The Statesman. — London, England, 1810-12-07 00:00:00

L LAW INTELLIGENGT. --..■••■••••; COURT Or RING'S BENCH• DsC• 6. . , Sittings before Lard gi.s.attaeotoefast, tape; et Special Jury, dl Westminster. ouson v. atasairotto. M s , i. Jes t.r., fur the Plaiutiff, regretted that he was obliged to go into any detail of the amuse. stances of the case. He bad to represent it, as not merely is violent and outrageous violation, but a total denielition'of property ; and ter this' he came to ask damages. The Ptaisttiff was a Frettehman, aud•ouriog the period which he spentin his native country, possested a high repotatiou is hies art. Though we Were at war with France, toonanst not deity that tho b.tts were justly appreciated, and higbiy patrosticed these. 'lite aid of which Mr Dubuat was a professor, the art of painting, mai 1 *advent:ly regarded in France; and to have ettateesil celebrity there, required peculiar powers. The Plaintiti came over a few years since edit a paint ing of his, which bad been highly admired in , Paris. Merit most find its say--rho painting was seen liereosed purchased by a Gentleman of known tastes. It was impossible to look round the Court and not see the interest which the cause of the Fine Arts excited this country. After a resi dence of some length here, the.Plaintilf formed an ' Exhibition in Amongother pietoks was ewe froos the old Arabian tale of Beauty and the Beast. When it was said, that this' was from Mr. Dubose' , paten, probably enough was said of its merits. It was scarcely to be supposed that any one, should have wished to destroy such a picture. It was, bor.!. ever, destroyed, and by the Defendant, the adv. Mr. Bertsford, a son of the Archbishop of TiEsi. That Geutlarnan, on the 10th of June, came ‘to ,the Exhibition ; there was some delay among the persons at the door about changing the money • which he gave, and in amumeut alter there was a cry that 64 the Gentleman was cutting the p ours to pieces." The picture of Beauty and the Beast was actually cut to pieces. It was nut easy to conceive the motive which could have induced this Iteverend Vandal to destroy such a work, unless he had {nought with him some peculiar taste of the kind from his own country. Mr. Beresfurd then turned round, with the knife in his hand, upon the people who were coming in, as if to strike any person who ventured near him, lie continued his work of destrnetion fur at least half an hour. TN: Plaintiff said, if there was any thing wrong iir the picture, it. ,taught have been punished by the law. Constables_ were sent for to Marlborough.street, but before their coming Mr. Beresford had gone away. The Plain tiff valued this picture at 1.000 .guineas. This price might seem high, but the Jury knew the sums • that wets often given for paintings. Is a late exhi. bition, a water-colour drawing was -old-fur eight hundred guineas. The Ju.y rr uW form their esti spate Win this. The Plettitiff claimed, not .only for.the knee of his picture, but fer.ihe prolix of his exhibition. While the Beauty and the Beast was -shown, the peeks amounted to ten guineas a day, laud Mr- August .might count on making a little foetus. by It. When the picture was destroyed, the, profits sunk to two pounds a day. The Jury woeld cottd,dee all the circumstances. A foreigner sucking the protoetioo of British laws fur violent injury; a loss to the arts; asid, as the other aide, a conduct . immutable to any man, bat peculiarly so to the Defendant, whose functions should/.have taught him other things. 64 Tanis; ne sidesiseddes. tibia ital." • Three person, of the names of Beaky, Hewit, and Stanley, receivers at the door, or connected with the Ealsibition, wee, called to prove the ex. istence of the picture in its perfect state, and its subsequent injury. Basky said that Mr. Elmsford, when going into the room, passed bias like a flash of lightoieg ; whereas the Prince of Wales and the Royal Dukes very deliberately enquired their felharres Sonnergt, evil:died by Mr. MAR. Itytakei:Z• 44 Was In the outer room when Mr. Be resferdwent in. Soon after be heard a cry of, " the Goofteman is destroying the picture." ,He ran in, end raw the Defendant with a knife in one hand, and a