The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-04 00:00:00

THE WIFE WITH TWO HUSBANDS.

Some of our readers will recollect, that, some fifteen or
eighteen months since, we published a notice of the mar-
riage of a Miss Phelphs to a Mr. Roswell M. Field, of
Fayetteville, and also to a Mr. J. H. Clark, of Boston.
The circumstances was the subject of considerable remark
at the time, but the cause of this singular departure from
the ordinary rules of matrimonial etiquette was not at the
time made public. By the following, which we copy from
the Montreal Gazette, the mystery of these almost simul-
taneous marriages is developed, and a satisfactory reason
assigned for what, in different circumstances, would be con-
sidered unjustifiable and unmatrimonial conduct. "It
seems that Miss P. possessed an ample fortune, besides
every other charm that could make a young lady lovely in
the eyes of a suitor ; she was betrothed to Mr. C. with the
consent of all parties, he being a gentleman of medium cir-
cumstances and a merchant of Boston. In the mean while,
in steps auld Robin Grey, in the form of a Mr. F., a rich
gentleman from the South, rather advanced in years, but
having ample store of the ready. The parents were charmed
with the glittering gold, and, of course, used all their en-
deavours to break the lady's engagements with Mr. C. ;
but she, true to her first love, resisted all their efforts,
wrote to her lover concerning her situation, and planned
an elopement ere the dreadful day of her union with Mr.
F. should arrive. The sordid parents, suspecting by the
cheerfulness of their victim, that all things were not right,
ordered the marriage rites one day earlier than anticipated
at first. The poor girl was, consequently, hurried to the
altar more like a statue than any thing else—and the cere-
mony was performed. The Boston lover, in the mean-
while, had not been idle ; he stationed a relay of horses on
the road—and arrived at Putney just in time to be too late
—the rites had just been said. Not in the least dishear-
tened, he put his wits to work—and soon found out that
the bans had not been published, and Miss P. was not a
wife in the eye of the law. He consequently stole an inter-
view with her, and had an explanation of affairs. The hour
for retiring had not yet arrived—and the groom began to
be in fidgets about his bride ; she was sent for, but could
nowhere be found ; and so poor Pilgarlic was left to make
the best of it. Chase was instantly ma de, but the lovers
were too fleet for their pursuers. They reached Boston
and were lawfully wedded. Thus the mystery is explained ;
and it is said they frequently laughed at the joke—a
laugh which must be at the expense of Mr. F.—Salent.
Mercury.

The recent death of Admiral Manby, at South-
ampton, was occasioned by his accidentally taking an over-
dose of opium. He was in his 67th year, and was brother to
Captain Manby, the inventor of the life-preserving apparatus.

ROOKWOOD.—" The best and most conclusive
thing that can be said of this work," observes Frazer's Maga-
zine, " is, that it has created a sensation. The filling up of
the story is by general admission pronounced to be of great
power and effect. The course of the narrative, like that of
Dick Turpin's ride, never for a moment flags. The principal
characters are sustained with a force and energy which shine
forth in admirable contrast with the gentle beauty of the
author's descriptions of
" The outward shows of sky and earth,
Of hill and valley"—
or of the depth and delicacy of that love which
" Dwells in deep retreats,"
sanctifying the " undistingtushable throng" of woman's hopes
and fears. We are greatly deceived if " Rookwood" be not
destined to have a run in the true Turpin style. The state-
ment with which we set out, namely, that the book has created
a sensation is farther confirmed by a Ducrow entertainment
founded on Turpin's ride."—Frazer's Magazine, June.
HUNTING IN INDIA.—With respect to lions and
tigers, hunting them is (for the gentlemen observe) one of the
most harmless amusements in the world ; provided that you
ride, not a horse, but an elephant. Every hunter is perched
like a witness before an English Court of Justice, in a high
box attached to the animal's back. He has a smell park of
artillery with him, that is to say, a couple of muskets and a
brace of pistols. It sometimes happens, but not often, that
the tiger driven to bay leaps up on the head of the elephant,
but that is no concern of ours, it is the proper business of the
mohant (driver, or guide), ho is paid twenty-five francs a
month for encountering these accidents. In case of his death
he has at least the consolation of complete vengeance; for the
elephant does not simply trumpet with his trunk, when he dis-
covers his tiger head-dress, he works at his assailant with all
his might, and the hunter finishes him with a shot point-blank.
The mohant, you see, is a kind of responsible editor. Another
poor devil is behind, whose duty it is to hold a parasol over
your head. His condition is still worse than that of the
mohant ; when the frightened elephant flies before the tiger,
who charges his rear and springs upon his back, the true duty
of this man is to be eaten instead of the gentleman. India is
the Utopia of social order for men of rank. In Europe the
poor carry the rich on their shoulders, but it is only meta-
phorically ; here it is done without any rhetorical figure. In
place of the subtle distinctions of European policy between
producers and consumers, the governors and the governed,
&c., here the distinction is between the carriers and the
carried :—it has, at all events, the merit of being more clear.
—Jacquemont's Correspondence during his Travels in India.