THE WESTERN MONTHLY. VOL. I.—APRIL, 1869.—NO. 4. A ANSON S. MILLER. MONG the distinguished men of the West, we know of no nobler representative of its spirit of progress, freedom of thought and independence of speech, than our own Illinois citizen, the Hon. ANSON S. MILLER, of Rockford. Judge MILLER is of New England parentage, and a descendant from Revolutionary ancestors, both of his grandfathers having been at the battle of Bunker Hill. Toward the close of the last century, his father, the late Luther Miller, Esq., a native of Massachusetts, removed to the Mohawk country, then a wilderness region, and settled at Fort Stanwix, now Rome, N. Y.; near which, in the adjoining town of Lee, the subject of this biographical sketch was born, Sept. 24,1810. His early years were spent at the common school and on his father's farm. Inheriting a vigorous constitution, and imbued with a love of nature, he engaged with rare fondness and efficiency in agricultural pursuits, for the promotion of which he has, in his maturer years, so successfully labored. When but a youth, he had acquired a thorough English education, and he taught school a number of terms in his native town and elsewhere, sustaining the reputation of a skillful instructor. Subsequently he prepared for college at Grosvenor's High School at Rome, and entered Hamilton College shortly before attaining his majority. venor's school, like himself, emigrated to Illinois at an early day. Among these were Hon. N. B. Judd, Judge John D. Caton, Sylvester Talcott, Esq., the late Dr. Daniel Brainard, Thomas Wright, Esq., and other prominent citizens. Spending four years at college, where he received a number of honors, he graduated in the summer of 1835. Among his class-mates at college were the Rev. Dr. Benjamin W. Dwight, a well-known educator and author; Hon. Calvert Comstock, late editor of the Albany (N. Y.) Argus; Hon. Nathaniel Bennett, Judge of the Supreme Court of California, and others who have since achieved distinction. Immediately after his graduation, he commenced the study of the Law, pursuing it at Rome and Delta in his native county of Oneida. Completing his term of legal study, he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of New York, at Utica, in 1838, and in the autumn of that year went to the West. He stopped temporarily at Terre Haute, Ind., where he formed a law partnership with Wm. W. Heaton, Esq., also from that Oneida county, N.Y., which has furnished so many Western emigrants. Both of the partners, however, went to the Rock River country, Illinois, in 1840, one settling at Rockford and the other at Dixon, where they now respectively reside, having prac ticed their profession there, and each Some of his associates at Mr. Gros- occupied the Judicial Bench. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by REED, BROWNE & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of Illinois. From Mr. MILLER'S settlement in Rockford to his election as Judge, in 1857, he practiced law in partnership with his brother, Cyrus F. Miller, Esq. In 1842 he declined the proffered nomination of Senator at the Whig Convention, wishing to confine himself to his profession. In 1844, upon the agitation of the State debt question, he consented to represent Winnebago county in the Legislature, and upon his election to the House of Representatives, took an active part on the Judiciary Committee with the Hons. Stephen T. Logan, Richard Yates, Julius Manning and others, in revising the Statutes; and on the Canal Committee with the Hons. I. N. Arnold, Hart L. Stewart, Benj. L. Smith and others, in providing to pay interest on the canal debt and restoring the credit of the State. He also, at this session, 1844-5, introduced the first bill to repeal the "Black Laws," and supported the measure in an eloquent and powerful speech, which was reported in the papers at the capital, and circulated throughout the State; and, in 1865, he had the satisfaction of seeing all those laws swept from our Statutes. In 1845-6 he traveled through portions of Northern Illinois, with the Hon. Wm. B. Ogden and Hon. J. Young Scammon, for the purpose of awakening an interest in the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, then projected, and in securing its construction. In 1846 he was elected to the Senate, and took a prominent part in the measures of that important period of the State history. The following, extracted from a sketch of Senators, written from the seat of government, and published at the time in the Mississippian, a Democratic paper of Rock Island, gives a true view of our subject: "HON. ANSON S. MILLER. "Among the Whigs, Senator MILLER stands conspicuous. His mind is well versed in law and stored with useful learning, and he has a noble and commanding presence, combined with a high moral and intellectual character. Previous to the election of AttorneyGeneral, he was nominated by the Whigs for that office, which he declined. As a forensic debater, he is logical, clear and persuasive. His arguments are characterized by strength and solidity, and often by finished elegance; yet no force of expression is sacrificed for mere beauty of diction. His style as a speaker and writer is concise, compact and vigorous. When speaking, his usual manner is earnest, candid and deliberate-sometimes vehement; and, when aroused, he is often eloquent. He is a bold and independent thinker, and never shrinks in his position from exposing the abuses of government or the evils of the age. His manners are polished and courteous, and