stick in the other. The knife was held out towards him; he thought he was piing to he mur. dere!, and ran away ; first to the Palace, for the body guard, and twat to the office for the con stables. Re teas away about an hour; when he cane bark, the picture was lying in pieces on the flour. Before lie went fur the constables the pic. lure was merely thrown on the floor; when he re turned, it was all in pieces. .. Gross-cxamined by the Armilatear.GE:itit AL. — There was but little money tot at the exhibition in the beginning, biit it .afterwartia tooreasel. mess used to give any explanation tar_llio pictures that was wanted. The nitrite Of Beauty and this Beast was beautirul. rte sobbl..Mst telt Whether there was. a likeness of Mr. Hope in •the Picture. lie knew that Mrs. Irdpeankeilits in the Picture iron net like Wei; -Crisis answer, which was ex. titriell by the Attottrey.Oeseral, producer 't onsi. derabie laughing iti eulrt.) Tite'poople'wbotivati to the exhibition said, 11r. now. tilkiness irst'ex. ociltrir t bat Mis.'llops'iruut goo; There. *is portrait of 'Mrs. Holie r aisles by the Plaintiff, for which he was paid four handredtuiness. lie heard that Mr. Hope had a roost balled the star-chausber t trout the ceiling being painted with stars. That town was representel in the picture. He did lint think the beast was a horrid, hideous, of. Pensive monster ; he thought it rather pretty, or, at least, very good.natured. jtl was hairy like a bear. tt had nu clothing hutitair. It might be hand. sumer than a bier, for besot% host different kinds of "beauties. Every one had his taste; but the Beast in the Ocher./ was a set? gond-humoured beast. It had long hanging ears. It was not so pretty tt's tht.s, tamale figtire called the Beauty,— There was a chest fell of jewels before Om Bees‘ — Me had hip pa! on the sheet, and vas offering the jewels to Beauty. Site was n riper% her hands, and its great distress, at being exposed to that Rost. — All' this was but a Nursery Tale. It was the aubject of'an Opera tailed Zee/re and Asir. pith not know why 1 41 11 t OuPe r ik dregs in her portrait was put upon Beauty. Thought it rather an milled kiwi, of dress. . Sant Mr. Hope but once in the street. • 'book for subacriptions to a print fro* b,L the picture lay open he the table ; people de.. sired Witness to set down their names ; Sir Harry. finglefield's name (which the Attoreey-Gemetai pronounced to be a forgery) was not set do wn b y 'Witham f ter° copies of the 'engraving. Mr. MAIRILTACT.—" I understand, the storyH .1 the *awe was the sebject of an operatics: par. formance.' • Mr. ATtORNalt-GaNIIIRAL proceeded with the etossaelateivation.—Witness had not told any one that hipatsty and the . Beast were likenesses of Mr. sad Mn. 'lupe ; but he might have beard people 3aying so, and repeated what they said. Did not rittiteutber Plaintiff flying that it was drawn fur a likesess.of Mr. and Mrs. Hope. Plaintiff bad not begun it fort likeuess; but on being told that it :.vas like Mr. Hope, he finished it up to the cote. Plate likeness. L'laiutit took Mrs. Hope for his model of Beauty, as he had been, drawing a five portrait of her.' From the beast's mouth there was a scroll,, With these words, " 1 am sensible I am a horrible 'beast, bat if you will accept my hand, all these 060 :stall bd yours." These words were is English, and taken (rum the story. The Plain tiff had often said, that he was displeased with Mr. Hope on account of some dispwte about s painting. Thu Defendant .did.not say that he wawa'', brother . of Zs., Hope; he spoke su rapidly that Witness soul& not tooterstand him. Louis O'llickey received the admission money at the dour. The money, in the beginning, was only two or three pounds a day. It afterwards rose to 10, 15, end 19 pounds a day. After the picture' was cut, the receipts fell off at once. Many pets.' *offered to pay fur seeing the fragmeuts of the picture. Mr. fleet Villiers was called to prove the Plain:. tiff's celebrity as a painter. Witness had seen the .picture for the first time only this morning, in the' collen.huuse. He could not judge of it ; it was in' pieces. Louis Strochling was next called. 