Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 03.pdf/257

 230

State of Illinois from 1818 to 1831," became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the " Black Hawk" War, was a Circuit Judge, and a member of the Supreme Court in 184 1. He resigned the following year. During this brief term as a member of this court he wrote the opinions in thirty-four of the one hundred and thirtyone opinions rendered by the court, then

consisting of nine members. Upon his resignation he was elected to the United States Senate. There he presented resolutions of respect to the memory of Samuel Mc Roberts, Illinois's deceased Senator, advocated tariff for revenue only, favored annexation of Texas, supported the Mexican War, and fostered canal and railroad construction. He was afterward Speaker of the House of Rep resentatives of Illinois. In 1857 he returned to the Supreme Bench, where he remained till his death, June 28, 1878, making a total service in this court of over twenty-two years. JOHN M. Ten years he was ChiefJustice. Since his death the late Hon. Thomas Hoyne has ed ited and published a manuscript left by him, entitled " The Early History of Illinois, from its discovery by the French in 1673 until its cession to Great Britain in 1763, including the narration of Marquette's discovery of the Mississippi." In one whose life was so happily varied by professional practice, legislative and ju dicial duties of the higher order, we expect to find, as we do in Judge Breese, varied learning and rare wisdom. His judicial opinions begin in 2d Scammon and end in

the 88th Illinois, and number about nineteen hundred. Our honored Chief-Justice Melville Weston Fuller, in an address before the Bar Asso ciation of Illinois in 1879, spoke of Judge Breese thus: " His judicial style was grace ful, easy, and flowing, sometimes too ornate, but always pleasing, and often enlivened by witty or humorous allusions which, relieving the argument, did not detract from its solid ity." In the case of Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Co. v. Jacobs, 20 lll. 478 (1858), Judge Breese is believed to have originated the doc trine of comparative negligence, which pre vails in Illinois, in these words : " The more gross the neg ligence manifested by the defendant, the less degree of care will be required of the plaintiff to enable him to recover," and "Whenever it shall appear that the plain tiff's negligence is comparatively slight, SCOTT, and that of the de fendant gross, he shall not be deprived of his action." The most celebrated cause in which he rendered an opinion was doubtless Munn v. The People, 69 lll. 80. His opinion in that case was affirmed by the United States Su preme Court. From this opinion have grown and are growing some of the most important questions in the history of public affairs in this country. John Dean Caton is one of Illinois's most distinguished judges. He was born March 19, 1812, in Monroe, Orange County, New York. Entirely unaided from a very