to meddle with them, unless they
first attacked me, and this it was my business, if possible, to prevent;
but that, if I were discovered and attacked, then I knew my duty.

On the other hand, I argued with myself that this really was the way not
to deliver myself, but entirely to ruin and destroy myself; for unless I
was sure to kill every one that not only should be on shore at that
time, but that should ever come on shore afterwards, if but one of them
escaped to tell their country-people what had happened, they would come
over again by thousands to revenge the death of their fellows; and I
should only bring upon myself a certain destruction, which at present I
had no manner of occasion for.

Upon the whole, I concluded, that neither in principles nor in policy, I
ought one way or other to concern myself in this affair: that my
business was, by all possible means to conceal myself from them, and not
to leave the least signal to them to guess by, that there were any
living creatures upon the island, I mean of human shape.

Religion joined in with this prudential, and I was convinced now many
ways that I was perfectly out of my duty, when I was laying all my
bloody schemes for the destruction of innocent creatures, I mean
innocent as to me; as to the crimes they were guilty of towards one
another, I had nothing to do with them; they were national punishments
to make a just retribution for national offences; and to bring public
judgments upon those who offend in a public manner, by such ways as best
please God.

This appeared so clear to me now, that nothing was a greater
satisfaction to me, than that I had not been suffered to do a thing
which I now saw so much reason to believe would have been no less a sin
than that of wilful murder, if I had committed it; and I gave most
humble thanks on my knees to God, that had thus delivered me from
blood-guiltiness; beseeching him to grant me the protection of his
Providence, that I might not fall into the hands of barbarians; or that
I might not lay my hands upon them, unless I had a more clear call from
Heaven to do it, in defence of my own life.

In this disposition I continued for near a year after this: and so far
was I from desiring an occasion for falling upon these wretches, that in
all that time I never once went up the hill to see whether there were
any of them in sight, or to know whether any of them had been on shore
there, or not; that I might not be tempted to