'Witness was historical vaiiitcr to the Prince of Wales. From a casual inspection, he thought the •.ilue of the picture five or six hundred guineas. Had gone hastily through the room, anti did not see any likeness of Mr. Hope, upon his honour. Lord ELLsr4IORoUGII.—" What, Sir, you say You only took a careless, cursory view; and: yet you come here to pronounce its value, at fielVflf six hundred guineas. Was its value, Dom its. eras bodying the malignant passions of a man's mind, or from its iutritisic worth as a picture for a col. teethes ?" wituess could not speak to its value from any thing, hitt (tutu the prices which the Plaintiff wasin the habit of. demanding. To a question by the ATTORNIT.GXNERALdn. Whether he had ever seen $ picture of a bear, or any other beast, with a glass, hang by a string I round. his neck ?. Witness answered, it might de. penal on the capricious fancy of a painter; but au► thing of that kind had occurred in his experience of pirating. The ATTORNEY-GENZIRAL then addressed the Jury. This was the most impudent appeal that he believed was ever made to a British Jury. The Learned Counsel who opened time:we had raid that his client claims the protection of the lima. He should not have begun by insulting them. It was impossible not to observe the artifice which had been employed by the Defendant to obscure the truth of the case. A crowd of wituesses had becu brought forward by him totally uuconeected with the facts of ibearansaetion. The attempt at fixing an enor. minis price had been instantly cut short by his Lord ship ; and yet the Plaintiff had the folly to think that tie was Injure!, and the impudence to expect a Lrecumpence from the Jury. What was the in. jury ? The Plaintiff was a foreigner, who came over some time since to this country with no other tardily possession than a single picture. The Iraerned Counsel for the Plaintiff had said, that merit would find patronage here; and it was true. Dubost found in Mr. Hope a most liberal patron. Mr. Hope at once gave Behest eight hundred gui neas for the picture, which constituted all that this ruffiais was worth in the world. He took Dubost to his house, and with an honourable wish to en. courage the merit which he thought he had found in distress, made him at once an offer of four hull. dred guineas for painting Mrs. Hope's portrait. Of this money two hundred guineas were given at the moment, and two hundred more before he had even finished the picture. [Here the Plaintiff, who was sitting in Court, made some movement as if in contradiction.) " I know," said the A T TORNET.GESZSAL, 44 I perfectly know what lam saying. And I cannot suppress my indigna. tiun at the insolence of this fellow, this true origi. nal fur his own Beast, who dares to continue in Court during this trial." What was this fellow's con. duet? He lived at Mr. Hope's for a length of time, and he employed his time in taking opportunitira of future insult to his benefactor. He made large de. marids upon Mr. Hope': liberality ; 'and there is no man more liberal than that person. It was found necessary to get rid .r this importunate beggar, and then the reptile took his revenge; then lie pre. pared to sting his benefactor and a must amiable and admirable lady in the tenderest point. He had the insolence and ingratitude to caricature them, under thirforms of which so much had been already said: 'Mr. Hope was caricatured as a beast, offer ing to purchase Mrs. Hope with a box of jewels. Mrs. Hope was wringing her hands, and selling her. self at the same time to the monster whom the in. sulent painter had designed for her husband. This was Weller° in the extreme, and nothing could be more *unfree than the insinuation of the picture. Every one who had seen Mr. Hope rust:kitting the best duties of a father and husband ; every one who had seen Mrs. Hope, an amiable and ace tionatn wife, and both exhibiting a model of that domestic excellence, and domestic harmony, of which there were so few examples, would know that. the insinuation was totally false. Mrs. Hope's brother, intlignaq at the injury which his sister's feelinganiast stissaiu v iadignatit at the scandal: which' was hourly thrown gook' his own family, pet an end at once to the picture. What