feeling and vivacity, he is said to have expressed his affection for the king by familiar embraces; but Voltaire chooses to discredit such a violation of etiquette. In 1675, his long services were rewarded by letters of noblesse and the cross of St. Michael. The king would also have given him a coat of arms, but he replied that he was already possessed of one, consisting of three snails surmounted by a cabbage. "Can I, (said he) ever forget my dear spade, to which I am indebted for all your majesty's goodness?" At the age of fourscore he desired permission to retire, which the king granted on condition that he would sometimes come to see him. He died at Paris in 1700, at the age of eighty-seven. Le Notre is said to have had a fine taste for the arts in general, especially for that of painting, and some pieces of his execution "of an inestimable value" are mentioned as existing in the royal cabinet, but of what kind we are not informed. Mereri. -A.

NOTKER, or NOTGER, surnamed the Stammerer, a celebrated monk of the abbey of St. Gall, who flourished in the ninth and at the commencement of the tenth century, was descended from a noble family, and born at Heiligow, a few leagues from that abbey, towards the close of the reign of Lewis Le Debonnaire. He received his education at the monastery of St. Gall, where he assumed the religious habit among the Benedictines on that foundation; distinguished himself by the progress which he made in sacred and profane literature; and acquired an extraordinary fame for sanctity. During several years he had the conduct of the schools dependant on that famous abbey, and occupied his hours of leisure from that charge and the observances of the cloister, in the composition of literary works, and the transcription of books of merit. He died at an advanced age in the year 912. He was beatified by pope Julius II. There are still extant by him a << Martyrology," in Basnage's "Thesaurus Monumentorum Ecclesiasticorum et Historicorum;" and several others of his productions in the "Novus Thesaurus Monumentorum," of D. Pez. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-M.

NOTKER, or NOTGER, a celebrated bishop of Liege in the tenth and early part of the eleventh century, was a native of Suabia, and of high birth, some writers calling him the son of a duke of that country, and others a nephew of the emperor Otho I. He became a monk of the abbey of St. Gall, and acquired

such a reputation for learning, that Odillon, abbot of Stavelo, entrusted to him the superintendance of the schools belonging to that religious house. Some time afterwards he returned to St. Gall, where he was elected provost, or prior of that abbey. He now frequently attended at the imperial court, where he became a favourite with the emperor Otho I. who, upon a vacancy taking place in the bishopric of Liege, in the year 971, appointed him to that dignity. On his conduct in the episcopal office very high commendations were pissed; and so greatly did he improve the city of Liege, by surrounding it with a wall, rebuilding the cathedral and several other churches, and erecting various magnificent structures, that he is entitled to the honours of second founder of that city. At the same time he displayed a commendable solicitude for the encouragement of learning and science, as far as they were then cultivated; and in the schools under his patronage many scholars were educated, who possessed the first rank among their contemporaries. The emperor Otho III. to whom he had been tutor, placed such confidence in him as to make him his principal counsellor, and our prelate sustained a considerable part in the management of public affairs. He was present at the council of Mouson in 995, and at that of Frankfort in 1007. He died in the year 1008. To him has by some been attributed a "History of the Bishops of Liege," which others maintain to have been the composition of Heriger, abbot of Laubes, from the materials collected by Notker, who was the author of the preface. This history is inserted in Chapeauville's collection of pieces relating to the History of Liege. Other works also bear his name, which may be seen in the collections of Surius and Bollandus. For the evidence of his pretensions to them the reader may consult Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. II. sub. sæc. obscur. and Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-M.

