ribs with a playful ejaculation, somewhat resem- | Forests," and springing into a cab, directed the bling the "caw" of a rook. "I have tied no knot, my dear fellow." "Not married? zounds!" exclaimed Puddicombe, "what is the meaning, then, of those euphonious sounds?" fellow to drive to Great Knight Rider Street, Doctors' Commons. Mr. Cocklebury, who occupied chambers in the chivalrous locale just mentioned, was a proctor of good reputation and practice. For the He paused, and listened. It was-there could honor of his acquaintance, I was originally inbe no mistake about it—the clang of marrow-debted to a ticket-porter, in Paul's Chain, who, bones and cleavers. Grasping my arm, Puddicombe triumphantly pulled me to the window, and there, surrounded by a number of the swinish multitude, were three impudent butchers, energetically employed in displaying their peculiar powers of instrumentation. suspecting that I required a matrimonial licence, politely offered to introduce me to a professional gentleman, of whom he spoke in terms of unqualified commendation, and for which introduction I presented him, having no smaller coin about me, with half-a-crown. Of a bland and genial countenance, with an expression of sly huPuddicombe threw up the sash, and tossed mor in the benevolent twinkle of his little gray them a shilling, upon which the mob burst forth eyes, you could not look upon Mr. Cocklebury with a deafening cheer, while the smaller fry without the conviction that a proctor's life was held up their caps, and, like Oliver Twist, made | calculated to excite feelings of excusable envy. application "for more." This pleased Puddi- And Mr. Cocklebury was to be envied. Ircombe vastly, and, scattering a handful of half-respective of the emoluments which his practice pence amongst them, he nearly split his sides in produced (and they were by no means despicalaughing as the urchins rushed headlong, reck-ble), Cocklebury was honored with the confiless of mud and danger, into the thickest of the gutters in pursuit of the precious metal. But sterner trials even than these were in store for me. I pass over the miseries of a sleepless night. I rose languid, depressed, and ghastly - and did not arrive at the "Woods and Forests" till a quarter past ten. As soon as I entered the office all my colleagues caine forward, and, shaking my hand in the most impressive manner, congratulated me on the happy change which had taken place in my condition. Not content with this, Puddicombe — that inveterate joker will certainly be the death of me-sent for two bottles of champagne, and proposed the health of Mr. and Mrs. Fullalove, in a speech full of absurdity, and to which all present responded with the Kentish fire-hip-hip-hurrah hurrah hurrah! dence was, in fact, the lay confessor of suspicious earls and jealous countesses— his ear was the chosen depositary of secrets, deep, dark, and unfathomable as the Mysteries of Udolpho. Day after day, the high-minded, beautiful, eloquent, and dignified victim of conjugal infelicity, would sink into Cocklebury's easy-cushioned chair, and contemplating tearfully the lace-bordered handkerchief in her jewelled fingers, would bewail the wrongs and sufferings, by which a spouse, diverted from his legitimate sphere by the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, was slowly bearing down her afflicted spirit into a long-expectant and inevitable tomb. Mr. Cocklebury received me with much politeness. He had just given audience to a young, but tall, and apparently high-spirited lady, with large, dark, Italian eyes, who, stepping into an elegant britzka, where a pet spaniel was repos splendid bays, just as my cab set me down at Cocklebury's office. I bit my lip till the pain was insupportable, and, to conceal my chagrin, took up the "Morning on the last new novel, was driven off by two ing Post." Mechanically my eye fell full on the following paragraph:-"On the 9th inst., at the Church of St. Marylebone, Chatham Pitt Fullalove, Esq., of the Woods and Forests, Whitehall, to Miss Penelope Phipps, of BelleVue Cottage, St. John's Wood Road.” The artful old proctor's eye had a peculiar leer, and there was a sort of imprisoned chuckle in his throat, which betrayed the distinctive character of the narrative to which he had just been lending his urbane and sympathizing credence. "I come to solicit your advice and assistance, sir," I said, as soon as Mr. Cocklebury had closed | the door, which was listed from top to bottom, so that not a sound could escape-“your advice, sir, under very singular and painful circumstances." "Singular and painful, eh?" returned the old gentleman, looking me full in the face. "Can the mouth of calumny be stopped, sir?" | reflection, observed "It must be so-Plato, thou reasonest well." I demanded; "can a report, as malicious as it is unfounded, be suppressed by any process, ecclesiastical or otherwise?