RIGHT OF WAY 



RIGIDITY 



notorious user, which needs gciiei ally to be proved 

 for a lengthened period, lint which niiiy yet, accord- 

 ing to circumstances, he presumed from a |>eriod of 

 user of only a few yearn. The following |oints fall 

 uiuler the 'legal aspect of a public right of way, 

 according to the law of BmtHMJ : ( 1 ) The path 

 or road must go from one public place to another 

 public place. I'.y ilii- is not meant that it mn-l 

 go from one town or village to another ; it may 

 be between any two points at which the public 

 have a right to be, and to which they resort for 

 gome definite and intelligible purpose. Thus it 

 may run from one highway to another; but it 

 cannot run between a public road and a private 

 house. (2) It must be along some tolerably 

 well-defined route between the termini. (3) If 

 there in a definite road between two public 

 places it does not matter for what purpose it 

 is used. It b not necessary that the public 

 should use the road for any business purpose ; 

 it is quite sufficient if the purpose is merely for 

 recreation, the exercise of walking, or the con- 

 templation of the beauties of nature. (4) Its use 

 must l>e maintained by the public themselves in 

 or.ler to keep up the right to the way. Continuous 

 use is necessary, though the public need not use 

 the road every day or every month ; yet the right 

 is in danger if use is discontinued for any length 

 of time. But if the public allow themselves 

 to be excluded from the road lor seven yearn 

 the proprietor becomes entitled to continue the 

 exclusion by interdict without raising the question 

 of public right that is to say, possession for 

 seven years throws the onus jtrobandi on the 

 public. According to the law of England such 

 points are not construed in a narrow sense, and 

 they distinctly ilill'er in the following respects: 

 (1)'H is not "necessary that the right of way be 

 between two public places, and (2) continuous use 

 is not necessary, for no lapse of time as regards user 

 or the claiming of their rights can bar the right of 

 the public to a footpath or a highway once dedi- 

 cated to them, or where dedication can be assumed. 

 There are, however, statutory provisions for shut- 

 ting up a rood when it Incomes unnecessary- The 

 whole breadth of the originally dedicated road, in- 

 cluding what is known as 'road wastes,' must 

 always remain as the right of way to the public, 

 and cannot !> encroached upon. 



In Scotland there is no public authority for the 

 protection of the interests of the public in rights 

 of way, or for their maintenance. They are in the 

 position of being left to chance ; anil ' what is 

 everybody's business is nolxxly's business' has 

 resulted i'n many valuable righto iM-ing lost. The 

 public, or individual members of the public, have to 

 incur the costs anil risks of litigation in the courts 

 under an action of declarator to recover a road 

 which a proprietor has closed, anil it is difficult for 

 tin-in to do this. In England, though there is aW 

 no direct public authority for the guardianship of 

 rights of way, yet their iii-u'iiti-ii'inre is so far pro 

 vided for under section 10 of the Local Government 

 ( England) Act, 1888, which enacts that county 

 councils ' may, if they think fit, contribute towards 

 the costs of hi.' maintenance, repair, enlargement 

 and improvement of any highway or public 

 |>ath in the county, although the same is not a 

 main road.' 



lioth in Scotland and England Influential -ocn-t ! 

 exint for the purpose of assi-ting in the protectioi 

 of public: rihtM of way vi/. the Scottish Rights o 

 Way and BMTMtfon Society, Edinburgh, found. < 

 in 1H44 and IMOWtttotad in IHSl, ami the Nationa 

 Footpath Preservation Society, London, foundcc 

 in IHH4. There are also several societies for specia 

 district*. Kills have since 1888 been introducec 

 into the House of Common* by private members 



with the object of charging a public authority with 

 he duty of protecting and maintaining rights of 

 way, but no legislative measure has yet been passed. 

 iee also the section on the law of highways at 

 IOAIKS. For right of way on the Norfolk Broads, 

 >ee Walter Rye, Pithing, Slumlinti, untl Sailing on 



,-folk tiroad* (Norwich, 1891 ). 

 Rights, DECLARATION AND BILL OF. The 

 Convention Parliament which called the Prince 

 and Princess of Orange to the throne of England 

 set forth, in a solemn instrument known by the 

 name of the Declaration of Uiulits. the funda- 

 iiental principles of the constitution which were to 

 >e imposed on William and Mary on their accept- 

 ance of the crown. This declaration (February 

 689), drawn up by a committee of the Commons. 

 _ind assented to by the Lords, began by declaring 

 that King James II. had committed certain actsj 

 contrary to the laws of the realm, and, having 

 abdicated, had left the throne vacant. The main 

 revisions of the Declaration, and of the Bill of 

 iights (October 1689) based upon it, were to the 

 effect that the power of suspending and of dis 

 tensing with laws by regal authority b illegal ; 

 hat the commission for creating the late Court of 

 Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all 

 commissions and courts of the like nature, are 

 illegal ; that the levying of money for the use of 

 the crown by prerogative, without grant of parlia- 

 ment, is illegal ; that it is the right of the subjects 

 M petition the king, and all prosecutions for such 

 wtitioning are illegal ; that the raising or keeping 

 of a standing army in time of peace, except with 

 consent of parliament, is illegal ; that Protestant 

 subjects may have arms for their defence ; that the 

 election of members of parliament should be free ; 

 that freedom of speech in parliament should not be 

 questioned in any place out of parliament ; that 

 excessive bail ought not to be required, orexcessil'- 

 fines imposed, or cruel or unusual punishments 

 indicted ; that jurors should be duly impanneled, 

 and that jurors in trials for high-treason should be 

 freeholders ; that grants and promises of fines and 

 forfeitures before conviction are illegal ; and that 

 for redress of all grievances, and the amendment, 

 strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parlia- 

 ments ought to be held frequently. The remaining 

 clauses treat of the succession to the crown. See 

 also PETITION OF RIGHT. 



Rights of Man, DECLARATION OF THE a 

 famous statement of the constitution and principles 

 of civil society and government adopted by the 

 French National Assembly in August 1789. In 

 historical importance it may fairly ue ranked with 

 the English Bill of Rights and the American 

 Declaration of Independence It suggested tin- 

 title for Paine's defence of the French Revolution 

 against Burke (1791-92); which was followed IPV 

 Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin's Vindication of (In: 

 Rights of Women, 



Rtgi, or RlOHI, an isolated mountain standing 

 between the Lakes of Lucerm-, Xiig, and Lower/, in 

 Switzerland, is greatly frequented by visitors on 

 account of the extensive views it commands of some 

 of the lin.-st Swiss scenery. Verdant pastures clothe 

 the summit, and the sloj>es are belted with forest*. 

 AlMiut 100,000 txmrist* ascend the Higi (5906 feel ) 

 every season, principally by moans of two toothed 

 railways one from Vit'/.nau (1871 ) on the Luke of 

 Lucerne, the other from Arth (1875) on the Lake of 

 Xug. 4} and 7 miles long respectively. There are 

 half-a -do/en hotels near or at the summit, as well as 

 a Capuchin monastery (1689), the church of which 

 contains a wonder-working image of the Madoiimi 

 that attracts numerous pilgrims. 



Rigidity is one of the properties of matter 

 which sharply differentiate solids from fluids. In 



