Some of the ministers were thrown into jail and others were given heavy fines. Although there is no indication that Defoe's parents, James and Alice Foe, suffered in any extraordinary way, throughout his life Defoe felt the strongest identification with the Dissenters as a religious, social, and political group. If he thought that he suffered a kind of martyrdom at several points in his life, it is also true that he seemed to court such a fate by a daring and defiance peculiar to him. Too often he seems to suggest that he was being punished for what he was rather than for who he was.
Defoe's enemies were fond of reminding him that his real rank--that is, his real worth--was associated with his career as a hosier, or a seller of stockings; but this image of Defoe as a lowly tradesman is belied by what is known of his education and early career. His father was a highly respected member and officeholder of the Butcher's Company. James Foe served an apprenticeship as a butcher, but the likelihood is that his occupation was always that of a tradesman and merchant.
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