Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1857-04-28

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arated themselves the soue from the .otheEs And
Abraham dwelled in tIis iaad of Canaan, aud lot
dwelled in the cities Tue plain, sad pitched bis
len tent towards SodsTi y sss 3e9Ef fsieseTR
Such is tBe history 81 Tie strasi issmsH6 Setwssa
these pattiafchs, % rEtii6H ana hh6ccn.
pied land Abram as the elder, aud therefore, lflle
man who ought 70 be most moderate and coneiiiie
tory, offered Lot his choice Bhtbe aid 50 because
the land belonged as ystss 70 9Eefttet dRd a4eir
rights were equal and, Occupancy, aldde saeas-
ter sovereignty decide it, ssd give eiiEsfa
righttoitl - s'Aas tais sea.k
Pursuing tho history 5t aB4aas fiGF teFz5rs stati-
er of Abraham for he was, now, 30 SFlIedea@e
have another insfance (efea in a settled c6dhtfs,
but where there were public laats1 OF the Iespeet
paid to oc6npaness d sofateignts.ss
Abraham had "a sT5sof simpleeh.
tHelatld ofitle S IS I4i,sitisiir.
land apd ediggea aiweE; and adificnlty had or-
Cured between him and ,sthe people oftbe land !
aud, be and Abimelech were talking the matter
over aud, "Abraham reprosed Ablmele6h because
of well of water, which Abimelech.s servants had
violently taken away. And Abimflech said ,iI;wot
not who hath done this thing; neither 5didst thou
tell me, neither yet heard of it, but day. And
Abraham took sheep aud oxen, and gave them nnto
And Abraham set seven eve lambs of the flock by
themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham,
what mean these seven eve lambs which thou hast
set by themselEes7 Aud he said, for these seven
eve lambs shalt thou take of my hands, that they
NAV be q witness Unto me that have digged this
WE'LL" isf.E a
1t was the "digginc of tie WE'LL" the labor put
on the land, and incorporated with sit-'sqdatter
~ hat hp cIoi hail
than any of Ahiuieeh's people, although he was
not, even "uaturaized citizen" He complained to-
the ruler OF the land, that his natural rights had
been v,olsted in this public land, upon which he
had 'squatted 4" and the history shows that his
rights were recognized and vindclted.
We come now, to the case ofa sale of land, in
the history Of the same Abraham, and, when, he
was the purchaser In the case just narrated, Abra-
ham claimed by the laws of nature-"squatter law"
-he had ''digeed the we'll ~ In the case weare
about 10 present, he purchased, and paid down his
money for private and Uested pr perty
The case occur cd in Hebron, in the land ofCaua-
an, and when Abraham wanted a burial place for
his WIFE, Sarah It is the first of sale of land
o record land, is the case of a sale made by
individual who was in possession of the land-ca
squatter's rightV Ills SO simply, and beautifully
and briefly told that viii quote the original mar
rative:
"And abraham stood up from before his dead
and spake unto the sons of Heth saying: am n ,
stranger and soioutner with you; give me pos
sessi n of burying place with you, that may
bury my dead out OF my sight And the hidren
of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him: =
Hear us my Lord thou art mighty prince among
u.s. In the choice ,of,onr s.puchres bury thy dead;
none of US shall withhold from thee his sepulchre
but that thou nayest bury ths Itasna. (rhere WAS
no narrow bigotry here, about holy ground y
And Abraham stoo1np and bowed himself to the
ueople the land oven TO the children of lleth.-
And he communed Yith them, saying, if it be your
mind that should Jury my dead out of my sight,
hear me, and entreat Tor to Ephron (a foreigner,
take it, and ununM Mralized,) the son of Zonr:-
That he may give mf the cave of Nl"chpeah, which
he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as
much money as it is worth be shall 81 it me for a
possession of buying place among you. And
Ephron dwelt among the children OF Heth. And
Ephron. the aiuitc answered Abraham in the au-
dience OF the childrcl of He,b, even all that went in
at the gate of his cit, saying: Nay, my Lord, hear
me: The field give l thee, and the that is
therein, give it thee, bury by dead. And A6ra-
ham bowed down himself before the ople of the
land And he spake unto Ephron in the audience
of the people OF the land, saying, but if thou wilt
give it, pray thee, hear me: I will give thee
money for the field take it of me, and will bury
my dead there And Ephron answered Abraham,
saying unto him: Ny Lord, hearken unto me; the
land is worth four h1ldred shekels of silver; what
is that betwixt me md thee? bury therefore thy
dead Aud Abraham hearkened unto EEhron, and
Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he
had named in the audi nee of the of Heth,
four hundred shekels silver, current money with
the merchant And the field OF Ephron which was
in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field
and the care which was therein, and all the trees
which were in the field, that in all the borders
round about were made sure uuto Abraham for a
possession in the presence Of the children OF Heth,
before all that went in at The gate Of his city. And
after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the
cave Of the field of Machpelah before Mamre. The
same is Hebron in the land Of Canaan. And the
field and the cave that is therein-we made sure
unto Abraham for possession of burying place,
by the sons Of Beth. - Genesis, 18th chap.
have given these historical instances of the mode
of acquiring title to public or wild, and unappro
priaet land, and ALSO to private or vested proper
IS, ,as know that many PERSONS; in their eagerness
10 monopolze and engross, without Limitation, our
public lands, are deeply interesteiin compromising
the rights in public or private lands and, insist
that these views, in regard 10 the public lands
would introd6ce what they, most ignorantly term
amgrafiauisri m in rega dto vsstd rights in private
property They speak, always, Of aerarianism in
an odiols sense, aud it had originated in att
tacks on private property knowing that With such
an idea connected with it.it would be condemned
BY an; as it should be- The doctrine and the Term
originated al Rome in regard TO the ,ubEe la,ids;
was right in itself; an was the means Of securing
the rights OF the ople in the public lands against
iand-jobbsrs pldnderers Ond SPECTATORS 1t would
have the same effect fere, and should take the place
OF our present Iand.policJ which from the fSnnda=
ton Of our government has been uneauaI and un-
just e s'2.azs5s
- In a future paper shan appeal reason aud