—the facts are these-" "Go on," said Cocklebury, rubbing his hands with pleasurable anticipation, "facts are stubborn things: but there's nothing like them, is there?" "You may remember, sir, about a week since, I obtained a licence "What name?" "Phipps - Miss Penelope Phipps was the lady's name. Now, by one of the most melancholy blunders that ever mortal man could possibly fall into, instead of being united to the object of my affection, I find myself yoked to a lump of grossness and vulgarity, who, on my conscience, I believe is neither more nor less than the notorious' Wonder of the Fair.'"' "Gad!" said old Cocklebury, with a lively smile, "you have tumbled, then, over a paragon of female excellence." "By fair, sir, I mean Cumberland Fair. Now, imagine my horror, sir, on finding myself harnessed for life to an individual who is made a public exhibition of, and who is old enough to be my mother." "Name it," I exclaimed, jumping up and grasping Cocklebury's hand with vindictive exultation; "name it, and, if it cost me a thousand pounds, I will make these tattlers rue it." Taking a large solemn-looking tome from his book-case, Cocklebury opened it, and, aided by his eye-glass, read as follows: "JACTITATION OF MARRIAGE. - A suit in the Ecclesiastical Court, when one of the parties asserts that he or she is married, which the other party denying, and no adequate proof of the marriage being brought, the offending party is enjoined silence on that head." "I don't know," said Cocklebury, closing the volume," whether that will apply exactly to your case." "It only requires, like a new glove, sir, a little stretching," I replied, with implicit confidence in the notorious flexibility of justice; “and I rejoice greatly to find, sir, that after all the senseless and malevolent abuse which has been levelled at our courts of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, they are no less deserving of veneration for their compliance with the demands of suffering humanity than any other pillar of our glorious and "But you were harnessed with your eyes open, imperishable constitution." I suppose?" "Yes," I exclaimed, with bitternes; "but of what use are eyes when opposed to a London fog on the 9th of November? But I have not yet told you the worst, sir: not only am I legally bound to love, honor, and cherish this penny exhibition of obesity- not only am I threatened with an action for breach of promise by Miss Phipps-not only am I doomed to writhe on a bed of thorns whenever the recollection of my own stupidity presses upon my brain, but, to crown all- to make me a perfect and hopeless maniac — it is announced in the public prints in the daily journals, sir, that, on the 9th instant, Chatham Pitt Fullalove, Esq., of the Woods and Forests, Whitehall, led to the hymeneal altar Miss Penelope Phipps, of Belle-Vue House, St. John's Wood Road; and wherever I go, people rush upon me to congratulate me accordingly. In vain I protest it's no such thing-in vain I solemnly assure them that I am not united to Miss Phipps that Miss Phipps is not Mrs. Chatham Pitt Fullalove-they wont believe it. Now, sir, as for every wrong there is a remedy, I presume that the law omnipotent and beneficent as it is will not hesitate to afford me some relief for this crying-this intolerable this truly appalling grievance. Am I right, sir, or am I not?" The sagacious old gentleman tapped his forehead with his forefinger; and, after a moment's Having given utterance to these sentimentsthe firm conviction, be it remembered, of a liberal and unprejudiced mind — I left Cocklebury, with instructions forthwith to issue a “Jactitation" against Bartholomew Puddicombe, as the greatest enemy to my tranquillity and reputation. Oh, talk not to me of mercy! about its blessing both the drawer and the acceptor. Revenge is a bill that is never dishonored; and why? Because it is invariably paid as soon as it is due. On leaving the worthy proctor, I directed my steps towards Paul's Wharf, intending to return by one of the penny steamers to Westminster Bridge, when my purpose was frustrated, and my life placed in the most imminent jeopardy that can possibly be conceived. It was a bright and cheerful morning; the sun, as if to celebrate the restoration of peace to my bosom, bestowed a general illumination upon the rippling Thames, whose tide, like that in the affairs of provisional committeemen, was at lowwater mark. Numerous barges floating down the river under the urgent guidance of stalwart lightermen, whose shoulders seemed in momentary danger of dislocation, formed, by their austere appearance, a