The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-02-24 00:00:00

ATKINS V. BOVE.T.

This was an aiflion brought by the-Plaintiff Atkins,
a free Waterman, inhabiting ceruiin morns in an
•old building calleJFlanbury-house,in the Hamlet of
Poplar, against Mr. Bovey, a gentleman of fortune
and his landlord, to -recover damages for a trespass.
It appeared that the Plaintiff occupied a few rooms •
on the north-east part of the building, and that the.
-Defendant, having purchased the whole, was desir-
ous of converting it into three distinct tenements.
With this view he had the place surveyed—it was in
a most dilapidated state. The Defendant gave or-
•dests to untile the house, and that the entire brick-
work, on the back part of .the building, should be
pulled tlowuto the ground. In consequence of this,
she rooms-occupied by Atkins, his wife, (who was in
a state of pregnancy,) and five children, one of
whom was el of the small-pox, were exposed to the
inclemency of the weather. The Plaintirs resi-
dence was rendered, bythis procedure of the Defen-
dant, dangerous in the extreme. The building, left
without its proper support, was in hourly expectation
of crumbling to atoms ; and it -was proved, that
had there been. andfigh wind, it could not have re-
sisted it, but the Plaintiff and his family must have.
been buried in the ruins. A-stack of chimneys did,
in fail, fall, and the terror it operated, upon the;
mind of Mrs. Atkins, brought on a premature de-.
livery, but, in the language of the midwife who'
assisted her, " happily, and by God's providence,
she had a good getting up." This witness stated,
that while Mrs. Atkins was .laying-in, there were
holes in the room which any one might have crept
.through. It appeared, that Mr. Bovey was remon-
strated with, as to the danger to which he exposed
Atkins and his'family ; and it was observed, that at
the first high wind, the house would be blown
down. " Well, then," said he, "it will kill some
of them, and I wish to get rid of them." A Mr.
Batch stated, that a high wall was left is so danger-
ous a situation, that he expeCted every moment it
would fall. He was so impressed with the impro-
priety of the Defendant's conduet, that he had
made up kis mind, it it should fall and kill any
children who might be under it, to appear as a wit-
ness against the Plaintiff upon a charge of murder.
All these faits were stated to the Jury by Mr.
Erskine, and were fully proved.
Mr. Gaititow endeavoured to palliate the eon.'
dud of the Defendant. He observed, that the in-
jury had ben greatly aggravated, and with regard
to Mrs. Atkins- whatever inconvenience she might '
have suflered, :he had been safely delivered of a •
" Jolly yoaag waterman."
Lord ELLESIIOII4)IIGH, in the couree of his ad-
drestio the Jury, severely animadverted on the con-
•of the Defendant. He was of opinion, that
had the wall fallen after he had notice of its danger-
ous state, and killed any children, the .Defendant
would have had some difficulty in clearing himself
from a charge of murder. He considered the
words used by the Defendant as indications of a
malicious disposition towards the Plaintiff and his
family. He thought it a case in which the Plaintiff
was intitled to damages for the misery and inconveni-
ence he had suffered. The Jury were, hawever,not to
take into their consideration the moral depravity of
the Defendant, or the criminal disposition by which
he was aCtuated ; they were only merely to esti-
mate a compensation for the injury the Plaintiff had
sustained. He would not advise them to give ag-
,gravated or vindictive damages, referring to the •
oppressive conduit of the Defendant, but a fair,
and at the same time a liberal recompense for the
inconvenience suffered by the Plaintiff.
The Jury returned a verdict for the Plaintiff—
damages, 1001.
Mrs. Atkins was in Coilrt, and at particular parts.
of the pathetic .address of Mr. Erskine, and the
evidence of the' witnesses, describing the situation
of herself and' her family, her eyes flnwed with
tears. Her appearance and manner was some-.
what peculiarly interesting.,
The Sittings finished.,T—amotrow Lord ELLEN.
soaout,st sits.at

COURT OF COMNLON PLEAS, Frs. 2S.
4Sitays after Term, &fort Lord AL VANLCY.

-L AZ A RUS C. SOLO MONS.

This WaS an aaion to recover damages for an
. injury sustained in consequenCe of au assault eons-'
nutted by the Defendant.
It appeared that the Plaintiff, who is a Jewess,
'was walking, in company with a friend, by the
house of Mrs. 801omons, in Goodman's Fields, who
opened her window and incautiously threw out a.
glass bottle, which unfortunately fell on the head of
Mrs. Lazarus. The severity of the blow deprived
her of scasation, and she fell•into the arms of Mrs. •
Levy, her condudor, who •immediately knocked at.
the Defendant's door, and desired to lcrow who had
thrown the bottle•into the street. The servant girl
said, it was Mrs. Solomons, and that she was fre►
quently doing such actions. '1 he Plaintiff was then
led into the.pailour, and the girl went up stairs to
the Defendant, and exclaimed, " 0, you wicked
old woman!— what have you done ?—you have
neatly.kilkd a person who was passiug by ;he duor."
Mrs. Solomcns\said that she did not understand that.

rr~i~r~oa..__ --

I.

she had done any harm, Init•she would go and•see
what was the matter. She accordingly went down
stairs, and found the Plaintiff with her head very
much wounded. She pretended to be very sorry,
and asked her if she would have a cup of coffee,
and make it up ; which proposal was not acceded
to, as the pain occasioned by the Defendant's care-
lessness, or design, could not be so.soon done away,
not could the wound be cured with coffee. Mrs.
Lazarus was, therefore, conveyed home, under the
full determination of making the pocket of Mrs.
Solomon's pay for the misfortune she had
met with. A day or two after this disagree-
able accident happened, several of the Plaintiff's
friends made application to obtain of the Defendant
a compensation in money for the injury-she had re:
'ceived, representing that her life was in mitch dan-
ger. Mrs..Solomoss (who is a lewms herself) told
them they were a gang of Jew thieves who had con-
spired' to rob her, and that she would not give one
'farthing -upon the crcasion. She ,was however in-
duced, some time after, on hearing that the Plaintiff
grew worse, to send a Jewish apothecary to examine
the wounds of Mrs. Lazarus, who went to'hcr house,
and. exclaimed, " Poh! poh.! -clap a large poul-
tice to her head, and all will be well!" His judg-
ment, however, differed widely from that of Mr.
Mostly's, the Plaintiff's surgeon, who stated to the
Court, that he found Mts. Lasants at_that time in
en alarming state di:bless, occasioned .by a wound
she had received on the fore-part of her head, which
had occasioned a deafness that had not yet left her.
It was contended, that the Defendant .had thrown
the glans bottle out of the window without any in-
tent to assardt the Plaintiff. The learned Judge,
however, stated to the Jury, that the condud of the
Defendant was highly reprehensible, and direded
'them to give such damages as should appear suffi-•
cient to defray the expences occasioned by the acci-
dent.,
'fhetJurr returned a verdict in favour-of the Plain-
tiff ; damages 201.