Court Opinion

ID: 9560575
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:51:38.342665+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:00.732389
License: Public Domain

Deen, Presiding Judge,
concurring specially.
Speaking for the writer alone, it is appropriate under the special circumstances to make additional comments.
“Justice Bleckley having resigned, at the conclusion of his last opinion, read from the bench the [following] exquisite little poem, which was ordered spread upon the minutes by the court. It constitutes a fit close to the judicial career of one whose opinions in these reports show him not only to have been the profound lawyer, but also the accomplished scholar (R.)
“IN THE MATTER OF REST.
1. Rest for hand and brow and breast,
For fingers, heart and brain!
Rest and peace! a long release From labor and from pain:
Pain of doubt, fatigue, despair —
Pain of darkness everywhere,
And seeking light in vain!
2. Peace and rest! Are they the best
For mortals here below?
Is soft repose from work and woes
A bliss for men to know?
Bliss of time is bliss of toil:
No bliss but this, from sun and soil,
Does God permit to grow.”
In The Matter of Rest, 64 Ga. 452 (September Term, 1879).
The legendary and talented Chief Justice Logan Edwin Bleckley also penned these parting words as he left the court:
“FAREWELL TO THE LAW.
Farewell, my liege, beloved and long, long-served, good-bye,
My leave I take and forth I go with wept and sobbing sigh,
Which, now condensed to pensive dew, is trembling in my eye.
*23Decided December 5, 1990.
Daniel W. Lee, for appellant.
Duncan, Thomasson & Aeree, E. Marc Aeree, for appellee.
How oft in legal combat met have I, at low or lofty bar,
Contending suitors helped to wage or ward the fierce forensic war,
When rushed the battle horses and flew the battle car.
For more than one full decade, with pale, unsandaled feet,
In pure and spotless ermine I mused on Georgia’s seat,
And righteous judgment rendered between the Tares and Wheat.
My grand majestic master, vice-gerent here of God,
I quit thy special service, but stay beneath they rod,
An old and humble servant, uncovered and unshod.”
Logan E. Bleckley, A Memorial by The Georgia Bar Association, p. 168 (Mercer University Archives Reprint 1982).
Justice Robert H. Hall (now a United States District Court Judge) when leaving the Georgia Appellate Court wrote a farewell message, which I now adapt to the present occasion: “This is my final opinion after over [25] years of service on the [Court of Appeals] of Georgia. They have, indeed, been wonderful years for me, and I will cherish them as long as I live.
“I wish to thank the [distinguished Governor Carl E. Sanders] who appointed me to [the Court of Appeals of Georgia] and the people of Georgia who permitted me to serve in this state’s judicial system.
“During my [25] years on the Court of Appeals, I had the pleasure of serving with [28] members of [this] court [and in writing, voting on and ‘participating’ in over 13,000 opinions]. ... I will always be grateful to these judges ... for the kindness and assistance they extended to me during my tenure. I am also thankful for the conscientious work of my personal staff and the [support staffs of all the judges, past and present] who have served with me.
“God Bless and God Save the judicial system of Georgia, and its bench and bar.” Grantham v. State, 244 Ga. 776 (1979).
While concurring fully with the words of wisdom of Chief Justice Bleckley, written in 1879, and Justice Hall, written 100 years later, I would add that justice continues in 1990 to be dispensed under our Georgia Court of Appeals credo, formulated by then Chief Judge Jule W. Felton: “Upon the integrity, wisdom and independence of the judiciary depend the sacred rights of free men,” as well as under the motto of the Supreme Court of Georgia: “Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum.”
*24Lena Reid, pro se.