hat well." And Isaac, about
ninety years afterwards, reclaimed this his father's property; and, after
much contention with the Philistines, was suffered to enjoy it in peace.

All this while, the soil and pasture of the earth remained still in common
as before, and open to every occupant; except, perhaps, in the
neighborhood of towns, where the necessity of a sale and exclusive
property in lands, (for the sake of agriculture,) was earlier felt, and
therefore more readily complied with. Otherwise, when the multitude of men
and cattle had consumed every convenience on one spot of ground, it was
deemed a natural right to seize upon and occupy such other lands as would
more easily supply their necessities.

We have a striking example of this in the history of Abraham and his
nephew Lot. When their joint substance became so great that pasture and
other conveniences grew scarce, the natural consequence was that a strife
arose between their servants; so that it was no longer practicable to
dwell together. This contention, Abraham thus endeavored to compose: "Let
there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee. Is not the whole
land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt
take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the
right hand, then I will go to the left." This plainly implies an
acknowledged right in either to occupy whatever ground he pleased that was
not preoccupied by other tribes. "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld
all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, even as the
garden of the Lord. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and
journeyed east; and Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan."

As the world by degrees grew more populous, it daily became more difficult
to find out new spots to inhabit, without encroaching upon former
occupants; and, by constantly occupying the same individual spot, the
fruits of the earth were consumed, and its spontaneous products destroyed
without any provision for future supply or succession. It, therefore,
became necessary to pursue some regular method of providing a constant
subsistence; and this necessity produced, or at least promoted and
encouraged the art of agriculture. And the art of agriculture, by a
regular connection and consequence, introduced and established the idea of
a more permanent property in the soil than had hitherto been received and
adopted.

It was clear that the earth would not