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 Sixpenny-worth 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.
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