We see, even in the present necessitous Condition of Mankind, that, wherever any Benefit is bestow'd by Nature in an unlimited Abundance, we leave it always in common amongst the whole human Race, and make no Subdivisions of Right and Property. Water and Air, tho' the most necessary of all Objects, are not challeng'd by Individuals; nor can any one commit Injustice by the most lavish Use and Enjoyment of these Blessings. In fertile, extensive Countries, with few Inhabitants, Land is regarded on the same Footing. And no Topic is so much insisted on by those, who defend the Liberty of the Seas, as the unexhausted Use of them in Navigation. Were the Advantages, procur'd by Navigation, as inexhaustible, these Reasoners never had had any Adversaries to refute; nor had any Claims been ever advanc'd of a separate, exclusive Dominion over the Ocean.
It may happen in some Countries, at some Periods, that there be establish'd a Property in Water, none in Land[1]; if the latter be in greater Abundance than can be us'd by the Inhabitants, and the former be found, with Difficulty, and in very small Quantities.
- ↑ Genesis, chap. xiii, and xxi.
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