striking contrast to the little insignificant wherries which, riding saucily on the undulating billows, seemed to deride (like many conceited little upstart people I could mention) the grand locomotive powers to which they are indebted for their factitious elevation. While I was standing on the "dumb-lighter," waiting the arrival of the steamer, my attention was arrested by a female voice, exclaiming, "So we've found you again, have we ?" and turning round, I beheld, to my dismay, that tremendous and unhappy woman to whom my hand, but not my heart, was irrevocably linked, attired in a faded sea-green silk cloak, and stupendous leghorn bonnet, with snow-boots, and supported by a shapeless mass of umbrella. To increase her attractions, she was accompanied by half-a-dozen children there might have been more—all of whom were busily engaged in the mastication of certain dark-colored sweetmeats, with which their cheeks and fingers were horribly tattooed. Before I could concert any measures for my escape from this awful visitation, the Periwinkle steamer, with its sturdy and bluff-looking commander on the paddle-box, came alongside, and the first object that caught my attention, among the steerage passengers, was Miss Penelope Phipps, accompanied by a thin elderly gentleman, in a straw hat and nankeen gaiters, who politely held a parasol over those interesting features, which he regarded with a tenderness out of all proportion to his age and infirmities. Here was a dilemna! Penelope before me behind, that miserable woman who called herself my lawful and inestimable wife! I was pent up between two hostile forces-resistance useless -retreat impossible. I was just beginning to perspire at every pore, when the six pledges of affection just alluded to, suddenly clapping their hands, with triumphant joy exclaimed," There's Captain Rowbottom-hooray!" Scarcely had this startling announcement reached my ears, when Captain Rowbottom, a corpulent, purplenosed, big-whiskered man, in a blue jacket, and a polished leather hat, and wearing a galvanic ring on his rosy little finger, turned round, and recognizing the juvenile congregation, he sprung from his paddle-box on to the dumb-lighter, and, in another instant, was locked in the embrace of that infatuated female, to whom he would on the previous day have been united in the holy bands of wedlock, but for those malignant vapors which delayed his arrival at the place of assignation, and rendered me his unconscious representative. "Vast heaving!" cried the captain, panting for breath, and striving to disengage himself from the chubby arms of his betrothed; "cheer up, Molly cheer up, my little vater-lily — just let go the yard-arm. Half-turn-a-head! - Ease her!" This last injunction was addressed to me, but paralyzed by the nature of my situation, I was incompetent to afford the required assistance, and between us the unhappy woman slid downwards on the deck, while Rowbottom regarded me with such a scowl, for my ungallant inhumanity, as I could only compare to Kean, in Sir Giles Overreach. "Oh, Henery!" sobbed the ex-widow, addressing Captain R., "why — why didn't you come to Mary-bone Church ?— didn't I not wait for a whole hour to give you my nuptial wow?" "Tide was agin me," replied Captain Rowbottom, heaving a sigh of twenty tons burthen from his manly chest," and afore I got to Pickleherring Stairs my biler busted." A spasm-a bitter spasm-contracted the oleaginous features of Widow M'Ree. The captain grew pale as a gooseberry. "Henry," said the ex-widow, with an impressive and agonizing look, "I'm the wictim of misplaced confidence — that fog has given me to another." "Vot other?" demanded the captain, while his herculean frame was convulsed with indignation. "To him with the sandy vhiskers,” replied the ex-widow, pointing at my miserable self. I cannot describe no mortal writer could — the rapid and appalling events which ensued upon this announcement. Suddenly, with the rapidity of thought, I felt my collar grappled by the horny hands of Captain Rowbottom; there was a struggle a determined but most unequal struggle — there were shrieks piercing shrieks from the ladies on deck, and cheers, lusty cheers, from the coal-whippers on shore- we were on the edge of the dumb-lighter, and in another instant we tumbled headlong into the nauseous flood. There was a rush of impure water down my throat — I kicked — I roared—I sunk — consciousness was fast failing me, when fortunately the drags of the Royal Humane Society arrested the process of gravitation. I was drawn up to the surface like an exhausted Barbel, and, overcome by thankfulness for my preservation, I fainted away. When sensibility returned, I found myself extended on the floor of the saloon of the