GLEN-TILTING IN THE VALE OF BICKLEIGH.
A LOCAL war has broken out at Plymouth, which involves prin- ciples interesting in many parts of the country. It is a question of the right of way, but one of rather unusual importance. The aggressor in theocase is Sir Massey Lopes,—a gentleman not of English extraction, bearing an hereditary name noted in the con- tract history of the great war, and decidedly not popular. Sir Massey is the landowner on whose estate is the well-known beau- tiful Bickleigh Vale, a favourite resort with the inhabitants of Plymouth; and this vale Sir Massey has closed against the pub- lic. He has done more. Across various parts of his estate there are "church-paths,"—one, for instance, from Bickleigh towards Shaugh, which saves the pedestrian a detour of two miles ; and these paths also Sir Massey has closed. There appears to be some doubt whether in these minor cases his right -will be contested, because it is established in law that such a right can only be con- tested by actual parishioners. With regard to the Vale it is dif- ferent: the general public has an interest in it, and a committee has been organized in order to resist the encroachment. The opinion of counsel has been taken, and Mr. Collyer has decided -that there is a clear case against Sir Massey ; some of the most respectable residents of the neighbourhood give their practical assistance ; and the inhabitants of Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehenge, seem likely enough to take the question into a court of law.
It is not for us to anticipate the decision ofjudge and jury ; but the case on the side of the inhabitants looks strong, and we can vouch for the respectability of those who uphold it. Of the character of the present Sir Massey Lopes we know nothing: he is said to be courteous, but obstinate ; he may, however, per- haps perceive on reflection that it will not be a pleasure or ad- vantage to him if he make himself an example for the instruction of other landowners. We know well the provocations to which landlords are exposed, and can make allowance for them. There is something disagreeable in having one's private grounds tra- versed by miscellaneous intruders ; it is is vexations for objection to be met with the sanctimonious plea that the intruder is wending his way to church, or to be told, more insolently per- haps, that he has "a right" to do it. Englishmen have the greatest respect for right when it is on their own side, but there is nothing which they detest more when it interferes with their will and pleasure. Little squabbles of that kind may be begun by foolish servants, whose master backs them ; one vexation leads to another: the landlord, is in a passion—he has the power to shut the gates—to station sturdy bullies at the points of ingress—to guard them with bull-dogs, as Sir Massey is said to have guarded the Vale of Bickleigh—in short, to domineer for a time. If the landlord happens to have the letter of the law on his side, he may succeed in rendering himself an object of dislike to a whole neighbourhood ; but he may not succeed, and then every in- truder that wends his way to church, or exercises a right to en- joy the beauties of the Vale of Bickleigh, will constitute a re- proach and an indignity to the mortified Baronet. Why poison places of beauty with these associations? , There is something higher than the letter of the law ; something which even baronets and landlords may reasonably defer to. There is no such thing as absolute property in the land of England ; there is only possession of the land, subject to all existing circumstances and. contingencies. The highest 'kind of tenure is but a tenure upon trust ; and if landlords have successfully shuffled off some of the feudal liabilities, on the strength of which they "purchased" their land, there is one liability which they can never shuffle off —and that is, to exercise the opportunities of their station so as to do the greatest amount of good. The case at Bickleigh has been likened to Glen Tilt, where the Duke of Atholl attempted to keep out excursionists and tourists, and was defeated. Some doubt has been entertained whether the letter of the law would not have ultimately sustained the Duke ; and he is supposed to have given way under the force of a better influence—a feeling that, after all, the degree of irritation and bad blood which his oonduct had excited was worse than the visitation of strangers wandering in his private lands. Let us admit the greatest degree of annoyance inflicted by such visitations and we shall still find that the balance of blessings is left to the liberal landlord : he holds his land for the benefit of the community ; while the grasp- ing landlord, who shuts out his fellow creatures from the chosen spots of nature, and denies others the small blessings which he can well spare, hardens his heart against the dearest blessings that man can enjoy.
The question has an interest far beyond the Vale of Bickleigh, or the three towns between the Tamar and the Plym. In most parts of the country there is some question about the right of way,—some landlord standing out, as at Hampstead. to shut up a heath, at Highgate to shut up a path, at Glen Tilt to extinguish a popular touring track. Sometimes the right is brought to trial, and de- termined; sometimes, as in the case of the pathway before the front of Holland House, a bargain is struck with the parish, and privacy for one track is purchased by the concession of another path. Sometimes the quarrel is left open, to be determined ul- timately by the balance of obstinacy on one side or the other, or by the balance of resources. But it appears to us to be a question very fit to be settled by the general class of landowners. They take their land subject to certain liabilities ; and among the moral liabilities
imposed upon the wealthy and educated, by the very force of their station, is the duty of administering their means for the welfare of their fellow creatures. We believe that any landlord who con- cedes a path would gain something much more than the largest amount of " damages " which he could recover in a court of law. Towns, highways railways, farming improvements, and the spread of artificial existence, are gradually cutting up the most beautiful parts of the country ; and there are few missions which, in these peaceful times, the landlord class could undertake, so popular, so conducive to a just influence, so conservative, as that of endna.. vouring to preserve for the delectation of the community as many spots of beauty as can be rescued from the encroachment of towns and trades. Here is a mode in which a Sir Massey may indeed conquer the people of a whole county. Let him give what they desire, and his act will certainly not be grudgingly taken as a concession but it will be accepted as a gift. Then the poor man wending his way to church, the young couple or the humble family straying into the Vale of Bickleigh, instead of being a reproach and an indignity to the baffled. Baronet, would be a gage of the affection with which his name would be preserved even long after he has retreated into the family-tomb.
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