Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1856-08-18
Tn, MuhIe.l Hero Of Modern Times

Homer is not the only great character whose birth
Mace promises to be the bone Of contention among
tho disputatious race Of man. Col. John Charlie
Fremont the candidate Of the Black Republicans,
has An origin enveloped in the same grand gloom,
and he bids fair TO attain an equal renown by the
mythical halo which surrounds his cradle. In his
case, however there is slight difference from that
Of Homer With the blind old man Of Scio's rocky
Isle the contest was among localities for the honor
OF his nativity; here it is fierce struggle among
cities and Kingdoms to rid themselves of the glory
Of his birth.
On this subject we find the following paragraph
in the Washington Organ;
"wHERE WAS fRKNoSr BoRSs-A Vermont CORES
pondcnt Of the York Express states that John G.
Fremont born in Lower Canada II So he IL, OF
course, Ineligible to the Presidency.
"Fremonts biographers do not agree TO his birth
place By one is stated to be Savannah, by another
Charleston by another Virginia One OF these writers
informs that Fremonts father led wandering hie
among the aborignes OF the South But the Vermont
correspondent the Express that his wanderng~
were in the French settlements Of Lower Canada This
il probable the elder Fremont Frenchnan and
fiddler aud likely to find support among Frenchnen
than among the Creeks or Chcrokees
''rhis doubt the birthplace OF Fremont must
riousv impair his strength II he cannot prove that he
Wa b,ru ia the United States thousands and hundreds
thousand. viii refuse TO vote for him. who might other
wise have pcen Inclined to do so.
il
frat candidate for the Presidency concerning whose origin
and religious faith the least doubt existed lie nom
mated apparently pursuance OF the old Roman maxim
oaane igHotnn pro nirifeo-a that Is obscure u
garded as wonderful"
A communication, in another column, from an old
resident of Richmond would go to show that what
ever doubt may exist with respect the place where
he first saw the light there is not any to the locus
coaceptioan. And yet, upon close scrutiny Of
= l,,,l. ia
chain OF proof to connect our hero with the homun
culus with which Col Pryors wife fed from Rich
mond Ii is a tradition among the old citizens Of
Richmond-and one of them told us the other day,
that it was a fact which he believed could be estab
lishel in a court Of aw-that the child with which
Mrs. Pryor was enciente when she fled from Rich
mond, born in the kingdom of France But
then again, the proof is wanting to show that that
child is identical with the Black Republican candi
date IL it be, thing is certain, he is going I'M
der n misnomer. According to the laws of every
Christian land, his is not Fremont, but Pryor.
In this view of the matter another, and that a
rious question, might arise, in the event Of Black
Republican success. The Constitution requires
an incident to eligibility to the Presidency that the
party shall be ndtire of this country. None of
foreign birth fill that exalted post. Now if
Col Fremont was not the son Of Mrs. Pryor-or il
he was, and his parents foreigner and the 9TH
er native had renowned allegiance this country
and went abroad with the intent of making foreign
country their abode-he is native in the sense
Of the Constitution, and consequently not eligible to
the Presidency. The onus of proof devolves on the
party claiming the benefits of the Constitution.
The biographers of Col. Fremont should have sur
veyed the ground more closely before they challcng
ed the criticism of mankind, and exposed their hero
to irreparable damage, by statements which would
not stand The tast