112 
NOE 
north of Popayan, and 150 fouth-weft of Santa Fe de An- 
tioquia. Lat. 5. 15. N. Ion.' 76. 46. W. 
NOANAMAS', a river of South-America, which runs 
into the Pacific Ocean in lat. 4. 45.-N. 
NOANGONG', a town of Bengal; thirty miles fouth 
of Rajemal. 
NOAN-PIN', a city of China, of the fecond rank, in 
the province of Quang-fi: 1177 miles fouth-fouth-weft of 
Pe-king. Lat. 22. 47. N. Ion. xo6. 4. E. 
NOA'RA, a town of Sicily, in the valley of Demona ; 
■ten miles fouth-eaft of Patti. 
NOB, a facerdotal city of the tribe of Benjamin or 
Ephraim. St. Jerome fays, that in his time it was entirely 
deftroyed, and that the ruins of it might be feen not far 
from Diofpolis. When David was driven away by Saul, 
he went to Nob, and afked the high prieft Ahimelech for 
Pome provifion and arms; the prieft gave him the ftiew- 
bread which had been lately taken oft'the holy table, and 
the fword of Goliah. Saul, being informed of this by 
Doeg, caufed all the priefts of Nob to be (lain, and the 
city to be deftroyed. 1 Sian. xxi. xxii. 
NO'BA, a frnall ifland in the Eaftern Indian Sea, near 
the welt coaft of Aroo. Lat. 5. 5. S. Ion. 135. 13. E. 
NO'BAH, a city beyond Jordan. It took the name of 
Nobah from an Ifraelite of this name who had made a 
conqueft of it; (Numb, xxxii. 42.) Gideon purfued the 
Midianites as far as this city; (Judg. viii. 2.) Eufebius 
fays, that there is a defolate place of this name about 
eight miles from Heilibon towards the fouth. But this 
could not be the Nobah now mentioned, becaufe it was 
much farther to the north. 
NOB'BER, a frnall poll-town of Ireland, in the county 
of Meath, noted as the birth-place of O’Carolan the Irilh 
bard : 335 miles north-north-weft from Dublin. 
NOB'FLEUR, or Frur, a frnall iiland in the Perfian 
gulf. Lat. 26. 10. N. Ion. 54. 20. E. 
NOBIL'IARY, J'. A colleftion, or hiftorical account, 
of the noble families of a province, or nation. Chorier 
has publilhed a nobiliary of Dauphine; and Caumartin 
anotherof Provence. The Germans are particularly careful 
of their nobiliaries, to keep up the purity of their families. 
NOBILIS'SIMUS, or Most Noble, a title given to the 
princes of the imperial family in ancient Rome. F. Dou- 
cine advances, that this title was firll given under the 
emperor Juftin ; others find the title N. C. that is Nobi- 
lijirtius CieJ'ar, on medals long before that time, even as 
early as Trajan. Spanheim and Joubert, indeed, fet this 
title on medals no higher than the time of Philip the 
Younger; though it appears earlier in fome infcriptions; 
jo that even M. Tillemont is miftaken, where he fays, 
the quality of nobiliffimvs is not to be found in hiftory 
before the time of Conftantine the Great, who firll gave 
it to his two brothers; after which it was attributed to 
fuch of the emperor’s children as were not CaTars. Triftan 
adds, that the Csefars bore the title of iwbilijjimi in all 
ages ; but that the nobiliffimate firft became a diftinft in¬ 
dependent dignity in the time of Conftantine the Great. 
To NOBIL'ITATE, v. a. [iwbilito, Lat.] To ennoble ; 
to make noble. 
NOBILITA'TIQN, f. The aft of ennobling.—Both 
the prerogatives and rights of the Divine Majefty are con¬ 
cerned, and alfo the perfeftion, nobilitation, and falvation, 
of the fouls of men. More's Antid. againft Idolatry. 
NOBIL'ITY, f. [nobilitas , Lat.] Antiquity of family 
joined with fplendour.—When I took up Boccace un¬ 
awares, I fell on the fame argument of preferring virtue 
to nobility of blood, and titles, in the ftory of Sigifmunda. 
Dryden. 
