(Andrew le), comptroller of the buildings of the French king, and designer of his gardens, distinguished himself by carrying the art of laying out gardens to great perfection. He was born at Paris in 1631; and was near 40 years of age when M. Fouquet, superintendent of the finances, gave him an opportunity of becoming known by the fine gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte. He was afterwards employed by Louis XIV. at Versailles, Trianon, St Germain, &c. and discovered an admirable taste in all his works. In 1678 he went to Rome, with the permission of the French king, to improve his skill; but he found nothing there comparable to what he himself had done. Pope Innocent XI. refused to see Le Nostre, and gave him a pretty long audience; at the conclusion of which Le Nostre said, "I have seen the two greatest men in the world, your holiness, and the king my master." There is a great difference, answered the pope: "The king is a great victorious prince; and I am a poor priest, the servant of the servants of God." Le Nostre, charmed with this answer, forgetting who he was with, clasped the pope on the shoulder, saying, "Reverend father, you look extremely well, and will live to bury all the sacred college." The pope laughed at his prediction. Le Nostre, charmed more and more at the goodness of the sovereign pontiff and the singular esteem he showed for the king, threw his arms about the pope's neck and killed him. It was his custom to behave in the same manner to all who spoke in praise of Louis XIV. and he even embraced the king himself whenever that prince returned from the country. Le Nostre had also a talent for painting. He preserved his good sense and vivacity of mind to the end of his life; and died at Paris in 1700, aged 87.

NOTÆ, signs used in writing, which have the force of many letters. This contrivance for expedition is of great antiquity. It was known to the Greeks, and from them derived to the Romans. By whom the invention was brought into Rome is not precisely ascertained; but the most general opinion is, that in matters of importance Tully first made use of notes or short-hand writing, when Cato made an oration in order to oppose Julius Caesar relative to the conspiracy of Catiline. Cicero, who was at that time consul, placed notarii, or expert short-hand writers, in different parts of the senate-house, to take down the speech; and this was the first public occasion which we find recorded of employing short-hand writers among the Romans. It is unnecessary to observe, that hence proceeded the name of notary still in use.

There were three kinds of notes for short-hand writing used by the ancients, either for dispatch or secrecy. The first and most ancient was that of hieroglyphics, which are rather images or representations of things than of words. (See Hieroglyphics.) The Chinese characters are of this kind, and may with greater propriety be called note than litteræ, as appears from what hath been already advanced.

The second species of notes were called singulæria, from their expressing words by single letters. Sertorius Uratus has compiled a very copious collection of such abbreviations, of which work there are several editions.

The third kind of notes were called note Tironianæ, from Tiro the freed man of Cicero, who was excellently skilled in this art; and it is to him that we are indebted for the preservation of Cicero's letters, of which a great part still remain, and one entire book of them written to Tiro himself.

From books it appears, that notes were very frequent among the Romans, and continued in use to the 10th and 11th centuries. We have indeed but few books remaining that are written in short-hand; but this is not surprising, when such was the unhappy situation of early ages, that either superstition condemned them to the flames as the works of impious magicians or necromancers, or they were left to be devoured by vermin, through ignorance and stupidity, which was so very great, that some people, as Trithemius affirms, looked upon notes in those days as the elements of the Armenian language. It is probable, however, that there are writings of this sort still extant, which might contribute to enrich the republic of letters.

There are several MSS. and instruments written in these kind of notes, in the royal library at Paris. In the year 1747, the learned and ingenious Monsr. Carpentier, engraved and published at Paris a capitulary, and 14 charters of Louis the Pious, emperor and king of France, written in these note Tironianæ. To this work the learned editor hath prefixed an Alphabetum Tironianum, together with a great number and variety of notes or marks for the different parts of speech, and rules for acquiring the art of writing in these kind of notes. Valerius Probus, in his book De Litteris antiquis, explains many of the characters used by the Notarii short-hand writers; and there is a dictionary of them set forth by Janus Gruterus. See Stenography.