Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/740

NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 630 NORTON. I as republican States, and on an equal footing with the oiij;inal States. On the strenfjth of this pledge Xew York ceded her claims in 1781. Vir- ginia hers in 1784, Massachusetts hers in 178.5, and Connecticut hers in 1780. All <if those col- onies, however, resened for special jjurposes cer- tain lands from the cession. Thus Virginia retained in what is now the southern part of Ohio a considerable area, known as the Virginia ililitary District, and Connecticut retained 3,2ot),000 acres, known as the Western Keserve (q.v. ), in what is now the northern part of Ohio. By an ordinance of 1785 Congress made provision for surveying the lands thus ceded. The lands were then thrown open for sale, and the result was a great influx of immigrants from the older States. On the first of March, 1784, the very day on which Virginia completed her cession, Jetferson, as chairman of a committee, I'eported to Congress a temporary jilan of government which was adopted on A])ril i:id. .Tcllerson's .scheme contemplated the division of the territory into new States, divided by lines of latitude two degrees apart, and intersected by two meridians of longitude to be drawn through the mouth of the Kanawha and the falls of the Ohio, and to the new States thus create<l were to be given the names of Sylvania, ilichigania, Clierson- esus, Assenisipia. Mes(i])otamia, lllinoia. Wash- ington, I'lilypotaniia. and l'cli>i])ia. The ordi- nance further provided tliaL at'ltr the year 1800 neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should e.xist in any of the said States except as a punish- ment for crime. This ordinance never went into effect, and was repealed by the celebrated ordi- nance of 1787. This latter ordinance was pre- pared by a committee of which Nathan Dane, of ilassachusetts, was chairnum. and received the approval of Congress, .July 13, 1787. It was a constitution of government for the Northwest Territory, and contained, besides, six articles of compact between the old Stales and the new States to be created out of the said territory. It provided that there should be formed out of the territor.v in question not less than three or more than five States, and undertook to define their boundaries. For the purposes of temporary government this vast domain was constituted into one district, and was com- niilted to the rule of a •;iivernnr. ti secretary, an<l three judges,, all appointed by Congress. Until the election of a legislature, the (iovernor and the judges sitting together were authorized to adopt such laws of the original States as the.v deemed necessar.v and suitable, subject to the approval of Congress. Provision was made for a legislature to be called into exist- ence as soon as there were 5000 free male in- habitants of full age in the territory. It was to consist of a Ix-gislative Council composed of five members chosen by Congress, and a House of Keprcsentatives chosen by freeholders. There were also a numl>er of organic provisions regarding land tenure, taxation, inheritances, and the alienation of properf.v. The articles of compact constituted a sort of bill of rights, and guaranteed freedom of religious worship and belief, the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, trial by jury, benefit of the common law, the security of private contracts, and free- dom of navigable waters. Finally the North- west Territory was dedicated to freedom by the famous article that prohibited slavery and western part of the Territory was constituted into the District of Indiana, with William Henry involuntary servitude. In October, 1787, Gen- eral Arthur St. Clair, a veterau of the French and Revolutionary W ars, was appointed the first (;o^■erllor of the Territory. In .luly of the fol- lowing year he reached' JIarietta," the seat of goveriiment for the Territory, and his first act was an order for the creation of Washington Count,v. Shortl,v thereafter he appointed a num- ber of magistrates and established a Court of (Quarter Sessions. In 1708. the pcipulation liav- ing far exceeded the required number, a lei;isla- ture was called and met for the first time at Cin- cinnati, September 24, 1799. The Lower House consisted of 22 members, representing the nine counties of the Territory. In July, 1800, the part of District i Harrison as (loveriior. and with Vincennes as cap- ital. In .January. 1S0.5. Jlieliigan Territorv was created, with (ieii. William Hull as Governor; in Feliruary. ISOil. the Illinois Territory was iiij.'an- ized, with Kaskaskia as its seat of governiiieiit, and in April, IS.'iG, part of -Michigan Terri- torv was organized into the Territorv of Wis- consin. Consult: Hinsdale, The Old Xorthicvst (New Vork. 1801); and Moore, The yorlhwcst Vjiihr Thrrr Fhi.js: (New Vork, 1900). NORTH WICH, north' wich. A market-town and raihva,y junction in Cheshire. England, at the confluence of the Weaver and Dane, nine miles south-southeast of Warrington (Maji: Kiig- laud, D 3). It is noted for its salt mines, brine springs, and suiipli'inental industries. The town has an ancient ;nid ilila|iidateil ap|iearanee. owing to land subsideiKes wrniiglit by the milling and brine-pumping. The Marston mine. 300 feet deep, its vault supported b,v enormous salt pil- lars, is the most picturesque of the excavations. The municipalitv is progressive; maintains a free public lilirary. technical schools, gj-mnasium, and park: owns remunerative markets, w;iter- works ;iiid public baths, which include medi- cinal brine baths. The brine springs have been worked from jirehistoric times. During the Civil War Ncirthwieh was fortified by I'arlia- ment, and was the scene of exciting encounters. Population, in 1891, 15,000; 1901, 17.G0O. NOR'TON, Aniwews (1786-1853). An Ameri- can theologian ami scholar. lie was burn at Hingham. Mass.. and graduated from Harvard College in 1804. He stu.lied thenlo^'y and in 1809 became a tutor in Howdnin College. He went to Harvard in 1811 to teach mathematics, but re- signed the next year to conduct the Ornenil AV- posilnri/, a magazine devoted to the propagation of liberal Christianity. In 1813 he was made librarian of Harvard, in addition to which he was aiqiiiinteil lecturer on the criticism and in- terpretation of the Scriptures. He was in the Harvard Divinity Seho<d. 1S19-30. Dcxti'r jiro- fessor of sacred literature. The remainder of his life was devoted to literar.v pursuits. His first work of importance was .1 Stulcmcnt of Rcnsnns for ot lirlirrinij the Doctrine of Trini- tarians conccrninff the aturc of God and the Person of Christ ( 1833: new edition with memoir by W. Newell. lS.5(i; llth ed.. 1871!). Tn 1833 he became associated with Charles Folsom in the publication of the f<r-lrel Journal of Foreign I'rriodieal Lilrratiirr. Other works of impor- tance were: Fvidenees of the flennineness of the Gospels (1837-44), and On the Latest Form of