IJiMorij, etc. — Nova Scotia is supposed to have been visited and "discovered" by the Cabots in 1497. Its first colonists were a number of Frenchmen, who estab- lished themselves here in 1604, but were afterwards ex- pelled Ijy settlers from Virginia, who claimed the coun- try by right of discovery. Under the French settlers it bore the name of Acadia (Acadie); but its name was changed for the present one in 1021, when a grant of the peninsula was obtained from .lames I by Sir William Alexander, whose intention was to colonize the whole country. Having found, however, that the localities they had fixed upon as suitable for settlement were al- ready occupied, the colonists returned to the mother countrj'. In 1051 the French, who had regained a foot- ing in the colony, were subdued by a force sent out by Cromwell. By the treaty of Breda the country was ceded to tlie French in 1667, but it was restored "to the English in 1713. After the middle of the 18th century streinious efforts were made to advance the interests of the colony. Settlers were sent out at the expense of the British government. The French, who had join- ed the Indians in hostilities against the English, were
called after him [see Novatians], was, according to Philostorgius — whose statement, however, has not been generally received wath confidence — a native of Phrygia. From the accounts given of his baptism, which his ene- mies alleged was irregularly administered, in conse- quence of his having been prevented by sickness from receiving imposition of hands, it would appear that in early life he was a Gentile ; and probably previous to his conversion to Christianity he was devoted to Stoic philosoph}^, though it does not appear that this supposi- tion is supported by the testimony of any ancient writer. There can be no doubt that after his conversion he at once devoted himself zealously to the support of the Christian cause, and became a presbyter of the Church at Rome ; that as an officer in the Church he insisted upon the rigorous and perpetual exclusion of the Lapsi, the weak brethren who had fallen away from the faith under the terrors of persecution ; and that when made aware that Cornelius, a man held in the highest estimation among the Romish presbyters, and also some others, were wiilely at variance with him on this subject, he headed the most strenuous opposition to the election of this same Cornelius as successor to the departed Fabian in the bishopric of Rome ; and that when Cornelius was, notwithstanding his veto, elevated to the pontiticate, June, A.D. 251, about sixteen months after the martyr- dom of Fabian, he (i. e. Novatian) disowned the au- thority of the new pontiff, was himself consecrated bishop by a rival party, was condemned by the council held in the autumn of the same j'ear; and, after a vain struggle to maintain his position, was obliged to give way, and became the founder of the Novatian sect (see the following article). We are told by the High- Church - principle advocates of Rome and England that Novatian was a man of unsociable, treacherous, and wolf-like disposition; that his ordination was per- formed by three illiterate prelates in an obscure corner of Italy, whom he gained to his purpose by a most dis- reputable artifice; that these poor men quickly per- ceived, confessed, and lamented their error; and that those persons who had at first espoused his cause soon returned to their duty, leaving the schismatic almost entirely ahjue. We must observe that these ad- verse representations proceed from his bitter enemy Cornelius, being contained in a long letter from that pope to Fabius of Antioch, preserved in luisebius ; that they bear evident marks of personal rancor; and that they are contradicted by the circumstance that Novatian
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was commissioned in 250 by the Roman clergj- to write a letter in their name to Cyprian, which is still extant ; by the respect and popularity which he unquestionably enjoyed after the assumption of the episcopal dignity, even by those who diil not recognise his authority; and by the fact that a numerous and devoted band of follow- ers espousing his cause formed a separate communion, which spread over the whole Christian world, and flourished for more than two hundred years. Cornelius indeed inveighs against hira with much bitterness in the Epistle to Fahius (preserved in part by Eusebius, IJist. Eccles. 1. vi, c. 43, p. 244 etc.), but still he does not impeach the life or moral conduct of Novatian. In- deed, Novatian was not only not accused of any criminal act, but was commended, even by those who viewed him as warring against the interests of the Church, as by Cyprian, Jerome, and others, on account of his eloquence, his learning, and his philosophy. See Cyprian, Ejnst. lii and Ivii. Nearly all the charges which Cornelius brings against him, great as they may seem to be, relate to the in- tentions of the mind, which are known only to God ; and some of the charges reflect more disgrace on Cornelius himself than on Novatian. The latter has been accused of ambition; for it is said that he stirred up this great controversy merely because Cornelius received most votes for the vacant bishopric, which he himself coveted. This is an old charge, and it has acquired so much strength and authority by age that all the moderns repeat it with entire confidence; and they tell us that Cornelius and Novatian were competitors for the episcopate, and that the latter, failing of an election, disturbed the Church in his lust for office. " But," says Moshelm, " I have no hesitation in pronouncing this a false accusation ; and I think there is no good proof that Novatian acted in bad faith, or that he made religion a cloak for his desire of distinction. His enemy, Cornelius, does indeed say this (in his Epist. ap. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. 1. vi, c. 43, p. 244). But the very words in which he is here ac- cused carry with them his acquittal ; for Cornelius clearly shows that he concealed his ambition, which long remained unknown (p. 514). But Cornelius supplies us with still stronger testimony to the innocence of his adversary ; for he acknowledges that when they were deliberating at Rome respecting the choice of a bish- op, and Novatian declared that he wished some other person than Cornelius might be chosen, he affirmed, with a tremendous oath, that he himself iWCi not wish for the office. Now whoever neither does nor at- tempts anything that could awaken a suspicion of his being ambitious, and moreover declares on oath that he has no desire for the episcopate, cannot possibly be a competitor for the episcopal office. But some may say, The villain perjured himself; and although he made a great show of modesty, yet he opposed the election of Cornelius in order to secure the appointment to himself. To this many things might be said in re[)l}'. I will mention only one. Novatian was not a man to whom a suspicion of perjury can be attached; he was a man whom even his enemies pronounced upright, inflexible, and rigorous, and whom no one ever charged with im- piety towards God, or with being of a perverse and irre- ligious disposition. What, then, could Cornelius have de- signed by writing to Fabius, and probably to others, that Novatian had long secretly burned with desire for the episcopal office? I answer to confirm a conjecture, and that a verj' dubious and intangible one. He reasoned in this manner: Novatian, on being expelled from the Church, allowed himself to be created bishop by his adhe- rents; therefore he had long coveted the office of a bish- op, although he pretended to the contrary. How falla- cious and unworthy of a bishop such reasoning is I need not here show. There would indeed be a little jjlausi- bility in it, though verj^ slight, if Novatian, immediate- ly after the election of Cornelius, had wished his friends to create him also a bishop; a thing entirely within his power to effect. But he postponed all movements for erecting a new Church, and patiently awaited the decis- VH.— O