Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

tion

Prong-hoe this dull and blunt instrument is by no means calculated 0 for the purposes it is to serve. The prong-hoe consists of Pronuncia- two hooked points of five or seven inches long, and when struck into the ground will stir and remove it the same depth as the plough does, and thus answer both the ends of cutting up the weeds and opening the land. It is use ful even in the horse-hoeing husbandry, because the hoeplough can only come within three or four inches of the rows of the corn, turnips and the like; whereas this instrument may be used afterwards, and with it the land may be raised and stirred even to the very stalk of the plant. See AGRICULTURE.

PRONOUN, PRONOMEN, in Grammar, a declinable part of speech, which being put instead of a noun, points out some person or thing. See GRAMMAR. PRONUNCIATION, in Grammar, the manner of articulating or sounding the words of a language. Pronunciation makes the most difficult part of written grammar; in regard that a book expressing itself to the eyes, in a manner that wholly concerns the ears, seems next akin to that of teaching the blind to distinguish colours: hence it is that there is no part so defective in grammar as that of pronunciation, as the writer has frequently no term whereby to give the reader an idea of the sound he would express; for want of a proper term, therefore, he substitutes a vicious and precarious one. To give a just idea of the pronunciation of a language, it seems necessary to fix as nearly as possible all the several sounds employed in the pronunciation of that language. Cicero tells us, that the pronunciation underwent several changes among the Romans: and indeed it is more precarious in the living languages, being, as Du Bos tells us, subservient to fashion in these. The French language is clogged with a difficulty in pronunciation from which most others are free; and it consists in this, that most of their words have two different pronunciations, the one in common prose, the other in verse.

As to the pronunciation of the English language, the ingenious Mr Martin, in his Spelling-Book of Arts and Sciences, lays down the following rules: 1. The final (e) lengthens the sound of the foregoing vowel; as in can, cane; reb, robe; tun, tune, &c. 2. The final (e), in words ending in re, is sounded before the r like u; as massacre, massa-cur; lucre, lu-cur, &c. 3. The Latin diphthongs , œ, are sounded like e; as Ætna, Etna; œconomy, economy, &c.: but at the end of the words oe sounds like o; as in toe, foe, &c. 4. Also the English improper diphthongs, ea, eo, eu, ue, sound only the e and u; as tea or te; fcoffee, or feffee; due or du; true or tru, &c. though sometimes co and ea are pronounced like ee, as in people, fear, near, &c. 5. Sometimes the diphthong (ie) is pronounced like e in ceiling, like ee in field, and, at the end of words, always like y, as in lie, &c.; and ei is pronounced either like e or ai, as in deceit, reign, &c. 6. The triphthong eau is pronounced like o, in beau and jet d'eau; and ieu sounds like u in lieu, adieu, &c. The sound of c is hard before the vowels a, o, u, as in call, cold, cup, &c.; also sometimes before h, as in chart, chord, &c.; and before land r, as in clear, creep, &c. It is otherwise generally soft, as in city, cell, cyder, child, &c. 8. In French words ch is sounded like sh, as in chugreen, machine; and sometimes like qu, as in choir. 9. The sound of g is hard before a, o, u, l, r, as in gall, go, gum, glean, grope; also before ui, as in guilt, guild, &c.; and before h, as in ghost; sometimes before i, as in gibbous,

tion,

gibberish. It is also generally hard before e, as in get, Promencageld, &c.; but soft in many words derived from the Greek and Latin, as in geometry, genealogy, genus, &c.__Proef Two gg are always hard, as in dagger, &c. The sound of g, when soft, is like that of j. 10. In any part of a word, ph sounds like f, as in philosophy, &c. 11. The sound of qu, at the end of French words, is like k, as in risque, &c. 12. The syllables ti and ci, if followed by a vowel, sound like si or shi; as in fiction, logician, &c. 13. When cc occurs before i, the first is hard and the latter is soft; as in flaccid, &c. 14. The letter p is not pronounced at the beginning of syllables before s and t; as in psalm, ptarmics, &c. As to other peculiarities regarding the pronunciation of single letters, many of them have been taken notice of at the beginning of each, in the course of this work.