was the Hairy sustained by Dubose, to that which he had me. &lanai 'against an honourable man and hie fa,. mily.? What was object of this action I Tho rtaigtif Otto Act usibitle; could be. auto plans TIM STAIIWAII, to the feelings of Mr. and Mts. Hopes thee to be brought a second time before the pobtle to have themselves talked of, sod their whole domestic life canvassed. He brought this action only to extort something taws frost the delicacy and wooaded sen sibility of ltdr..lloperandids wife. But the Jery would disappoint him. It'was even by Mr. Hope's .permission that the .Plaimiff was at this Stour sitting in the Court. Mr. Hops might have krunght his 'action, and if his (the Atterucy.Geuernrs) advice .were to be now taken, the reptile would be prese t:rated fur his libel against Mr. Hope. Aa action would bate extinessished the picture ; 46 but er (said the Attorney-General), if a than holds a sword to my throat, am I nut to beat it down ? If I see an insolent libel published. against me, sal I not to .destroy it ?" Was Mr. Beresferd to suffer the slow finger of score to point at his sister, with •iset taking any step to abate the nuisance? There were cases, where mischief was done at sore, avid nu subsequent remedy could be atonal. This painting was exhibited to the world. It. was about rtto be engraved, and. dot prints *ere to to dblossed I pso widely they could go. In this case what was to be gone, but as in other cases of nuisance, insults the Courts of Justice, and those sodden evils .Which could nut • weit fur the tardy proceedings of .the law. • },here were no witnesseacalled on the defence. Lord EL Lee so awe:in.- 64 The Plain ti demand -ed *compensation for the loss of his profits by an :exhibition, and for the value of his Picture. The Defendant pleaded no justificatien. He only said, he was not guilty. It was proved that the 'picture was destroyed, and therefore the verdict must go fur the Plaintiff. The manner and par. pose of exhibiting the picture were clear. It was plainly Dubost's intention to caricature Mr. Hope wad his wife. The resemblance was evident to every one, and there could be no noabt that it was, done from a spirit of revenge. It was not for the Jury to .consider the obligations of the HPlaintiff to Mr. Hope; they were not to look be , yoad the evidence. It was plain, that no caprice of painting could have casually drawn a beast with an eye-glass round his neck; and it was equally plain, that an insult to Mr. Hope was the object. As to the value of the picture, one of the witnesses had evidently estimated it only from its value at a caricature. But that• must nut be recognised as giving it any value. It was spectra of property on which no man bed alight to reckon. , .4 was a libel, the exhibition of which would ban* been stopped in five minutes, on an applicatioW , to . the Lord Chencellor. It was more than probable-that aninjunctinn Would' bate bees Issued to preveist'the picture's being ever exposed wale. The Plaintiff, then, lust all right to consider himself as being ag. grieved by the diminution of 'profit from his Ethi. bition, or even by the destruction Of. Vs *tote. They were means of tialawful profit, and therefore no Compensation poutd 60 provided by the law. I The Picture, in ihi perfect state, could Its opt y looked un as an iftitinetent for the production of punishment to the eaMbititiai Saelit dleJari would reaolve the damages it. tlesish `et' tits, seta wood, eatitas, and colonis. The Jury, after cede hesitation, footd a tinnier for the Plaintiff. Dimagek 61. Costit4ol. The Court was ennsually crowded. Several per. sons of distinction, among whom were the Mavotis of lleadfott, LordsSefton, Ossuistoi4 tied Bre. moat, sat oil the Bench with Lord Elleaboroogli. COURT OF Consort rulAsimbik ,. Before a Speeial INSURANCE ?Rota Ftirli.