Daniel Defoe - Atalantis Major

The Other Pamphlet is called Atalantis Major ; and is a Bitter Invective against the D of Argyle, the E of Mar, and the Election of the Peers. It is Certainly Written by Some English man, and I have Some Guess at the Man, but dare not be positive. I have hitherto kept this also from the Press, and believe it will be Impossible for them to get it printed here after the Measures I have Taken. The Party I Got it of pretends the Coppy Came from England, But I am of Another Opinion. I shall Trouble you no farther about it because if possible I can get it Coppyed, I will Transmit the Coppy by Next post, for I have the Originall in My hand. They Expect I shall Encourage and assist them in the Mannageing it, and Till I can Take a Coppy I shall not Undeciev them. 9 9 Letters , p. 307.

There is no evidence to suggest that Harley doubted Defoe's disclaimer or that Defoe sent the copy to Harley.

Since Defoe was back in London on 13 February 1711, Atalantis Major must have been seen through the press sometime between 26 December and the end of January, not, as Moore lists it, "before 26 December 1710." 10 10 John Robert Moore, A Checklist of the Writings of Daniel Defoe (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1960), p. 82. Internal evidence suggests an even narrower range of probable dates of publication. The last four pages of Atalantis Major deal with the Duke of Argyll being given command of the English forces in Spain and the singular lack of grace with which he undertook this command. Since Argyll was not given command of the Peninsula campaign until 11 January 1711, it could not be until after this date that the manuscript could have been finished and printed.

The work bears few signs of being hastily printed. There are only nine typographical errors, 11 11 Page 12, line 5: do is omitted before this ; page 16, line 24: an for on ; page 17, line 6: Grandfathers for Grandfather's ; page 19, the catch-word, the for this ; page 20, line 5: run for ran ; page 22, line 22: of for off ; page 28, the catch-word, they for the ; page 36, the catch-word, Cha- for Courage ; page 37, the catch-word, Lansd for Lands . In addition, there are several places where the printer uses eighteenth-century variant spellings such as ballances (pp. 5, 8), mannaged (p. 2), quallifie (p. 8), Soveraign (p. 41) and steddy (p. 15). Eighteenth-century orthographic practice would have permitted such spellings. The word entitled , however, appears on page five as both entituled and intituled . and four of these are catchwords. There is no evidence to suggest that there was more than one printing of the pamphlet, 12 12 None of the various copies I have examined contains typographical differences – even in the case of the typographical errors. and the use of several Scotticisms 13 13 On page 38, line 25, the word Big is used where Large would have been the English usage; on page 42, line 3, the word Bann'd is used for Swore and defined in the text as an "Atalantic word"; on page 43, line 4, the word evite is used instead of avoid . seems to offer support for the contention that the pamphlet was intended for a primarily Scottish audience.

William Lee was the first to ascribe the work to Defoe, and this ascription has been accepted by both Dottin and Moore. 14 14 William Lee, Daniel Defoe: His Life, and Recently Discovered Writings (London: Hotten, 1869), I, 177; Paul Dottin, Daniel Defoe , trans. Louise Ragan (New York, Macaulay, 1929), p. 155; John Robert Moore, Daniel Defoe, Citizen of the Modern World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958), p. 191; and Moore, A Checklist of the Writings of Daniel Defoe (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1962), p. 82. 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). In 1704 Defoe had written The Dyet of Poland , a poem in which he had made a similar unflattering comparison between England and Poland. A far more substantial case for Defoe's authorship can be made from the existence of the anecdote of John White, Edinburgh's hangman, in both a letter to Harley (18 November 1710) and the Review (for 30 November 1710), as well as in Atalantis Major (pp. 22-3).

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. The characters who appear in Atalantis Major are (in the order that they are mentioned):

The Duke de Sanquarius (p. 14) is James Douglas, second Duke of Queensberry and Duke of Dover (1662-1711);

The Earl of Stairdale (p. 15) is John Dalrymple, second Earl of Stair (1673-1747);

The Earl of Crawlinfordsay (p. 16) is John Lindsay, nineteenth Earl of Crawford (d. 1713);

The Prince of Greeniccio of the ancient Blood of Argyllius (p. 17) is John Campbell, second Duke of Argyll, Baron Chatham and Earl of Greenwich (1678-1742);

The Earl of Marereskine (p. 18) is John Erskine, eleventh Earl of Mar of the Erskine line (1675-1732);

The Prince de Heymuthius (p. 18) is John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough and Baron Churchill of Aymouth (1650-1722);

The Earl of Dolphinus (p. 18) is Sidney Godolphin (1645-1712);

Bellcampo, Lord of the Isles (p. 19) is Archibald Campbell, first and only Earl of Islay (pronounced "Isle-ah") and brother and heir of the second Duke of Argyll (1682-1761);

One of the Ministers (p. 22) is Thomas Miller of Kirkliston;

John – , his Majesty's Hangman (p. 22) is John White;

Bradalbino (p. 24) is John Campbell, first Earl of Breadalbane (1635-1716);

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George Macaulay Trevelyan, England Under Queen Anne (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1948), III, 68.

These are Trevelyan's figures ( op. cit. , 73). W. A. Speck ( Tory and Whig [London: Macmillan, 1970], p. 123) gives the Tories 332 seats and 181 seats to the Whigs in this election.