But it will be found that,
when it is so, it is because the act when done maliciously is
followed by harm which would not have followed the act alone, or
because the intent raises a strong probability that an act,
innocent in itself, will be followed by other acts or events in
connection with which it will accomplish the result sought to be
prevented by the law.
LECTURE III.
TORTS. -- TRESPASS AND NEGLIGENCE.
The object of the next two Lectures is to discover whether there
is any common ground at the bottom of all liability in tort, and
if so, what that ground is. Supposing the attempt to succeed, it
will reveal the general principle of civil liability at common
law. The liabilities incurred by way of contract are more or less
expressly fixed by the agreement of the parties concerned, but
those arising from a tort are independent of any previous consent
of the wrong-doer to bear the loss occasioned by his act. If A
fails to pay a certain sum on a certain day, or to deliver a
lecture on a certain night, after having made a binding promise
to do so, the damages which he has to pay are recovered in
accordance with his consent that some or all of the harms which
may be caused by his failure shall fall upon him.
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