N

Nabob. See Nawab.

Naboth, a Jew, who was stoned by order of Ahab, king of Israel, because he refused to sell him his vineyard, an outrage for which Ahab was visited by Divine judgment; is symbol, in the regard of the Jews, of the punishment sure to overtake all rich oppressors of the poor.

Nachtigal, Gustav, German traveller and explorer; visited (1869-1874), the first European to do so, at the instance of Prussia, by way of Tripoli, the heart of Africa, and returned by way of Cairo, and wrote an account of his journey, "Sahara and Sudan"; in 1884 annexed to Germany territory in West Africa; died on his return journey, and was buried at Cape Palmas (1834-1885).

Nadir, name given to the part of the heavens directly under our feet, as zenith to that directly over our head.

Nadir Shah, king of Persia, born in Khorassan of low origin; began his career as a brigand; set himself at the head of 3000 brigands to deliver Persia from the yoke of the Afghans, and expelled them, rising by degrees to the sovereignty of Persia himself; made war on the Afghans, invaded Hindustan, and took and plundered Delhi, restoring its former dominion to the Persian monarchy; became subject to suspicion of plots against him, had recourse to violence, and was assassinated (1688-1747).

Nævius, Cneius, one of the earliest Roman poets, born in Campania; wrote dramas, and an epic poem on the first Punic War, in which he had served; satirised the aristocracy, and was obliged to leave Rome, where he had spent thirty years of his life; died at Utica (265-204 B.C.).

Nagari, the name given to the characters In Sanskrit and Hindi alphabets.

Nâgas, in the Hindu mythology "deified serpents," sons of Kadru, a personification of darkness, are represented as more or less invested with a human form, and endowed with knowledge, strength, and beauty; live in the depths of the ocean, and their capital city exposes to the vision a display of the most dazzling riches. They are not always represented as harmful; though armed with poison they possess the elixir of strength and immortality, and form the supports of the universe. They are a reflection of the belief that the deadly powers as well as the regenerative centre in one and the same deity, in his wisdom killing that he may make alive. Also the name of a race of aborigines in North-East India.

Nagasaki (61), one of the six treaty ports of Japan, on the NW. of the island Kiushiu; has a beautiful and extensive harbour, within which lies the island of Deshima; manufactures "egg-shell" china, exports coal, tea, &c., and possesses an excellent dockyard; American and English missions are carried on.

Nagpur or Nagpore (117), capital of the Central Provinces of British India, and of a district and division of the same name; an important railway terminus, 450 m. NE. of Bombay; is noted for the manufacture of fine cloth, and carries on a brisk trade in wheat, salt, spices, &c.

Nahum, one of the minor prophets of the Old Testament; appears to have been a contemporary of Isaiah, and to have prophesied after the destruction of Samaria and the defeat of Sennacherib before Jerusalem in the reign of Hezekiah. His mission as a prophet was to console the people in the presence of the formidable power of Assyria, and to predict its downfall, and especially that of its capital city Nineveh, an event which happened under Cyaxares the Mede 603 B.C. His thought is forcible, his expression clear, and his diction pure, all three worthy of the classical age of Hebrew literature.

Naiads, nymphs of the fresh-water fountains and streams, and as such endowed with prophetic power, and associated with other deities in the sphere of nature gifted with the same power; are represented as lovely maidens in a nude or semi-nude state.

Nairn (4), chief town of its county, prettily situated at the entrance of the Nairn into the Moray Firth, 16 m. NE. of Inverness; is frequented by summer visitors, and has a harbour and golf links.

Nairne, Baroness, Scottish poetess, born at Gask, Perthshire, third daughter of Laurence Oliphant of that Ilk, of Jacobite proclivities; known for her beauty as the Flower of Strathearn; was married to the sixth Lord Nairne, whom she survived; wrote 78 songs, the most famous among them being "The Land o' the Leal," "The Laird o' Cockpen," "Bonnie Charlie's noo awa," "Caller Herrin'," and "The Auld Hoose"; died at Gask (1766-1845).

Nairnshire (9), a northern county of Scotland, fronts the Moray Firth, wedged in between Elgin on the N. and Inverness on the W. and S.; the surface rugged and mountainous in the S. and E., slopes towards the Firth, and is traversed by the rivers Nairn and Findhorn; Loch Loy is the largest of several small lochs; scarcely one-fifth of the soil is devoted to the raising of cereals, but more attention is given to stock-raising; Cawdor and Auldearn are places in it of historic and antiquarian interest.

Nairs, Hindus of high caste, claiming to rank next the Brahmans, who lived on the Malabar coast of India; among them polyandry prevailed, and the royal power descended through the female line.

