NOTE L, in literature, a fictitious tale, or imaginary history of real life, gen erally intended to exhibit the operation of the passions, foremost among which is love. " In the novel," says Goethe, "sen timents and events are to be chiefly rep resented ; in the drama., character and actions. The hero of the novel must be passive, or, at least, not in a high degree active ; but we expect of the dramatic hero action.'' The Italian novella, of which the best and earliest specimens are those contained in the Decaniecon of Boecaccio, was rather a short tale, turn ing on an event, or on a series of adven tures of humor, pathos, or intrigue, than a. novel in the modern acceptation of the term. In its present signification in the English language, it seems to express a species of fictitious narrative somewhat different from a. romance ; yet it would be difficult to assign the exact distinction, and. in the French language, the same name (roman) is used fur both ; while it differs from :t tale merely in the circum stance that a certain degree of length is necessary to constitute a novel. Although, in fact, the terms novel and romance are often used indifferently, yet they have also often been treated as distinct classes of composition in English literature. Per haps, if we seek to draw the distinction with as much of accuracy as the subject will admit, we may say that the proper object of a. novel is the delineation of sociiil manners, or the development of a story founded on the incidents of ordina ry life, or both together. Thus will be ex cluded from the class of novels, on the one hand. tales of which the incidents are not merely improbable, (for this may he the case in a novel,) but occurring out of the common course of life, and such as are founded on imaginary times and imagi nary manners, tales of supernatural in cidents, chivalrous romances, pastoral romances, &c.; and, on the other hand,
we must exclude from the same class fictitious narratives, in which the author's principal object is neither the story nor the epitome, but which are obviously written lilt crier view, although their inci dents and character may perhaps, in other respects, fall under the definition suggested above. Thus, political, philo• sophieal, and satirical fictions are clearly not to be ranked as novels. But it is obvious that no definition can he drawn which shall, on this subject. entirely satis fy the caprices of popular language. Of the novel, in this confined sense. the works of Richardson, and those of Field ing and Smollett, afforded, perhaps, the first examples in English literature. The first of these authors gave birth to the sentimental novel, the latter two to the comic or humorous. Marivaux, Pri5vost, &c., spread the former style of composi tion in France; where, as well as on the Continent generally, it attained a high degree of vogue. The novel of manners, whether comic or serious, has, perhaps, been always a more popular species of fiction in England. It may be doubted whether the historical fiction, to which Sir Walter Scott has given such universal popularity, belongs strictly to the class of novel or romance. By aiming at the delineation of real, although past man ners, and by the general turn of the story, it seems to resemble the former ; while the romantic character of many of its incidents seems to assimilate it to the latter.
NOVEM'BER, the eleventh month of NovemberR, the eleventh month of the Julian year, consisting only of thirty days. It is the first winter month in the northern hemisphere, and the first sum mer month of the southern. Its name, November, originates in its being the ninth month of the Roman reckoning.