In order to understand the full injustice committed in this
case it should be compared with another, tried at Liverpool five days after. Mr. Fenton, manufacturer, was en gaged to Miss Barber, daughter of a cottou broker. The engagement lasted eighteen months, when Mr. Fenton, either repenting his offer, or irritated by bickerings, or, as was hinted but not proved, disappointed as to his fiancée's means, wrote her a most frank and manly letter, telling her he had mistaken his own mind, and breaking off e the engagement. The lady was still under eighteen ; but her friends brought an action for breach of promise, and the jury actually gave a verdict with three thousand pounds damages. The case was entirely without aggravating circumstances, and had the woman from the same motives and in the same way jilted the man, he would never have recovered a penny. A few more actions of this kind, and men will be compelled to propose, "reserving all rights," to word their letters as cautiously as despatches, to stipulate that all kisses shall be "without prejudice," and only venture to flirt under counsel's advice. Statists already complain of the superabundance of spinsters, but every victory of this kind ruins ten girls' chances of settlement.
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