inside, I barred it up in the night, taking in my
ladders too; so that Friday could no way come at me in the inside of my
innermost wall, without making so much noise in getting over that it
must needs waken me; for my first wall had now a complete roof over it
of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning up to the side of the
hill; which was again laid across with smaller sticks, instead of laths,
and then thatched over a great thickness with the rice-straw, which was
strong, like reeds; and at the hole or place which was left to go in or
out by the ladder, I had placed a kind of trap-door, which, if it had
been attempted on the outside, would not have opened at all, but would
have fallen down, and make a great noise: as to weapons, I took them all
into my side every night. But I needed none of all this precaution; for
never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant, than Friday was
to me; without passions, sullenness, or designs, perfectly obliged and
engaged; his very affections were tied to me, like those of a child to a
father; and I dare say, he would have sacrificed his life for the saving
mine, upon any occasion whatsoever: the many testimonies he gave me of
this put it out of doubt, and soon convinced me that I needed to use no
precautions, as to my safety on his account.

This frequently gave me occasion to observe, and that with wonder, that
however it had pleased God, in his providence, and in the government of
the works of his hands, to take from so great a part of the world of his
creatures the best uses to which their faculties and the powers of their
souls are adapted, yet that he has bestowed upon them the same powers,
the same reason, the same affections, the same sentiments of kindness
and obligation, the same passions and resentments of wrongs, the same
sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the capacities of doing
good, and receiving good, that he has given to us; and that when he
pleases to offer them occasions of exerting these, they are as ready,
nay, more ready, to apply them to the right uses for which they were
bestowed, than we are. This made me very melancholy sometimes, in
reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how mean a use we make
of all these, even though we have these powers enlightened by the great
lamp of instruction, the Spirit of God, and by the knowledge of his word
added to our understanding; and why it has pleased God to hide the like
saving knowled