The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-09-04
Breach OF Promise of Marriage.
Abbevi1le rs. c. Press and Banner

Abbev1ue Is. c. Press and bsnner'
We learn from the Charlotte Observer
that a young lady from the North, from the
Bay State, has sued Mr.. Joseph Coke, iate
of Greenville, now of Asheville, n; u, 1or
breach of promise of marriage. lhe dam
thousand dollars. That sum alone, not q
cent less, will suffice to fill up the breach
made in Miss Dollie's" affections. Ii her
heart be broken, her head is level. we
should like to know, however, by q
arithmetical process Miss Dollie or her
prochein amy arrived at the exact assess
ment Of damages implied in the round sum
of twenty thousand dollars. An eyen,
plump sum it is, its symmetry undisturbed
by units, tens, or hundreds, or even by an
odd thousand or twO-its beauty undisng-
ured by cents, mills or a common traction.
How was the arithmetical question stated,
figured out, and worked so as to evolve as a
result the answer twenty thousand dollars
AS a question of profit and loss, the jury
should also assess the value Of all that Miss
Dollie gave young Coxe-''the smiles, the
tears, the kisses sweet the ''favors secret,
sweet and precious" which are generally
supposed to be conferred by loving maldens
on the their SWANS. But how can a jury
a~ppraise a smile at higher than bar-room
rates, which are ten cents a smile? AS tor
the value of tears, the jury will be called on
to decide whether they were common, cheap
salt tears, or pearly ~tear-drops which should
be assessed at a much higher figure but
how can they decide, unless Miss Dollie's
tears have been kept Sin a bottle pa The
kisses-what standard of value can the jury
apply to them? Nothing is so dear, and
in the market h~uctuates in value so much
and so often. Its worth depends largely
upon the value set on it by the recipient.
The kiss, for instance, which the bridegroom
receives from his blushing bride, how much
dearer it is to him than are all the kisses he
receives that day from her sisters and her
cousins and her aunts. "A fond kiss is
said to be more precious than rubies; while
a stolen kiss is worth ten thousand freely
bestowed. Difficult it would be to place the
right money value on Miss Dollie's kisses.
And yet a money standard has sometimes
been applied, as recently in London at the
French Bazaar, when Sara Bernhardt
charged from one to five sovereigns for one
of her kisses delivered to the purchaser, not
| on his lips but on the edge of his cofee-cup.
The price of a kiss delivered by seductive
Sara on the lips was not quoted in the
market. The famous Duchess of Gordon
| raised a regiment of Highlanders for the
kings service by giving each recruit the
kings shilling and a kiss from her own ripe
lips. The kisses Of the Duchess would seem
to have been more highly valued than were
Miss Dollie's; the Duchess enlisted a regi-
ment, but Dollie failed to enlist a man.
To help them in their deliberation we
would remind them that by a recent act of
| the British Parliament no action can lie for
breach of promise of marriage except In
cases where actual ~pecuniary loss was suffer
ed by the plaintiff. If Miss Dollie lost
money by Mr.. Joseph Coke, as, for instance,
in purchasing her bridal trousseau, then the
jury would be right in levying a tax on
Coxe's pocket to defray such expenses. If
it was an affair of the heart and not of the
pocket, it is not possible for any jury to as
sess the damages in money. Several hard
| and unanswerable questions have been
asked-one, "A wounded spirit who can
| bear?" another, "Say, canst thou minister
to a mind diseased? ?" We add another !:
"The damages lone to sighted affection,
what jury can compute?" We hope the
jury in this case will give Miss Dollie Price
| the verdict and ten cents damages, and thus
leave her without money and him without
Price.