NOVARINI, LEWIS, a learned Italian Theatin monk who flourished in the seventeenth century, was a native of Verona, where he was born in the year 1594. He entered among the Theatins at Verona in the year 1612, and was sent to pass through his noviciate at Venice, where he took the vows in 1614. Afterwards he studied philosophy and divinity, and was ordained priest in 1621. The departments in which he was chiefly occupied, were those of the pulpit and the confessional chair; while he frequently filled the post of

superior of his order, and officiated as counsellor of the inquisition. We are informed that he was well skilled in the Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac languages, and enjoyed the esteem of the princes and learned men of his time. He died at Verona in 1656, when about fiftysix years of age. He was the author of a vast number of works, of which a long list is given in the fortieth volume of father Niceron's "Memoires." That father observes, that he was more solicitous about the variety and magnitude of his productions, than a proper selection of the materials which he had collected in the course of his reading and study; and that he had not the patience to give them the necessary correction and polish. Hence the value of his labours is greatly lessened, by the injudicious mixture of what is bad or indifferent, with what is truly good. Among his principal works are," Comment. in IV. Evangel. et Acta Apostol." in four volumes, folio; "Adagia Sanctorum Patrum," &c. in two volumes, folio; " Electra Sacra, in quibus quà ex Latino, Græco, Hebraico, et Chaldaico fonte, quà ex antiquis Hebræorum, Persarum, Græcorum, Romanorum, aliarumque Gentium ritibus, quædam divinæ Scripturæ loca noviter explicantur et illustrantur," 1627, in three volumes, folio; "Electa sacra, in quibus quà ex Linguarum fontibus, quà ex priscis Gentium ritibus nonnulla Sacrorum Loca nova explicatu donantur, aut nova luce vestiuntur," 1633, in three volumes, folio, &c. It is remarked by his catholic critics, that in several of his pieces his learning is debased by an abundant portion of credulity. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-M.

NOVATUS, a presbyter of the church of Carthage in the third century, by some ancient and modern writers is improperly represented to have been the founder of the sect of the Novatians, who derived their name from the subject of the next article. This presbyter, if we are to take his character from his bishop, St. Cyprian, was a man of no principles, and guilty of innumerable crimes. He accuses him of perfidy, adulation, arrogance, extreme covetousness, and of pillaging the funds of the church, as well as the property of widows and orphans. But it should be recollected that we have no proof of these charges excepting the assertion of Cyprian, who was highly exasperated against Novatus, on account of his having created a schism in the church of Carthage. What was the first ground of difference between the bishop and his presbyter we are not

informed; but it proceeded to such a length, that the latter, in opposition to Cyprian, ordained one Felicissimus a deacon, in a separate congregation in which he presided. It was the intention of Cyprian to have excommunicated him for this conduct; but the breaking out of the Decian persecution in the year 251, put a stop to the proceedings. During the absence of Cyprian, who had thought it prudent to withdraw from the storm, Novatus and Felicissimus strengthened their party against him, and maintained, in opposition to the opinion of that bishop, that such persons as fell from the faith through the fear of persecution, ought to be restored to church-communion, without undergoing the long course of penitential discipline enjoined by the ecclesiastical canons. canons. Upon the return of Cyprian to Carthage, he soon procured the excommunication of Novatus and his friends; but they, despising the sentence, formed a new church at Carthage, and chose for their bishop one Fortunatus, who had been included in the sentence of excommunication. This schism, however, seems to have been of short duration, as we find no farther mention made of it; and it is not improbable but that those of whom it consisted, following the example of Novatus, underwent a change of sentiment, and adopted the party of the Roman presbyter who is the subject of the next article. Novatus left Africa for Rome in the year 251, and supported the interests of his namesake against Cornelius, when a vacancy took place in the Roman see upon the death of Fabianus. We learn no further particulars concerning him, excepting that he was one of the most active instruments in propagating the distinguishing tenet of the sect of which he thus became a member. Cyprian Epist. LIX. Ed. Oxon. Mosheim de rebus Christian. ante Constantin. p. 497, &c. Moreri. Lardner's Cred. part ii. vol. V. ch. 47. Priestley's Hist. Christ. Church, vol. I. per. v. sect. iii. —M.

