NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

This article appears in Volume V19, Page 823 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NEW-NUM

NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know) , a mark, particularly a sign by which a musical sound (also called a note) is indicated in writing (see MUSICAL NOTATION). The

term

TERM

is also applied to an abstract or memorandum of documents, speeches, &c. This appears to have been first in legal use, especially in the process of the transfer of land by fine and recovery (see FINE). Further extensions of this meaning are to an explanation, comment or addition, added in the margin or at the foot of the page to a passage in a book, &c., or to a communication in writing shorter or less formal than a

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

.
The

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

distinction between note and

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

is reversed in diplomacy. Diplomatic notes are written communications exchanged between diplomatic agents or between them and the ministers of foreign affairs of the government to which they are accredited; they differ from

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

letters in having a more formal character and in dealing with matters of more immediate and definite importance: e.g. the notification of adhesion to a treaty, of the re-

establishment

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement,
late
- LATE
Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make
stable
- STABLE
)

of diplomatic relations after a' war, &c. Sometimes, by agreement, a mere exchange of notes has the force of a convention. Collective notes are those signed by the representatives of several

powers

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

acting in concert. Some-times identical notes are substituted for collective, i.e. notes identical as to form and substance, but signed and delivered separately by the representatives of the several

powers

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

. Thus in 1822, at the congress of Verona, in order to overcome theobjection of

Great

GREAT

Britain to any interference of the European concert in Spain, identical notes were presented to the Spanish government instead of a collective note. Circular notes are those addressed by one power to the other powers generally, e.g. that addressed by

Thiers

THIERS

(November 9, 1870), on the proposed armistice, to the representatives of the

great

GREAT

powers accredited to the government of national defence. Confidential notes are directed to inspiring confidence by giving an explicit account of the views and intentions of the plenipotentiaries and their governments. Such a note was sent, for instance, by the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers at the conference of Poros, on the 8th of December 1828, to Capo d'Istria, the Greek president, to instruct him confidentially as to the results of their deliberations. The so-called notes verbales are unsigned, and are merely of the nature of memoranda (of conversations, &c.). Notes ad referendum are addressed by diplomatic agents to their own governments asking for .fresh powers to deal with points not covered by their instructions, which they have had to " refer." Diplomatic notes are usually written in the third person; but this

rule

RULE

has not always been observed (see P. Pradier-Fodere, Cours de droit diplomatique, Paris, 1899; vol. ii. p. 524).
For notes of hand or promissory notes see NEGOTIABLE INSrRUMENTS and BILL OF EXCHANGE, and for notes passing as currency see BANKS AND BANKING, BANK-NOTE and POST.

End of Article: NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

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