-4toDY . This was an action by the Plaintif f ,' a , smith, to recover 17001. of the Atlas Fire Insurance Company for the low of his stock in trade by a fire which happened at his house, No. 34, Norton lalgate, on the 14th of July, 1809. •It appeared that the Plaintiff had insured with the Atlas, and one proviso in the policy ..1111, that he should not insure with any other office ; this, however, he did not observe, but insured in the Eagte to the amount of 7001. for furniture, making an in surance on the whole of 24001. The fire, which constituted the prtaeut demand, commenced about day break; the watchmen -near the -house, observed the flames bursting out from the street.door, and instantly gave the alarm. The Plaintiff soon after appeared at the two-pair of stairs window, calling for ladders, and finally I t escaped with his .wife, child, and servant out of the garret window. About thirteen persons, all neigh beers, immediately went to the spot with an engine. A panne! was bruko in the door, through which several pails of water were thrown. At the same time the shutters of the shop were pulled down, and a number of arteries, stated to be of great value, fell into the street. These articles were instantly taken to the watch.house by the constable of the night, and lodged in security. By the leaven , sistance of the paeans present, the fire was ex. tinguished in half an hour, and, according to the statement of the firemen, and all the Wit. ncsses, the property is the shop remained nearly I in the situation it was in before the fire. The Wit. ! messes also agreed in stating that the fire had' proceeded front .a quantity of, shavings laid under the counter. The Plaintiff, in consequence of the fire, claimed .of the OffiCe the full amount of his Poi. licy. It was contended that the whole of his stuck had been lost, destroyed, or damaged. That plate, watches, gold, jewellery, and various articles had been melted, or pillaged by the spectators. The fire was attributed lu a spark supposed to have fallen from a lamp or candle held by the served maid near the shavings, which had been put in the shop to light the fire. The Plaintiff also pro. ducted witnesses to prove that the stock un his pro. raises was of the value of between I seal 110001. Ile refused after the fire to take ter of the property saved, and wrote a letter to the Atlas Compeny to put the whole ander their trust and protection. On the part of the Llefotedaets it was represented, .by a number of witnesses, that it was impossible that any of the property Wald ban been stole* at the fire, heratimethu greatest care WWI takes to pre, vent any personlestin eetteeing the premise& Then were but ten prison ill respeetahle inhabitants, present,. and a basilsnea placed at the dove to 'prevent soy python from mitering. It was ilea Mate& that.tha Ore could net have melted Ow at* ter eh% militia have bees lest thit way; and if it 41 melted gold or silver, some traces would hare re. mewed of the metal. On the contrary, it Iva , tutored that the sheer glasses, with the excepti o ofone, en e the entire, i irecedng vc an i dth e ea o r i. tici ns es t i tlei: pro: same as Ke w roved, and which the Plaintiff had ee. fused to receives had been placed -ender th e charge of the fireents and °Seers belonging t o A t e t;rampaay e sad safely removed to a pi tee l 'af security. The articles stated to be jewen try were inspected by a f:water, who refitted to set • any valise ets them. ' T he whole, he said, was rah. high, and if they had not been damaged by %t ee _would aiat .have been worth 1001. With respect to ; . ga t e piste sod plated fir*, it was fairly valeta by a Working sileersmith. the silver at its weight, scd t h e plated goods at 4e-retail price, amounted t, ) r agai. finder these circumstances, the Fire K t resisted the Plaintiff's claim. It was stated that tiny liberally gavel ap the Plaintiff's breach of the pollen by offeetleg twq insurances, and they t, meet the vote fairly on ite merits. Tiny d ear] the Plaintiff to be in a contracted way of b msg. He had left the west-end of the t ek i to carry on trade on a smelt scale, and it IN almost impossible, from the Mae of his thdp i that he could have had the stock and imitate which he laid claim to. But the principal d e . f ence w a s , that the Ore had not happened by a cc i. .dent.. The evidence 0 the servant made it amai n , •that she went to bed the night before the thee ten o'clock, her master and mistress at elevenow it was not reasonable to conclude, that a lark dropped among shavings should not take