The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1848-06-10

recovered and wholly appropriated to itself
the name of Lousiana-the remainder of the
old province being then called the "Missouri
Territory."l
These particulars fthe personal and po-
| litcal history ofDanie Clark are given here,
not as essential 10 an understanding Of the
subject, but merely 10 crafty any curiosity as
to who and what he was--since to tie grent
majority of this generation he is known ouly
MS his name is mentioned in connection with
this extraordinary litigation. These circum-
stances IRE now ofslight moment, aad only
of incidental interest-weighiy though they
must have seemed TO him when he perform
ed part so'important in the history Of all
| North America, as viewed in the light of re-
cent aud present movements. lie was then
| little conscious ola far more important posi-
ton which he was destined to occupy in n
history which, involving his most secret and
sacred affections ibis most unparalleled per-
sonul and private trials, was in time TO be-
come (as this will be) The romance Of The age,
shaming the widest vagaries of fiction by the
sad and solemn poetry of reality. To the
point where this pee ular dramatic series of
incidents devGlopes itself, the present narra-
! tive is now conducted.
On one of his frequent journeys 20 the
North, Daniel Clark became acquainted with
n very young and beautiful lndy-a mere girl
in age, though already, as she had supposed
a married woman. She was u native of
France, originally ramed Zulime Carriere,
and had been, in due form, married TO n
Frenchman named De Oranges, whom she
had accompanied from Paris to New York.
Not long after her arrival here, she ascer-
tanned that he had lawful wife still living;
and of course, she Immediately separated
from him remaining in very peculiar condi-
! tion--neither wife, widow, nor maiden, and
yet of perfectly innocent and irreproachable
character.
| Ii was when she was known as a victim
to these remarkable and cruel misfortunes,
that Daniel Clark first saw her; and such
were her charms-such her manifest inno-
cence and moral purity-that all the peculiar
ilies of her condition, so far from checking
the natural and spontaneous movement Of
his feelings ofadmiration towards her, only
heightened the passion and affection with
which she inspired him. He loved her, aud
she, n stranger In strange land, foreign in
birth, in speech and in associations-triend-
less and alone, overwhelmed by the dread
full calamity TO which she had been thus sub
jected in the very dawn other youth, for she
was but fourteen years old at the time of her
fictitious marriage to the villain DE Grainges,)
soon gave willing ear to The consultations
which her distinguished and accomplished
cerity and respectful devotion, as we'll as ar
dor, of the affection ofDanel Clark for the
unfortunate but innocent Zulime, were soon
demonstrated by u proposal of marriage. All
that was necessary TO make such colt
nection not only honorable and morally right
but safe and proper, was the legal proof of
the previous marriage of DE Graingcs. This
was soon put in process of cucidation by his
arrest and indictment under charge at New
(N.ln nI fI,ntt Ian.
the French Dominion. He was tried and
convicted, but, under the tardy procedure of
colonial law, he remained in prison unsen-
teuccd while the transfer of Louisiana to the
| United States was in progress. During the
conflict ofiurisdictions arising out of the dis
organization of the old tribunals and forlna-
! ton of the new courts, De Oranges, by some
accidental misunderstanding, or connvance
of friends among the French authorities,
managed TO obtain his liberty for n momeni;
he Immediately made good his escape, and
was never after heard of by those interested
in his detection and punishment.
Proceedings for obtaining legal proof of
his previous marriage, as furnished by his
| trial in New Orleans, were begun. in order
TO render Zuline Carricre unquestonahly
capable of contracting marriage with Dan
iel Clark. But delays occurred, and the ar
dor of the Anglo-Hihernian lover could not
brook this threatened prolongation Of his cX-
| pectancy, The moral right of Zulmetu be-
come his wife no one could question. She
was pure and innocent. She was still little
more than child in tge, and overwhelming
with affectionate admiration ofthe noble and
eminent man who was not only willing but
! eager TO make her his wife, and give her
such rank and position as 10 put her char
ncter forever beyond dispute or inquiry. In
his hasty and recklessIy impassione.l love,
| he urged an immediate marriage, to be PRI-
vATE at first and afterwards 10 he publicly
declared, when the proof Of the illegality of
| her former marriage was complete. ANY
apnrehensions of possible risk 20 her reputa-
ton and her future security and happiness,
which she might have entertained, were over
come by the passionate representations of
her berothed and won or flaHered hy the
honorable love with which he had so signally
befriended her in the day of her beirayal-in
the midst of the greatest misfortune which
could ever befal truly virtuous woman-
she yielded and few could blame her for SO
doing under all the circumstances of her eX-
treme youth, iEexperience, friendlessness and
distress. when thus sought by SUCH man,
She was accordingly married TO him LdtQtulty
but priUdiely, Ivy priest of the church OF
Rome, in the City ofNew York, in the pres
ence of several witnesses; and soon after ac-
companied him to New Orleans where she
was received in the families of his friends,
and in all the respectable society with which
his position and character had previously
mnde him familiar. Still on account of the
difficulty of obtaining complete legal proof
of the previous marriage OF DE Oranges, her
marriage with Daniel Clark was not openly
soiemnized nor made public in the requisite
legal form.
In tbis stage of the narrative if any doub,