As if I am building a house, and when
the timber is being put up a piece of timber falls on my
neighbor's house and breaks his house, he shall have a good
action, &c.; and yet the raising of the house was lawful, and the
timber fell, me invito, &c. And so if one assaults me and I
cannot escape, and I in self-defence lift my stick to strike him,
and in lifting it hit a man who is behind me, in this case he
shall have an action against me, yet my raising my stick was
lawful in self-defence, and I hit him, me invito, &c.; and so
here, &C."
"Littleton, J. to the same intent, and if a man is damaged he
ought to be recompensed .... If your cattle come on my land and
eat my grass, notwithstanding you come freshly and drive them
out, you ought to make amends for what your cattle have done, be
it more or less .... And, sir, if this should be law that he
might enter and take the thorns, for the same reason, if he cut a
large tree, he might come with his wagons and horses to carry the
trees off, which is not reason, for perhaps he has corn or other
crops growing, &c., and no more here, for the law is all one in
great things and small .... Choke, C. J. to the same intent, for
when the principal thing was not lawful, that which depends upon
it was not lawful; for when he cut the thorns and they fell on my
land, [87] this falling was not lawful, and therefore his coming
to take them out was not lawful.
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