Namaquas, a pastoral people of South Africa; one of the principal branches of the Hottentot race, and inhabiting Great Namaqualand.

Namur (31), capital of a province of the same name in Belgium, is situated at the junction of the Meuse and the Sambre, 35 m. SE. of Brussels. The town is strongly fortified, but only a few of its fine old buildings have escaped the ravages of war. The citadel still stands, the cathedral, and the Jesuit church of St. Loup. Cutlery, firearms, &c., are manufactured. The Province (339) skirts the NE. border of France between Hainault and Luxembourg.

Nana Sahib, a Hindu traitor, his real name Dundhu Panth, of Brahman descent, adopted son of the ex-Peshwa of the Mahrattas, whose pension from the British Government was not continued to Nana on his death, and which rendered the latter the deadly foe to British rule in India, and the instigator, on the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857, of the massacre of Cawnpore; he had on the outbreak of the Mutiny in question offered his services to a British general, and placed himself at the head of the mutineers; the miscreant escaped, and his fate was never known; b. 1820. See Cawnpore.

Nancy (87), capital of the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, North-East France, is prettily situated amid woodland scenery on the river Meurthe, 220 m. E. of Paris; the new town is spaciously laid out, while the old town, narrowed in its streets, has many interesting old buildings, e. g. the cathedral, the 16th-century palace; there is a university, and an active trade in embroidered cambric and muslin, besides cotton and woollen goods, &c.

Nanking (150), an ancient city, and up to the 15th century the capital of China, is situated on the Yangtse River, 130 m. from its mouth; between 1853 and 1864 its finest buildings were destroyed by the Taiping rebels; its manufactures of nankeen and satin and of its once famous pottery and artificial flowers have fallen off, but it still continues the chief seat of letters and learning in China.

Nanna, in the Norse mythology the wife of Balder, the sun-god; distinguished for her conjugal fidelity, threw herself on the funeral pyre of her husband, and descended to the shades along with him; when the pair were entreated to return, he sent his ring to Odin and she her thimble to Frigga.

Nansen, Fridtjof, Arctic explorer, born at Froen, near Christiania, son of a Norwegian advocate; explored the seas in a scientific interest round Spitzbergen in 1882, and crossed Greenland in 1888, conceived the idea of reaching the Polar regions by following the Polar ocean currents; sailed in the Fram, a ship specially constructed for a Polar voyage, in 1893, and on his return wrote an account of his expedition in "Farthest North" in 1897; b. 1861.

Nantes (116), capital of the department of Loire-Inférieure, North-West France, on the Loire, 35 m. from the sea; its fine streets, handsome buildings, and historical associations make it one of the most interesting cities in France; the cathedral and the ducal castle date from the 15th century; shipbuilding, sugar-refining, and hardware are the staple industries, while an active shipping trade is kept up with the colonies.

Nantes, Edict Of, edict granted by Henry IV. 1598, allowing to Protestants religious liberty and political enfranchisement, and confirmed by Louis XIII. in 1614, but revoked, after frequent infringements, in the shape of dragonnades and otherwise, by Louis XIV., Oct. 23, 1685, at the instance of Madame Maintenon and Père la Chaise.

Naphtha, a liquid hydro-carbon of an inflammable nature that exudes from the earth or is distilled from coal-tar, &c.

Napier, Sir Charles, the conqueror of Sinde, born at Westminster, descendant of Napier of Merchiston; entered the army, was present at Coruña, served in the Peninsular War, was in 1841 made commander-in-chief of the Bombay army, defeated the Sikhs at Meeanee in 1848 in a brilliant engagement; became governor of Sinde, returned to England, and was welcomed with enthusiasm; went to India again on the outbreak of a second Sikh War, to find it suppressed; quarrelled with the Governor-General and came home; was a brave, upright, and humane man, and a great favourite with the army (1782-1853).

Napier, Sir Charles, admiral, cousin of preceding, born near Falkirk; entered the navy as a volunteer in 1799, assisted in two naval engagements, and for a time served as a volunteer in the Peninsular army; joined the Portuguese navy, defeated the fleet of Dom Miguel, tried to reform the navy of Portugal but failed, assisted by land and sea in driving Mehemet Ali out of Syria, and held the command of the Baltic fleet during the Crimean War, but disappointed expectations and was deprived of command (1786-1860).

Napier, John, laird of Merchiston, mathematician, born in Merchiston Castle, near Edinburgh; famed over the world as the inventor of logarithms; wrote a book on the Apocalypse, which contains some plain-spoken counsel to King James; believed in astrology, and was addicted to divination as well as mechanical invention (1550-1617).