But it is not enough to know the just pronunciation of single letters, but also of words: in order to which, the accenting of words ought to be well understood; since nothing is more harsh and disagreeable to the ear, than to hear a person speak or read with wrong accents. And indeed in English the same word is often both a noun and a verb, distinguished only by the accent, which is on the first syllable of the noun, and on the last of the verb, as fèrment and fermènt; rècord and recòrd, &c. We are to observe also, that in order to a just expression of words, some require only a single accent on the syllable, as in tòrment, &c.; but in others it should be marked double, as in animal, because it is pronounced as if the letter was wrote double, viz. annimal.

Mr Sheridan's Dictionary will be found extremely useful as a directory in acquiring the pronunciation of the English language; but care must be taken to avoid his provincial brogue, which has certainly misled him in several instances. Mr Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary, lately published, will likewise deserve the student's attention. It is a work of great labour and merit, and is highly useful. It has indeed some faults and inaccuracies, but it is notwithstanding, in all probability, the best of the kind.

PRONUNCIATION is also used for the fifth and last part of rhetoric, which consists in varying and regulating the voice agreeably to the matter and words, so as most effectually to persuade and touch the bearers. See ORATORY, Part IV.

PROOF, in Law and Logic, is that degree of evidence which carries conviction to the mind. It differs from demonstration, which is applicable only to those truths of which the contrary is inconceivable. It differs likewise from probability, which produces for the most part nothing more than opinion, while proof produces belief. See PROBABILITY.

The proof of crimes was anciently effected among our ancestors divers ways; viz. by duel or combat, fire, water, &c. See DUEL and ORDEAL.

PROOF of Artillery and Small Arms, is a trial whether they stand the quantity of powder allotted for that purpose. The rule of the board of ordnance is, that all guns, under 24-pounders, be loaded with powder as much as their shot weighs; that is, a brass 24 pounder with 21 lb. a brass 32-pounder with 26 lb. 12 oz. and a 42-pounder with 31 lb. 8 oz.; the iron 24-pounder with 18 lb. the 32-pounder with 21 lb. 8 oz. and the 42-pounder with 25 lb.

The

Proof.

resting on wooden billets, at an elevation of about 70 degrees.

The brass light field-pieces are proved with powder that weighs half as much as their shot, except the 24pounder which is loaded with 10 lb. only.

Government allows 11 bullets of lead in the pound for the proof of muskets and 14,5, or 29 in two pounds, for service; 17 in the pound for the proof of carabines, and 20 for service; 28 in the pound for the proof of pistols, and 34 for service.

When guns of a new metal, or of lighter construction, are proved; then, besides the common proof, they are fired 200 or 300 times, as quick as they can be, loaded with the common charge given in actual service. Our light 6-pounders were fired 300 times in 3 hours 27 minutes, loaded with 1 lb. 4 oz. without receiving any damage.

PROOF of Powder, is in order to try its goodness and strength. See GUNPOWDER.

PROOF of Cannon, is made to ascertain their being well cast, their having no cavities in their metal, and, in a word, their being fit to resist the effort of their charge of powder. In making this proof, the piece is laid upon the ground, supported only by a piece of wood in the middle, of about 5 or 6 inches thick, to raise the muzzle a little; and then the piece is fired against a solid butt of earth.

Tools used in the PROOF of Cannon, are as follows: Searcher, an iron socket with branches, from 4 to 8 in number, bending outwards a little, with small points at their ends to this socket is fixed a wooden handle, from 8 to 12 feet long, and 1 inch in diameter. This searcher is introduced into the gun after each firing, and turned gently round to discover the cavities within: if any are found, they are marked on the outside with chalk; and then the

Searcher with one point is introduced about which point a mixture of wax and tallow is put, to take the impression of the holes; and if any are found of onefourth of an inch deep, or of any considerable length, the gun is rejected as unserviceable to the government.

Reliever, is an iron ring fixed to a handle, by means of a socket, so as to be at right angles; it serves to disengage the first searcher, when any of its points are retained in a hole, and cannot otherwise be got out. When guns are rejected by the proof-masters, they order them to be marked X thus, which the contractors generally alter WP thus; and after such alteration, dispose of them to foreign powers for Woolwich proof.

The most curious instrument for finding the principal defects in pieces of artillery, was lately invented by Lieutenant-general Desaguliers, of the royal regiment of artillery. This instrument, grounded on the truest mechanical principles, is no sooner introduced into the hollow cylinder of the gun, than it discovers its defects, and more particularly that of the piece not being truly bored; which is a very important one, and to which most of the disasters happening to pieces of artillery are in a great measure to be imputed; for, when a gun is not truly bored, the most expert artillerist will not be able to make a good shot.

