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CHARLES S. ZANE, Judge of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Illinois, is a native of Cumberland county, New Jersey, born March 2, 1831. Andrew Zane, his father, was a farmer, and married Mary Franklin, whose father was a relative of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Zane's paternal grandfather, with two brothers, emigrated from England in early life. Mr. Zane's boyhood and youth were passed on his father's farm, the time being divided between labor and attendance at the district school. In April, 1850, he came to Sangamon County, Illinois, and in the employ of Rev. Peter Cartwright, engaged in brick making and farming, at $13 a month. In the winter of 1852 he rode to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on horseback; returned the following spring, purchased a team, and spent the summer in breaking prairie. In the autumn of 1852 he entered McKendree College, and pursued a course of study for three years, passing the vacations in teaching, which he continued after leaving college while reading law. Mr. Zane entered the law office of Hon. J. C. Conkling in July, 185; completed the course and was admitted to the Bar in the spring of 1857, and opened an office. He was elected City Attorney in the spring of 1858, and re-elected in 1860 and 1865, each term being one year. In the spring of 1861 Mr. Zane formed a partnership with William H. Herndon, former law partner of Abraham Lincoln, and did a successful business until 1869, when the firm was dissolved and he associated himself with Hon. Shelby M. Cullom and George O. Marcy. This relation was continued until Mr. Zane was elected Circuit Judge in 1873, since which time he has worn the judicial ermine with distinguished ability. He rendered a famous decision in May, 1874, in the cause of The People vs. The Chicago and Alton Railroad Company, in which it was sought to recover certain penalties incurred by a breach of the law of the State authorizing Railroad and Warehouse commissioners to fix maximum rates of freight and passenger tariffs, in which the attorneys for the defense made an effort to transfer the case to the United States Court, claiming lack of jurisdiction in the State courts, and in which he ruled that it was not the province of the Federal Courts to interfere with the inherent judicial rights of the State, and that in assuming to take control of such causes it transcended its constitutional authority, and held that the rights and powers of the States and the people, not transferred by the Constitution to the United States, are just as sovereign and sacred as are those of the United States. Judge Zane refused to order the papers certified to the Federal court, and proceeded to try the cause, by jury, who rendered a verdict of $400 against the defendant.

Judge Zane's religious views are liberal and tolerant, nearly identical with the doctrines of the Unitarian Society. He is a great admirer of the school of philosophy of which Herbert Spencer and Mr. Tyndall are able exponents. Politically, the Judge favors a bi-metallic money standard, a free banking system, and a tariff upon the luxuries for revenue.