Often had Natura been present when his father received larger sums
than this, and doubtless had the same opportunity as now to make
himself master of some part, or all of it; but never till this unhappy
exigence had the least temptation to do so.--It came into his head
that the accident was perfectly providential, and that he ought not to
neglect the only means by which he could perform his promise;--that
his father could very well spare the sum he wanted, and that it was
only taking before the time what by inheritance must be his own
hereafter.--In this imagination he opened the drawer, and was about to
pursue his intention, when he recollected that the money would
certainly be missed, and either the fault be laid upon some innocent
person, who might suffer for his crime; or he himself would be
suspected of a thing, which, in this second thought, he found so mean
and wicked, that he was shocked almost to death, for having been
capable of even a wish to be guilty of it.--He shut the drawer
again,--turned himself away, and was in the utmost confusion of mind,
when his father returned into the room; which shews that there is a
native honesty in the human nature, which nothing but a long practice
of base actions can wholly eradicate: and I dare believe that even
those we see most hardened in vice, have felt severe struggles within
themselves at first, and have often looked back upon the paths of
virtue, wishing, tho' fruitlesly, to return.

Natura, however, did not give over his pursuit of the means of
performing his promise: on the contrary, he thought himself obliged by
all the ties of love, honour, and even self-interest, to do it; but
difficult as he believed the task would be, he found it much more so
than he could even have imagined: his intimacy being only with such,
as being much of his own age, and like him were at an allowance from
their parents or guardians, it was not in the power of any of them to