Defoe in the Pillory (1862)

Defoe in the Pillory (1862) by Eyre Crowe hangs at Salford Art Gallery. It shows a rather resigned-looking Defoe (the author of Robinson Cruso) being punished for seditious libel in 1703. He had written an anonymous pamphlet pretending to be from a patriotic Anglican demanding the death penalty for dissenters like himself, thus parodying the voices of the intolerant Anglican establishment who had risen to prominence under Queen Anne. When his printer released his name and revealed the irony of his work, those Anglican grandees who voiced their support for his proposal looked rather foolish, and got their revenge through the courts.

Thankfully, Defoe survived the ordeal and even garnered support from the London mob who refrained from throwing turnips and stones at him, or nailing his ears to the wood. Perhaps the time will come again when those who dissent from establishment values will stand in the pillory, be that literal or metaphorical.

"Today we love what tomorrow we hate; today we seek what tomorrow we shun; today we desire what tomorrow we fear, nay, even tremble at the apprehensions of." -Daniel Defoe

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." St Paul (1 Corinthians 16:13)