NOBLE NOMINALISTS. 



245 



the titles of princes, dukes, counts, barons, and che- 

 valiers, which descended, however, only to the eldest 

 son. After the restoration of the Bourbons, the an- 

 cient nobility reclaimed their former rights and privi- 

 leges.* Thus nobility has again been generally in- 

 troduced into all the states of Europe except Norway, 

 where the Storthing has abolished it by the three 

 successive decrees of 1815, 1818, and 1821. ' Th 

 king, indeed, was unable to prevent it; but, on the 

 principle of conforming the social system of his 

 country to the civil organization of the neighbouring 

 states, he proposed the establishment of a new here- 

 ditary nobility, which should be conferred by the 

 king on persons who had benefited their country, and 

 which should descend to the eldest son. But the 

 Storthing rejected the proposal, because it was against 

 the twenty-fifth article of the constitution of 1814, 

 which declares that no hereditary privileges, personal 

 or real, can be conferred on any native of Norway. 



NOBLE ; an ancient money of account, containing 

 six shillings and eightpence. 



NODE ; the point where the orbit of a planet in- 

 tersects the ecliptic. 



NOLA; a town near Naples, in Lavora, said to 

 have been built by the Etrurians before Rome, thir- 

 teen miles east of Naples ; Ion. 14 20' E. ; iat. 40 

 53' N. ; population, 8850 ; bishop's see. It was once 

 a Roman colony, rich and flourishing, and is yet a 

 handsome town. The silk spun in the neighbourhood 

 is much esteemed. Bells are said to have been first 

 made here, and here Augustus died. Near it Hanni- 

 bal was twice defeated by Marcellus. 



NOLLEKINS, JOSEPH, an English sculptor, born 

 in London in 1737, was the son of a painter, was 

 placed early under Scheemakers, and, in 1759 and 

 1760, gained premiums from the society of arts. He 

 subsequently repaired to Rome, .where he had the 

 honour of receiving a gold medal from the Roman 

 academy of painting and sculpture. He remained 

 nine years at Rome, during which time he executed 

 the busts of many Englishmen of distinction, and 

 returned in 1770. Nollekins was chiefly distinguished 

 by his careful and accurate imitation of nature, and 

 by the absence of any peculiarity of manner. His 

 Venus with the Sandal is esteemed his principal ideal 

 production ; but his professional reputation rests prin- 

 cipally upon his busts. He died, April 23, 1823. 

 See Smith's Nollekins and his Times (2 vols.. 8vo. 

 1828). 



NOLLE PROSEQUI is a stoppage of proceedings 

 by a plaintiff, and is an acknowledgment that he has 

 no cause of action. 



NOLLET, JOHN ANTOINE ; a distinguished culti- 

 vator of natural philosophy and natural history, born 

 at Pimbre, near Noyon, 1700, of poor parents. He 

 received his first instruction at Clermont and Beau- 

 vais, and then went to Paris, where lie became inti- 

 mate with Reaumur, Dufay, Duhamel, and Jussieu. 

 In 1738, count Maurepas first established a professor- 

 ship of experimental physics for Nollet, who was also 

 made member of several scientific societies. To ex- 

 tend his acquaintance with science, he went to Eng- 

 land and Italy. In 1744, he was appointed to instruct 

 the dauphin in experimental physics at Versailles. He 

 employed himself particularly in experiments on elec- 

 tricity. Nollet died at Paris, 1770. His works are 

 principally in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences 

 at Paris. His treatise on the Hearing of Fish is par- 

 ticularly esteemed. He also wrote Lemons de 



* In a note near the end of chapter ix. of the abbe de Pradt's 

 L'Europe aprts le Cpngrds d' Aix-la-Chapelle, it is stated that, 

 ' before the revolution, the number of noble families in France 

 did not exceed 17,500. Reckoning five individuals to a family, 

 there might have been about 90,000 nobles. The disasters of 

 the revolution must have reduced them to less than 40,000.'* 



Physique experimentale (Amsterdam, 1754, 4 vols., 

 12mo), and UArt des Experiences (Amsterdam, 

 1770, 3 vols., 12mo). 



NOMADS (from the Greek) ; tribes without fixed 

 habitations, generally engaged in the tending and 

 raising of cattle, and changing their abode as inclina- 

 tion prompts. But landed property and agriculture 

 are the chief supports of a permanent civilization, so 

 that the nomads are far behind agriculturists in this 

 respect. Nomadic tribes are seldom found to quit 

 their wandering life, until they are compelled to do 

 so by being surrounded by tribes in settled habita- 

 tions, or unless they can make themselves masters of 

 the settlements of a civilized nation. But this change 

 commonly takes place by degrees. Some of the 

 greatest revolutions in history have been effected by 

 these wandering tribes. North Africa, the interior 

 of North and South America, and the northern and 

 middle parts of Asia, are still occupied by nomads. 

 Different tribes, however, possess different degrees 

 of civilization. Some are little better than bands of 

 robbers. 



NOMENCLATOR was, with the Romans, a ser- 

 vant, who, at great festivals, informed the guests of 

 the name and ingredients of the dishes not a bad 

 fashion. There were more important nomenclators, 

 whose business it was to attend candidates for public 

 offices, and suggest to them the names of the persons 

 whom they met, that they might be able to address 

 them familiarly, and thus obtain popularity. Those 

 Romans who possessed very many slaves, had one 

 nomenclator, who knew the names of all of them. 



NOMINALISTS, in dialectics. A clear view of 

 nominalism depends upon a proper understanding of 

 the scholastic philosophy. Charlemagne had estab- 

 lished schools (scholae) for the education and formation 

 of clergymen, in which the (so called) seven liberal 

 arts (the trivium and quadrivium) were taught. As 

 in those times research and speculation were not 

 allowed to go beyond the dogmas of the church, 

 philosophy, or rather dialectics, applied itself only to 

 theology. It was at first enthralled by the fetters of 

 the schools, and, at a later period, by the fear of 

 the imputation of heresy. Thus originated, in the 

 limited field to which the human mind was confined, 

 a system of dialectics, which sought satisfaction in 

 logical subtleties and empty forms, but which, how- 

 ever, tended much to exercise the acuteness of the 

 European nations. A great schism in scholastic 

 philosophy was caused by (the so called) nominalism, 

 the founder of which was John Roscellin, canon of 

 Compie'gne, who maintained, among other doctrines 

 then considered heresies, that all general ideas are 

 mere words, nomina, names (flatus vocis). The 

 Realists (from res, thing), on the other hand, main- 

 tained, that general ideas are not formed by the 

 understanding, but are founded in reality in the 

 objects themselves; are, in fact, the essence of 

 the things themselves. The doctrine of Roscellin 

 was condemned at Soissons, 1092, and the realists, 

 who disagreed among themselves only upon some 

 unimportant points, became the predominating school. 

 But in the beginning of the fourteenth century, the 

 dispute of the nominalists and the realists was revived 

 by the English Franciscan William of Occam, a 

 scholar of the famous Duns Scotus (who taught at 

 Paris); in such a way that the nominalists were at 

 length victorious. The philosophical adversaries 

 gave vent to their feelings, in the spirit of the time, 

 by blows. (See D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature.) 

 Among the supporters of nominalism should be men- 

 tioned the celebrated John Buridan of Bethune 

 (1350), Robert Holcot (died 1349), Gregory of Ri- 

 mini (died 1358), Henry of Oyta, Henry of Hessia 

 (died 1397), Nicholas Oresmius (died 1382), Matthew 



