ther's property; and, after much contention with the Philiſtines, was ſuffered to enjoy it in peace[1].
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 neighbourhood of towns, where the neceſſity of a ſole and excluſive property in lands (tor 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 ſeiſe upon and occupy ſuch other lands as would more eaſily ſupply their neceſſities. This practice is ſtill retained among the wild and uncultivated nations that have never been formed into civil ſtates, like the Tartars and others in the eaſt; where the climate itſelf, and the boundleſs extent of their territory, conſpire to retain them ſtill in the ſame ſavage ſtate of vagrant liberty, which was univerſal in the earlieſt ages; and which Tacitus informs us continued among the Germans till the decline of the Roman empire[2]. We have alſo a ſtriking example of the ſame kind in the hiſtory of Abraham and his nephew Lot[3]. 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 endeavoured to compoſe; "let there be no ſtrife, I pray thee, between thee and me. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyſelf, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then will I go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then will I go to the left." This plainly implies an acknowleged right, in either, to occupy whatever ground he pleaſed, that was not pre-occupied by other tribes. "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, 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."
