Sec. 38. The same measures governed the possession of
land too: whatsoever he tilled and reaped, laid up and made use
of, before it spoiled, that was his peculiar right; whatsoever he
enclosed, and could feed, and make use of, the cattle and product
was also his. But if either the grass of his enclosure rotted on
the ground, or the fruit of his planting perished without
gathering, and laying up, this part of the earth, notwithstanding
his enclosure, was still to be looked on as waste, and might be
the possession of any other. Thus, at the beginning, Cain
might take as much ground as he could till, and make it his own
land, and yet leave enough to Abel's sheep to feed on; a few
acres would serve for both their possessions. But as families
increased, and industry inlarged their stocks, their possessions
inlarged with the need of them; but yet it was commonly without
any fixed property in the ground they made use of, till they
incorporated, settled themselves together, and built cities; and
then, by consent, they came in time, to set out the bounds of
their distinct territories, and agree on limits between them and
their neighbours; and by laws within themselves, settled the
properties of those of the same society: for we see, that in
that part of the world which was first inhabited, and therefore
like to be best peopled, even as low down as Abraham's time,
they wandered with their flocks, and their herds, which was their
substance, freely up and down; and this Abraham did, in a
country where he was a stranger.
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