ion of the
Constitution under which Illinois was admitted into the Union, Mr.
McLean was chosen the Representative in Congress. Soon thereafter,
he presented to the House of Representatives the State Constitution
then recently adopted at Kaskaskia; and upon its formal acceptance
by that body, Mr. McLean was duly admitted to his seat as the first
Representative from Illinois in the Congress of the United States.
He was defeated for re-election by the Hon. Daniel P. Cook, one of
the most gifted men Illinois has known at any period of her history.

"Rarely have men of greater eloquence than Cook and McLean been
antagonists in debate either upon the hustings or in the halls
of legislation. With the people of the entire State for an audience,
the exciting issues of that eventful period were argued with an
eloquence seldom heard in forensic discussion. In very truth, each
was the worthy antagonist of the other. It is not too much to say
that, with the single exception of the masterful intellectual combat
more than a third of a century later between Lincoln and
Douglas, Illinois has been the theatre of no greater debate.

"Upon his retirement from Congress, Mr. McLean was elected to
the Lower House of the Illinois Legislature and subsequently chosen
Speaker of that body. The valuable service he there rendered is
an important part of the early history of the State. He resigned the
speakership in order the more effectually to lead the opposition
to a bill chartering a State bank. His predictions as to the evils
to the state, of which the proposed legislation would be the sure
forerunner, were more than verified by subsequent events. More
than a decade had passed before the people were relieved of the
financial ills which John McLean ineffectually sought to avert.
No other evidence of his statesmanship is needed than his masterly
speech in opposition to the ill-timed legislation I have indicated.

"Apart from the fact that his name is continually upon our lips,
the career of Mr. McLean is well calculated to excite our profound
interest. During the fifteen years of his residence in Illinois, he
held the high position of Representative in Congress, Speaker of
the popular branch of the State Legislature, and was twice elected
to the Senate of the United States. At his last election he received
every vote of the joint session of the General Assembly--an honor of
which few even of the most eminent of our statesmen have be