Periwinkle steamer. No one was near me, but a lady and gentleman were sitting at the end of the apartment, in close and apparently loving conversation. I raised my aching head and recognized Miss Phipps, and the elderly gentleman in the straw hat and nankeen gaiters. "Penelope!" I murmured, as soon as the removal of foreign substances from my windpipe would admit of distinct articulation. She heard me not. Her hand was locked in that of her attenuated protector, and with averted eyes, she smiled as she was wont, when we sat together after tea in the arbour of Cremorne House - when I spoke like Othello of most disastrous chances - when she loved me for the What became of the big woman to whom my dangers I had passed (in my daily progress to troth had been so mysteriously plighted, I know and from the "Woods and Forests"), and I not, but on enquiry of the curate of Mary-leloved her that she did pity them. bone, I found that Captain Rowbottom had waitHearing some one descending the companion-ed upon him to know whether the union "stood ladder, I made another essay to arrest Penelope's attention. "Miss Phipps," I said, in a voice broken with emotion, "do not forsake me in these trying moments; pray don't." The elderly gentleman in the straw hat and nankeen gaiters approached me, and assisting me to rise, he said, with great civility, "You called that lady by her wrong name, sir— there is no such person as Miss Phipps in this placeallow me to introduce you to Mrs. Timothy Freebone." I subsequently discovered that Penelope (my lost one) had, that morning, bestowed her hand upon this slender old gentleman, in the straw hat and nankeen gaiters, who, for some time previous ly, had been a solitary lodger at Belle-Vue House, and up to the period of my fatal blunder had sued and sighed most perseveringly, but in vain. good in law;" and on being informed that it did not, in consequence of the ceremony being incomplete by the parties omitting to sign their names in the parochial register, intimated his intention to lead Mrs. Mary M'Ree, widow, to the altar on the ensuing Sunday - an engagement which, I doubt not, he duly and faithfully performed. The union of Miss Phipps with Mr. Freebone having been advertised in the "Post," I was at once relieved from the annoyance which impelled me to grasp at that knotty branch of ecclesiastical law, a suit of "Jactitation," whose nature and properties are, I fancy, involved in as great obscurity as the tragical event to which I was indebted for my knowledge of its existence, namely, "The Wedding in the fog." -Tait's Edinburgh Magazine. ENGLISH ADVENTURE IN BORNEO. Narrative of Events in Borneo and Cel- | and now clothed to the water's edges with luxuebes, down to the Occupation of Labû- riant verdure. an. From the Journals of James Brooke, Esq. With a Narrative of the Expedition of H. M. S. Iris. By CAPTAIN ROD NEY MUNDY, R. N. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1848. The islands of the Indian Archipelago have lately attracted a considerable share of public attention. What was formerly a terra incognita, is now an every-day topic. Works upon the geography, manners, customs, religion, and resources of the Eastern Archipelago are daily multiplying, while the interest of the subject increases as each new light is thrown upon it, and a deeper insight obtained into those hitherto little explored regions. The public will owe a deep debt of gratitude to every new author appearing upon the scene; for the more widely knowledge is diffused, the greater will be the advantages accruing from the gradual advance of British enterprise among those, until now, almost untrodden spots lying in the further East, where nature appears to develop every conceivable form of beauty and magnificence. Vast islands, shallow seas, and intricate channels meet the eye in every direction; while the ocean is bordered by shores, now belted in by towering cliffs, Borneo itself, second in size to but one island in the whole world, presents almost every feature characteristic of the tropics. Broad prairies, forests of immeasurable extent, and undulating sweeps of jungle, present themselves in succession, while lofty ridges of mountains rib the whole surface of the island. No country in the world affords more various and valuable materials of commerce. Sixty different species of timber have already been discovered, some of which is of so hard and durable a nature that it resists for ages the effects of air and water; and, what is still more extraordinary, the white ant, so destructive to almost every kind of wood, exerts no influence upon it. The forests of Borneo would supply the materials for the fleets of the most powerful maritime nations; whilst minerals of every description are found