ration of opinions, almost every one of which requires deep research, profound learning and intense thought. In hearing the pleadings, testimony and arguments of counsel, while in Court, their minds must necessarily be engaged to the exclusion of all other subjects, and in examining records, weighing evidence, considering arguments, discussing in consultation and deciding legal questions and writing opinions, when out of Court, in the numerous cases brought before them, the entire powers of their intellects must be constantly on the stretch. No duties performed by any other public officers of the Government are as exhausting, mentally or physically, as those of the Justices of the Supreme Court, and yet it is a singular fact, attesting alike his unshrinking fidelity to his public trust, and the vigor of his physical constitution, that, except for one or two days, Judge McLean has never been absent during the sessions of the Supreme Court since he first took his seat on the bench, in January, 1830, now more than twenty-six years ago.

looked to that tribunal as the sheet-anchor of safety. Causes involving local rights and feelings have produced much excitement, but resistance to a judgment or decree of the Supreme Court has been rarely threatened, and never carried into effect. Such attempts have ever been frowned upon by the friends of good order and Constitutional Government, and when the day shall come that an organized power, under the claim of State sovereignty, or otherwise, shall successfully oppose the solemn decisions of that Court, the days of the Union will be numbered.

Judge McLean has taken a prominent part in all the leading questions, constitutional or otherwise, which have been decided since he took his seat upon the bench. In a large share of the cases he has delivered the opinion of the Court, in others he gave his individual opinion, coinciding in the result with the majority of his brethren, and in some he dissented from the majority, and assigned his reasons for this dis

sent.

The powers of that Court are more extensive Almost the only public means of ascertainthan those ever intrusted to any other tribunal.ing his views of the relations of the Federal It takes cognizance of controversies between and State Governments to the subject of slavery States, and where an act of the Legislative power, State or Federal, is in conflict with the constitution of the Union, it has the power to declare the act void. No question can arise under the law of nations, the civil, common, commercial, or maritime law, in any case within its jurisdiction that may not be considered and decided by the Supreme Court. This tribunal may be said to constitute the great balancewheel of our happily adjusted machinery of Government, and on a faithful discharge of its functions depend in no inconsiderable degree the harmonious working of the whole, and with it the prosperity of the country and the permanence of the Union. These great duties have, at all times, and under all circumstances, hitherto been discharged by that high tribunal in such a manner as to receive, in a very large degree, the public confidence, and it is to be hoped that no party or sectional considerations may influence its action, in any direction, to impair that confidence which is so essential to its influence and value. While the legislative and executive branches of the Government have been subjected to many changes, which have endangered the great interests of the Nation, and sometimes seriously threatened the integrity of the Union, no considerable body or party of men have undertaken to deride the powers of the Supreme Court; and in the most perilous times the people of all parties have

are afforded by his judicial decisions; and necessarily so, for during the angry controversy, which found its pacification in the Missouri Compromise, he was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio; and from 1829 to the present time, during which all the questions relating to that subject which have disturbed the country since the adoption of that Compromise have arisen, he has occupied a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States; and he has, therefore, been precluded, by proper considerations of delicacy, from participating publicly, or actively exerting himself even privately, in the political questions which have grown out of those relations. From these opinions, and from a communication published anonymously, and now reproduced as the acknowledged production of Judge McLean, in that eminently prudent and conservative journal, the National Intelligencer, with the correspondence to which the communication has given rise between him and Gen. Cass, the views of the Judge on this subject may be taken to be briefly these: that slavery is emphatically the creature, and subsists only by virtue of the positive law of the place where it exists, and derives no sanction from the law of nature, to which it is repugnant, as opposed to natural right, nor from the law of nations; that, as a general principle, the rights of the master, thus recognized and

