addition of Generallissimo to his Titles of Command; and himself, like what we used to call in England, being Kick'd up Stairs, sent out of the Way with a Feather in his Cap, and the Title of General, to carry on a remote Unfortunate, [44] and never-to-be Successful War in Japan, and the Lord knows where, among Barbarians and Savages. ”

“ It might be said, as a finishing stroke to his Character, he is just the Reverse of Greeniccio, for he is Fire without Thunder, Brave without Fury, Great without Pride, Gay without Vanity, Wise without Affectation, knows how to Obey and how to Command; [36] he knows great Things enough to manage them, and is so Master of himself, as not to let them manage him; he knows how to be a Courtier without Ambition, and to Merit Favour rather than to seek it; he scorns to push his Fortunes over the Belly of his Principles, ever Faithful to himself, and by consequence to all that Trust him ”

“ If a Man happens to be bound Apprentice to his own generous Spirit, and resolves to do them good, he must do it to God, to do it to them is to work to the Devil; he must be sure to run the Gauntlet, and bear the Lashes of Ten thousand Tongues, the Reproach of all those he serves, and will Die unpitied. ”

“ The Prince, with much more Plainness than Prudence replies, They knew he was under Obligations to the President of the Treasure, and the great Commander of the Army; and he did not know but they might come to bring a Charge or Impeachment against them in the great Atalantic Council; and he would have no Body chosen but such as would give their Words they would come into such Measures. The Earl told him, If any thing could be offered to prove them Guilty, or any Crimes were made appear, he scorned to be so much obliged to any [27] Man as not to dare to do Justice ”

“ All three were staunch supporters of England's commercial interests, the Hanoverian Succession, liberty of conscience for Dissenters and Nonconformists, and the terms of the Revolution Settlement. It must be remembered that Godolphin and Harley were both moderates, each trying to chart his course between the extremes of the parties. They, like Daniel Defoe, saw their loyalty being to England and to the Queen, not to a party. ”

“ In the North Part of the Island the Divisions of the Court had not extended so far, at least they had not been push'd so vigorously, the great Officers kept their Posts, whether Civil or Military, not the least Alteration was made, except of a few inferiour Officers, and those but casually; all seem'd to stand at a Stay till the Election of the noble Councellors aforesaid, and till the sitting of the great Council, as above. ”

“ The Duke of Marlborough alone remained, in command of the army, but this was only to be until the new Ministry could negotiate a peace and his services would no longer be required.
It had been Harley's intention to govern by means of a "moderate" Administration, a "Queen's Ministery above party," but he had not reckoned on the outcome of the General Election called in October. ”

“ In doing this, it would appear, How some of the Sixteen, more particularly known to be in the Tartarian Interest, and who had all along declared themselves for the Person and Title of the pretending Prince, who, as is noted before, put in a Claim to the Succession of the Throne: How these, I say, went up to the great Council, wheedled by the Subtilties of Greeniccio, and his Agents, to believe seriously that they went up directly to declare his Title; that they should be the Men that should have the Honour to declare his Right in the great Council of the Nobility ”

“ That as these Noble Persons were Zealous for the Liberties of their Country, so truly they were Men that had the greatest Interest in it, having separately considered the best Estates of the whole Nobility, of that Country and joined together, were able to Buy twice their Number in the whole Assembly. It is true, that Estate is not any just Addition to the Character of a Person ”

“ On the contrary, several of those now sent up, were not able to put themselves into a Posture to undertake the Journey, till they had sold the Magazines of Corn which they had laid up for the Year's Subsistance of their Families, or mortgaged their small Estates to borrow Money for the Expence.
Nor is it doubted in the least, but when those poor Noblemen come to find some of their Tartarian Expectations frustrated, with which it is manifest they were very Big when they went up; they will sorely regret the Misfortune of their Election ”

