No, I am afraid Mr. Wright's hypothesis will not do. And yet his plan
of adding twenty-seven years to each important date in Crusoe's
history has revealed so many coincident events in the life of Defoe
that we cannot help feeling he is "hot," as they say in the children's
game; that the wreck upon the island and Crusoe's twenty-eight years
odd of solitude do really correspond with some great event and
important period of Defoe's life. The wreck is dated 30th September,
1659. Add the twenty-seven years, and we come to September 30th, 1686.
Where was Defoe at that date, and what was he doing? Mr. Wright has to
confess that of his movements in 1686 and the two following years "we
know little that is definite." Certainly we know of nothing that can
correspond with Crusoe's shipwreck.


A suggestion.

But wait a moment--The _original_ editions of _Robinson Crusoe_ (and
most, if not all, later editions) give the date of Crusoe's departure
from the island as December 19th, 1686, instead of 1687. Mr. Wright
suggests that this is a misprint; and, to be sure, it does not agree
with the statement respecting the length of Crusoe's stay on the
island, _if we assume the date of the wreck to be correct_. But, (as
Mr. Aitken points out) the mistake must be the author's, not the
printer's, because in the next paragraph we are told that Crusoe
reached England in June, 1687, not 1688. I agree with Mr. Aitken; and
I suggest _that the date of Crusoe's arrival at the island, not the
date of his departure, is the date misprinted_. Assume for a moment
that the date of departure (December 19th, 1686) is correct. Subtract
the twenty-eight years, two months, and nineteen days of Crusoe's stay
on the island, and we get September 30th, 1658, as the date of the