protected only by the positive local law, abso- | gard to those features of the act which are lutely cease and the slave becomes free and especially obnoxious in the Free States, or cannot be reclaimed, when, by whatever means what he might do in his judicial capacity he has escaped, or shall otherwise be beyond at the bar or at the Circuit in regard to the operation of that law, within the limits of them, there is no public means of ascertainanother sovereignty where slavery is not sanc-ing, nor would it be decorous for him to tioned by positive law, unless there be a treaty declare, in advance of the necessity which or some legislation to the contrary; that this may demand, and can alone justify the declageneral principle applies in full force to the ration. It may be safely affirmed, however, several States and Territories of the Union; that that in these respects he will do what shall aptherefore any slave, who, otherwise than as a pear to him to be his clear constitutional duty fugitive from labor, shall go, or be beyond the -no more-no less. To his calm and conscilimits of the local law where he may be held entious consideration, his sense of justice and as a slave, into a State where slavery is not benevolence, and, above all, to his devotion to sanctioned, becomes ipso facto absolutely free, the constitution and to human rights, may be unless there be some legislation of such State safely intrusted the solution of these delicate which brings the case within the sole exception and difficult questions. to this general principle; that Congress has no power to institute slavery in any of its Territories, nor to delegate that power to any Territorial Government; that no Territorial Government nor its people has, or can have that power inherently or otherwise, and hence that slavery cannot by any means be instituted, or lawfully go or be protected in any of the Territories where it did not exist at the time of ac-effectually prevent the introduction of any quisition; and in that case, he holds that Congress may, in the exercise of a police power, regulate or prohibit it in its discretion; that the Ordinance of 1787, in all its parts, was obligatory at the time of its adoption, as a compact between the States which were parties to it, and, as such, still remains obligatory, and can be altered only by the consent of the original parties.

That he was in favor of the Missouri Compromise at the time of its adoption; that he was decidedly opposed to its repeal by the Kansas-Nebraska act; that he is opposed to the extension of slavery to free territory; that he is in favor of prohibiting it by every constitutional means, and that the enforcement of his avowed principles on the subject would

more slave States into the Union, are facts of which there is no room for doubt or dispute.

Fortunate indeed would it be for the peace and prosperity of the country, the perpetuity of the Union, and the true glory of this great and enlightened American Republic, if the policy of such statesmen as Judge McLean, the policy of its founders, could again assert its rightful supremacy in the administration of our public concerns. Then might be realized those great ends which Washington declared should be the objects of his unceasing vows; that Heaven may continue to us the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that our union and brotherly love may be perpetual; that our free constitution may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may

In the application of these principles, Judge McLean did not hesitate, in 1845, to set at liberty several persons held as slaves, who, having been brought by the voluntary act of their master from Kentucky into Illinois, and afterwards taken back into Kentucky, had actually escaped from labor in Kentucky where they were held as slaves, and made their way back to Illinois, asserting their freedom. Sit-be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in ting at the Circuit, where, according to well established law, he had no alternative but to adhere to the adjudications of the Supreme Court at bar, he has assumed, as he was bound to do, that the Fugitive Slave law is constitutional in those particulars which have been so adjudicated, so far as they have arisen before him, conforming in these particulars to the act passed during the administration, and which had the approval, of Washington. In those respects in which it has not been sɔ adjudicated, no question has arisen before him, either at bar or at the Circuit. What his opinion is in re

fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation, and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and the adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it.

From the nature of the duties of the Supreme Court, and the distinct and durable manner in which the acts of its members are spread out for public inspection in its reports, a general and fixed public judgment will be formed of the ability and fitness of Judge McLean for his

position on the bench, which no effort, friendly | of Israel Ludlow, Esq., one of the founders of Cincinnati, a lady extensively known and admired for the graces of her person, the amiable charm of her manners, and the accomplishments of her refined and cultivated intellect.

Judge McLean is tall and commanding in person, of imposing mien and well proportioned, with an appearance indicating great

or hostile, can materially modify. For good or for ill, he has erected for himself, in the reports of his judicial decisions, a monument inscribed with undying words; and these records may, in all time to come, be trustfully resorted to as the measure of his usefulness and fidelity in this elevated and responsible position. But few, comparatively, are sub- physical vigor and intellectual energy, now unjected to this stern ordeal. Some (though rare, indeed, are they,) who, having passed it, will continue, through all time, by the luster of their civic achievements, the more honorable of all, to shed a clear and steady light upon the pathway of truth and justice throughout the civilized world. A Judge of the Supreme Court must emphatically be the artificer of his own fame, relying wholly upon his own personal qualifications for his duties, and the strength of his purpose to exert them for the public welfare; and looking for no aid from those adventitious circumstances which so often make or mar the reputation of the statesman and the soldier. Judge McLean has no reason to complain that these are the conditions of greatness in the sphere in which he has spent the greater part of his active public life; for he has already won a distinction which will endure while the constitution and the Union have a place in the memories of men.

