NOUTHCOTE, JAMES. 



NOSTRADAMUS, MICHEL. 



and the original work b called ' La Filosofia Morale del Doni, tratta 

 dagli antichi Serittori, owero, La Filotofia do' Sapienti Anticbi, scritta 

 da Sendebar, moralissimo Filoeofo Indiana,' Venice, 1552, 4 to. 



North's translation of Plutarch was made, as he states in the title, 

 from the French version of Amyot, which b generally very exact, 

 and has considerable merit in point of expression. Indeed it b 

 said that Amyot's translations did much towards fixing the French 

 language. Amyot's dedication to Henry II. of France is dated 1559. 

 North's dedication to Queen Elisabeth is dated January 6th, 1579; 

 hb address to the Reader b dated January 24th, 1579. North's 

 version b often inaccurate, where that of Amyot's is correct, which is 

 somewhat strange, for he tells us that he translated Amyot The 

 book, besides the Lives of Plutarch, contains ' The Lives of Epami- 

 nondsa, of Philip of Macedon, of Dionysius the Elder, and of Octavius 

 Csssar Augustus, collected out of good Authors ; also the Lives of 

 Nine excellent Chief tame* of Warre, taken out of Latiue from Emylius 

 Probua, by 8. O. 8., by whom also are added the Lives of Plutarch 

 and of Seneca ; gathered together, disposed, and enriched as the 

 others. And now translated into English by Sir Thomas North, 

 Knight' Thb part of bis book is also dedicated by North to Queen 

 Elisabeth, to whom he seems to have been indebted for some kind of 

 pension or means of subsistence, for he says, " The princely bounty of 

 your blessed hand (most gracious Sovereigns), comforting and support- 

 ing my poore old decaying life, of right cballengeth the travel of my 

 tudy, the labor of my body, and the prayers of my devotions, to be 

 wholly imployed for your Highnesae, aud altogether dedicated to 

 your service." 



NORTHCOTE, JAMES, an English artist and writer on art, was 

 born in 1746, at Plymouth, where his father was a watchmaker. 

 Having been introduced to Sir Joshua Reynolds through Dr. J. Mudge, 

 he weat to London at the age of twenty-five to study painting under 

 him, and was for five years not only his pupil but his inmate. This 

 cdrcumsUnoe was of no small advantage to him, as it not only tended 

 to refine hb manners, but brought him into contact with the best 

 society of the day. On quitting Reynolds he at first set up as a 

 portrait-painter, and would no doubt have become eminent in that 

 branch of the art, as ho possessed much insight into aud power of 

 describing individual character. But his ambition prompted him to 

 aspire to something higher than taking likenesses. He accordingly 

 set out for Italy, where he spent about five years, and was made a 

 member of the academies of Florence and Cortona. On his return he 

 was encouraged by Boydell, who published many engravings after 

 subjects painted by him, and among others that called the Village 

 Doctress, which was for a long time an exceedingly popular print 

 For the Sbakspere Gallery he produced two of his best works, the 

 Murder of the Two Princes in the Tower, and Hubert and Arthur, 

 besides some other subjects. Yet although he displayed considerable 

 skill in composition and colouring, together with vigour of expression, 

 hb ability in art was by no means equal to his enthusiasm and his 

 application. For nearly half a orntury he existed almost entirely in 

 his painting-room in Argyle-street, and would have been content, as 

 he *itlf said, to live on so for ever in what was to him all-sufficient 

 enjoyment In the latter part of his life he was quite a recluse, and 

 independent both in spiiit and circumstances the latter chiefly owing 

 to bis prudence and frugality. He was apt to be somewhat cynical, 

 though really kind-hearted. Hazlitt's ' Conversations ' with him afford 

 the best portraiture of bis character aud of the qualities of his mind. 