iretill tin e 'o'clock the next morning. It did rk. „appear the there was any &re in the house, or light, except tis lamp which the serraiithad carried. Under oh the circumstances, it was contended that if the Pignut had not meditated a fraud against the Defendants, or by gross negligence occaaioned the fire, he lout not produced any evidence to prove he had si t soi e . od a les, to any thing like the sum he sought to rt. cover, therefore the Jury could not give him aver. ; diet fur his demand. • The Jury retired from the box, and on their re. tarn Cooed a (verdict for the Plaintiff—Dom o 6501. _ _ . ' . OLD 13.414101: • . ,Testerd.ay Samuel Harris, aged 60, was breigil 19e oerge of stealing several articles of eat jatg . gpperel ou the 13th of October last. He at Isnowledged having stolen a,coat. , Found politic( stealiacto the raise of 16s. John Baas, s nail-dressed man, aged 27, la brought up on a charge of forgery .$ bat on accost of the absence of Thos. Colima the principal evidence, he was acquitted. • James Cockslimad and Williams House were se ' ewes of stealing a sack and a genetic* of flour host Thomas .Ashbyl, via 37th Nor. J a me s co c ky. * sa d wee found great, of otcalisaft--•ond winks Upro s e of stesliog, but not of breaking into Ash. • • John . Hopkinsi aged 23, Joseph Jones, apd , 311, sad Riched ?raced, aged 17, were with breaking into the shop cif David Phillip s at Mailing a quantity of wearing apparel. -David Phillips swore.that be was mimed by the .patrole on the morning of the 224 of November, 'and on going down stairs found his shop had huh .broken open, and two pair of leather breeches, fo* pair of cassimere breeches, and seterat other at& vies, taken away. John Murphy, a patrol°, saw, 114 twO o'clock the morning of the 20, six retki came up, wilt n first affected to be intoxicated, -thoegh , Involver he discovered that they were not inrokiested; ad then divide several times into parties of two sit three, observed the three pristine» gn urea 11, street, front St. James's side to St. Anne's side, I tl, Gerard.!itreet, 'where a shop wait brace) opit that morning ; apprehended Julies, and took,* to St. Jainetes wutch-house. Ott searchintil nothing was found upon hire. , I • 11 Qwcn Duncan, another vatrole l Oustitlllare account: Jaws M'Arthur, s watchman, laid Blake kips, with the assistsnoe of limes 'Ford, I'M • watchman, and found Phillips's property .41 hi which he dropped, and which Witness took sal gate along with the Prisoner, Hopkins, into th esstody of Mr. Scott, the constable of thenight, Ht. James's watch-house. James Ford confirmed this account. ' James Kennedy, another watchman, telloml Prescott to Phillips's door, where he heard a Dee bee of peat& talking about hatf-pest three o'clock and heard a wrenching of something. Proof crossed the street, said, ' All is well.' Wits' and another watchman followed him and apple ' ed Mali - whets - he said he hefted name. . Scott, constible of the night, swore that Ha. kins's hand . was scratched, as if oat by bteah' through a window. The Prisoners in defence, attempted to act• for their being in the street at so late sn h Prescott said, - on coming home. from the PI was etopt by tem girls, and could not get ice' • lodgings.. • A very respettable testimo n y wu borne to ebafacted wf alt the Prisoners. liar The Jiffy, after deliberating for some Court l - retired,and ertitrned in about fire elle with* verdict of auilfl7-but, recommeadell Prisoners to mercy. Catharine Main: was bonnet, below' We value of diktie itopilitS,'itbd 15, 111 very innoutt pearistitte; - stood: Indicted irdi'litaanta 4ol. ti (oe, fVoisillethjsnetri Wakkttes,:lie(Miwter•-- ~rrglen _,' jambs WOkisti ftrehttl 40t.'.Beet of stsahti missing.-quhn 'skidoo, * fellow-Sew nt, swore thatNinititowley NA a -401. . ~t witt e nutmepttattri tit• %/Ott! Vo- I f a r' , said tieiliMiet , ilte it' Rif 04," ..6 ' 47 : 1 .J Witttittil itt,e ihe: Fritroner ' a good CitatiCe'Xriieiley, the '13'6191%0'S fellitr, reeel" H,wk.ttol~i'l4rrnt her, 0 , whickibe said she foe the'ltre".l•Vol GS*, . 1 • , • Le ---------"--- 0 ""m"...1 4064.1 . Pro*, 144 miiph#4l.i Lti,"' 61 1 : .?tioAtitts'Yet. 4 sovg. O. 610101!' s", 1, -.. W