, 1861-04-05

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the study flaw in the Office Of the etninen
counselor Arthur st. C1atr,. supporting thin
.. self meanwhile By writing ii the office Of th
J County Clerk. In 1907 be was admitted i
the bar and commenced the; practice Of hi
profession in the town Of Lebanon, near hi
fathers farm. In 1912 he mas elected to Cor
gress in the Lebanon district, (which then IN
cluded Cincinnati), as a supporter Of fPreslden
Madison's var policy In 1914 he YVES re.elec
ted without opposition, receiving every vot
cast in the district. In the following year b,
was rendered BY bis party, which was then il
power, seat in the United States Senate
which he declined. In 1917 the Legislature O
Ohio unanimously elected him a judge Of the
Supreme Court Of the 9tate-a position which
he held until 1922, when President Monroe ap-
pointed him Commissioner Of the General
Land Office, In the following year he was ap-
pointed Postmaster General The rigor and
efficiency which he infused into this: depart
ment Of the public service, then in . terribly
disordered condition, rendered: him one
Of the most popular men in the nation
So great was The public applause for his
| conduct Of the postal system, aud 80 conspic.
uous were his services, that Congress raised
the salary or the Office from 81 900 to 5000
per annum. In 1929, President jackson ten
dered him successively the Departments Of
war and the navy. The President then ten
dered him seat one the Supreme bench,
which he assumed in January 1880, and which
he has filed uninterruptedly till the present
time. Judge Mclean was three times proiui-
nently brought forward for the Presidency by
the free-soii and Republican parties--frat at
the Buffalo Convention in l843, next at tie
Philadelphia Convention Of 1855, and again at
the Chicago Convention of 1850. In the Phil
adelphia. Convention he received LAG votes
against $50 for Col Fremont.
Judge AeLean's Circuit was the largest and
its duties By far the most lnbprious In the
present organization Of the Supreme court,
including the States of Ohio, Michican, Indi-
ana, and Illinois. One session Was held annu-
ally IN Chicago, and his frequent presence here
gave him large acquaintance among our
citizens, by whom he was universally loved and
respected. .
Among lawyers Judge Mclean had a repu-
tation which will be enduring. Hewas not 50
much distinguished for profundity and conf
business OF legal knowledge as fer That strong
moral grasp and acute sense which seized upon
and brought to light the essential equities Of
the cases which came before him, Hundreds
OF nen belonging to the profession, in less
conspicuous positions, were his supesiors in
the technicalities of the books and the ancient
absurdities Of the Practice; but perhaps no
man who ever filled place on an American
Bench ever had, In more notable degree.
that keen insight into the sometimes subtle
distinctions between light and wrong, Or ever
pursued the one and condemned the other
with the zeal for which Judge Mclean Bas
distinguished. And herein YVES his hold upon !
the popular heart. His, thorough and resolute
honesty not alone the honesty which made
his daily Wa1k and conversation IN examp1e |
to all younger and less favored men, but his !
intellectual honesty, which raised him above |
the tricks Of his trade and made the reasoning
and conscientious man always superior to tie |
quirks and quiddities Of the Bar and the
Bench, YVES everywhere patent; and though
his decisions have always been carped at os
lacking the mustiness which one smells in
Blackstone and Coke, the people have never
been ready to believe that, if not always tile
legitimate deductions from the Law in thes
books and the Courts, they did not embody
the full measure of justice which mortals NAV
attain. The most serious blow ever given to
bis popularity among lawyers Of the highest
grade, and among the people at large, Was in
aicted by the Judge himself in his decisions
touching the atrocious Fugitive Slave Law.
That other and higher authority will judge
them to be erroneous, and that men will here,
alter wonder how he, cast in so noble mould,
endowed IS be WIS with hatred Of
oppression, Of legal shams and Of
wrong, could hare failed to see that the oct
which had his endorsement was a defiance Of
Ill law, We devoutly believe, But TINT he sin
:erely entertained the opinions on that sub
e2t which he has left On record, no man will
,yer hare room to doubt His subsequent
thorough and overwhelming refutation Of the
nonstrous doctrine aroWed by the majority
# the Judges Of the Supreme Court In tia
ase Of bred Scott-a refutation which can
lever be successfully assailed-did much toB1-
I'd restoring him to his old place in the affec-
ions Of the people; and perhaps nothing but :
lis advanced age prevented them from calling Q
i'm in 1856 and again In 1850, to take tie
highest PLACE In their gift. -. :