Obj. 4. wee may perish by ye way or when we coe there, having hunger or ye sword &c and how vncofortable will it bee to see or wives & children & friends come to such miserie by or occasion?
Aunsw. Such objections savour too much of ye flesh. Who can secure himselfe or his fro ye like calamities here? If this course bee warrantable, we may trust Gods providence for these things. Either hee will keepe those evills fro vs, or will dispose ym for or good & enable vs to beare ym.
Obj. 5. But what warrant haue we to take yt land, wch is & hath bene of long tyme possessed of others ye sons of Adam?
Aunsw. That wch is como to all is proper to none. This Savage people ruleth ouer many lands wthout title or property: for yy inclose no ground, neither haue yy cattell to maintayne it, but remooue their dwellings as yy haue occasion, or as yy can prevaile agt their neighbours. And why may not Christians haue liberty to go & dwell amongst ym in their wast lands & woodds (leaving ym such places as yy haue manured for their corne) as lawfully, as Abraham did amongst ye Sodomites? For God hath giuen to ye sons of men a 2 fould right to ye earth: there is a naturall right & a civill right. The first right was naturall when men held ye earth in como, every man sowing & seeding where hee pleased: then, as men and cattell increased, yy appropriated some parcells of ground by enclosing & peculiar manurance, & this in tyme got ym a civill right. Such was ye right wch Ephron ye Hittite had in ye field of Machpelah, wherein Abraham could not bury a dead corps wthout leaue, though for ye outparts of ye countrey wch lay comon, hee dwelt vpo ym & tooke ye fruit of ym at his pleasure. This appeares also in Jacob & his sons who fedd their flocks as bouldly in ye Canaanites Land for hee is said to bee Lord of ye countrey; & at Dotham and all other places men accounted nothing their owne, but yt wch yy had appropriated by their owne industry, as appeares plainly by Abimelechs servaunts, who in their owne countrey did often contend wth Isaacks servaunts about wells wch yy had digged; but neuer about ye lands wch yy occupied. So likewise betweene Jacob & Laban: hee would not take a kidd of Labans wthout speciall contract; but hee makes no bargaine wth him for ye land where yy fedd. And it is probable yt if ye countrey had not bene as free for Jacob as for Laban, yt covetous wretch would haue made his advantage of him, & haue vpbraided Jacob wth it as hee did wth ye rest. 2dly there is more then enough for ym & vs. 3dly God hath consumed ye natives wth a miraculous plague, whereby ye greater part of ye countrey is left void of inhabitants. 4ly, we shall coe in wth good leaue of ye natiues.
Obj. 6. we shall send or young ones & such as may best bee spared, & not of ye best of or ministers & magistrates.
Aunsw. It is a great worke & requires more skilfull Artisans to lay ye foundacon of a new building, then to uphoald & repayre one yt is already built. If great things bee attempted by weake instrumts, ye effects will bee aunswerable.
Obj. 7. Wee see yt those plantacons yt haue bene formerly made, succeeded ill.
Aunsw. 1 The fruit of any publique designe is not to bee discerned by ye imediat successe: it may appeare in tyme, yt yy were all to good vse. 2dly, there were great fundamentall errours in others wch are like to bee avoided in this: for 1 their mayne end & purpose was carnall & not religious. 2 yy aymed chiefely at profitt & not at ye propagacon of religion. 3 yy vsed too vnfitt instrumts, a multitude of rude vngoverned persons, ye very scums of ye Land. 4 yy did not stablish a right fourme of gouernmt.
THE AGREEMENT WITH MR. HIGGINSON
