Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 41.djvu/144

 ing success. He was a friend and confidential correspondent of Bishop Fraser of Manchester, whose examining chaplain he was from 1870 to 1885. He was inspector of church training colleges from 1871 to 1876. He was a member of convocation, as proctor for the chapter of Bristol, from 1879 to 1881, and afterwards as archdeacon. Towards the end of December 1891 he fell ill of bronchitis. On 29 Dec. his appointment to the deanery of Chichester was announced, but he died on the same evening. He was buried in the graveyard adjoining Bristol Cathedral, and a tablet within its walls bears testimony to his worth; upwards of 5,000l. was subscribed as a memorial to him to be devoted to the augmentation of the Bristol bishopric.

Norris was a hard and successful worker for the restoration of the cathedral, the nave of which must always be associated with his name. He was one of the first to move for the revival of the old see of Bristol, as distinct from that of Gloucester, and was a vigorous promoter of church extension in and around the cathedral town. His most important literary work was in the form of popular handbooks for students in theology, and two remarkable volumes of notes on the New Testament.

Norris married in 1858 Edith Grace, daughter of the Right Hon. Stephen Lushington (second son of the first baronet), who survived him, and by whom he left issue.

His chief works, in addition to separate sermons, essays, and charges, were: 1. ‘Translation of Demosthenes, De Coronâ,’ 1849. 2. ‘Report on the Iron and Coal Masters' Prize Scheme for the Encouragement of Education,’ 1854. 3. ‘On the Inspiration of the New Testament,’ 1864. 4. ‘The Education of the People,’ 1869. 5. ‘A Key to the Narrative of the Four Gospels,’ 1869. 6. ‘A Catechist's Manual,’ 1869. 7. ‘A Key to the Acts of the Apostles,’ 1871. 8. ‘Manual of Religious Instruction,’ 3 vols. 1874. 9. ‘A Catechism for Young Children,’ 1874. 10. ‘Rudiments of Theology,’ 1875. 11. ‘Studia Sacra; Theological Remains of John Keble,’ edited, 1877. 12. ‘Easy Lessons on Confirmation,’ 1877. 13. ‘New Testament, with Introduction and Notes,’ 1880. 14. ‘The Patriarchs Joseph and Moses,’ 1880. 15. ‘The Church of St. Mary Redcliff, and Handbook to Bristol Cathedral,’ 1882. 16. ‘Lectures on Pastoral Theology,’ 1884. 17. ‘Lectures on Butler's Analogy,’ 1886. 18. ‘A Key to the Epistles of St. Paul,’ 1890. 

NORRIS, PHILIP (d. 1465), dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, was probably born at Dundalk. When quite young, on 29 July 1427, he was presented to the vicarage of St. Nicholas, Dundalk. Shortly after he obtained leave of absence for seven years in order to complete his studies at Oxford. Entering at University College, he studied for a time in ‘the great hall’ of that college, and later, during 1429 and two following years, he presided over ‘the little hall’ until he obtained the degree of doctor of divinity. He is said to have acquired a good knowledge of philosophy and theology, and to have been learned in canon and civil law and proficient in rhetoric. While at Oxford he adopted very decided opinions regarding the misconduct and abuses of the mendicant orders of friars, and became a strenuous advocate for their reform or suppression. His opinions on this subject were similar to those promulgated during the previous century by Richard Fitzralph [q. v.] Norris in his sermons and writings sharply attacked the habits of these orders, and maintained that it was scandalous for a priest to beg. The friars were not slow in retorting. Thomas Hore, a Dominican, made a complaint against him, in the name of the four orders, to Pope Eugenius IV, who directed Dominic, cardinal-deacon of St. Mary's, Rome, to make inquiry into the matter, and report to him in secret consistory. This was done, and the statements of Norris were condemned as heretical and erroneous by a bull issued in 1440. He was also censured, and declared to be incapable of holding any church benefice. Norris appealed from the pope's decision to the council of Basle, and the bull does not seem to have been enforced. Bale says he was protected by several archbishops. His opponents, however, not only complained to the pope, but also to Henry VI. They alleged that Thomas Walsh, bachelor of laws, had obstructed Richard Talbot [q. v.], archbishop of Dublin, and prevented him from reading and promulgating certain bulls issued on their behalf against Norris. Legal inquiry followed, and Walsh was declared to be innocent of the charge. William Musselwyke, an Augustin friar, who made a further complaint at Rome against Norris in the name of his order, was, with his abettors, suspended by the chancellor of Oxford for having submitted a cause to be tried abroad that came within the jurisdiction of the university court. Norris was thus able to set at defiance both the friars and the pope's bull. But in 1458 Nicholas V addressed another bull concerning him to the Archbishops of Canterbury, London, and Dublin,