level. His opening paragraph states that "The very great Clamour
against some late Performances of Authorship, and the unprecedented
Criticisms introduc'd" make such an essay as he writes "absolutely
necessary." Yet there is no clear indication of just what works
occasion this necessity. The ironic reference to Mr. Dennis at the end
of the first paragraph, taken together with the praise of Mr. Pope's
translation of Homer and the allusion to "the malicious and violent
Criticisms of a certain Gentleman in its Disfavour" [p. 23], might
suggest that Defoe had in mind Dennis' _Remarks upon Mr. Pope's
Translation of Homer_, but even the entire body of writings attacking
Pope's _Homer_ would hardly seem sufficient to give point to this
somewhat omnibus and unfocused essay.

Equally suggestive, perhaps, are Defoe's references to the Bangorian
controversy and to Bishop Hoadley [pp. 10, 23]. This controversy raged
from 1717 to 1720 and produced a spate of pamphlets (to which Defoe
contributed), many of which were marked by heated argument and
acrimony. Defoe, with his liking for moderation, no doubt intended to
make an oblique criticism of the license of many of the Bangorian
tracts. But these tracts are certainly not advanced as the prime
occasion for _A Vindication_.

Defoe points out in the first section of his essay how important is
freedom of the press as the foundation of the "valuable liberties" of
Englishmen. I have been unable to find any reference to a specific
threat of regulation of the press at this time that might have
occasioned _A Vindication_. Nevertheless, it is possible that
sentiment for control of the press, perhaps incited by the Bangorian
controversy, was felt in 1718 and may have been a contributing motive
to the composition of this tract. Whatever the immediate motives for