Daily American organ., 1856-08-13

or anything else and on the production of the
license, any Protestant minister who is applied
to, performs the ceremony, at once and without
further question. Such is the law of this Dis
trict, that no formalities, bonds, declarations,
or any other prerequisite to the obtaining of
license is required, except the payment Of the
fee to the Clerk, and the license is full and
complete authority for the officiating minister
to perform the ceremony.
There were tsosnty Protestant ministers in
this city at the time Fremont was married, and
not a man Of them would have refused to Off
ciatc, and we challenge any friend of Fremont
to name the clergyman whom he solicited to
perform the ceremony We dare them to the
proof We viii give any man fifty dollars for
each and every clergyman who will say that
he was asked to perform the ceremony and de-
clined 1t is miserable, pitiful pretextl Is
it forgotten that some few weeks ago alabored
article was published by authority of FIRE.
mont Club, or by Fremont Committee, sta
ting that he was married by Catholic priest
because he could not procure hcensef We
nailed that .falsehood to the counter by pro-
curing certificate under seal of the clerk of
the court, showing that license soas actually
| issued!
That pretence is now abandoned, simply
because contradicted by the record, and an
other equally base attempt is made to explain
his marriage by Catholic priest, to-wit that
there was a difficulty" or an "impossibiity"
of procuring any other clergyman to marry
himl Now this is point which, if true, FIRE.
mont's friends could establish, by proQf for if
any clergyman had thus refused, he would
readily say So upon; being asked. But it is
not true, and his friends dare not give the
name of any liping clergyman to whom he him
self will say he applied VIII they do its
1t is Islander upon the priest, Van Hors-
eigh, now in his grave, to assert that he would
marry tsoo Professionals, contrary to the rules
of the Catholic church, and that, too, under
circumstances and for reasons which caused
Protestant ministers to refuse to do it With
out any partially ourself for the Catholic
clergy, or for Catholic tenets, we would not
be guilty of casting the slandeious imputations
upon any Catholic priest, which are cast upon
the Rev. Mr. Van Horseigh in the pretexts set
up by Fremont's friends,-o the contrary, we
will do his memory the justice to say, that we
believe these pretexts to be naked falsehoods.
Hadit been true, as first alleged, that the Rev.
Mr.. Van Horseigh married Fremont and wife
aOitAout license, then would it have been
shown that this Reverend Father was an open
violator of the laws of the land, for the law
forbids minister to perform the ceremony of
a marriage here without license-the proiuc-
ton of record proof of the existence of Ii
cense saved the memory of Mr. Van Horseigh
from that shameless assault upon it-and now
forsooth, when that assault is repetted and
disproued- attack is made upon his
memory, involving, like the first total disre-
gard of the tenets of his faith, and a reckless
ness in the performance of his priestly func-
tions, wholly inconsistent with his general
character. #...
Father Van Horseigh is in his grave, or this
assault would never have been made upon
him-never Those who knew him say to
us that he was rigid in the mode and manner
of discharging his official duties, strict in all
things, and cautious even to fault Such
being his character, such being his duty, and
it being alike inconsistent with the tenets of
his church, and the custom of the Catholic
priesthood, to unite tsoo Protestants in mar
riage, it follows that Father Van Horseigh
must have been iaformed and must have be-
Iieued, (what no man here questions,) that
Fremont aoGs a Catholic.