CONOR OFFICE; 



TBi 



their probable one is to attract unsuspect- 



luch iiiorv mieht be raid in retard to these remark- 

 able dianiveries. but the above may serve a* an epi- 

 f their leading feature*. They have immensely 

 video.-.; Mi are* ofsooJoficml science, and opened a 

 fieU of research which cannot become afcaVated for 

 centuries to come, and winch may yield in tln> future 

 marveta of life which will serve to greatly modify <uir 

 eondnrions l<> n.itun- s power* and possibilities. 



(c. M.) 



O'CONOR. CHARLES (1804^884), an American 

 lawyer, was born in New York city. Jan. L'l'. 1-<M. his 

 father having emigrated jroni Ireland in 1SHI. Ad- 

 nnit.-d tot ho bar in I-JI. his untiring industry was soon 

 rewarded with a large practice Hi- successful manage- 

 ment .if the l-'onvst divor.-e ease gave him a wide repu- 

 tation. He was also etuplnv.-d in the noted will cases 



ix-nanl in 1 S43. of Parrish in lst',2. and of Juuiel 

 in isT'-V In 1 s."). r ) he was appointed U. S. district attor- 

 ney tor New York, and in IS46 and 1864 he was a 

 member of the Constitutional Convention of that State. 

 In p"!iti<-- he was an extreme Democrat, and during 

 the civil war he favored the cause of the South. At 

 its clone he was the leading counsel for Jefferson 

 Davis when indicted for treason. His greatest legal 

 efforts were made in the prosecution of William M. 

 Tweed and his associates for the recover}* of the public 

 money which they had embezzled from the citv of 

 New York. The partial result he described in a volume 

 called tfxuliitinii Ti-iniiijiliniil. l>f!n;i tin' Itecord of a 



Ynirt ('niii/Hiir/ii iii/itinst Official Mulrira/itimi, 

 \^~\ tn 1875. Yet O'Conor continued the campaign 

 until he achieved substantial success, though not in the 

 measure he desired. In 1872 he was nominated tin- 

 President against his earnest protest by a small con- 

 vention at Louisville, which was dissatisfied with 

 Greeley as the Democratic candidate. In the succeed- 

 ing campaign O Conor received only 21.559 votes. 

 In issl he removed his residence from Fort Wa.-li- 

 ington, N. Y., to Nantucket, Mass. Still erect in 

 stature and vigorous in health, he carried on lu-ofcs- 

 Monal work in New York city. On a trip thither, in 

 April, 1884. he caught cold and he died at Nantucket, 

 May 1 2. lie was married in 1 S :">4. but had no children. 

 His professional success was due to his indefatigable 

 devotion to clients' interests, his thorough mastery of 

 all the details of the most complicated cases, and his 

 clear presentation of the law and facts of each. Tin nurli 

 inclined to wit and humor at times, he did no! permit 

 it to diminish the force of his arguments. His large 

 collection of cases and opinions was bequeathed to the 

 Law Institute of New York, of which he had been 

 president since 1869. 



OKHSTKD. HANS CHRISTIAN (1777-1851), a Danish 

 physicist, was born at Rudkiobing, on the island of 

 Langeland, Aug. 14, 1777. He was the son of an 

 apothecary, and at an early age began his experiments. 

 In 1799 he received the degree or Ph. D. at the Uni- 

 versity of Co|>cnhagen, his thesis being Arrlu'ti<-t<>iii'iv 

 of Natural Metaphytict, a philosophical consideration 

 of the laws of the natural world. While engaged as 

 an apothecary in 1800. Oersted made some discoveries 

 in galvanic electricity. In 1801 he travelled in Hol- 

 land, Germany, and France, and on his return in INI:; 

 lectured at Copenhagen on clc.-trieity and kindred sci- 

 ence*. In IKIHI he was made professor of natural 

 philosophy, and his lecture- attracted much attention. 

 Hi* thoughts had long been directed towards the 

 identity of electricity ami magnetism. In 1SI2, while 



rraany. he published a treatise tending to (hat 

 conclusion, and at last, in 1819, he succeeded in proving 

 the fact. This great discovery gave him a foremost 

 place among the scientific men of his time, and foreign 

 societies bestowed on him numerous marks of honor. 

