PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

The General Rights of Mankind. 83
contrary to the divine intention and will, and there-I'
fore wrong, for the same .. eason that any other
crime is ~o.) Such as, what is related of William
the Conqueror, the converting of twenty manors
into a. forest for hunting ; or, which is not much
better, suffering them to continue in that state ; or
the letting of large tracts ot land lie barren, because
the o\vner cannot cultivate them, nor will part with
them to those who can; or destroying, or suffering
to perish, great part of an article of human provision,
in order to enhance the price of the remainder,
which is said to have ~een, till lately, the case with
fish caught upon the English coast; or diminishing
the breed of animals, by a wmton, or improvident
consumpticn of the young, as of the ~pawn of shell ..
fish, or th~ fry of salmon, by the use of unlawful
nets, or at lmproper seasons : to this head may also
be iefer14ed, what is the same elil in a smaller way,
the expending of human food on superfluous dogs
or horses ; ~nd lastly, the reducing of the quantity
in order to alter the quality, and to alter it generally
for the worse; as the distillation of spirits from
brerj.com, the boiling down of solid meat for sauces,
essences, &c.
This seems to be the lesson which our Saviour, \
after his manner, inculcates, when he bids his disci .. J
pIes '~ gather ,!p the fragments, t~at not~h~g 1?~ lQst."
And It apens;-mdeed, a-new field of duty. Schemes
of wealth or profit, prompt the active part of mankind
to cast about how they may convert their property
to the most advantage: and their own advantage,
and that of the public, commonly concur. But
it has not as yet entered into the minds of man-)
kind, to reflect that it is a duty, to add what we can \
to the common stock of provision, by extracting \
out of our estates the most they will yield ; or that I
it is any sin to neglect this.
'
From th~ same intention of God Almighty, we
also deduce another conclusion, namely, " that noth ..
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