NOVATUS, the first antipope, is called NoVATIAN by many Latin writers, who have been followed by the greater number of learned moderns; but the Greek writers of the church, particularly Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, and Athanasius, give him the name of NoVATUS. The probability that the latter was his true name, is, we conceive, very satisfactorily shewn by the learned and dispassionate Lardner, in the places referred to at the end of this article. According to Philostorgius he was a native of Phrygia; but Photius, in the epitome which

he has given of that writer's Ecclesiastical History, adds, that he knows not whence he had such information. He appears to have been born of heathen parents, and educated a philosopher. Cave says, that he was of the sect of the Stoics; but the ancients have not expressly said what was the philosophy which he professed. From the fragments of a letter of pope Cornelius which is preserved by Eusebius, we are informed that he first made profession of the christian faith when confined to his bed by a dangerous disorder, and was baptized by sprinkling in that situation, when all hopes of life were gone. Afterwards he recovered and became a presbyter of the Roman church, in which he acquired fame by his uncommon learning and eloquence. Cornelius accuses him with having disclaimed the character, and refused to perform the duties of a presbyter in the time of persecution, and with having in effect renounced the christian religion. These charges, however, cannot be reconciled with the rank and reputation which he held among his brethren the clergy of Rome, at the time of the death of Fabianus, as appears from the letter sent to St. Cyprian on that occasion in their name, which is allowed by all to have been drawn up by Novatus, and to reflect on him great honour. They are also contradicted by the anonymous author of a treatise against him, joined with St. Cyprian's works, who says that Novatus, "so long as he was in the church, bewailed the faults of other men as his own, bore the burthens of the brethren, as the apostle directs, and by his exhortations strengthened such as were weak in the faith." When a vacancy took place in the bishopric of Rome upon the death of Fabianus, Cornelius was chosen his successor with the approbation of a great majority of the clergy and people of that church, and was ordained by sixteen bishops who had assembled in that city. His election, however, was not unanimous, several of the clergy and of the people dissenting from it; by whom Novatus was chosen bishop, who was also ordained by three Italian bishops. Of this ordination a frightful picture is drawn by Cornelius, who says, that Novatus "chose out two of his associates, men of an abandoned character, whom he sent into an obscure corner of Italy, to fetch thence three bishops, simple and illiterate men, whom they persuaded to believe that, a difference having arisen at Rome, they ought by all means to hasten thither to assist as mediators, together with other bishops, in composing it. When they were come to Rome,

being persons of little experience, and unacquainted with the arts and subtilties of designing men, he shut them up in a private apartment with some of his confidants; and when he had made them eat and drink to excess, at four o'clock in the afternoon he compelled them to ordain him bishop, by a vain and ineffectual imposition of their hands." But when it is considered that, as Cornelius himself acknowledges, no less than five presbyters and several confessors, some of them men of eminence and of unblemished virtue, approved of the ordination of Novatus, though afterwards for the sake of peace, they came, over to the majority, it may be fairly questioned whether that affair was so scandalous as Cornelius has represented it. And it should be remeinbered that we have this account only in the writings of Novatus's enemies, while we have not remaining one line of his in defence of himself, or against his adversaries.

After their ordinations, both Cornelius and Novatus sent letters and deputies to foreign bishops and churches, notifying their election, and Novatus found many supporters in various places. As, however, Cornelius's letters and deputies met with the most favourable reception in general, he was approved of as the legitimate possessor of the Roman see; and Novatus is esteemed the first antipope. In the year 251, Cornelius convened a numerous council at Rome, which confirmed his election, and condemned Novatus and his adherents, who were cut off as schismatics from the body of the faithful. By the catholic church Novatus. is also stigmatized as a heretic as well as schismatic; but it may be questioned, how far they are justified in giving him this odious title, even upon their own definition of heresy. In point of doctrine, there was no difference between Novatus and the orthodox. What peculiarly distinguished him was, his refusal to re-admit to the communion of the church those who had fallen in the time of persecution, while other Christians were for receiving them after they had given tokens of repentance, suitable to the kind and degree of the offence; some after a shorter, others not till after a longer time of humiliation and penance; all, however, who desired it in the near approach of death. He did not maintain that all those who had once apostatized would be excluded from heaven. On the contrary, he encouraged their repentance, but left them to the judgment of God, keeping his own church pure from so great a stain as he considered apostacy to be;

