Baron Bramwell has struck a sharp blow at the present
system of actions for breach of promise of marriage. In July, 1870, Miss Nightingale met Captain Perry, of H.M.'s Navy, at an evening party, in a boarding-house in Harley Street. They were not in- troduced, and had no conversation with each other. In August, 1871, Miss Nightingale, however, wrote to Captain Perry ; an affectionate correspondence ensued, and they were engaged. In April, 1873, there was some misunderstanding about money, and the Captain broke off the engagement, and married another woman,—not, however, a rich one. An action was brought, and the jury gave the plaintiff /500, equal to Captain Perry's allowances for a whole year. An application- to reduce damages was made to the Court of Exchequer, but refused. Baron Bramwell, however, while concurring in the judgment, declared that had he been on the jury he would not have given the plaintiff one farthing ; that she might just as well have put her hand into a bag and drawn out defendant's narde, and that she wished to enter into a solemn engagement with as little precaution as if she were taking a week's lodging. Most people will agree with the Baron, but the wrong seems to be without a remedy. If the action is to be maintained at all, a jury can no more decide on the wisdom or foolishness of an engage- ment than on the wisdom or foolishness of an engagement to buy a house.
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