 His literary productions are far from being inconsiderable. Many 

 papers of his appeared in a work entitled ' The Artist,' and in 1813 he 

 published hb ' Memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds, with an Analysis of 

 Us Discourses,' a quarto volume, to which he afterwards added a sup- 

 plement In 1828, at the age of eighty-two, he again appeared as an 

 author, with bb ' On* Hundred Fables, original and selected,' which, 

 though of little interest as a literary performance, b a book of great 

 attraction on account of the very numerous and admirable wood-cuts, 

 all which were executed after design*, prepared though not drawn by 

 himself, and were superior to any embellishments of the kind that 

 had then appeared. A second set was published after hb death, accor- 

 ding to bb instructions in his will As if to convince the world that 

 he was not only still living, but unwearied by his long career, ho 

 published, in bis eighty-fourth year, hb ' Life of Titian,' a work which 

 ffmWff* much information relative to painting and to art generally ; 

 but this work though embodying hb views b known to have been 

 written by Haslitt : it b however in a literary point of view a strangely 

 imroetbodical and nnsatbfaotory performance. To ths last Northoote 

 continued to use hb pencil ; he may indeed almost be said to have 

 died with H in hb hand, since be continued to amuse himself with it 

 till within a day or two of hb death, which happened at hb house in 

 ArgyleHrtnet, July 13, 1831. Northcote was never married, but lived 

 with hb tnsHtn sister, who survived him. 



'KTON, TU HON. CAROLINE ELIZABETH SARAH, is one 

 of thrsw daughters of Thomas Sheridan, the son of the famous Richard 

 BrinaUy Sheridan her two sisters, both also still (1857) surviving, 

 bsing the present Duchess of Somerset and Lady Dufferin. She was 

 bom in 1808, and, her father dying while she was still very young, the 

 ears of her education and that of her sisters devolved on their mother, 

 who was a daughter of Colonel and Lady Elisabeth Callandor. Residing 

 at Hampton Court, sometimes in Scotland, the three sisters 



received every advantage of education, intellectual and social ; and 

 while still in her girlhood, Miss Sheridan was a writer of verses and of 

 plays for private performance in the family circle. A satire called 

 ' The Dandies' Rout ' was conveyed by her to a bookseller then in the 

 habit of publishing such things, and by him printed and circulated. 

 In July 1827, at the age of nineteen. Miss Sheridan married the Hon. 

 Qeorge Chappie Norton (born 1800), brother of the present Lord 

 Orantley, and now recorder of Quildford and a police magistrate of 

 London. Of three children, all sons, the issue of this marriage, two 

 survive Fletcher Cavendish Charles Conyem, born in 1829, and 

 Thomas Erinsley, born in 1831. It was after her marriage that Mrs. 

 Norton became known in literature. In 1829 she published anony- 

 mously ' The Sorrows of Rosalie, a Tale ; and other Po-mn,' written 

 before her marriage ; and this was followed in 1830 by ' The Undying 

 One, and other Poems,' which at once gave the authoress a rank among 

 the poetesses of the time, and caused the 'Quarterly Review' to 

 compare her to Byron. In 1836, in consequence of circumstances 

 which were much talked of at the time, a separation took place between 

 Mrs. Norton nud her husband. In that year she published ' A Voice 

 from the Factories;' in 1840 .'The Dream nud other Poems;' in 1845 

 'The Child of the Islands : a Poem;' in 1847 'Aunt Carry's Ballad* 

 for Children ; ' aud in the same year a novel called ' Stuart of Dunleath, 

 a Story of Modern Times.' In some of these works, besides the 

 poetical power, there was discernible a keen feeling of social wrongs 

 and anomalies ; and to one class of such wrongs and anomalies those 

 relating to the position of women Mr*. Norton has recently addressed 

 herself very eloquently in two publications ' English Laws for Women 

 in the 19th Century ' (privately printed), 1854 ; aud ' A Letter to the 

 Queen on Lord Chancellor Cranworth's Marriage and Divorce Hill,' 

 1855. Mrs. Norton has also contributed extensively to annuals and 

 other periodicals, as well as occasionally to newspapers. 