Napier, Sir William, brother of the conqueror of Sinde; entered the army at the age of 15, served all through the Peninsular War, and wrote, besides the "Conquest of Sinde," the "History of the Peninsular War," a celebrated work, written from intimate knowledge of the events and with matchless graphic power (1785-1860).

Napier of Magdala, Lord, military engineer officer, born in Ceylon; distinguished himself at the sieges of Multan, Delhi, and Lucknow; commanded an expedition in Abyssinia, stormed and took Magdala in 1868, for which he was rewarded with high honours (1810-1890).

Naples (536), the largest and richest city of Italy; has a lovely situation within the bend of Naples Bay, spreading from the foreshore back upon wooded hills and rising terraces, behind which lie the snow-clad Apennines; to the E. lies the old town with its historic Via di Roma and narrow crowded thoroughfares; the newer portion on the W. is more spaciously laid out, and much has been done in recent years over the whole city to improve the sanitation and water supply; the national museum, rich in Pompeii relics, the university (4150 students), the national library (275,000 vols.), the archiepiscopal cathedral, and the four mediæval gateways are the chief architectural features; large quantities of wine, olive-oil, chemicals, perfumery, &c., are exported, while woollen, silk, linen, glove, and other factories carry on a good home trade; Naples became incorporated in the kingdom of Italy in 1861 after the Bourbon dynasty had been swept away by Garibaldi.

Napoleon I., emperor of the French, born at Ajaccio, Corsica, the second son of Charles Bonaparte and Lætitia Ramolino; trained at the military schools of Brienne and Paris; distinguished first as a captain of artillery at the siege of Toulon in 1793; elected general of brigade in the Italian campaign of 1794; he fell under suspicion, but was soon after invested with the supreme command of the army there and the conduct of the war, which was rendered memorable by the victories of Montenotte, Lodi, Rivoli, Arcole, &c.; on his return to Paris he was received with an enthusiasm which excited in him the ambition to render himself indispensable to the country; to utilise his services in their own interest the Directory determined to strike a blow at England, and Egypt being the point of attack selected, he sailed in command of an expedition for that destination in 1797, and conducted it with successes and reverses till, in 1799, the unpopularity and threatened fall of the Directory called him back; it was the occasion for a coup d'état which he had meditated, and which he accomplished on the henceforward celebrated 18th Brumaire (9th Nov. 1799), when a consulship of three was established, himself First Consul, and eventually in 1802 Consul for life; his administration in this capacity, while disgraced by several despotic acts, was in the main of a nature for the public benefit, and distinguished by its regard for the interest of law and good order, but his personal ambition the while was not asleep, for, by a Concordat with the Pope he so attached the Catholic Church to the state as to secure the clerical support to his ambitious projects, and was able on the 18th May 1804, to get himself invested with the imperial dignity, only Carnot in the Tribunate and Grégoire in the Senate protesting against the step as a violation of liberty; Napoleon owed it to his victories in the field that he attained this elevation, and the sword must maintain what the sword had won; from this date accordingly began that long array of wars against the rest of Europe, distinguished by the victories of Austerlitz, and Jena, and Eylau, and Friedland, and Eckmühl, and Wagram, and which contributed to inspire all the nations around with a sense of the terror of his name; but with the unfortunate expedition into Russia, in 1812, Napoleon's glory began to wane and the tide to turn; after the battles of Lützen and Bautzen, he might perhaps have signed an honourable peace, but he declined the terms offered, and was defeated at Lützen by the Allies, who invaded France, and entered Paris in 1814 in spite of all his efforts to keep them at bay, upon which he was compelled to abdicate at Fontainebleau and retire to Elba, 20th April 1814; it was in vain for him to return from his retreat and re-enter Paris on the 20th March following, for the Powers, with England and Prussia at their head, leagued against him and crushed him at Waterloo; by this defeat he had forfeited the throne, and was compelled to abdicate, but unable to escape from France, delivered himself up to Captain Maitland of the Bellerophon, and was shipped off to St. Helena, where, after some six years of misery, he died 5th May 1821, whence his body was disinterred and buried with great pomp under the dome of the church of St. Louis, 15th December 1840; "he believed," says Carlyle, "too much in the dupeability of men, saw no fact deeper in man than hunger and thirst; he was mistaken; like a man that should build upon clouds, his house and he fell down a confused wreck, and departed out of the world"; the one article of his faith being "the tools to him that can handle them" (1769-1821).

Napoleon, Louis. See Louis Napoleon, also Bonaparte.

Napoleon, Victor, son of Prince Napoleon; claimed to be head of the house of Bonaparte in 1891, though his younger brother, Prince Louis, a colonel in the Russian Imperial Guard, is preferred to him by many Bonapartists; b. 1862.

