that never deserted him. His serene and cheerful old age gave no sign that life was wearing upon him. If life tried him we saw nothing of it. It may be that he often felt weary and heavy laden and that the stones in his pathway bruised his feet, but he never seemed to lose, until the very last, his freshness of spirit, his spring of perpetual youthfulness. He seemed to me in his old age to be the living embodiment of the lovely saying of Ecclesiastes : "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun; but if a man live many years let him rejoice in them all." Yet he was a man of many sorrows and he was acquainted with grief. The wife of his early manhood faded into the tomb. His elder son died under peculiarly distressing circumstances. His elder daughter died early. His younger son passed away soon after reaching manhood. The sole comfort of his domestic life and declining years was his younger daughter,—a sweet and lovely woman. She had grown up as a companion to his age and she was his sole interest in life. Wife and children had gone one by one and at last his youngest and dearest was stricken. I can almost hear him with the pathetic prayer of Niobe as she saw her children dead around her, with her youngest clasped in her arms, crying:

"Unam minimamque relinque;

Posco de multis minimam et unam."

But his prayer to spare him only one,-only his littlest one,was not heard. The insatiate archer drew his pitiless bow and the old man was left sitting only with memories at his desolate fireside. From this time we could all see a change in him, and when death came it was for him a welcome relief to pass beyond the stars, where there is peace.

The longest life is short. Judge Shope in 1896, speaking in this court of the death of Judge Caton, said in the choicest words: "How true it is that the longest life, filled with ceaseless activities, is but a span. Our association with our fellows is epitomized

in the simple words, 'Hail and farewell.' In the morning of life we greet them; they go a little way with us; but the evening comes, and, though it be illumined by the star of hope, we bid them a long farewell."

Of those inner faiths and beliefs that come from the communings with one's own soul I never heard Judge Shope speak but once, and then he had quoted that incomparable passage from the Book of Job: "For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again and that the tender branch thereof shall not cease but through the scent of water it will bud and bring forth boughs like a plant. But if a man die shall he live again?" And he added: "I have never doubted, and I have had no reason to doubt, that in some way that question ought to be answered,—as we all have faith it will be answered,-by Omnipotence with a life beyond the tomb."

Even the greatest lawyer's reputation soon passes away. Who now knows the once renowned Parning, or Cavendish, or Danby, who were among the greatest exponents of the common law? Their decisions are to-day the law in vast regions of which they had never heard. They are, in the law,

"The dead but sceptred sovereigns who still rule

Our spirits from their urns."

Yet their graves are lost and their very names are forgotten. The Persian poet is speaking of lawyers when he says:

"Some little talk awhile of me and thee

There was-and then no more of thee and me."

Perhaps the Greek dramatists are right in saying that for him who lives it, life is not worth the living. But this mysterious incorporation of the human race, this great fabric and structure of humanity, lives on from age to age in the life of individuals, and, as an axiom of a social existence, every man must live not for himself but for others. The influence of a good life persists in

good long after the man is forgotten and his bones have mouldered into dust. Few can be so great as to leave an imperishable name, but all can live, like Judge Shope, a life whose influence shall reach out in many hidden ways and whose actions shall smell sweet and blossom in the dust. And we can all console ourselves with the reflection that the growing good of the world is mainly dependent upon unhistoric acts; and that things are better with you and with me than they might have been is in great measure due to those who bravely led unrecorded lives and dwell in unvisited tombs.

Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE Dunn:

The court will hear from the Hon. William R. Curran, of Pekin, also a member of the committee.

Mr. WILLIAM R. CURRAN:

May it please the court-It is right at forty years since I first met Judge Shope. He was passing from his service as a circuit judge and had just been selected as a member of this court. He had practiced many years in an adjoining county. I was in that county yesterday, over at the little old town where his activities commenced, which was the scene of one of the strong bars of this State. No one could know Judge Shope and not be impressed with his manly, kindly character. No one could know him and not be drawn to him with hooks of steel. On behalf of the State Bar Association I desire to second and to indorse, personally and on behalf of the bar association of this State, all that has been voiced by Mr. Zane and to concur in all the sentiments expressed by him.

Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE DUNN:

Judge Shope was a member of this court from 1885 to 1894. He was elected from the Fourth Supreme District, and the present member of the court from that district, Justice Thompson, will respond on behalf of the court to the memoriam and the addresses made.

Mr. JUSTICE THOMPSON:

In view of the highly instructive and impressive remarks which have been submitted by the members of the bar in presenting these resolutions in memoriam, little remains to be said except that the court fully indorse the words of eulogy that have been so kindly, so happily, and withal so truthfully, spoken of our distinguished predecessor.

This is the first time since the organization of this court in its present style under the constitution of 1870 that memorial services have been held before this court when none of its members had served with the deceased. The response must therefore, of necessity, lack the personal touch that would come from an associate who had been in close contact with his brother in the work of the conference. None of us have that intimate knowledge of the deceased which comes from the close association naturally growing out of our method of work, and so we are not able to describe those traits of character peculiar to him, the knowledge of which springs from the intimate relations of those who labor together; but no one can listen to the words of commendation by his brothers of the bar without feeling that the ability, the integrity and the fidelity of Judge Shope were known to and adequately appreciated by the members of his profession. Next to the approval of his own conscience, the highest reward a judge can receive is the sincere approbation of an able, enlightened and honorable bar.

There is nothing in the character of the duties of a judge to excite the enthusiastic admiration of the populace. A life of patient toil among records and books is barren of those incidents which bring forth the applause of the multitude. Its results are protection, peace and happiness to mankind through the just enforcement of the laws. By reason of their industry, ability and professional learning, and their fairness and accuracy of conclusion, no one is better able to judge whether these duties have been properly performed than the members of the bar. Necessarily, the

fame of the judge of a court of last resort must in the main rest on his written opinions, seen and known only by the profession and in professional traditions.

The opinions of Judge Shope appear in forty-one volumes of the reports of this court, the first being reported in the 114th volume and the last in the 154th volume. In all, he wrote 361 opinions. No one can read them without being convinced that they are not only productions of an able and learned judge but also of an honest and conscientious man.

It is not necessary to speak further of Judge Shope. His work speaks for itself. His friends may erect a monument of stone or bronze to perpetuate his memory, but that monument in time will crumble and decay. On the other hand, the opinions of Judge Shope may be regarded as a monument erected by himself, which will endure so long as our present system of jurisprudence exists. Judge Shope possessed a powerful mind and an incorruptible character, and to these qualities all men can join in rendering tribute.

Those of my brethren who have remained silent join me in tendering to the family and relatives of the deceased their sincere sympathy in this visitation of Providence, and with sorrowing hearts we join you and them in mourning his loss.

Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE DUNN:

The resolutions, and the addresses made in connection therewith, will be spread at large on the records of the court, together with the remarks of Mr. Justice Thompson on behalf of the court, and as a mark of further respect to the memory of Justice Shope the court will now adjourn.