NORWOOD, RICHARD, a mathematician of the earlier part of the 

 17th century, of whoso personal history we know nothing. He is 

 principally famous for having been one of the first who measured a 

 degree of the meridian with any accuracy. His method was this : 

 in the year 1635 he measured the distance between London and York, 

 taking the bearings as he proceeded along the road, and reducing all 

 to the direction of the meridian and to the horizontal plane. The 

 difference of latitude be found by observation of the solstices to be 

 2 58', and from that and his measured distance he concluded the 

 degree to be 367,176 feet English, or 57,800 tones. This has been 

 found to be a near approximation, but his method was necessarily not 

 capable of much accuracy, nor did he measure the distance in the best 

 manner. " Sometimes," says ho,. " I measured, sometimes I paced, 

 and I believe I am within a scantling of the truth." He is the author 

 of the following works : 1, ' Trigonometry, or the Doctrine of 

 Triangles,' 4to, 1631, 16S5 ; 12mo, 1651, 1607, 1069; 2, 'Fortification, 

 or Architecture Militairo,' 4to, 1639; 8, 'The Seaman's Practice, 

 containing the Mensuration of a degree of the Earth,' 4 to, 1637, 1655, 

 1667, 1668, 1678 ; 4, ' Epitome : being the Application ot the Doctrine 

 of Triangles in certain 1'robleius. concerning the Use of the plain Sea 

 Chart,' 8vo, 1674 ; 5, ' Logarithmic Tables,' 12mo, n. d. He also pub- 

 lished letters aud papers, in the ' Philosophical Transactions,' on the 

 tides, on his mensuration of an arc of the meridian, and on other 

 subjects of minor importance. 



NOSTRADA'MUS, or XOTIUv-DAME, MICHEL, a singular per- 

 sonage, who appears to have enjoyed some reputation as a physician, 

 but is now only remembered as the author of the most celebrated 

 predictions published in modern times, was descended from a noble 

 family in Provence, and was bora at St Rdmy, a small town in the 

 diocese of Avignon, on the 14th of December 1503. His father was a 

 public notary ; his paternal grandfather was astronomer and physician 

 to Hi'uc, count of Provence and titular king of Sicily and Jerusalem ; 

 and his maternal grandfather (from whom be acquired the elements 

 of the sciences and mathematics) was also astronomer and physician 

 to John duko of Calabria, the son of King ReniS. After having finished 

 his courses of humanity and philosophy at Avignon, he went to study 

 muiiicino at Montpellier, but was driven away by the plague in 1522. 

 For more than four yean he travelled about in the south of Franc.-, 

 and stayed some time at Toulouse and Bordeaux, during which period 

 he seems to have paid particular attention to botany, and also to havo 

 undertaken the treatment of all such patients as were willing to put 

 themselves under his care. Ho then returned to Moutpellier, took 

 the degree of doctor of medicine in his twenty-seventh year (1529), 

 and then again proceeded on his travels. At Agcn he remained four 

 years, and married. Here too he became acquainted with Julius Ctc*ar 

 Scaliger, with whom he appears to have been intimate, and whom he 

 calls a Virgil in poetry, a Cicero in eloquence, aud a Galen in medicine; 

 and declares that he owed more of his scientific attainments to him 

 than to any other person. After the death of his wife aud two children 

 whom he had by her, he left Agen, and went first to Marseille, and 

 then (in 1544) to Salon, where he married a second time. 



Two years afterwards, the plague having broken out at Aix, he was 

 invited thither by a public deputation from the inhabitants, and was 

 of so much Bervicc (particularly by means of a powder of his own 

 invention, of which he bos given the formula in the eighth chapter of 

 his treatise ' Des Fards '), that he received a pension from the town 

 during several years after the cessation of the disease. Ho has left 



