 no more use of them than for Fewel; and that I
had no Occasion for, but to dress my Food.
    In a Word, The Nature and Experience of Things dictated to me upon just
Reflection, That all the good Things of this World, are no farther good to us,
than they are for our Use; and that whatever we may heap up indeed to give
others, we enjoy just as much as we can use, and no more. The most covetous
griping Miser in the World would have been cur'd of the Vice of Covetousness, if
he had been in my Case; for I possess'd infinitely more than I knew what to do
with. I had no room for Desire, except it was of Things which I had not, and
they were but Trifles, though indeed of great Use to me. I had, as I hinted
before, a Parcel of Money, as well Gold as Silver, about thirty six Pounds
Sterling: Alas! There the nasty sorry useless Stuff lay; I had no manner of
Business for it; and I often thought with my self, That I would have given a
Handful of it for a Gross of Tobacco-Pipes, or for a Hand-Mill to grind my Corn;
nay, I would have given it all for Sixpennyworth of Turnip and Carrot Seed out
of England, or for a Handful of Pease and Beans, and a Bottle of Ink: As it was,
I had not the least Advantage by it, or Benefit from it; but there it lay in a
Drawer, and grew mouldy with the Damp of the Cave, in the wet Season; and if I
had had the Drawer full of Diamonds, it had been the same Case; and they had
been of no manner of Value to me, because of no Use.
    I had now brought my State of Life to be much easier in itself than it was
at first, and much easier to my Mind, as well as to my Body. I frequently sat
down to my Meat with Thankfulness, and admir'd the Hand of God's Providence,
which had thus spread my Table in the Wilderness. I learn'd to look more upon
the bright Side of my Condition, and less upon the dark Side; and to consider
what I enjoy'd, rather than what I wanted; and this gave me sometimes such
secret Comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I take Notice of here, to
put those discontented People in Mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what
God has given them; because
