“Why then do people in moderate circumstances indulge in it?”
“Because they are obliged to defend themselves against oppressive and unjust demands; although I think, under the present system, if a man had a small estate, say a few acres, and a rich man laid claim to it, it would be far better for the small man to give up the land without any bother.”
“But no man of spirit would do that?”
“No, that is exactly where it is, it’s the spirit of resistance that comes in.”
“Resistance! a man would be a coward to yield without a fight.”
“Why so he would, and that is what makes law such a beautiful science, and its administration so costly. Men will fight to the last rather than give in. If Naboth had lived in these times there would have been no need
of his death in order to oust him from his vineyard. Ahab could have done a much more sensible thing and walked in by process of law.”
“In what way?”
“In the first place he could have laid claim to a right of way, or easement as it is called, of some sort: or could have alleged that Naboth had encroached on his land by means of a fence or drain or ditch.”
“Well, but if he hadn’t?”