PROOF of Mortars and Howitzers, is made to ascertain their being well cast, and of strength to resist the effort of their charge. For this purpose the mortar or howitzer is placed upon the ground, with some part of their trunnions or breech sunk below the surface, and

The mirror is generally the only instrument to discover the defects in mortars and howitzers. In order to use it, the sun must shine; the breech must be placed towards the sun, and the glass over-against the mouth of the piece: it illuminates the bore and chamber sufficiently to discover the flaws in it.

PROOF of Foreign Brass-Artillery. 1st, The Prussians. Their battering-train and garrison artillery are proved with a quantity of powder equal to the weight of the shot, and fired 75 rounds as fast as in real service; that is, 2 or 3 rounds in a minute. Their light field-train, from a 12-pounder upwards, are proved with a quantity of powder = 1-3d of the weight of the shot, and fired 150 rounds, at 3 or 4 rounds in a minute. From a 12-pounder downwards, are proved with a quantity of powder 1-5th of the shot's weight, and fired 300 rounds, at 5 or 6 rounds each minute, properly spunged and loaded. Their mortars are proved with the chambers full of powder, and the shells loaded. Three rounds are fired as quick as possible.

2d, The Dutch prove all their artillery by firing each piece 5 times; the two first rounds with a quantity of powder 2-3ds of the weight of the shot; and the three last rounds with a quantity of powder = } the weight of the shot.

=

3d, The French the same as the Dutch.

Propaga

tion.

garth

PROOF, in brandy and other spirituous liquors, is a little white lather which appears on the top of the liquor when poured into a glass. This lather, as it diminishes, forms itself into a circle called by the French the chapelet, and by the English the bead or bubble. PROOFS of Prints, were anciently a few impressions Nichols's taken off in the course of an engraver's process. He Life of Ho proved a plate in different states, that he might ascertain how far his labours had been successful, and when they were complete. The excellence of such early impressions, worked with care, and under the artist's eye, occasioning them to be greedily sought after, and liberally paid for, it has been customary among our modern printsellers to take off a number of them, amounting perhaps, to hundreds, from every plate of considerable value; and yet their want of rareness has by no means abated their price. On retouching a plate, it has been also usual, among the same conscientious fraternity, to cover the inscription, which was immediately added after the first proofs were obtained, with slips of paper, that a number of secondary proofs might also be created.

PROOF, in the sugar trade. See SUGAR.
PROOFS, in printing. See PRINTING.
PROPAGATION, the act of multiplying the kind.
See GENERATION.

PROPAGATION of Plants. The most natural and the most universal way of propagating plants is by seeds. See PLANTS. But they may also be propagated by sets, pieces, or cuttings, taken from the parent plant. Willows are very easily propagated by sets: such as rise to be considerable timber trees being raised from sets seven or eight feet long, sharpened at their larger ends, which are thrust into the ground by the sides of ditches, on the banks of rivers, or in any moist soil. The sallow trees are raised from sets only three feet long. The plane tree, mint, &c. may be propagated in the same way. In pro3 K 2

viding

tion

Property.

PROPERTY, in Law, is described to be the highest Property right which a person has or can have to any thing.

Fropaga viding the slips, sprigs, or cuttings, however, care must be taken to cut off such branches as have knots or joints two or three inches beneath them: small top sprigs of two or three years growth are the best for this operation. Plants are also propagated by parting their roots, each part of which, properly managed, sends out fresh roots. Another mode of propagating plants is by layering or laying the tops of the branches in the ground.

The method of layering is this: Dig a ring-trench round the stool, of a depth suitable to the nature of the plant; and having pitched upon the shoots to be layered, bend them to the bottom of the trench (either with or without plashing, as may be found most convenient), and there peg them fast; or, putting some mould upon them, tread them hard enough to prevent their springing up again-fill in the mould-place the top of the layer in an upright posture, treading the mould hard behind it; and cut it carefully off above the first, second or third eye. Plants are also propagated by their bulbs.