Napoleon d'Or, a French gold coin worth 20 francs, named after the Emperor Napoleon I.

Naraka, among the Hindus and the Buddhists the place of penal suffering after death.

Narcissus, a self-satisfied youth who disdained the addresses of Echo, in consequence of which she pined away and died, and who, by way of penalty, was doomed to fall in love with his own image, which he kept beholding in the mirror of a fountain till he too pined away and died, his corpse being metamorphosed into the flower that bears his name.

Narrows, The, name given to the section of the St. Lawrence River which extends between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

Narses, a statesman and general of the old Roman empire, rose from being a slave to be keeper of the imperial privy-purse; was successful against the Goths, whom he drove out of Rome; d. 573.

Narthex, a space in early churches railed off from the rest for catechumens and penitents.

Naseby, a village in Northampton, where the Royalists under Charles I. and Prince Rupert were defeated, "shivered utterly to ruin," by the Parliamentary forces under Fairfax and Cromwell in June 1645, the "Ironsides" bearing the brunt of the battle and winning the honours of the day.

Nash, John, English architect, born in London; besides designing plans for some of the chief streets in the city and the buildings in them, was the architect of Buckingham Palace and the Pavilion at Brighton (1752-1835).

Nash, Richard, known as "Beau Nash," born at Swansea; installed himself as master of the ceremonies at Bath, and ruler of the assemblies of fashion in that resort; was a charitable man as well as gay; died in poverty, but was honoured with a public funeral (1674-1761).

Nash, Thomas, English satirist, born at Lowestoft, a Cambridge University wit; wrote plays, as well as pamphlets, bearing on the Marprelate controversy (q. v.) (1567-1601).

Nashville (81), capital of Tennessee, U.S., on the Cumberland River, 185 m. SW. of Louisville; a suspension bridge and railway drawbridge joins it with Edgefield suburb; it is an important railway and educational centre, the seat of the Fisk, Vanderbilt, and Nashville universities, and is actively engaged in the manufacture of cotton, tobacco, flour, paper, oil, &c.

Nasmith, Alexander, Scottish landscape painter, born in Edinburgh; did portraits also, and one of Burns in particular, deemed the best likeness we have of the poet (1757-1843).

Nasmith, James, mechanician, son of the preceding, born in Edinburgh; invented the steam-hammer and a steam pile-driver (1808-1890).

Nassau, till 1866 a duchy of Germany, now included in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau (q. v.).

Natal (544, of which 47 are whites), British colony in SE. Africa, somewhat larger than Denmark, fronts the Indian Ocean on the E., having a foreshore of 180 m., between Zululand on the N. and Kaffraria on the S.; the Dragensberg Mountains form its western boundary; enjoys a fine salubrious climate, and possesses abundance of fertile land, watered by some 140 inches of rainfall; along the coast the sugar-cane is largely cultivated, as also some tea, coffee, tobacco, &c., while all kinds of fruits flourish in its sub-tropical climate; the rising ground inland produces good cereals, and large numbers of sheep and cattle find excellent pasturage on the plains and mountain slopes on the W.; excellent coal is mined in large quantities, and iron and copper promise well; wool, sugar, hides, feathers, and ivory are the chief exports, and are shipped mainly at Durban, the chief port; the colony now enjoys the advantages of good railways, schools, representative government, and a legal code based on old Dutch law; Pietermaritzburg (q. v.) is the capital; Natal was discovered in 1497 by Vasco da Gama, and after being annexed to Cape Colony in 1844, was declared, 11 years later, a separate colony.

Nathan, a Jewish prophet who had the courage to charge King David to his face with a heinous crime he had committed and convict him of his guilt, to his humiliation in the dust.

Nation of Shopkeepers, Napoleon Bonaparte's contemptuous name for the English.

National Anthem, its authorship has been long matter of controversy, and it is uncertain to this day; it has been ascribed to H. Carey and to Dr. John Bull.

National Convention, the revolutionary assembly of France, consisting of 749 members chosen by universal suffrage, which on 22nd September 1792 supplanted the Legislative Assembly, proclaimed the Republic, and condemned Louis XVI. to the guillotine; in spite of its perplexities and internal discords, it was successful in suppressing the Royalists in La Vendée and the south, and repelling the rest of Europe leagued against it, not only in arms, but in the field of diplomacy; it laid the foundation of several of the academic institutions of the country, which have since contributed to its glory as well as welfare, and collected them together in the world-famous Institute; its work done, "weary of its own existence, and all men sensibly weary of it," it willingly deceased in an act of self-dissolution in favour of a Directory of Five on 20th October 1795.

