." 4(o Chap. r; The coherence atdfcope of this Commandment. Com,B, recourfe to Prefcription and poffeffion. And this jus preferiptionis is no new thing. In the treaty between the Amorites and Jephthab , they claim re(titutionof certain lands which theIfraelites.hadtaken, as they palled fromEgypt to Canaan. Jephthab Judg. i i.1;; anfwereth, That they had enjoyed them 3oo years andasks them , whereforedidins 26. not recover thole lands within that time ? And having this right of prefcription kept them. z. Another maxime, and which bathMore 'thew, is tntereff Rei--public, ut reJim quifque bene ntatur ; it concerns theCommon-wealth to take care , that every one ufe his own well. For if an Owner negleft his poffeflions , unlefs the Common- wealth look after them, much detriment may rife; and therefore it takes order to puni(hfuch for their negligence, by depriving themofall claim.- And thus if one .leave his grounduntilled and unmanuredfo many years, orfuch a prefcript time, he (hall lofe it. And upon thefe reafonsit is , that men have right by prefcription and poffeflion. And in thefe forenamed cafes of right either in communi orproprio, becaufemen are thus lawfully veiled in that theypoffefs, it is a fin to put any out of, poffeflìon in- Deut.19.14. vito domino, without the owners confent. TheLaw faith, Thou(halt not remove thy neighbours land-mark, which theyof old time havefet in thine inheritance. And un- Pl,ilem.14. der the Gofpel St. Paul tells Philemon, that without his mind be woulddo nothing to hisprejudice. Now that it wasGods will, that theearth (hould bethus divided, appears plainly Dtnt.32,8: in Mofes his fong,where he faith,7be mot High dividedto.the nations their inheritance, when hefeparated thefins of Adam, and ft bounds to the people : and after the flood, Gen.r1.e. it is Paid, That Godflattered thepeopleover theface of the earth , andSt. Paul faith, Alts 17,26. That Goddetermined the bounds of the habitations of mankind. And that private propriety, isagreeabie to his will, may appearboth out of the The lawfalnefi Old andNewTeflament. of PYopriety. We feethat Abel (the fon of the firf} proprietary) offered Sacrificeof thefirjilings Gen.4.4 13.2, of his ownflock Of Abraham theScripturereporteth, that he was rich in flocks. and 2435. cartel, ftiverandgold. His fervant reported the like of him to Laban ; The Lord bath blfedmyMaffer greatly,andbe is become very great : and be batbgiven himflocks andherds, andfilver andgold,&. which he poffeflingproprietatir jure, by the right of propriety, left to his fon Ifaac, and he to Jacob. So that the Patriarchsbefore the Law, had goods of their own. Jofh.13.7. Again we find, that when God had brought the people into the land of promife , 14 2. 3ofhitadivided it by his appointment, to theTribes : fome lay lot, and fome by eon- 17. t7. lent. As alto viritim to particular men, as(to Caleb ; and the people invefted Mots ¡ÿl5;; hitnfelt There are many paffages to confirm this in the Proverbs of Solomon and the Prov.5.,6. Prophets .asPrink waters of thine omit C ern, and running waters out of thine own Èzek.46.16. well. And in Ezekiel, ThePrince himfelf was not to thrift thepeople out of theirin- heritance. Now thefe places and the like, though they (hew the lawfulnefs'of propriety, yet the Anabapti(fs arenot fatisfied in that,becaufe they are not out of the New Tefta- ment, and fonot binding to us Chriftians. But in that alto we may find teftimonies John 19 27. fulficient toconfirm this point. St.Jobn had a houfe of his own, from that (faith Ads 12, (z. the Text) that Difciple tookher to hisown home. Sohad Mary the Motherof John. It is true that we readin the Adbs of the Apoftles ( the place chiefly urged by 2.44. them) ?bat all that believed were together,, and had all things common : but in the 4.32. fame book St.Luke tells uswhat kind of Communion this was. Neither Paid any of them that ought of the thingswhich he pof effed was his own. By which we may col- left that the Chrifliansof the Primitive Church poffeffed houles, lands, and goods 5 4 of their own,yet fo that in the ufe they were common to others,and though the pro- priety refted fill in the poffeffors; yet when there was a necefty they fold them; to fupply the povertyof them that wanted, left they might return to Judaifine. And if they fold them,certainly they were their own.St.Peterclears this fully in his fpeech to Ananias, While it remained, was it not thine own. And as they had propriety in lands and poffeillions, fo in goods too,whichwe may wàtr, 25.35. thus prove. Our Saviour promifed a kingdom to filch as fed the hungry, gave drink to thethiritp, harboúred the ftranget, cloathed the naked, and vifited the tick , and them
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=