Fitzgerald: ‘Lincoln is with us in spirit’

“Although he ceased practicing law as a member of the bar of this court nearly 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln is still with us in spirit,” said Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald of the Illinois Supreme Court.

In addition to his spirit, the 16th president’s image will be with the court, in perpetuity, in the form of a bronze bust that was presented Jan. 12 by the Illinois State Bar Association.

The chief justice convened a special session for the presentation, in part “to remind the citizens of Illinois of Lincoln’s lasting influence on the cause of justice, and to receive from the lawyers of Illinois a lasting tribute to his service to this court.”

ISBA President Jack C. Carey, in his presentation remarks, noted that “Lincoln’s reverence for the law characterized his nearly 25 years as a member of the bar” in Illinois.

Lincoln, “met the legal needs of his clients without fear or favor,” Carey continued. “As an advocate, he sometimes represented clients with whom he strongly disagreed. He sometimes won. He sometimes lost. He sometimes got paid. He sometimes did not.

“But through it all, his reverence for the law was undiminished, and his pride in the profession continues to inspire those who follow after him.”

Carey invited the justices and other ISBA officers to join him and sculptor John McClarey “to receive this gift to the people of Illinois from the lawyers of Illinois in lasting tribute to the most revered lawyer in the history of our state and nation.”

In previous remarks, President-elect John G. O’Brien talked of ongoing bicentennial activities in honor of what Lincoln did as president and what his death meant to the nation and the world.

“But here in Illinois, we remember a different Lincoln: Lincoln, the prairie lawyer,” O’Brien said. “Lincoln who traveled the circuit … Lincoln who appeared before this court on over 300 occasions.”
Justice Fitzgerald noted, in closing, that the Supreme Court had convened on May 3, 1865, “on an even more solemn occasion. A portrait of Mr. Lincoln was suspended over the bench, enwreathed in evergreens and emblems of grief.”

He asked retired justice Benjamin K. Miller to read portions of the eulogy that had been given that day by John D. Caton, a former chief justice.

Caton had spoken of Lincoln’s ability to apply “the principles of law to the transactions of men, with great clearness and precision.”

He said Lincoln’s “great reputation for integrity was well deserved. He seemed entirely ignorant of the art of deception. His frankness and candor were two great elements in his character which contributed to his professional success.”

Justice Charles E. Freemen followed with a recitation of the 1865 response of Justice Sidney Breese that included these words:

“Mr. Lincoln possessed not only great common sense but a generous sympathy in the sorrows, troubles and difficulties that enter into the great battle of life. In this battle, he mingled fearlessly, partaking of its violent struggles, its cruel disappointments, it humbling reverses.”

In closing the special session of the court last month, Justice Fitzgerald reminded the packed courtroom that “Mr. Lincoln is our colleague. He established the standards by which we are judged.

“And when we fall short of those standards, we diminish not only our own reputations but also his memory, because as lawyers and judges we stand in his shadow, even though that shadow stretches far beyond us.”