As evidences of the high esteem in which Judge McLean is held by those most competent to judge of his moral and intellectual excellencies, it may be stated that the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws has been conferred upon him by Harvard University, the Wesleyan University, and other institutions of learning in the United States. He has been for several years the President of the American Sunday School Union, the seat of whose operations is at Philadelphia, and for a long time a communicant in the Methodist Church; exemplifying the simplicity of his character and the true humility of a Christian by submitting himself to the duties and discipline of the Church, and, by his example and exhortations, directing and persuading others, less favored in intellect and worldly honors than himself, in the way of truth and righteousness.

impaired and promising many years of usefulness. His general habits of life have always been simple, abstemiously temperate and free from ostentation. His temper is highly cheerful, his manners dignified, frank and pleasing, and his conversation instructive and eloquent; and he possesses, in a rare degree, those qualities and that happy faculty which at once inspire the confidence and respect, and win the warm attachment of all who come within his influence, and especially of the younger members of the bar, toward whom he has always delighted to extend his kindness and courtesy. Diligence, justice and benevolence have guided him in his entire career as a citizen, a lawyer, a statesman and a judge.

STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.

AMONG the younger class of American statesmen, none have become more rapidly or extensively known than the subject of this sketch. His early history, his struggles for fame and fortune, were, in the main, of the same character as those experienced by the majority of our self-educated public men. Energy, industry and perseverance, the power to plan and the will to execute, led him from the humble artisan's bench to the chamber of the Senate. By a large portion of the American people it is claimed that the acme of triumph is not yet achieved; but, that their favorite shall eventually reach the highest aims of his earthly ambition. He first rose to general notice in 1843, by a speech he delivered in the House of Representatives on the bill to restore the fine inflicted upon General Jackson, by Judge Hall, for declaring martial law, and taking such other steps as he considered necessary for the defense of New Orleans during the last war with Great Britain. It was just after this speech that he (Douglas) first obtained the sobriquet of "the little giant." Of course the Old Hero was much pleased with the defense of his character and measures; both of which had been so ably vindicated by this little Western lawyer, and the latter almost immedi ately became one of the idols of the Democratic

The bereavement of Judge McLean, in 1840, by the loss of the companion of his youth and the mother of his children—the severest affliction which such a man can endure has been already noticed. She had lived an example of the beauty of virtue in life, and died an example of the triumphs of religion in death. In 1843 he married Mrs. Sarah Bella Garrard, daughter' party. VOL. III-5.

STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS was born at Bran- | proposing to become a cabinet-maker. He redon, Rutland County, in the State of Vermont, mained there for several months, when he reon the 23d of April, 1813; therefore at the turned to Brandon, his native town, where he present time he is in the 44th year of his age. worked for a year at the same trade, when the He was left an orphan when not three months state of his health compelled him to leave it. old; his father, Dr. Stephen A. Douglas, a re- He then entered the Academy at Brandon, and spectable physician of that town, dying of apo- pursued his studies with diligence. plexy, on the 1st of July, 1813, and leaving His sister having wedded a Mr. Granger, two children, one a daughter of twenty months, from the State of New York, and his mother and the other the author of the famous Nebras- soon after marrying the father of Mr. Granger, ka bill. After the death of her husband, the the family removed to that State. Stephen widow and her children went to reside with her was then sent to the academy at Canandaigua, brother, a bachelor, who was a farmer in good at the same time devoting what time he could circumstances. He, however, marrying some- to the study of the law, in the office of Messrs. time afterward, destroyed whatever expecta Hubble in Canandaigua, where he remained tions the mother may have entertained, from until after he had completed his nineteenth that source, for her children. At the age of year. In 1833 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, fifteen, when the nephew wished to enter col- where he entered the office of the Hon. S. I. Anlege, he found that his uncle would not aid drews, who then represented that district in him. He therefore entered the cabinet shop of Congress. Stephen eventually found that his Mr. Nahum Parker, at Middlebury, Vermont, close application to study was ruining his

latter were admitted, and made speeches in support of their views. Douglas was present, and was called upon to reply, and then and there made his first political speech; it was in

