Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1861-04-11
DEATH OF JUDGE MCLEAN.

The death of John Mclean Judge of the
U. S. supreme court does not take the country
by surprise, as it has been for some time evil
dent that he was approaching the termination
of his career. He died at his residence in Gin
cinnati, Ohio, on Wednesday, at the age of 76
He was born in Morris county, \. j., March Il ,
1875, and his father, who was an Irish emigrant
removed with him to the West and finally set
tied in Warren county, Ohio. He sustained
himself by manual labor throughout the course
of his classical and legal studies, and was adj
mitted to the bar in 1907. In 1912 he was
elected to Congress by the democrats of the
Cincinnati district, and was reelected in 1914
by the unanimous vote of his district, not a
single vote being cast against him. In the fol-
lowing year he was offered the nomination to
the U. s. Senate, which was equivalent to an
election, but declined the honor on the ground
tat the constituents who had so .'allantly sup
ported him were entitled to his services in the
lower house. In 1916, however, having nearly
completed his term, he resigned his seat in the
House to take one on the supreme bench of
Ohio, to which the Legislature elected him unan-
imously. This position he held for six years,
when president Monroe appointed him en-
missioner of the land Office, and in the next
year 1929 he was elevated to the postmaster
generalship. He discharged the duties of the
office with such eminent success, that the salary
attached to it was raised from 81 900 to Sc 900
by a nearly unanimous vote in both the Senate
and House, John Rudolph remarking at the
time that he would vote for the bill if it were
made TO expire when Judge Mclean left the
position. When President jackson came into
Office he was DESTROYS of retaining Judge Nc
Lean in his cabinet, but he thought it expedi-
ent to decline all offers which were made him to
this end, and was nominated for a seat on the
supreme bench, which he accepted entering up
on his duties in the January term, 1880. The
decisions which he has given during the thirty
yaars which he has occupied this position have
filled out the measure of his fame, and given
him leading place among the first iurists of
this or any other country. One of his most
memorable charges was delivered during the
Canadian excitement, in 1888, when he took
strong ground against the practice of aiding or
IN any way tavorlng unlawful military combina-
lions among our citizens against any govern
ment with which we are at peace. His opinion
on the bred Scott case, in which he dissented
from that given by Chief Justice Tauey. will
cause his name to be remembered. Judge Me
Lean has always sympathized with political
parties whose principles have been opposed to
the extension of slavery. He was a candidate
for the presidency in the freesoil convention at
Buffalo in lS4Si received 1876 votes to $50 for
Vol. Fremont IN the republican convention,
held at Philadelphia, in 1919, and was also be-
fore the Chicago convention in 1860. His name
and character will contribute largely to the en-
during f'me of the country, and his example of
industry and integrity, justly rewarded, will be
healthy stimulant to the ambition of talented
and energetic young men. Apart from his ju-
dicial and political character, he was widely be-
loved for the cheerfulness of his temper, the
ahable frankness of his manners, and the force
and eloquence of his conversation. He was a
member of the Methodist church, and ever ac
tive in religious and philantropic works.