The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-07-13

WOIk, anu uIGtI III Ni.c H!'itSoioh, W ~
that which am called upon 10 perform
but when IL Is r, membefed hat he, -whe
moving among Us ns brother attorney
when occupying the judicial office, whel
meeting and talking with Us Ia the every
day affairs OF iife,-always manifested al
interest In aud WAS the friend al yOuni
men, and that under every and all clrcum
Stances he was for thema betting model
both In the walks of the profession anu II
those of private liie,--this seeming inap
propriateness disappears
| am not sufficiently acquainted will
Judge Leland's life 10 enter into detail
1t. | know that he was by birth "A native
of Maine, In early years a resident OF Mass
achusstts through choice and long living
here, y true son of Illinois. He came %
family of high thought and principle
and one that an early day contributed IL
fair proportion 10 the well.being OF the
Bay State. His father, lawyer by profes
sion, was not unknown 20 the New Eng
land bar and bench, and his influence was
no small factor In Massachusetts politics
A devoted Wing, he was once hOnored
with the presidency Of the Massachusetts
senate, and thereafter for more than TWEEN.
ty years was Judge of probate In the coun
" OF Norfolk.
Judge Lelands school of education was
but that which the common schools OF
Roxbury afforded. His knowledge of the
theory of the law was gained In his fath'
er's office; his practical knowledge of It,
through long years OF practice at the bar
as q Judge upon the bench In this and ad
| Joining counties. He came 10 Ottawa as
early as 1884 and here spent the energies
of fifty five years Of his life In gaining a
competency for himself and family; In
advancing himself and fulfilling his ambi'
ton In the line Of his profession; In pro-
noting the best Interests of society and ed.
ucation and In building up character that
today calls forth our encomiums and chal.
enges our admiration.
He found here, or there came shortly
thereafter, Holt and Hose, Farewell and
Norris, Cook and Glover, Leland and
Champlain and, not many years after, Ca.
ton and Dickey and still later Bushnell and
Avery, Grey and Campbell, and still later
Wallace and Eldredge, Boyle and Bull and
your Honor Joined these earlier men In
making the bar of Ottawa known for Its
brilliancy and erudition throughout the
length and breadth Of this State.
Stimulated by desire to maintain an
individual position among his brother law
yers, he entered upon the study of the law
with a zeal that characterised the practi-
toner Of the days when law books were
few and expensive and courts remote and
when il was essential TO be more than q
mere case lawyer. He at the very outset
grounded himself we'll In the underlying
principles Of legal Jurisprudence and en-
qulred into the why and the wherefore of
thus and thus saith the law" In that
early day text books, digests, law reports
and legal periodicals were not to be found
on every hand as they are In this, and In
consequence lawyers found II necessary TO
do and think for themselves, and the one
who was the most industrious in acquiring
principles and brought TO bear upon his
acquisitions the best resources of his mind
became the surest and safest counsellor
And Just here lay the secret Of Judge Lee
lands eminenca as counsellor In the Of
fee and as q judge upon the bench. He
was industrious 10 the highest degree and
intensely thoughtful. His mind was con.
trolled by his reason, not by his emotions.
And as this on the one hand operated to
make him great as counsellor and jurist
II on the other prevented him from becom,
ing prominent as an advocate. lie could
address law and logic TO the minds of his
jury but he was unable to play upon their
passions He could speak wisdom TO the
Court but he could not move 10 applause
the crowd. He could sit as an impartial
Judge, but his mental make up and his
habits of thought prevented him from be-
ing partisan enough to try cases with that
ferver which rings a verdict from an I'm
willing jury.
Judge Leland had none of that philippe
oratory that made Bushnell known through.
out Illinois and placed him high In the
councils of his political party; neither was
he possessed of the poetic and wonderously
classic temperament of Gray; nor could he
use the wit and bitter sarcasm of Avery;
but as lawyer profound In his knowledge
of the fundamental principles of legal
science and wise In his application of them
to the causes that came before him, either
at the desk or UPON the bench, he was the
superior of them all and though Judge
Cation and Judge Dickey obtained higher
judicial preferment, and Burton G. Cook
was called 10 a more lucritive position, no
one of them overreached him as a legal
giant.
Judge Leland, successful as he was In
the office and the forum, was more emin-
ent as presiding judge. His mental
equtpoise was such that he discerned with
keenest accuracy where justice and right
were. He was seldom hurried In. his con-
illusions and he never sacrificed either law
or sense for the sake of haste He looked
upon the court as place where men had a
right to have a fair and impartial hearing,
whether the time consumed In giving
them 1t was long or short, and whether the
public was praising or censuring him, he
cared not 1t Is said that he was slow upon
the bench, that business dragged, and that
useless time was consumed and expense
placed upon the people, but 1t Is not so.
| Ike the most distinguished painter of
ancient Greece "he painted in long time
but he painted for long time" and the
truth of the statement Is to be found In the
fact that the cases tried before him were
so well tried and his decisions upon legal
points SO accurate, that the higher courts
seldom reversed them, thus necessitating
other trials aud further time and expense.
Lawyers, through pique, may have grown
but the litigant who In truth
sought justice never had occasion 10 and
| venture to say, never did complain of any
of his judicial acts.
In many respects Judge Leland was a
i \ A.