possessing similar tastes, is at his best in the sanctity of home, away from the busy cares of statesmanship. There surrounded by a circle of congenial friends, he is a host to whose invitation his many admirers quickly respond. Senator Frye will hold a place on the scroll of history and in the niche of National fame, equal to the famous men of his State, in whose footsteps he has so prominently and ably followed. He is in the prime of his best ability, not yet having reached the grand climacteric, which the ancients placed at sixty-three. There are many years of usefulness before him, both for the country and his State.

MELVILLE WESTON FULLER.

FOR the second time in the history of this country

New England has furnished a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Though Mr. Fuller is accredited to Illinois, he is a native of Maine. He was born at Augusta, the capital of that State on the 11th of February, 1833. All of his immediate ancestors had been prominent and influential citizens of the place. His grandfather was a lawyer of ability, and adorned the Supreme Bench of Maine, for seven years as Associate and fourteen years as Chief Justice.

Mr. Fuller is now Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was graduated from Bowdoin College, one of the most important educational institutions in the country, in the class of 1853. Upon completing his college course, Mr. Fuller entered the law office of his uncle, Charles Melville Weston, to begin the study of law. He also attended the law school of Harvard University. In 1855, he commenced the practice in his native town, at the same time devoting his leisure moments to Journalism, occupying the position of editor on a newspaper called the Age. In the autumn he was elected as a member of the Common Council, was made its President, and in addition, performed the duties of City So-' licitor. Mr. Fuller was at this time but twenty-three years old. His prospects for preferment, politically and professionally, in his native town, were excellent, but he was not satisfied. That "hunger for the horizon," which at some period in their lives comes to all men born

in the East, had taken possession of him, and he determined to seek a broader field for the development of his talents. At the close of the ensuing year, therefore, he resigned his official position in the city government, selecting Chicago as his future home. Settled there his pleasing address, excellent business methods and disposition for work, coupled with his inherent talents, quickly brought numerous clients and a prosperous business.

Two years in the metropolis of the West had scarcely rolled on before Mr. Fuller appeared at the Bar of the Supreme Court of the State as counsel in the case of Beach v. Derby, which is reported in the nineteenth Illinois. The ability he displayed in handling this important suit brought him prominently to the front rank of the profession. His devotion to the cause of his client in this case was marked, and his business from that moment increased in a wonderful degree; limited only by his power to give it the attention it demanded. He had more to do than usually falls to the lot of a lawyer in a great city. Reference to the volumes of the Illinois reports, where his cases are to be found in more than a hundred of these books, will confirm the statement. He has left his impress upon the jurisprudence of his adopted State in no uncertain manner.

While a resident of Illinois Mr. Fuller's practice was not limited, with the exception perhaps of admirality cases. He was not what is termed a criminal lawyer, or a corporation attorney nor was he of counsel in celebrated cases. There was nothing in his practice that gave him a National reputation. He merely had an extensive business, a large number of clients. All this brought him an income beyond the average lawyer of the place. In the Federal Courts of the Western Districts and the Supreme Court at Washington, his work attracted attention and marked him as a lawyer of great abilities. In commer