Long galleries of anceftors 
Challenge nor wonder or elteem from me ; 
Virtue alone is true nobility. Dryden. 
Rank or dignity of feveral degrees, conferred by fove- 
Teigns.— Nobility in England is extended to five ranks; 
NOB 
duke, marquis, earl, vifcount, baron. Join Jon.— The per- 
fons of high rank ; the perfons who are exalted above the 
commons; 
It is a purpos’d thing, 
To curb the will of the nobility. Shakefpeare's Ccrriol. 
Dignity; grandeur; greatnefs.—Bafe men, being in love, 
have then a nobility in their natures more than is native 
to them. S/iakeJpeare's Othello. 
But ah, my mule, I would thou hadft facility 
To work my goddels fo by thy invention, 
On me to call thole eyes where Ihine nobility. Sidney. 
They thought it great their fovereign to contronl. 
Ami nam’d their pride nobility of foul. Dryden. 
The privileges of the Englilh nobility are very con- 
fiderable: they are all efteemed as the king’s hereditary 
counfellors; and are privileged from arrefts, unlefs for 
treafon, felony, breach of peace, condemnation in parlia¬ 
ment, and contempt of the king. No fupplicavit can be 
granted againll them ; no capias, or exigent, fued againft 
them for aftion of debt or trefpafs; and no eftbign lies 
againft them : in criminal cafes they are only to be tried 
by a jury of peers, who are not put to their oath, but 
their verdift “ upon their honour” fuffices. They alfo 
anfwer to bills in chancery upon their honour, and not 
upon their oath; but, when they are examined as witnefles, 
either in civil or criminal cafes, they mull be fworn. And 
Guillim obferves, that, if an appeal of murder or felony 
be ufed by a commoner againft a peer, he (hall be tried by 
commoners, not peers. In their abfence from parliament, 
they are allowed a proxy to vote for them; and in all 
places of trull they are allowed to conftitute deputies, by 
reafon of the necefiity the law fuppofes them under of 
attending the king’s perfon. The honour of peers is fo 
highly tendered by the law, that it is much more penql to 
fpread falfe reports of them and certain other great officers 
of the realm, than of other men ; fcandal againft them 
being called by the peculiar name of J'candalum mag- 
natum, and fubjefted to peculiar punilhments by divers 
ancient ftatutes; as, 3 Edw. I. c. 34. 2 Ric. II. c. 5. 
12 Ric. II. c. 11. &c. 
Although moll of our orders of knighthood may be 
coniidered as appendages which confer a fort of military 
nobility, efpecially that of the garter, yet we cannot 
be llriftly laid to have amongft us that fpecies of dif- 
tinction that was peculiarly known in France, &c. under 
the-immediate title of Noble fe Militaire. In order to 
reward military merit, an edift was .ifiued by the French 
court at Fontainebleau, in November 1750, and regiftered 
on the 25th of the fame month by the parliament of 
Paris, whereby a nobleffe militaire, or military nobility, was 
created ; the acquifition of which depended wholly upon 
martial charafter, but did not require any letters patent 
for the purpofe of ennobling the individual. 
By the ill article of this “ perpetual and irrevocable 
edift,” as it was then called, it was decreed, That no per¬ 
fon, ferving in the capacity and quality of officer in any 
of the king’s troops, ftiould be liable to the land or poll 
tax, fo long as he continued in that fituation. 2dly. That 
all general officers, not being otherwife ennobled, but 
being aftually and bona fide in the fervice, ffiould be 
coniidered as noble, and remain fo, together with fiheir 
children born, or to be born, in lawful wedlock. 3dly. 
That the rank of general officer ftiould of itfelf be fuf- 
ficient to confer the full right of nobility upon all thofe 
who ftiould arrive at that degree of military promotion ; 
and that their heirs and fuccefiors, as well as their chil¬ 
dren, aftually born and lawfully begotten, ffiould be en¬ 
titled to the lame diitinftion ; and that all general officers 
ftiould enjoy all the rights and privileges of nobility from 
the date of their commiffions. This was a great grievance, 
as far as concerned the trading part of the community, 
the agriculturifts, and the tiers etat in general, by throw¬ 
ing all the weight of the taxes upon them exclufively; for 
