he heir at law. Hence it follows that, where the appointment is regularly made, there cannot be a shadow of right in any one but the person appointed; and, where the necessary requisites are omitted, the right of the heir is equally strong, and built upon as solid a foundation as the right of the devisee would have been supposing such requisites were observed.

But, after all, there are some few things which, notwithstanding the general introduction and continuance of property, must still unavoidably remain in common, being those in which nothing but an usufructuary property is capable of being had; and therefore they still belong to the first occupant, during the time he holds possession of them, and no longer. Such, amongst others, are the elements of light, air, and water, which a man may occupy by means of his windows, his gardens, his mills, and other conveniences; such also are the generality of those animals which are said to be ferae naturae, or of a wild and untameable disposition, and which any man may seize upon and keep for his own use or pleasure. All these things, as long as they remain in possession, every man has a right to enjoy without disturbance; but if once they escape from his custody, or he voluntarily abandons the use of them, they return to the common stock, and any other man has an equal right to seize and enjoy them afterwards.

Again, there are other things in which a permanent property may subsist, not only as to the temporary use, but also the solid substance; and which yet would frequently be found without a proprietor, had not the wisdom of the law provided a remedy to obviate this inconvenience. Such are forests and other waste grounds, which were omitted to be appropriated in the general distribution of lands; such also are wrecks, estrays, and that species of wild animals which the arbitrary constitutions of positive law have distinguished from the rest by the well-known appellation of game. With regard to these and some others, as disturbances and quarrels would frequently arise amongst individuals contending about the acquisition of this species of property by first occupancy, the law has therefore wisely cut up the root of dissension, by vesting the things themselves in the sovereign of the state, or else in his representatives appointed and authorized by him, being usually the lords of manors. And thus our legislature has universally promoted the grand ends of civil society, the peace and security of individuals, by steadily pursuing that wise and orderly maxim, of assigning to everything capable of ownership a legal and determinate owner.

Literary Property. See Copy-Right.

PROPHECY is a word derived from επιφανείας, and in its original import signifies the prediction of future events. As God alone can perceive with certainty the future actions of free agents, and the remote consequences of those laws of nature which he himself established, prophecy, when clearly fulfilled, affords the most convincing evidence of an intimate and supernatural communion between God and the person who uttered the prediction. Hence this, together with the power of working miracles, is indeed the only evidence which can be given of such a communion. See Theology.