, 1872-10-16

q walk in the garden: discussing flowers, NOON
light, small birds. and other pabulun upon
which love is wont to feed in its piu-feathery
days. The result Of all this ia, that the young
man, before he knows it, has committed some
rash act, which is equivalent to an engagement
nowadays. He has sent his divinity bouquet,
he has taken her to the opera, he has sung duets
with her, he has even come to breakfast some
fine morning. or, worse than all combined. he
has written note to her. Then the trap is
sprung On him. He is an engaged man and be
don't like it, perhaps. He breaks it. It is now
quite universally conceded in such cases that
woman has the right to choose between three
distinct lines Of conduct. She may shoot the
base betrayer Of her virgin hopes, get arrested,
become insane, get acquitted BY maudlin
jury, md then go to lecturlng; or
she may bring O. suit for damages,
obtain a verdict, and go off and marry another
fellow or, she may so into decline, mourn in
secrecy, wear thin shoes, refuse to eat, and so
down to premature grave, in burial habit Ia
mode. Any one Of these three modes Of revenge
is open to her. She usually chooses the second,
sometimes the first, rarely the third. The first
is inconvenient, the third is Improbable, and
the second pays well, and is the favorite fashion.
As We have said, these three results are uniyer-
sally conceded to belong to Womans' Rights, and
there would be no disposition to complain Of it,
it man we're given an equal show.
The breaches Of promise are quite as frequent
ly feminine as masculine. The man, however,
who gets the mitten,-and what man has not
received that interesting fngerless souvenir p
has no rights in the premises whatever. He
is the universal butt Of his fellows,
and serves as food for their jocular merriment,
whenever they feel disposed. Under such cir
cumstances, his heart don't break worth six
pence. II he attempts to grow pale and inter-
esting, he gets ridiculed worse than ever. Il he
nurses a silent sor1ow he gets laughed at. II he
makes another marital adventure he is iumedi-
ately regarded as secondhand goods or cast-oH
clothing. His rights in the premises are two in
number. He can so to drinking whiskey and
drown his sorrows in the flowing bowl, which
usually ends in drowning him; or he can take
cold poison and 60 off in spaBns, leaving be-
hind him the findings Of q Coroner's jury and
mis-spe1t name in the newspapers, as well as
general reputation for idiocy. Jacob is the first
man who has taken higher view OF the
question, and placed it on the basis
Of dollars and cents, instead OF
whiskey and cold poison. Jacob is evidently
a thrifty, economical, and provident young
fellow, who is determined not to fool away his
time in loving for nothing, and go he has pre-
sented his bill. The decision will be awaited
for With anxiety by his fellow-su1e1ers, and. it
it is given in his favor, it is going to make lively
work for the courts Those who have no broken
engagements on hand for immediate service,
can find material enough for g suit in the con-
tents Of some old writing-desk, and sue both for
direct and indirect damages, thus covering the
current blight Of the affections, the advantages
which might have accrued in the future, and the
inestimable opportunities which have been
lost in the past. Jacobs courae is not
to be regarded as 3 mere cold formality
Of law, for the sake Of getting $4,000 worth
Of consolation. He is the embodiment OF new
idea, and on his fate hinges great social ques-
ton. In his triumph or in his defeat he settles
the conundrum whether man has any rights
which lovely woman is bound to respect, in the
matter Of marital engagements.