Page:Revised Statutes of the State of North Carolina - Volume 1.djvu/17

Rh and published by Mr Martin, and approved by the succeeding legislature. At the session of the General Assembly in 1817, it was enacted "That a committee of three persons be appointed by joint ballot of both houses, whose duty it shall be to revise and consolidate the public acts, and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this State heretofore passed, or which may be passed before the completion of their work," and also, "That it shall be the duty of said commissioners to enumerate and specify these statutes and parts of statutes of Great Brtian, which are in force within this State." The commissioners appointed were John Louis Taylor, chief justice of the supreme court, Henry Potter, judge of the district court of the United States, and Bartlet Yancy, speaker of the senate. The revisal, completed by these gentlemen after the manner of Iredell's revisal, was ordered by the legislature to be published, and was published in 1821, under the superintendent of Judge Potter, the acts of 1820 being included. This work has usually been called "the Revised Code," or the "New Revisal."

In concluding this sketch, the undersigned will offer a brief notice of the revisal now published, which differs in its character from any heretofore executed, At the session of the General Assembly of 1833, it was enacted, "that three commissioners be appointed by the governor of the State to collate, digest and revise, all the public statute laws of this State, commencing with the earliest English statutes now in force, and including those which may be enacted during the present session of this General Assembly; that in the performance of this duty they shall carefully collect and reduce into one act the different acts, and parts of acts, which, from the similarity of subject ought, in their judgment, to be so arranged and consolidated, distributing the same under such titles, divisions and sections as they shall think proper, omitting all such acts, and parts of acts before passed as shall have either expired by their own limitation, become obsolete, or been repealed; that in every other respect they shall complete the said revision in such manner as to them shall seem most useful and proper to render said acts more pain and easy to be understood; and that, from time to time they shall before the legislature the acts so arranged and revised by them, to be re-enacted, if the legislature shall so determine." This act, though such a measure had long been desired by many intelligent citizens, owed its origin at this period, principally to the exertions of Governor Swain, who, in his annual message to the legislature had earnestly and eloquently urged its importance, and who manifested a deep solicitude for its success.