A promise could easily be framed which
would be broken by the happening of fair weather, or by A not
painting. A promise, then, is simply an accepted assurance that a
certain event or state of things shall come to pass.
But if this be true, it has more important bearings than simply
to enlarge the definition of the word promise. It concerns the
theory of contract. The consequences of a binding promise at
common law are not affected by the degree of power which the
promisor possesses over the promised event. If the promised event
does not come to pass, the plaintiff's property is sold to
satisfy the damages, within certain limits, which the promisee
has suffered by the failure. The consequences are the same in
kind whether the promise is that it shall rain, or that another
man shall paint a picture, or that the promisor will deliver a
bale of cotton.
[300] If the legal consequence is the same in all cases, it seems
proper that all contracts should be considered from the same
legal point of view. In the case of a binding promise that it
shall rain to-morrow, the immediate legal effect of what the
promisor does is, that he takes the risk of the event, within
certain defined limits, as between himself and the promisee.
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