The number of vegetables that may be propagated from an individual is very remarkable, especially in the most minute plants. The annual product of one seed even of the common mallow has been found to be no less than 200,000; but it has been proved, by a strict examination into the more minute parts of the vegetable world, that the common wall moss produces a much more numerous offspring. In one of the little heads of this plant there have been counted 13,824 seeds. Now allotting to a root of this plant eight branches, and to each branch six heads, which appears to be a very moderate computation, the produce of one seed is 6X13824 82944; and 8 x 82944 gives 663,552 seeds as the annual produce of one seed, and that so small that 13824 of them are contained in a capsule, whose length is but one-ninth of an inch, its diameter but one 23d of an inch, and its weight but the 13th part of a grain.

For the propagation or culture of particular plants, see AGRICULTURE.

PROPER, something natural and essentially belonging to any thing.

PROPERTIUS, SEXTUS AURELIUS, a celebrated Latin poet, born at Mevania, a city of Umbria, now called Bevagna, in the duchy of Spoletto. He went to Rome after the death of his father, a Roman knight, who had been put to death by order of Augustus, for having followed Antony's party during the triumvirate. Propertius in a short time acquired great reputation by his wit and abilities, and had a considerable share in the esteem of Mæcenas and Cornelius Gallus. He had also Ovid, Tiballus, Bassus, and the other ingenious men of his time for his friends. He died at Rome 19 B. C. He is printed with almost all the editions of Tibullus and Catullus: but the best edition of him is that which was given separately by Janus Brouckhusius at Amsterdam, 1702, in 4to, and again in 1714, 4to, cum curis secundis ejusdem. We have four books of his Elegies or Amours with a lady called Hostia, or Hostilia, to whom he gave the name of Cynthia.

PROPERTY, in a general sense, is a particular virtue or quality which nature has bestowed on some things exclusive of all others: thus, colour is a property of light; extension, figure, divisibility, and impenetrability, are properties of body.

Definition

2

property

There is nothing which so generally strikes the imagination, and engages the affections of mankind, as the right of property; or that sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over certain external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual in the universe. And yet there are very The origi few that will give themselves the trouble to consider nal founda the original and foundation of this right. Pleased as tion of the we are with the possession, we seem afraid to look back right to to the means by which it was acquired, as if fearful of not gene some defect in our title; or at best we rest satisfied with rally con the decision of the laws in our favour, without examin- sidered, ing the reason or authority upon which those laws have been built. We think it enough that our title is derived by the grant of the former proprietor, by descent from our ancestors, or by the last will and testament of the dying owner: not caring to reflect, that (accurately and strictly speaking) there is no foundation in nature or in natural law, why a set of words upon parchment should convey the dominion of land; why the son should have a right to exclude his fellow creatures from a determinate spot of ground, because his father had done so before him; or why the occupier of a particular field or of a jewel, when lying on his death-bed and no longer able to maintain possession, should be entitled to tell the rest of the world which of them should enjoy it after him. These inquiries, it must be owned, would be useless and even troublesome in common life. It is well if the mass of mankind will obey the laws when made, without scrutinizing too nicely into the reasons of making them. But when law is to be considered not only as a matter of practice, but also as a rational science, it cannot be improper or useless to examine more deeply the rudiments and grounds of these positive constitutions of society.

66

3

arises from

a divine

grant

In the beginning of the world, we are informed by This right holy writ, that the all-bountiful Creator gave to man "dominion over all the earth; and over the fish of the "sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every li ving thing that moveth upon the earth." This is the only true and solid foundation of man's dominion over external things, whatever airy metaphysical notions may have been started by fanciful writers upon this subject. The earth, therefore, and all things therein, are the general property of all mankind, exclusive of other beings, from the immediate gift of the Creator. And, while the earth continued thinly inhabited, it is reasonable to suppose, that all was in common among them, and that every one took from the public stock to his own use such things as his immediate necessities required.

These general notions of property were then sufficient The stat of property to answer all the purposes of human life; and might per- in the early haps still have answered them, had it been possible for ages of the mankind to have remained in a state of primæval sim-world. plicity as may be collected from the manners of many American nations, when first discovered by the Europeans; and from the ancient method of living among first Europeans themselves, if we may credit either the memorials of them preserved in the golden age of the poets, or the uniform accounts given by historians of those times wherein erant omnia communia et indivisa omnibus, veluti unum cunctis patrimonium esset. Not that this communion of goods seems ever to have been applicable,