and he also thought that no other church could be deemed pure, or its ordinances valid, which admitted such improper members. It is not unlikely that Novatus himself, or his followers afterwards, carried this rigour and severity to other sins, sometimes called mortal, and reckoned more heinous than others; such as adultery, fornication, and the like, withholding the communion of the church from all who were surprized into any of these. Hence it was that he and his followers either assumed, or received from their adversaries, by way of derision, the denomination of Cathari, i. e. the pure, or puritans. They also obliged such as came over to them from the general body of Christians, to submit to be baptized a second time, as a necessary preparation for entering into their society. This society, which after the name of the first bishop was commonly distinguished by the title of Novatians, on account of the severity of its discipline attracted numerous converts, and flourished, till after the middle of the fifth century, in all those provinces of the Roman empire which had embraced the christian faith. By several ancient writers the Novatians are said to have condemned second marriages as unlawful and sinful, and to have refused communion to those who married a second time. Socrates, however, has shewn that they did not entertain a common opinion upon this point; the Novatians in Phrygia condemning second marriages; those of Constantinople having no positive rule concerning this subject; while the Novatians in the West received bigamists to communion without scruple.

With respect to the time and manner of Novatus's death, nothing can be affirmed with any certainty. Socrates indeed asserts, that he suffered martyrdom in the persecution under the emperor Valerian. Other ancient writers, however, controvert this statement, and maintain, that if he suffered from the persecution of the heathens, he was not put to death. It is · probable, therefore, from their concessions, and from the common opinion of his followers, that if he did not die a martyr, yet he was a confessor. Among the small number of his works which have reached our times, are his "Letter to Cyprian, in the Name of the Roman Clergy," to which we have already alluded, and another "Letter" to the same, both of which are to be seen among the letters of that father; a small treatise entitled, "Of Jewish Meats," and a "Book concerning the Trinity,' both of which appear to have been written af.

ter Novatus had become the head of a party, and are inserted among the works of Tertullian; and St. Jerome attributes to him two other pieces, entitled "Of Easter," and "Concerning Circumcision." In the appendix to the works of that father, there are two treatises or letters, without the name of any author, one of which is entitled, "Of the Celebration of Easter," and the other, "Of the true Circumcision," which were at one time supposed to be the pieces in question. The former of these, however, is now generally allowed to be St. Augustine's, and is inserted among his Letters; and the latter, from the express mention that is made in it of the Manichaeans and Arians, must be the composition of some later writer than Novatus, whose time is uncertain. The best collection of the works of Novatus (called by the editor Novatian) is that published by the rev. John Jackson, entitled, "Novatiani Romani Opera quæ supersunt, Omnia. Post Jacobi Pamelii Resersionem, ad Antiquiores Editiones castigata," 1728,

We shall conclude this article with the high character which Dupin gives to the founder of the Novatian sect. "This author," says he, "had abundance of wit, learning, and eloquence. His style is pure, neat, and polished; his expressions are select, his thoughts natural, and his reasoning just. He is full of citations of text of scripture, which are much to the purpose. Moreover, there is a great deal of method and order in those treatises of his which we now have; and he never expresses himself but with mildness and moderation." Eusebii Hist. Eccl. lib. vi. cap. 43. Socrat. Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. cap. 28. and lib. v. cap. 22. Philostorgii Hist. Eccl. lib. viii. cap. 15. Fabricii Bibl. Eccl. sub Hieron. cap. lxx. Cave's Hist, Lit. vol. I. sub sac. Novat. Dupin. Lardner's Cred. part ii. vol. V. ch. xlvi. and xlvii, with the Note, and vol. VII. p. 438. Answer to Mr. Jackson. Mosh. Hist. Eccl. sæc. iii. par. ii. cap. v. sect. 17. 18. Priestley's Hist. Christ. Church, vol. 1. per. v. sect. iii. -M.

NOUE, FRANCIS DE LA, surnamed Bras-deFer, an eminent warrior and statesman, was born in 1531 of an ancient family in Britany. He bore arms from early youth, and distinguished himself in Italy. On his return to France he embraced the Calvinist religion and party, of which he became a principal support. He reduced Orleans in 1567, commanded the rear-guard at the battle of Jarnac in 1569, and afterwards took Fontenoi and