in abundance, together with every variety of the vegetable kingdom and many useful animals. The public has, by this time, become pretty familiar with the history of the English Rajah of Sarawak's first entrance and subsequent establishment in Borneo. In Captain Keppel's admirable work, we were presented with details concerning the manner in which, by his earnest coöperation with the Sultan of Bruné against the rebel tribes, he so won upon the confidence of the uncultivated and ignorant monarch, as to induce him to raise him to the rank he now holds. These circumstances it is not by any means our present intention to dwell upon; our object being to convey some idea of events not included in Captain Keppel's late work, but which, however, relate in part, at least-to the same period, though the rest of the narrative brings us down to a much later date. When this interview was over, Mr. Brooke proceeded without further difficulty towards the interior, with the intention of visiting the re This intention was, however, not carried into effect until some time after, when Mr. Brooke held another interview with some native chiefs at Doping, a village situated upon a pretty but small stream. The following description will best represent its position to the reader: The work which forms the basis of the present article is of a very valuable kind, and throws considerable light upon the present condition of the Archipelago. The English rajah, whose ex-nowned cavern of Mampo, of which the most traordinary career the public has been long con- extraordinary accounts had reached the ears of templating, has here thrown together, in the the traveller. pleasing and interesting form of a diary, a mass of the most curious and novel information, illustrated by a series of anecdotes of the most animated description, and adventures, such as it has fallen to the lot of few men to encounter. Indeed, the vast amount of curiosity concerning Insular Asia, which is at present springing up in the mind of all intelligent persons, may be said to trace its origin to the publication of Captain Keppel's work, which still enjoys an extended popularity. The present narrative will be welcomed, if possible, still more warmly, by all who take an interest in the proceedings of our countrymen in the Indian Archipelago. The account of the island of Celebes, which has been visited by but few explorers, is curious in the extreme. Much difficulty had to be encountered ere Mr. Brooke could obtain an interview with any of the men in authority there. However, this was at length brought about; and the Rajah Pangawa, of Pallettè province, gave audience to the English traveller. We extract a portion of the conversation which took place between them:: "What pleasure could you take in coming so far?' "I replied that it was difficult for him to understand how much Englishmen liked going to different places that all Englishmen travelled; many, like myself, kept vessels to visit foreign countries. "The village of Doping is situated at the verge of the grassy plain which stretches as far as the eye can reach in every direction, and, as I have before observed, terminates towards the sea in low mangrove swamps. Here may be seen the formation of land from the time it progressive stages. First, the low sand-bank; emerges from the sea at low water, through its in the sterile and water-covered soil; thirdly, next, the young mangrove shoots sprouting out the twisted roots of the same tree, exposed to the action of the tides, freshness and verdure above, but without resting-place for man's foot; amid the mangrove roots, and the trees large fourthly, the gradual accumulation of the soil and of many years' growth; fifthly, the soil, emerging above high-water mark, gives nourishment to a few other trees and shrubs besides the mangroves; lastly, the full-grown forest, or bare plain, as it were by man's intervention, presents itself." Mr. Brooke now lays before the reader an account of the government and institutions of the people of Wajo, in which he descends to particulars too minute to dwell upon in our present paper. The details are extremely interesting, and disclose curious pictures of the manners and customs of the wild tribes inhabiting the island of Celebes. The visit which Mr. Brooke paid to this almost unknown island is not to be considered as one made merely for pleasure. Suffering our thoughts to penetrate into the dim future, we are led to hope that when of Celebes, he carried with him the germs cf a the English rajah first set his foot upon the soil civilization whose influence will be co-extensive with the duration of the globe itself. For, when once curiosity is excited, it will not slumber; and when the first necessary means for ensuring |