The Sun.
London, England, 1825-01-14 00:00:00

documents which showed to a fraction the extent of his trade: and
a broker selling a public-house, and a publican coining in, might
ascertain, by referring to them, whether the representations
made about-the- trade. of it were correct or not. - The plaintiff
might have made these references; and if he had pot, it was
by his own fault alone that he had suffered: He contended,
however, that no false representation had been -Made. Indeed,
no complaint had been,made of any till some months after. the:
contract had been made, and then net until the plaintiff's cus-
tomers had discovered the change which had been made in the
brewer, the distiller, and the wine-merchant, who had formerly
supplied the house. The sale of the spirits, too, hat been cal-
culated on the price by the gallon, whereas they were sold to the
market-people in much smaller quantities, which . gave to the
seller a much greater profit. There was, therefore, no proof
that his trade in spirits had not produced the suns which he had,
stated—a circumstance which, he trusted, they would keep in
mind, as also the singular fact, that -nobody had been called by'
the plaintiff to shew that the. house was not worth the suns be
had given for it. He therefore contended that their verdict
ought to be for his client. .
Mr. Justice LIT TLEDALE, in summing up the evidence to
the Jury, told them that there were three iSoints for their consi.
deration—first, was there any such iepreslaitation as the plain-
tiff charge(F? and, -secondly, if mere . was it true or
false ? If it was true, there was an_ entleeto the case.;
if it was false; then -came the thirkkeet--Z--a-AS-the defendant'
liable for it ? and if he wase_what .weia- the amount of damages
to which the plaintiff was entitled ? There could be little doubt
that the representations had been made : and that, as far as the
rent was concerned, it was untrue. So, too, that the trade in
porter was not 7 butts : but only 5 2-Laths butts per month.
With regard to spirits, witnesses had said that it was less than
901. per men th,when it had been represented at 1601. per month.
They would, however, recollect that this was estimated at the
distiller's, and not at the publican's prices.
11r. SCAR LETT intimated that there must be some mistake
as to this point on his Lordship's notes, and in consequence
A witness was recalled, who said that he was a publican,
and that he had. estimated the price of the spirits at the publi-
can's prices. -
Mr. Justice I, yr T LEDA!, E having set this matter right with
the Jury, proceeded to tell them that he had two or three:oh-
servations to address to them upon the point, whether the de-
fendant was liable, supposing the represerftations to he; false.
This was not an action upon a warranty, but upon a contract
founded on false representation. If a man bought goods upon
a warranty, the .seller was bound by it, and the buyer had no
occasion to make any inquiry; but when a man bought them -
on contract, he was bound to use reasonable diligence in in-.
forming himself of the correctness of the inducements which
the seller held put to him to enter into it. If the means of in-
formation were obvious, and he neglected to use them, it was
a point for theeViiry to consider whether the party had not
brought that loss .fipon .himself by his own negligence, and
whether he had not, for some reason or other, chosen to be de-
ceived. Now, as to the rent, it was quite clear that it was in the
power of the buyer to apply to the tenants for intOrmation. . The
tenants, it was true, might refuse to answer; but then the buyer,
by applying to them, had done all that he could to learn the truth-
of the seller's assertions. The means of ascertaining the correct-
'lessor the representations respecting the beer and spirit rate were
perhaps not quite so easy. Still there were , pass-books .which
might have been 'examined ; the plaintiff, however, had not
examined them, but had rested implicitly on the story told hint
by the defendaht. As-: the defendant had told that story, he
must now stand by, the consequences of it, mince, it' it were false,-
it was false within his own knowledge. After pointing out to
the Jury the principles.on which they ought to estimate the da-
mages, supposing their verdict to be for the. plaintiff, he. told
them that it appeared to him that, by the law as it was nowset-
tled, a tight of action existed for the representation respecting
the extent of the beer and spirit trade, but not for that respect-
ing the rent. . He would, however, thank them to state the
amount of damages they would give for the representation re-
specting the tratle,„.in order to save expence to the parties, in'
case his opinion
,should. be ill-foUnded in point of law. With
these observationS' left the case to their considennion.

.
The Jury retired at half-past one, and returned their verdict
at half.past ten o'clack at night, for the plaintiil:—Darnages,
170/., cests,4os... The Oat-pages were thus apportioned—Al ,to
trade, 150/.; as to rent, 20i. •