respect for the opinions and feelings of others is a marked characteristic. "He has no enemies here, but many warm personal friends in all parties. Age, thirty-six years; height, six feet; black hair and eyes; dark complexion, and compactly built. "He has amassed a large fund of law-learning, and has hitherto been eminently successful in practice. Yet in the morning of life, imbued with honorable principles, and blessed with a fine constitution, we conceive that his progress in usefulness and distinction is but just begun." Time has happily verified these predictions. It is interesting to look back upon the men and parties in Illinois at the period when Mr. MILLER entered the Senate. Among the leading Whigs were John J. Hardin, Stephen T. Logan, Edward D. Baker, John T. Stuart, Abraham Lincoln, Ninian W. Edwards, O. H. Browning, Joseph Gillespie, Jesse K. Dubois, David Davis, Thomas Drum mond, Usher F. Linder, Benjamin R. ral endowments and high attainments Sheldon, Richard Yates, E. B. Wash- and character rendered him eminently burne, Richard J. Oglesby, J. Young worthy. Scammon, James C. Conkling, S. Lisle Smith, John Wood, E. B. Webb, J. L. D. Morrison, Richard S. Wilson, Wm. Gooding, and many other gifted public men. Prominent among the Democrats of that period were John Reynolds, Richard Young, Sidney Breese, Thomas Ford, Stephen A. Douglas, Wm. A. Richardson, Lyman Trumbull, Wm. B. Ogden, Joseph Knox, John Wentworth, Murray McConnell, John Dement, John A. McClernard, Wm. H. Bissell, Julius Manning, James Shields, James A. McDougall, Joel A. Mattison, I. N. Arnold, Gustavus Koerner, John M. Palmer, N. B. Judd, I. N. Morris, J. Dougherty, Thompson Campbell, and others. Seldom has any State presented such an array of talented men as Illinois at that period. Since then, the revolutions of party have changed the political relations of many. Democrats have become Republicans, and some of the Whigs, on the extinction of their party, went over to the Democratic ranks. In 1857, he was elected orator of the Alumni Association of Hamilton College, and on the following Annual Commencement of that institution in 1858, delivered his oration on Self-Culture, which was extensively published and greatly admired at the time, and which must continue to be regarded as a model. In 1860, various Republican papers proposed Judge MILLER for the next Governor of Illinois, but he promptly declined the candidacy. During the war of the Rebellion, he labored devotedly and efficiently in raising Union troops and providing for their wants in the field, for which he will long be gratefully remembered by the soldiers. In 1864, his Alma Mater, Hamilton College, conferred on him the degree of LL.D., an honor of which his natu The same year, he was nominated by the Republican State Convention as Presidential Elector of his Congressional District for the re-election of President Lincoln, and spent the autumn preceding the election in speaking and canvassing in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. His was the banner district of the State and Nation, and he was chosen messenger of the Electoral College of Illinois to bear its vote to Washington. The following brief extracts from pa pers in his Electoral District show the public estimate of his services in this campaign: "Among the strong and patriotic men of Illinois who have battled for the right, our able and eloquent Elector has held his position in the first rank throughout the great conflict." "Judge MILLER is a powerful and successful canvasser, a champion of the true principles of our Government, who, in the last as well as in former political campaigns, has devoted his efficient services to the cause of the country." "The selection of the Hon. ANSON S. MILLER for Presidential Elector was a wise thing, and he was everywhere received with favor. Whilst he is an ardent politician, he is a courteous gentleman, and his genial influence did much to allay unprofitable excitement wherever he appeared. He is an able lawyer and an upright man." President Lincoln, in the course of the canvass, tendered him a United States Judgeship, which he declined, as it would necessitate the removal of his family. In 1865, President Lincoln made him Postmaster of Rockford, a position which he still holds, although twice superseded by President Johnson (to whose "policy" he was opposed); but the Senate not concurring, no change was made. In 1866, he accepted the invitation of the New York State Agricultural Society to deliver the annual address at the Saratoga Fair, and his speech on that occasion was applauded as one of great originality and power. It was reported and copied in many papers, and published in permanent form by the society, and will doubtless stand as a classic in its department. In 1868, upon Gen. Palmer's declining to be a candidate for Governor, Judge MILLER, who had favored his nomination, was proposed for the position -as we have reason to know, without his agency or seeking—and strongly urged by many of the leading papers of the State. We quote briefly from some of the many commendations in different journals: "The nomination of the Hon. ANSON S. MILLER to the Chief Magistracy will be an honor to the Republican party, who will thus have for their leader a man of eloquence, learning and tried patriotism, whose private character and public acts will be strong elements of the campaign." "Among the nominees for the Governorship is the Hon. ANSON S. MILLER, of Rockford, a gentleman every way worthy of the position, and