Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1st ed, 1768, vol III).djvu/232

Rh or corporate, can have an action for a public nuance, or punih it; but only the king in his public capacity of upreme governor, and pater-familias of the kingdom. Yet this rule admits of one exception; where a private peron uffers ome extraordinary damage, beyond the ret of the king’s ubjects, by a public nuance: in which cae he hall have a private atisfaction by action. As if, by means of a ditch dug acros a public way, which is a common nuance, a man or his hore uffer any injury by falling therein; there, for this particular damage, which is not common to others, the party hall have his action. Alo if a man hath abated, or removed, a nuance which offended him (as we may remember it was tated, in the firt chapter of this book, that the party injured hath a right to do) in this cae he is entitled to no action. For he had choice of two remedies; either without uit, by abating it himelf, by his own mere act and authority; or by uit, in which he may both recover damages, and remove it by the aid of the law: but having made his election of one remedy, he is totally precluded from the other.

remedies by uit, are, 1. By action on the cae for damages; in which the party injured hall only recover a atisfaction for the injury utained; but cannot thereby remove the nuance. Indeed every continuance of a nuance is held to be a freh one ; and therefore a freh action will lie, and very exemplary damages will probably be given, if, after one verdict againt him, the defendant has the hardines to continue it. Yet the founders of the law of England did not rely upon probabilities merely, in order to give relief to the injured. They have therefore provided two other actions; the aie of nuance, and the writ of quod permittat proternere: which not only give the plaintiff atisfaction for his injury pat, but alo trike at the root and remove the caue itelf, the nuance that occaioned the injury. Thee two actions however can only be brought by the tenant