the

Blackst

Comment,

Property, even in the earliest ages, to aught but the substance of the thing; nor could it be extended to the use of it. For, by the law of nature and reason, he who first began to use it, acquired therein a kind of transient property, that lasted so long as he was using it, and no longer: or, to speak with greater precision, the right of possession continued for the same time only that the act of possession lasted. Thus the ground was in common, and no part of it was the permanent property of any man in particular; yet whoever was in the occupation of any determinate spot of it, for rest, for shade, or the like, acquired for the time a sort of ownership, from which it would have been unjust, and contrary to the law of nature, to have driven him by force; but the instant that he quitted the use or occupation of it, another might seize it without injustice. Thus also a vine or other tree might be said to be in common, as all were equally entitled to its produce; and yet any private individual might gain the sole property of the fruit, which he had gathered for his own repast. A doctrine well illustrated by Cicero, who compares the world to a great theatre, which is common to the public, and yet the place which any man has taken is for the time his own.

Rise of per

manent

property in various things.

But when mankind increased in number, craft, and ambition, it became necessary to entertain conceptions of more permanent dominion; and to appropriate to individuals, not the immediate use only, but the very substance of the thing to be used: otherwise innumerable tumults must have arisen, and the good order of the world been continually broken and disturbed, while a variety of persons were striving who should get the first occupation of the same thing, or disputing which of them had actually gained it. As human life also grew more and more refined, abundance of conveniencies were devised to render it more easy, commodious, and agreeable; as habitations for shelter and safety, and raiment for warmth and decency. But no man would be at the trouble to provide either, so long as he had only an usufructuary property in them, which was to cease the instant that he quitted possession;-if, as soon as he walked out of his tent, or pulled off his garment, the next stranger who came by would have a right to inhabit the one and to wear the other. In case of habitations in particular, it was natural to observe, that even the brute creation, to whom every thing else was in common, maintained a permanent property in their dwellings, especially for the protection of their young; that the birds of the air had nests, and the beasts of the field bad caverns, the invasion of which they esteemed a very flagrant injustice, and would sacrifice their lives to preserve them. Hence a property was soon established in every man's house and home-stall; which seem to have been originally mere temporary huts or moveable cabins, suited to the design of Providence for more speedily peopling the earth, and suited to the wandering life of their owners, before any extensive property in the soil or ground was established. And there can be no doubt, but that moveables of every kind became sooner appropriated than the permanent substantial soil: partly because they were more susceptible of a long occupancy, which might be continued for months together without any sensible interruption, and at length by usage ripen into an established right; but principally because few of them could be fit for use, till improved and meliora › ted by the bodily labour of the occupant; which bodily labour, bestowed upon any subject which before lay in

[blocks in formation]

other neces

sary arti.

cles.

The article of food was a more immediate call, and in food and therefore a more early consideration. Such as were not contented with the spontaneous product of the earth sought for a more solid refreshment in the flesh of beasts, which they obtained by hunting. But the frequent disappointments incident to that method of provision induced them to gather together such animals as were of a more tame and sequacious nature; and to establish a permanent property in their flocks and herds, in order to sustain themselves in a less precarious manner, partly by the milk of their dams, and partly by the flesh of the young. The support of these their cattle made the article of water also a very important point. And there- Nature of fore the book of Genesis (the most venerable monument, patriarchal of antiquity, considered merely with a view to history) will furnish us with frequent instances of violent contentions concerning wells; the exclusive property of which appears to have been established in the first digger or occupant, even in such places where the ground and herbage remained yet in common. Thus we find Abraham, who was but a sojourner, asserting his right to a well in the country of Abimelech, and exacting an oath for his security, "because he had digged that well." And Isaac, about 90 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 neighbourhood of towns, where the necessity of a sole 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. 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. We have also a striking example of the same kind in the history of Abraham and his nephew Lot. When their joint substance became so great, that pasture and other conveniencies 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 endeavoured to compose: "Let there be no strife, 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 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 pre-occupied 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 Abra-ham dwelt in the land of Canaan."

Upon

property..

it.

Properly.

