596 



NORRIS, EDWIN. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



after the war. In March, 1821, he was com- 

 missioned lieutenant, and in 1827 was attached 

 to the frigate United States, Pacific squadron, 

 and, after his return, stationed at Baltimore. 

 ID 1840 he commanded the schooner Boxer, 

 and the following year was commissioned 

 commander. In 1843 he commanded the sloop 

 Preble, Mediterranean squadron, and from that 

 time until 1854 was on shore duty at Boston, 

 New York, and Memphis, when, upon receiv- 

 ing his captain's commission, he was, in 1855, 

 ordered to the Pacific squadron as fleet-cap- 

 tain. He served in the East India squadron 

 from 1858 to 1861, and, on special service, in 

 1862; was commissioned commodore, July 16, 

 1862, and retired under the act of 1861, and 

 its amendment of 1864. When the civil war 

 broke out, he was in command of the Naval 

 Asylum in Philadelphia, and, having been a 

 Marylander, his Southern friends expected him 

 to join the South. But he promptly offered 

 his services to the Government, considering 

 that they were due to the United States, and 

 not to any State. He was given an important 

 command, and did his duty faithfully. His 

 term of active service was longer than that 

 of any other officer in the navy. 



NORRIS, EDWIN, Ph. D., D. 0. L., an emi- 

 nent English ethnologist and linguist, born at 

 Taunton, in 1795 ; died in London, December 

 10, 1872. He was trained for the service of 

 the Honorable East India Company, and held 

 a position in the India House from 1826 to 

 1836. In 1836 he was elected Assistant-Secre- 

 tary to the Royal Asiatic Society, of which, in 

 1856, he became principal secretary, and, in 

 1847, was appointed, by Government, trans- 

 lator to the Foreign Office. He was widely 

 known as the author of many valuable articles 

 in the "Transactions" of the Royal Asiatic 

 Society, among which may be mentioned those 

 on "The Kapur-di-Giri Rock Inscription," 

 " The Assyrian and Babylonian Weights," and 

 "The Scythic Version of the Behistuo Inscrip- 

 tion." He also contributed to the " Transac- 

 tions " of other learned societies numerous pa- 

 pers on philological, ethnological, paleographi- 

 cal, and other subjects, and had edited the 

 "Ethnographical Library" since it was found- 

 ed in 1853. He was the author of grammars 

 in the Fulah and Bornu languages, translated 

 portions of the Bible into Tahitian, and edited 

 and translated "The Cornish Drama." But 

 the principal work of his life lay in the direc- 

 tion of cuneiform studies. It was he who first 

 assisted Sir Henry Rawlinson in bringing out, 

 through the liberality of the trustees of the 

 British Museum, the first two volumes of the 

 "Cuneiform Records," principally those of the 

 British ^fuseum, but including also many oth- 

 ers, such as the well-known monolith of Sar- 

 gon, from Cyprus. Mr. Norris also, alone and 

 unaided, undertook the stupendous labor of 

 compiling and completing the first Assyrian 

 dictionary, of which the third part has but re- 

 cently been issued. 



NORTH CAROLINA. The Legislature, 

 which convened on the third Monday of No- 

 vember, 1871, adjourned on the 13th of Feb- 

 ruary, having in the mean time taken a recess 

 for Christmas. Near the close of the session, 

 Matthew W. Ransom, Democrat, was elected 

 United States Senator in the place of Zebulon 

 B. Vance, resigned, whose political disabilities 

 had not been removed. One of the most im- 

 portant measures was a bill proposing amend- 

 ments to the constitution, introduced before 

 the beginning of the year (see ANNUAL CYCLO- 

 PEDIA for 1871), which was passed on the 19th 

 of January, and referred, according to the re- 

 quirements of the constitution, to the Legis- 

 lature to be chosen at the August election. 

 The most important sections proposed for 

 adoption were the following : 



The members of the General Assembly shall each 

 receive three hundred dollars as a compensation for 

 their services during their term ; but, they may have 

 an additional allowance when they are called together 

 in special session, and mileage shall be ten cents per 

 mile for each session. 



The judicial power of the State shall be vested in 

 a court for the trial of impeachments, a Supreme 

 Court, Superior Courts, such inferior courts as may 

 be established by law, and Courts of Justices of the 

 Peace. 



The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief-Jus- 

 tice and two Associate-Justices. (At present there 

 are four Associate-Justices.) 



The State shall be divided into nine (there are now 

 twelve) judicial districts, for each of which a judge 

 shall be chosen ; and in each district a Superior 

 Court shall be held at least twice in each year, to 

 continue for such time in each county respectively 

 as may be prescribed by law. The General Assem- 

 bly may reduce or increase the number of districts, 

 to take eifect at the end of each judicial term. 



The General Assembly shall prescribe a proper 

 system of rotation for the judges of the Superior 

 Courts^ so that no judge may ride the same district 

 twice in _ succession, and the judges may also ex- 

 change districts with each other, as may be provided 

 by law. 



The General Assembly shall have no power to 

 deprive the judicial department of any power or 

 jurisdiction which rightfully pertains to it as a co- 

 ordinate department; but the General Assembly 

 shall allot and distribute that portion of this power 

 and jurisdiction, which does not pertain to the Su- 

 preme Court, among the other courts prescribed in 

 this constitution, or which may be established by 

 law, in such manner as it may deem best, provide 

 also a proper system of appeals, and regulate by law 

 when necessary the methods of proceeding, in the 

 exercise of their powers, of all the courts below the 

 Supreme Court, so far as the same maybe done with- 

 out conflict with other provisions of this constitu- 

 tion. 



The judicial officers and the clerks of any courts 

 which may be established by law, shall be chosen 

 by the vote of the qualified electors, and for such 

 term as maybe prescribed bylaw. The voters of 

 each precinct, established as 'is elsewhere provided 

 for in this constitution, shall elect two justices ot'tho 

 neace for such term as may be fixed by law, whose 

 jurisdiction shall extend throughout their respective 

 counties. The General Assembly may provide for 

 the election of more than two justices of the peace 

 in those precincts which contain cities or towns, or 

 in which other special reasons render it expedient. 

 The chief magistrates_ of cities and incorporated 

 towns shall have the judicial powers of justices of 

 the peace. 



