Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/775

NOVATIAN. 659 NOVA ZEMBLA. Cathari, as they were called (i.e. the pure), dis- played iuereasiiig .streugUi, and cliurche.s of their order sprang up all the way from Spain to Asia iliuor. In Africa they were especially strong. The}- flourished for a long time, and traces of them are found as late as the seventh century. Of Xovatian's end little is known. A late ac- count (hy Socrates, fifth century) says that he dieil a martyr in the reign of Valerian (254- c.2(J0 ) . The difference between Novatianists and Catlio- lies related to the theory of the Church. Both parties agreed that the Church w'as "holy,' as asserted in the creed, but the Novatianists in- terpreted this to mean a holy membership, to be luaintainod by strict discipline, while the Catholics believed the Church was holy because of itjs sacraments, especiall}' penance, by which holiness, if lost through sin, miglit be restored. The issue was similar to that rai.sed by Montanus and llippolytus (qq.v. ), and it appeared again in the fourth century in the Donatist controversy. (See DoNATisTS. ) The Novatianists pushed their theory to its limit by insisting that even Catho- lics entering their communion should first be re- baptized. Xovatian's most important surviving w(t1c is On the Trinity. The tract entitled Jcirish Meats relates to ceremonial questions. Some of the treatises formerly attriljuted to Cyprian are probably the work of Xovatian, e.g. Coneerning Hhows, the ^'alue of Modesty , and the Praise of Martyrdom. The anonymous treatise Ayainsi Diovatiaii is held by Harnack to be from the Roman Bishop Sixtus II. (257-58). Consult: Jlignc, I'atrol. Lat., vol. iii.; The Ante-Sicene Futhrrs, ed. by Roberts and Donaldson, vol. v. { Xew York, 1896); Harnack, Geschiehte der altcliristtichen Litteratur (Leipzig, 18!);J) ; id.. History of Dogma, vol. ii. (London, ISIKJ) ; Ben- son, Cyijrian (ib., 1897). NOVATION (Lat. novatio, renewal, from norarr, to renew). In law, the substitution of one leiral obligation for another. Xovation may be accomplished by the sul)stitution of a new for an old party to a legal obligation, which is in effect the creation of a new obligation, or it may be accomplished by the substitution of a new obligation for an old one by the same parties. When the old obligation is extinguished by a new one without change of parties, the transac- tion is sometimes s])oken of as a merger of the old obligation into the new. See Mercer. At conmion law, as under the civil law, there are three important classes of novation, as fol- lows; (1) Novation by substitution of debtors. By mutual agreement a substituted debtor may assume payment of a debtor's obligation upon agreement of the creditor or oldigee to accept him as a debtor, and to discharge the original debtor or obligor. (2) Novation by substitution of creditors. By mutual agreement of all the parties a creditor may agree to discharge his debtor upon the debtor's agreement to accept a third i)arty as a new creditor and to pay the <lebt to him. (3) A new debt or obligation may be sub- stituted for the old by mutual agreement between the same debtor and creditor. The first class is of the most frequent occur- rence at conimon law, but as ;ill novations are dependent upon the substitution of a new obliga- tion for an old by mutual agreement between an oliligor and obligee, or between an obligor and obligee and a third party, it is evident that there may Ije as many particular forms of novation as there maj' l)e combinations by agree- ment among the parties specified. As the es.sential element of novation is the agreement or contract between the parties, it is necessary that the essential elements of a contract, including meeting of the minds, jiromise, and consideration, shoiUd all exist in order to establish the relationship. In general the prom- ise of the obligee to release the first obligor is sullicient consideration for the promise of the new obligor, and vice versa, and as the promise of each paity to the novation is given in ex- change for the promise of each of the others, it is necessary that the several promises should be contemporaneous. In order that the promise to give up rights under the earlier obligation may be a sullicient consideration for the new obligation, it is essential that the earlier obliga- tion should be valid. There can be no novation of a void obligation. See Co>'SI1)EB.tiox. As the result of a novation is the extinction of the earlier obligation, it follows that all liens attaching to it are extinguished unless expressly presen'ed or continued by the new obligation. Properly any new obligation which is created by the parties to an old obligaticm and operates merely to sus|)end the old obligation for a cer- tain period, instead of extinguishing it, is not a novation, but a merger. New collateral agreements entered into as security for a preexisting obligation do not effect a novation, as the original obligation continues in full force and effect. Upon analogous classes of contracts, see !Merger; Accord and Satisfaction; Security. See also Assignment. In the case of novation by the substitution of debtors, the substance of the transaction is that the new debtor pays the obligation of the old debtor, and is thus within the express language of the Statute of Frauds. As, however, the pur- pose of the Statute of Frauds was to require contracts which were in effect contracts of suretyship, or contracts in the nature of surety- ship, to be in writing, the courts have uniformly held that contracts of novation are not within the statvite and need not be committed to writing. See Frauds. Stati-te of. Consult the authori- ties referred to under Contract. NCVA ZEM'BLA (Russian Novaya Zem- lya) . The name of a group of two large and numerous small islands in the Arctic Ocean, forming a crescent-sliaped chain extending from 70° 30' to 77° north latitide, and separating Kara from Barents Sea (Map: Asia, K 1). It is separated liy Kara Strait, 30 miles wide, from Vaigateh Island at the northeastern extrem- ity of European Russia, and forms a part of the Russian Govennnent of Archangel. The length of the two large islands, including the narrow strait between them, is about 740 miles; their average width is GO miles, and their com- bined area about 34..100 square miles. The coasts are indented by numerous deep and narrow fiords, and the islands are rocky and mountain- ous, rising to a height of 3000 feet. The climate is cold throughout the year, and vegetation is dwarfed. Animals, however, are numerous, and