[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors]

preserved

Property, both in lands and moveables, being thus By what originally acquired by the first taker, which taking means it amounts to a declaration, that he intends to appropriate or it the thing to his own use, it remains in him, by the priaciple of universal law, till such time as he does some other act which shows an intention to abandon it; for then it becomes naturally speaking, publici juris once more, and is liable to be again appropriated by the next occupant. So if one is possessed of a jewel, and casts it into the sea or a public highway, this is such an express dereliction, that a property will be vested in the first fortunate finder that shall seize it to his own use. But if he hides it privately in the earth, or other secret place, and it is discovered, the finder acquires no property therein; for the owner had not by this act declared any intention to abandon it, but rather the contrary: and if he loses or drops it by accident, it cannot be collected from thence that he designed to quit the possession; and therefore in such cases the property still remains in the loser, who may claim it again of the finder. And this, we may remember, is the doctrine of the English law with relation to TREASURE-Trove.

Upon the same principle was founded the right of migration, or sending colonies to find out new habitations, when the mother-country was overcharged with inhabitants; which was practised as well by the Phonicians and Greeks, as the Germans, Scythians, and other northern people. And, so long as it was confined to the stocking and cultivation of desert uninhabited countries, it kept strictly within the limits of the law of nature. Necessity But as the world by degrees grew more populous, it of property and of laws daily became more difficult to find out new spots to inrespecting habit, without encroaching on former occupants; and by constantly occupying the same individual spot, the fruits of the earth were consumed, and its spontaneous produce destroyed, without any provision for a 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 produce her fruits in sufficient quantities without the assistance of tillage; but who would be at the pains of tilling it, if another might watch an opportunity to seize upon and enjoy the product of his industry, art, and labour? Had not therefore a separate property in lands, as well as moveables, been vested in some individuals, the world must have continued a forest, and men have been mere animals of prey; which, according to some philosophers, is the genuine state of nature. Whereas now (so graciously has Providence interwoven our duty and our happiness together) the result of this very necessity has been the ennobling of the human species, by giving it opportunities of improving in rational faculties, as well as of exerting its natural. Necessity begat property and in order to insure that property, recourse was had to civil society, which brought along with it a long train of inseparable concomitants; states, government, laws, punishments, and the public exercise of religious duties. Thus connected together, it was found that a part only of society was sufficient to provide, by their manual labour, for the necessary subsistence of all; and leisure was given to others to cultivate the human mind, to invent useful arts, and lay the foundation of science.

Property acquired first by oc

cupancy.

The only question remaining is, How this property became actually vested; or what it is that gave a man an exclusive right to retain in a permanent manner that specific land which before belonged generally to every body, but particularly to nobody? And as we before observed, that occupancy gave the right to the temporary use of the soil; so it is agreed upon all hands, that occupancy gave also the original right to the permanent property in the substance of the earth itself, which excludes every one else but the owner from the use of it. There is indeed some difference among the writers on natural law, concerning the reason why occupancy'should convey this right, and invest one with this absolute property: Grotius and Puffendorf insisting, that this right of occupancy is founded upon a tacit and implied assent of all mankind, that the first occupant should become the owner; and Barbeyrac, Titius, Mr Locke, and others, holding that there is no such implied assent, neither is it necessary that there should be; for that the very act of occupancy, alone, being a degree of bodily

I

But this method of one man's abandoning his property, and another seizing the vacant possession, however well-founded in theory, could not long subsist in fact. It was calculated merely for the rudiments of civil society, and necessarily ceased among the complicated interests and artificial refinements of polite and established governments. In these it was found, that what became inconvenient or useless to one man, was highly convenient and useful to another; who was ready to give in exchange for it some equivalent that was equally desirable to the former proprietor. This mutual convenience introduced commercial traffic, and the reciprocal transfer of property by sale, grant, or conveyance which may be considered either as a continuance of the original possession which the first occupant had; or as an abandoning of the thing by the present owner, and an immediate successive occupancy of the same by the new proprietor. The voluntary dereliction of the owner, and delivering the possession to another individual, amount to a transfer of the property; the proprietor declaring his intention no longer to occupy the thing himself, but that his own right of occupancy shall be vested in the new acquirer. Or, taken in the other light, if I agree to part with an acre of my land to Titius, the deed of conveyance is an evidence of my intending to abandon the property; and Titius, being the only or first man acquainted with such my intention, immediately steps in and seizes the vacant possession: thus the consent expressed by the conveyance gives Titius a good right against me; and possession or occupancy confirms that right against all the world besides.

[ocr errors]

How it

goes on the

The most universal and effectual way of abandoning property is by the death of the occupant: when, both death of the actual possession and intention of keeping posses the occu sion pant,

[ocr errors]
« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »