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THE ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT

THE

COMMEMORATION

HE overshadowing importance of the services which Lincoln rendered as President has caused many people to overlook, until recently, that Lincoln was prepared for that great office by a long and successful career at the bar. It was before the Illinois Supreme Court, of which Stephen A. Douglas was a member from 1841 to 1843, that he achieved many of his forensic triumphs, and that Court, following his assassination, held commemorative exercises.

On February 11, the Lincoln Centenary was observed in an impressive manner by commemorative exercises held in the Supreme Court of Illinois in the Judiciary Building at Springfield, particularly reviewing the services of Lincoln as a member of the Illinois bar. A record of these proceedings has been published in Volume 238, Illinois Supreme Court Reports. Upon this occasion the Court was addressed by Mr. MacChesney, representing the city of Chicago; Mr. Jus tice Hand, responding for the Court, and giving a scholarly review of Lincoln's place in the profession of the law, and of his work before that Court; while the Court was addressed on behalf of the Illinois State Bar Association, by Hon. James H. Matheny, and on behalf of the Sangamon County Bar Association, by Major James A. Connolly.

Upon adjournment after these exercises, the Supreme Court went in a body to attend a joint celebration under the auspices of the House and Senate of the General Assembly of Illinois, in the Chamber of that House of Representatives, of which both Lincoln and Douglas had been members, and for the Speakership of which Lincoln was twice a candidate. The exercises there were presided over by Hon. Edward D. Shurtleff, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and addresses were made by the Hon. Charles S. Deneen, Governor of Illinois; by the Hon. Frank P. Schmitt, Hon. Frank W.

Burton, Hon. W. Tudor Ap Madoc, Hon. John Hruby, Hon. A. K. Stearns, Hon. A. M. Foster, and Hon. Henry D. Fulton; while Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was given by Hon. Oliver Sollett.

THE CENTENARY OF LINCOLN

NATHAN WILLIAM MAC CHESNEY

IT fact that this State, as a

is deemed suitable that upon this occasion some recogni

tion should be given to the fact that this State, as a whole, is about to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. The significance of the event has been recognized by the executive proclamation and by a joint resolution of the General Assembly. It would be fitting if this Court, also, as the representative of the other great branch of the government, might take official recognition of this great centennial.

The State of Illinois has been aroused as never before. The people throughout the State realize the service that Abraham Lincoln rendered to them and to the nation. The citizens of Chicago have planned the greatest celebration which that city has ever had in its history-community-wide in its aspect and educational in its nature. The citizens of Springfield have planned a unique and comprehensive programme, reviewing the life and services of Abraham Lincoln, to be participated in by distinguished representatives of foreign countries, thus typifying the world-wide appeal of the man whom they honor. It is peculiarly appropriate that these two communities should do this, for in Springfield was his life as a lawyer spent. It was here that many of his greatest addresses were made, and it was from here that he went, with a sense of sadness, to take upon him the oath of office of President of the United States. On the other hand, it was in Chicago that he was nominated for the presidency. It was there that he issued the challenge to Judge Douglas for the series of famous joint debates, and it was there that he made his first reply to Judge

Douglas in that series which made his candidacy for the presidency possible, nay, inevitable.

Chicago is to observe the centenary of the birth of this great Illinoisan, not by a meeting for the favored few, but by a great civic celebration, in order that all the people may realize the spirit that animated Lincoln, and perhaps catch it in their own lives, so that they, too, may render something of the service that he rendered to the State that he loved and served so well. It is, therefore, appropriate that Chicago should come here, represented by one of her bar, and, in the presence of this distinguished tribunal, pay a brief tribute to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, the lawyer. And on behalf of the Mayor of Chicago and the Citizens' Committee, I desire to present to this Court a bronze tablet on which is inscribed the Gettysburg Address of Lincoln, which is the creed of American patriotism, in order that some enduring memorial may be erected in this building in commemoration of this event.

The services of Lincoln are so wide and so varied that it would be impossible to review them, even were I able to do so. In this presence it would be both unnecessary and presumptuous to attempt it. The life of Lincoln attracts us from whatever direction we approach him. As a man he was all-comprehensive in his sympathies and in his appeal to the people. Before he was admitted to the bar, as a business man be exampled the highest commercial integrity—so much so, that it was thought at the time that he was almost finical in his ideas on the subject; but to-day is realized the inspiration his sterling honesty has been to thousands of young men entering upon commercial careers.

As a lawyer we know that he stood for the highest standards of the profession. He was a constant advocate before this Court during the years preceding his entrance upon the larger duties of national life. His name frequently appears in the volumes of this Court from the December term, 1840, to the January term, 1860. The judgment of the bar which knew him was eloquently expressed in an address before the full bench of the Supreme Court at Ottawa, on May 3, 1865, by

the Hon. J. D. Caton, formerly Chief Justice, who presented a Memorial which was spread upon your records and which appears in the thirty-seventh of Illinois.

Lincoln as a man, I repeat, was all-comprehensive in his appeal. As between man and man he stood for equality of rights. He knew no church, he knew no faction, he knew no section-no North, no South, no East, no West. He knew only the Union. He had no racial antipathies. His life was given to the working out of justice so far as he knew it, and we can only marvel that he knew it so well. It is, therefore, especially appropriate that this Court should take fitting recognition of his life.

Lincoln, perhaps as no other man, made his appeal to the people as a whole. He is, in fact, the prototype of American citizenship-the ideal of the nation realized. It has been said that he is "the first American," and truly so, for in him for the first time were embodied the ideals which we all believe should go to make up American manhood, and to him we look for inspiration for the upbuilding of that manhood and the inculcation of those ideals in the citizenship of the future.

What better tribute could be paid to Lincoln and the spirit that guided and directed his private life and professional and public career, than to spread upon the records of this Court that immortal definition which he gave at Alton of the eternal issue in life's struggle and to recognize the truth that he ever chose the right? He there said:

"That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these principles-right and wrong throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the 'divine right of kings.' It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself."

Let these words stand as our tribute to the life of this man, -citizen of Illinois, lawyer of this bar, greatest son of the State and Nation, the apotheosis of American manhood.

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