United States Bank. At the same time he gave evidence that he was a capital "stump orator," an accomplishment that has always proved the most valuable capital that can be presented in a Western market.

health, and he was induced to abandon his origi- cannot deny him the great credit he so justly nal intention of settling in Cleveland. He left deserves for his early industry and triumph. it and went westward, to Jacksonville, Illi- At the time Mr. Douglas settled in Jacksonnois, which place he reached in an extremely ville, as at present, political excitement ran destitute condition; but he was energetic, in- | high in all parts of the Union, and more esdustrious, and ready to resort to any means to pecially in the West. Now it is the vexed earn an honest livelihood. A youth of twenty Kansas-Nebraska bill; then it was the removal years of age, in a strange land, fifteen hundred of the Government deposits from the Bank of miles from home, in feeble health, without the United States. Gen. Jackson had, a few friends, and with but thirty-seven and-a-half months before, performed the latter feat, and cents in the world, he left Jacksonville on foot many of his friends deserted his support in in search of employment as a school teacher. consequence, and among them were many of On the second day after his departure, and the prominent politicians of the country. A while in Winchester, sixteen miles from Jack-meeting having been called by the Democrats sonville, he was attracted by a crowd of people of Jacksonville friendly to the course of Gen. collected together, and on mingling with them Jackson, the prominent Democrats opposed to he learned that they had assembled to attend his action in the matter claimed a right to be an administrator's sale of the effects of a mer-present and discuss the Bank question. The chant recently deceased; but that the sale was delayed for want of a clerk. Douglas at once applied for and procured the berth, and for the two days' services received six dollars, and with that amount commenced the world. Hav-favor of Andrew Jackson, and against the ing given satisfaction to his employer, he had no difficulty in procuring a situation as a teacher, and on the first Monday of December, 1833, Stephen A. Douglas was the humble village schoolmaster of the town of Winchester, Illinois. Even at this late day "the Little Giant" takes pleasure in relating his success as a teacher. Like the millionaire who was informed by an old acquaintance that he "remembered the time when he made his living by | sawing wood." "Well," was the prompt rejoinder, “didn't I do it well?" So with the Senator. He believes he was successful in "teaching the young idea how to shoot," and now he would endeavor to instruct the more mature in thought. He devoted the time unoccupied by his regular duties to the study of the law, from books that were kindly loaned by a member of the bar at Jacksonville, and ere long he commenced the preliminaries of his profession by attending to cases before the Justice of the Peace. The proceeds of his school enabled him, in the month of March, 1834, to commence the practice of the law in the higher Courts, he having previously obtained a license of the Judges of the Supreme Court; and he procured an office in Jacksonville and "stuck out his shingle," and almost at once commenced a successful and lucrative practice. It will be borne in mind that he was at this time scarcely twenty-one years of age, and that he had arrived in that section of the country, only a few months before, a stranger, penniless and destitute. Certainly his most inveterate enemy

The first public office filled by Mr. Douglas was that of State's Attorney for Morgan and several adjacent counties that composed the circuit. He was elected by the Legislature of 1834–35, over the gallant and much lamented Col. John J. Hardin, who, it will be remembered, fell, while gloriously charging his country's foes, on the bloody field of Buena Vista. In 1836 Mr. Douglas was elected a member of the Legislature of Illinois from Morgan County. He was the youngest member of the House, being at the time little over twenty-three years old. Two years previous the Legislature had chartered the State Bank, and had prolonged the charter of the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown.

The wild mania of speculation and overbanking had, even then, extended to Illinois, and the proposition was made by those who managed and controlled the banks to unite with the State, to increase their capital stock, and multiply the number of their branches. This proposition to combine "Bank and State" was promptly and energetically opposed by Mr. Douglas; he was, however, defeated, and the banks became the fiscal agents of the State for the collecting, safe keeping and disbursement of its revenues. As had been predicted, in three months after these operations had