who at one time declined the nomination. He has eminent qualifications, and is known as one of Illinois' most honored men; an accomplished scholar and orator, who has worked in the Republican ranks with unshrinking fidelity." "A man whom thousands know and love; able, honest, magnanimous and true; a statesman and jurist of extensive experience and culture; a gentleman of unspotted reputation and unexceptionable habits; Judge MILLer, of Rockford, stands forth as the equal in qualifications and deserts of any other man in the State." "We want for Governor a true and loyal man, whose moral and business character entitles him to the respect and confidence of the people, a man who will carry with him into the Execu tive office a heart full of principle and a dignity befitting his high position; and among the candidates, our mind reverts to no one more eminently quali fied, or who would do greater honor to the State, if elected, than the Hon. AxSON S. MILLER, of Winnebago county. His purity and dignity of character are proverbial; he is known as the leader in all worthy and patriotic movements in that part of the State where he has for many years resided, and where his opinion on all State and National questions is sought and respected. "During the war he was the friend and advocate of the loyal soldiers, working persistently for the success of their cause. "In agricultural interests, he has a national reputation. In 1866, he delivered the Annual Address before the New York State Agricultural Society, which is said to have been one of the finest ever delivered in the United States. "He is every way qualified to fill the Gubernatorial office, and we believe the Republicans of Illinois would do themselves credit by selecting him as their standard bearer in the campaign soon to be inaugurated." "Many of the ablest papers in the State, and some of the strongest Republican counties, are for Hon. ANSON S. MILLER, and his claims are urged with great dignity and fairness. His eminent fitness as an estimable and Christian gentleman, a ripe scholar, a learned jurist, an eloquent speaker, and a sound Republican, will secure him an almost unanimous support." "At an era of unequaled enterprise and progress in every department of industry in the West, wherein Illinois is rising to the first rank of States, ANSON S. MILLER is the right man for her Governor. He is justly recognized as one of the ablest and most influential of her citizens—a statesman of experience and high character, whose elevation to the Chief Magistracy would reflect honor on the State." These extracts from journals in different portions of Illinois, show the public estimation of Judge MILLER better than anything we can say, and indidicate the general favor with which his nomination would have been received. Previous to the Convention, however, it became evident that Gen. Palmer would be brought before it as a candidate for Governor, and Judge MILLER magnani. mously requested his friends not to use his name so long as Gen. Palmer was before the Convention, as he would not oppose him. Gen. Palmer was thus nominated, and he had no stronger supporter than Judge MILLER, who gave liberally of his best efforts and resources to the support of the State and National Republican ticket, in the memorable campaign of 1868. Had Gen. Palmer continued withdrawn from the canvass, and withheld his name from the Convention, ANSON S. MILLER would probably have been the present Governor of Illinois. OUR SCIENCE, MONOTHEISM AND POLYTHEISM. BY THOMAS CLARKE. UR old friend, Herbert Spencer, makes the following remark, which we heartily endorse, namely: "Little as it seems to do so, fearless inquiry tends continually to give a firm basis to all true religion. The timid sectarian, alarmed at the progress of knowledge, secretly fears that all things may some day be explained." Nothing, we say, is so good for truth - that is, true religion-as fearless inquiry; and that religion which can not endure such a test, is not worth much. In a former article we have shown that if transmutation of one species into another had ever been one of the laws of nature, we should find some specimen in the past, or we should still see the process going on in our own day; and if this mode of development is proved to be negatived, it follows that creation was the only mode by which the phenomena we now behold could have been produced—that is, if we grant that this system, with all it contains, ever had a beginning, or ever will have an end. Even here there is much difference of opinion, and, we confess, there are some grounds for such difference; for, it may fairly be inquired, what reason have we for the belief that this solar system, this earth and all it contains, were ever produced from nothing, since it is admitted that nothing can spring from nothing, "Ex nihilo nihil fit?" Again, if the laws of nature are fixed, eternal and irreversible, why should we suppose that this beautiful and har monious system of worlds, with which all space seems to be filled, was even for a single moment in a state of chaos or confusion, as those who maintain the nebular theory suppose? If the law of universal gravitation prevails, by what power could that law have been overcome, and the mighty globes and their satellites hurled into even temporary chaos and confusion? Is not this to concede the existence of a Power superior to the laws of nature, who upsets or modifies them at his pleasure, and who commands order and harmony to re-assert their sway, by imposing his own |