And yet his protestations of independence and spontaneity of action, with all their ring of truth and all their solemnity of asseveration, were merely diplomatic blinds.

He was all the time, as he afterwards admitted, when the admission could do no harm except to his own passing veracity, acting as the agent of Harley, and in enjoyment of an "appointment" from the Queen.

What exactly the nature of his secret services in Scotland and elsewhere were, he very properly refused to reveal.

His business probably was to ascertain and report the opinions of influential persons, and keep the Government informed as far as he could of the general state of feeling.

At any rate it was not as he alleged, mere curiosity, or the fear of his creditors, or private enterprise, or pure and simple patriotic zeal that took Defoe to Scotland.