 His labor* to popularize science among his countrymen 

 resulted in the establishment of a polytechnic school 

 at Copenhagen, of which he was director from 1829. 



He also founded the Magnetic Observatory of i 

 hiL-cn III Is.'ii) the titticth anniversary ot his doc 

 tonne was celebrated with a national jubilee. He died 

 tt Copenhagen, March '.i. |S. r >l. Hi* mo-i important 

 works were a Minimi nf Mrchitniad J'hi/xicx (\^ 

 _'d ed , 1MI); and The Soul in .\-itn,. 

 lish translation, l>;,2). 



His brother, ANDERS SANDOE OERSTED (177*- 



1 siii i), was an eminent jurist, and in 1853 became prime 



i minister of Denmark, but was driven from power in 



' 1S54 and impeached for violation of the constitution, 



Inn finally acquitted. Hs was the author of some 



philosophical works. 



OFFICE, as a IfL'al term, denotes a right and cor- 

 respondent duty to exercise a public or private trust 

 or employment, and to take the fees and emoluments 

 belonging to it, (Mhccs may lx> variously classified 

 ,/iiilii-i'il offices are those which relate to the admini- 

 tration of justice. Mi/ituri/ offices aro such as are 

 held by soldiers and sailors for military purposes. 

 Miiiixli rial olliccs are those which irive the officer no 

 npwer to judge of the matter to be done, and reijiiire 

 him to obey the mandates of a superior. I'n/itim/ 

 offices are such as arc not connected immediately with 

 the administration of justice or the execution of the 

 mandates of a superior officer: e.. g., those of Presi- 

 dent of the 1'nited States, members of Congress, etc. 



In England some offices may be granted to a man in 

 fee, or for life, as well as for years and at will. In 

 the United States the Constitution or laws of the 

 State provide for the duration of the office, which is 

 never more^ ]>erniuncnt than during good behavior. 

 Offices in Kndand are either public, which affect the 

 people generally, e. a., magistrates ; or private, which 

 concern particular districts belonging to private indi- 

 viduals, e. a., bailiffs. In the United States all offices 

 are deemed public, though those of presidents of 

 banks and directors of corporations are in the nature 

 of private offices. The statutes of 5 and 6 Edw. VI. 

 c. 15 made the buying and selling of offices a misde- 

 meanor, to tw punished also with the loss of the office. 

 li- provisions have been enacted by several of the 

 I nited States; its object being to prevent corruption 

 in office, it does not apply to the fair and necessary ap- 

 pointments of deputies with a reasonable allowance. 

 If the salary be nxed, a deputation of the office, re- 

 serving a sum less than the salary, is not illegal ; -o if 

 the emoluments be uncertain, the deputy may agree 

 to pay over a proportion of what he receives. If, 

 however, the fees are uncertain, and the deputy agrees 

 to pay a certain fixed sum, without restricting it to the 

 amount received bv him. it is a sale within the statute. 

 It has been decided by the federal courts, as well as 

 by those of several of the States, that an agreement by 

 an applicant for office to divide the fees with another 

 applicant if lie will withdraw and aid the former to 

 obtain it is void. A judicial office must, be exercised 

 by a person of skill and expedience in the duties per- 

 taining thereto ; it must also be exercised in person, as 

 a iu'L-c cannot delegate his authority to anotner. 



Under the Constitution of the Tinted States, Art 

 VI., I 2. no Senator or 1'eprcscntative can hold office 

 under the I'nited States liurinir his term. By ac- 

 cepting such an office he forfeits his scat 



liy an act passed during the administration of Pi<--. 

 Monroe and still in force, the term of office of U. S. 

 collectors and other executive officers, including cer- 

 tain grades of postmasters, is for four years, though 

 they may be removed sooner by the President. Dur- 

 ing the political struL'irle between Pros. Johnson and 

 the Itepiiblican majority of Congress, an act was 

 passed on March l'. ISci7, providing that every person 

 holding any civil i, dice to which he had been appointed 

 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate 

 should be entitled to hold such office until a successor 

 should in like manner have Ix-cn appointed and duly 

 qualified. It also prcM-ribed that while the President 

 might r< 'in o\e or suspend an officer for cause, yet the 



