第74章

When we had done this，we came back to our Castle，and there I fell to work for my Man Friday；and first of all，I gave him a pair of Linnen Drawers，which I had out of the poor Gunners Chest I mention'd，and which I found in the Wreck；and which with a little Alteration fitted him very well；then I made him a Jerkin of Goat's-skin，as well as my Skill would allow；and I was now grown a tollerable good Taylor；and I gave him a Cap，which I had made of a Hare-skin，very convenient，and fashionable enough；and thus he was cloath'd for the present，tollerably well；and was mighty well pleas'd to see himself almost as well cloath'd as his Master：It is true，he went awkardly in these Things at first；wearing the Drawers was very awkard to him，and the Sleeves of the Wastcoat gall'd his Shoulders，and the inside of his Arms；but a little easing them where he com plain'd they hurt him，and using himself to them，at length he took to them very well.

The next Day after I came home to my Hutch with him，I began to consider where I should lodge him，and that I might do well for him，and yet be perfectly easy my self；I made a little Tent for him in the vacant Place between my two Fortifications，in the inside of the last，and in the outside of the first；and as there was a Door，or Entrance there into my Cave，I made a formal fram'd Door Case，and a Door to it of Boards，and set it up in the Passage，a little within the Entrance；and causing the Door to open on the inside，I barr'd 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 compleat Roof over it of long Poles，covering all my Tent，and leaning up to the side of the Hill，which was again laid cross with smaller Sticks instead of Laths，and then thatch'd 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 plac'd a kind of Trap-door，which if it had been attempted on the outside，would not have open'd at all，but would have fallen down，and made a great Noise；and as to Weapons，I took them all to 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 oblig'd and engag'd；his very Affections were ty'd to me，like those of a Child to a Father；and I dare say，he would have sacrific'd 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 convinc'd 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 pleas'd 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 bestow'd 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 to them Occasions of exerting these，they are as ready，nay，more ready to apply them to the right Uses for which they were bestow'd，than we are；and this made me very melancholly sometimes，in reflecting as the several Occasions presented，how mean a Use we make of all these，even though we have these Powers enlighten'd 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 pleas'd God to hide the like saving Knowledge from so many Millions of Souls，who if I might judge by this poor Savage，would make a much better use of it than we did.

From hence，I sometimes was led too far to invade the Soveraignty of Providence，and as it were arraign the Justice of so arbitrary a Disposition of Things，that should hide that Light from some，and reveal it to others，and yet expect a like Duty from both：But I shut it up，and check'd my Thoughts with this Conclusion，（1st.） That we did not know by what Light and Law these should be Condemn'd；but that as God was necessarily，and by the Nature of his Being，infinitely Holy and Just，so it could not be，but that if these Creatures were all sentenc'd to Absence from himself，it was on account of sinning against that Light which，as the Scripture says，was a Law to themselves，and by such Rules as their Consciences would acknowledge to be just，tho' the Foundation was not discover'd to us：And （2d.） that still as we are all the Clay in the Hand of the Potter，no Vessel could say to him，Why hast thou form'd me thus？

But to return to my New Companion；I was greatly delighted with him，and made it my Business to teach him every Thing，that was proper to make him useful，handy，and helpful；but especially to make him speak，and under stand me when I spake，and he was the aptest Schollar that ever was，and particularly was so merry，so constantly diligent，and so pleased，when he cou'd but understand me，or make me understand him，that it was very pleasant to me to talk to him；and now my Life began to be so easy，that I began to say to my self，that could I but have been safe from more Savages，I cared not，if I was never to remove from the place while I lived.