Noel (or Nowell), a word which occurs very fre- quently in old carols, is by many supposed (and with good reason) to be derived from natalis, the birthday of Christ. The word Noel was used as a cry of joy, and was " sung at Angers during the eight days preceding Christmas," and now the word Christmas is thus ex- pressed in the modern French also. The Portuguese, Irish, and Welsh terms for Christmas evidently, too, come from this source. But, on the other hand, Nowell
NOEL
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NOEL
is very frequently used in the sense of news or ticUngs, and, besides, was used as a '-joyful exclamation not ab- solutely confined to Christmas." The following lines from "Ane compendious booke of Godly and Spiritual Sangs," seem to strengthen this interpretation:
"I conic from Hevin to tell The best Nowellis that ever befell : To you this tythiugs trew I briug."
And, again, in a loth century carol :
" Gabryell of hyijh degree, Came down from the Tienyte, To Nazareth iu Gnlilee,
With Nova.''
Christmas evergreens, the holly and the ivy, form the subject of many an old carol. The " Holly Carol," most popular and familiar to us, details at length the various symbolical references this favored evergreen bears to the incarnation of Christ the Lord, e. g. :
"The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good. The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as auy thorn, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas day iu the morn."
See Christmas; Nativity.
Noel, a French clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church, flourished as abbe of St. Nicholas of Angers from lOSO until his death in 1096. It was during his goverimient that pope Urban II came to Angers and consecrated the church of St. Nicholas. At the time abbe Noel was near the end of his life — he died only a few days later. The authors of the Histoire Utteraire de la France attribute to Juhel d'Artins, abbe of La Cou- ture, in Mans, a Histoire des miracles de saiiii Nicolas, bishop of IMyre, a considerable fragment of which is found in No. 498 of the MSS. of St. Germain. This at- tribution is erroneous, and the work ought to be attrib- uted to abbe Noel. Some extracts from the MS. of St. Germain, published in the Gallia Christiana, clearly demonstrate it as his work. See JJist. lltt. de la France, t. viii; Gallia Christ, t. xiv, col. 473, 070.— Hoefer, Naur. Biog. Generale, xxxviii, 173,
Noel, Baptist 'Wriothesley, D.D.. an eminent English dissenting divine, was bom in July, 1799. He was the youngest son of Sir Gerard Noel-Noel, hart., and the baroness Barham, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with distinc- tion in 1826. Having been ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England, he was appointed one of the chaplains to the queen, and became pastor of St. John's Chapel, Bedford Bow, London. He soon secured a reputation as one of the most popular and influential ministers in England, and his name was identified with almost every Christian movement of the time. About the year 1848 Mr. Noel brought himself to accept the immersion theory ; and his decided dissent from the views inculcated by the Church of England on baptism caused him to sever his connection with that Church. He was publicly immersed, and joined the ministry of the Baptist Church, About this time he published his Essay on the Union of the Church and State, and also that on Christian Baptism, defending the step which he had taken. In 1869 he retired from his pastoral duties of the John Street Chapel, London ; but, despite his ad- vanced years, engaged actively in evangelistic labors, and became one of the founders and promoters of the Midni<jht M ission. He was ever thus busily engaged in promoting Christian labors. Indeed his zeal for religion never flagged. He died Jan. 20, 1873. As a preacher he was fervent, spiritual, tender ; and, although his address- es were cxtem[)oraneous, his flow of thought was clear and consistent. His eloquence always attracted large audiences. Of his personnel. Dr. Stevens thus wrote in Letters from Enrojie : "His (i. c. Noel's) features are very symmetrical, and present a really beautiful jirolile. He is not very clerical in his appearance. , . . He has
light hair, light-blue eyes, and, in fine, the general as- pect of a good rather than a great man. . . . Baptist Noel is one of the best and most agreeable men I have met in Europe." Of his preaching. Dr. Tyng says, in Recollections of Fnylund (1847 ). p. 542 : " He is certainly a most interesting and delightful preacher; altogether extemporaneous; mild and persuasive in his manner, yet sufficiently impressive, and sometimes powerful, having a very clear and Consistent flow of thought; decidedly evangelical iu doctrine, though less deep and instructive in doctrine than I had expected." Besides the publications already mentioned, Mr. Noel brought out Notes of a Tunr thromjh Ireland (1837) : — Sermons on the First Fire Centuries of the Church (1839) : — Ser- mons on the Unconvei'ted (1840) : — Ch-istian Missions to Heathen Lands (1842) : — Sermons on Regeneration ( 1 843) : — Case of the Free Church of Scotland (1844): — Medita- tions in Sickness and Old Age (5th ed. 1845): — Protes- tant Thoughts in Rhi/me (2d ed. 1845): — Messiah: Sei-- nions on Isaiah { 1S47) -.—Notes of a Tour in Switzerland (1847) -.—Infant Vietg (4th ed. 1848) -.—Sermons at St. James's and Whitehall Chapel: Christian's Faith, I/ope, (Old Jog; Gospel of the Grace of God (1849): — Essay on External A ct of Baptism (1850) •.—Christianity conqyared vnth Unitarianism (1851): — Letters to Farant on the Church of Rome (1852) : — Notes of a Tour in the Valleys of Piedmont (1855) : — Essay on the Duty of Englishmen to the Hindus (1858): — Freedom and Slavery in the United States of America, and Rebellion in America (1863) : — and Case of George William Gordon, of Ja- maica (1866). See the Lond. Qu. Rev. Ixxviii, 382, 404 ; N. Y. Eccles. Mag. xvi, 237 ; Eccles. Rev. 4th ed., xxvi, 640; Biit. Qu. Rev. Feb. 1849. Interesting infor- mation respecting the pulpit ministrations and philan- thropic labors of this excellent man will be found in the MetropoUt. Pulpit (1839), ii, 36-59; Pen Pictures of Pop. Enql. Preachers (1852), p. 58-81 ; I'ish. Pulpit Eloquence of 'the 19th Cent. p. 541, 542. (J. H. W.)