“ Abigail Hill Masham, who soon became an agent of Harley, replaced the Duchess of Marlborough as Anne's confidante.
[iv] When the Ministry fell, it fell like a house of cards. On 14 April 1710 Shrewsbury was made Lord Chamberlain over the unavailing protests of Godolphin. Two months later, at the instigation of Somerset, the Queen replaced Sunderland with the Tory Lord Dartmouth as Secretary of State. Finally, on 8 August, Godolphin was ordered to break the White Staff of his office and Harley was appointed Treasurer. One by one the remaining Junto Ministers were replaced by Tories. ”

“ Race, if they are obliged beyond the Power of Payment, they presently hate, because they scorn to be in Debt. Hence also Benefactors are the most abhorr'd People in the World, they Walk always alone, for every Man keeps at a distance from them. ”

“ You may understand, that the Queen of the Island had thought fit to change Hands in the Administration just before I came there, and tho' it was given out that the change would not be from what we call here a Whig to a Tory Ministry, in effect it past for no other, especially for that the Whigs were generally laid by in every publick Matter, and the Tories, or at least such as had appear'd with them were all taken in. ”

“ In the thinly disguised allegory of Atalantis Major, Atalantis is, of course, Britain. Olreeky, or Old Reeky, or simply Reeky, is still used as an affectionate local term for the city of Edinburgh, prone as it is to be enshrouded in mists and smoke in the early morning. Tartary is France, and the French are referred to as either the Tartarians or the Barbarians. Jacobites are also indicated by the name Tartarians, since the Pretender's cause was actively supported by Louis XIV. Japan is Spain and China stands for Holland. ”

“ Greeniccio had several Ruffles with some of the Nobility, of which it may not be amiss to give some Account, because it may be for the Advantage of our Nobility to know, how Persons of like Quality in that Country can submit to be treated. ”

“ For at a great Battle with the Tartarians, the Commander having resolved to attack the Enemy in their advantageous Camp, and having drawn up in Battalia his whole Army, he gives the Post of Honour to the Prince, appointing him, with a select Body of the best Troops in the Army, to fall on upon the Right, and Charge the Enemy, while other Generals did the like, and with equal Hazard and more real Danger, on the Left. ”

“ If ever they do relent, if ever they acknowledge Services, 'tis always after the Man is dead, that he may not upbraid them with it. An eminent great Man among them, and rich to a Prodigy, had been almost drowned, but was taken up in the Interval by a poor Man ”

“ And all Nations will shew a regard to it, viz. that those may be supposed to be the most proper Persons to be trusted with the Conservation of the Liberties of their Country, who have by their Birth and Inheritance the largest Shares in the Possession of it. ”

“ William Lee was the first to ascribe the work to Defoe, and this ascription has been accepted by both Dottin and Moore.14 The evidence for assigning this work to Defoe seems to rest on the two letters to Harley quoted above. Another proof of Defoe's authorship of Atalantis Major is to be found in the remark it contains, "That the Southern Part of the Island [that is, England] was the most remarkable of any, as to the Policy of their Government, and the Character of the People; and excepting Englishmen and Polanders, there is not such another Nation in the World" (p. 12) . ”

“ The poor Man afterwards had the Dissaster of being drowned himself, and then the rich Man bewail'd that he had not made him a better Return, wherefore, in abundant Gratitude, he settled upon the Widow and her Six Children, a noble Pension of 20 s. ”

“ In short, such men could mean the loss of all that the Revolution and the war with France had won. Yet, in the late autumn of 1710, Defoe found himself in Edinburgh, the agent and propagandist of the man on whose behalf Argyll had engineered the election of men of such politics.
Defoe's mission in Edinburgh that autumn was to allay the fears of the Presbyterian clergy and Whig merchants about the new Tory Ministry. His message to them was, in Professor Sutherland's words, that
What the country needed ... ”

“ He had at this time a very honourable Command in the Armies of Atalantis Major, and [16] being the same thing as we call a Lieutenant General, was employed against the Tartarians.
3. The Earl of Crawlinfordsay a Nobleman of a most ancient Race, being the first of his Degree in the whole Atalantis Major, an honest, bold, gallant Person; he had so much Goodness in his Temper, Courage in his Heart, and Honesty in his Face, that made all Men love him ”