It would seem that though the Government had committed Defoe to Newgate, they did not dare, even before the manifestation of popular feeling in his favour, to treat him as a common prisoner.

He not only had liberty to write, but he found means to convey his manuscripts to the printer.

Of these privileges he had availed himself with that indomitable energy and fertility of resource which we find reason to admire at every stage in his career, and most of all now that he was in straits.

In the short interval between his arrest and his conviction he carried on a vigorous warfare with both hands,--with one hand seeking to propitiate the Government, with the other attracting support outside among the people.

He proved to the Government incontestably, by a collection of his writings, that he was a man of moderate views, who had no aversion in principle even to the proposals of the _New Association_.