Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/511

 NORTH CAROLINA created in aid of the rebellion. An election for governor and members of congress and the state legislature was held on Nov. 9, when also the resolution declaring the secession ordi- nance void, and that abolishing slavery, were ratified by the people. The legislature assem- bled on Nov. 13, and subsequently ratified, with six dissenting voices, the amendment to the federal constitution abolishing slavery. On Dec. 23 the provisional governor was succeed- ed by the newly elected governor Worth. Ac- cording to adjournment, the convention reas- sembled on May 24, 1866, and adopted amend- ments to the constitution, which were rejected by the people at an election held Aug. 2. The government of North Carolina as thus reor- ganized did not meet the approval of congress, nor were the representatives of the state ad- mitted to that body. Pursuant to the recon- struction act of congress, passed March 2, 1867, providing a military government for the south- ern states, North and South Carolina were constituted the second military district, under command of Gen. D. E. Sickles, who was in- structed to take the necessary measures for as- sembling a convention to reorganize the state government. Gen. Sickles entered upon his duties on March 21, with his headquarters in Columbia, S. 0., but was superseded by Gen. Canby, who assumed command on Sept. 5. A registration of those persons qualified to vote under the reconstruction acts of congress was begun in August and completed before the middle of October, when 103,060 white and 71, 65 7 colored voters had been registered. The election was held on Nov. 19 and 20, when a vote was taken on the question of " convention" or " no convention," and also for delegates to the convention in case of holding one. The total number of votes cast was about 130,000, of which 60,000 were those of colored persons ; about 90,000 votes were cast for the conven- tion. That body having assembled on Jan. 14, 1868, the present constitution was framed; and it was ratified by the people on April 21-23. The whole number of votes registered was 196,876, of whom 117,431 were white and 79,445 colored ; 93,118 votes were cast in favor of the constitution, and 74,009 against it. At the same election state officers, members of the legislature, and representatives to congress were chosen. The new constitution having been approved by congress, a law was passed, June 25, 1868, entitling North Carolina with other states to representation in congress upon the ratification by their legislatures of the four- teenth amendment to "the federal constitution. The legislature assembled on July 1, and on the following day ratified the amendment. On the 4th Gov. Holden was formally inaugurated, and on the llth a proclamation was issued by the president announcing that North Carolina had complied with the condition prescribed by congress for her restoration to the Union. The fifteenth amendment to the federal constitu- tion was ratified March 4, 1869, by a vote of NORTHERN LIGHTS 497 40 to 8 in the senate and 87 to 20 in the house. During 1869 and 1870 the peace of the state was seriously disturbed by outrages alleged to have been committed by masked outlaws be- longing to a secret organization known as the Ku-Klux Elan. On March 7 Gov. Holden de- clared martial law in Alamance county, and subsequently in Caswell county, which con- tinued in both counties until Nov. 10. For these acts articles of impeachment were pre- ferred against him on Dec. 14, which resulted in his conviction and removal from office. NORTHCOTE, James, an English painter, born in Plymouth, Oct. 22, 1746, died July 13, 1831. He was the son of a watchmaker, with whom he served an apprenticeship, and subsequently devoted himself to painting. In 1771 he be- came a pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and from 1777 to 1780 he studied in Italy. After his return he was occupied in portrait painting until the establishment of Alderman Boydell's " Shakespeare Gallery," for which he executed various pictures, the best of which are " Prince Arthur and Hubert," "The Murder of the Princes in the Tower," "The Death of Wat Tyler," and " The Entry of Bolingbroke and Richard II. into London." In 1787 he was elected an academician. He was subsequently eclipsed in portraiture by Lawrence and other artists, and his harsh criticisms of the works of his contemporaries made him exceedingly un- popular. He published " Life of Sir Joshua Rey- nolds" (4to, London, 1813; with supplement, 1815; 8vo, enlarged, 1819), valuable chiefly for the sayings and anecdotes of Reynolds ; "Life of Titian" (2 vols., 1830), the joint production of himself and Hazlitt; and two volumes of fables, of which the first, entitled " One Hundred Fables " (1828), contained ori- ginal and selected pieces, with illustrations of his own, and the second, also illustrated by himself, was published after his decease under the title of "The Artist's Book of Fables." NORTHCOTE, Sir Stafford Henry, an English statesman, born in London, Oct. 27, 1818. He graduated at Oxford in 1842, and was called to the bar in 1847. He succeeded as eighth baronet on the death of his grandfather in 1851, and in the same year was made a 0. B. for his services as a secretary of the crystal palace exhibition. He became a member of parlia- ment in 1855 ; was private secretary of Mr. Gladstone when the latter was president of the board of trade ; financial secretary to the treasury from January to June, 1859 ; president of the board of trade from July, 1866, to March, 1867, and afterward secretary of state and president of the council for India till Decem- ber, 1868 ; governor of the Hudson Bay com- pany in 186-9 ; and a member of the high joint commission at Washington on the Alabama claims in 1871. In March, 1874, he joined Mr. Disraeli's cabinet as chancellor of the ex- chequer. He has published "Twenty Years of Financial Policy, 1842-'61 " (London, 1862). NORTHERN LIGHTS. See AUEOEA BOREALIS.