National Covenant. See Covenant.

National Guard, The, a militia of citizens organised in the municipality of Paris in 1790, with Lafayette as commandant, but suppressed in 1827, and again suppressed in 1872, after two revivals, in consequence of their taking part with the Commune of the latter date.

Natural Selection, name given by Darwin to the survival of certain plants and animals that are fitted, and the decease contemporaneously of certain others that are not fitted, to a new environment.

Natural Supernaturalism, Carlyle's name in "Sartor" for the supernatural found latent in the natural, and manifesting itself in it, or of the miraculous in the common and everyday course of things; name of a chapter which, says Dr. Stirling, "contains the very first word of a higher philosophy as yet spoken in Great Britain, the very first English word towards the restoration and rehabilitation of the dethroned Upper Powers"; recognition at bottom, as the Hegelian philosophy teaches, and the life of Christ certifies, of the finiting of the infinite in the transitory forms of space and time.

Naturalism, a philosophical term used to denote the resolution of the supernatural into the natural, and its obliteration; the reference of everything to merely natural laws, and the denial of all supernatural interference with them.

Nature Worship, the worship of the forces of nature conceived of as personal deities.

Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, king of the Phæacians, who gave welcome to Ulysses when shipwrecked on the shore, and whom Homer represents as, along with her maidens, washing the clothes of the hero and his companions.

Nauvoo, a village in Illinois, on the Mississippi, where the Mormons first settled in 1840, and from which they were expelled in 1846.

Navarino, a bay on the SW. coast of the Morea, the scene of the naval victory of the Athenians over the Spartans 425 B.C., and of the annihilation of the Turkish and Egyptian navies by the combined fleets of England, France, and Russia, under Codrington, 20th October 1827.

Navarre (304), one of the 49 provinces of Spain, comprising by far the greater portion of the old kingdom of Navarre, which lasted up to 1512, the other part of which now forms French Basses-Pyrénées; the Spanish province lies on the SW. border of France, is very varied in surface and climate; in the N. the people are chiefly Basques, and are much more energetic than the southern Spaniards; maize, wheat, and red wine are the chief products.

Nawab, a viceroy of a province in the Mogul empire, applied also to a Mohammedan chief in India, and, spelt Nabob, to a man who has made his wealth in India.

Naxos (14), an island of the Cyclades, in the Ægean Sea, famed for its marble, and exports salt and emery powder.

Nayler, James, a fanatical Quaker in the time of the Commonwealth, with a following as fanatical as himself, who escorted him through Bristol on his release from prison after the manner of Christ's entry into Jerusalem; was very cruelly punished for blasphemy in fancying or seeming to fancy himself a new incarnation of Christ.

Nazareth (7), a town in a hollow of the hills on the N. of the Plain of Esdraëlon, 67 m. N. of Jerusalem and 11 m. W. of the Sea of Galilee, celebrated over Christendom as the home of the Holy Family.

Nazarites, among the Jews people consecrated by a vow to some special religious service, generally for a definite period, but sometimes for life; during its continuance they were bound to abstain not merely from strong drink, but from all fruit of the vine, to wear their hair uncut, and forbidden to approach a dead body, long hair being the symbol of their consecration; the vow was sometimes made by their parents for them before their birth; the said vow is the symbolic assertion of the right of any and every man to consecrate himself, in disregard of every other claim, to any service which God may require of him.

Neagh, Lough, the largest lake in the British Isles, lies in the NE. of Ireland, touching the borders of five counties, is 16 m. long, and has an average breadth of 10 m. and a greatest depth of 102 ft.

Neal, Daniel, Nonconformist divine, born in London, and minister there; wrote a "History of the Puritans" and a "History of New England" (1678-1743).

Neal, John Mason, hynmologist, born in London; was a zealous and advanced High Churchman, wrote a "History of the Holy Eastern Church"; is best known for his hymns, translated and original (1818-1866).

Neander, Johann August Wilhelm, eminent Church historian, born at Göttingen, of Jewish parents, his father's name Mendel, which he changed into Neander (new man) on his baptism at the age of 17; studied theology under Schleiermacher at Halle, commenced his work as a teacher of theology in Heidelberg in 1811, but was two years after called to the chair of Church History in Berlin, a post he occupied with signal distinction till his death, his fame all along attracting to him students from every quarter of Christendom; he was a devout believer in historical Christianity, and had the profoundest insight into the Christian faith, both in the root of it and the development of it in the life of the Church; besides several monographs, he wrote the history of the Church from its first starting through its after expansion, and a "Life of Christ" in answer to Strauss, which for its apprehension of the spirit of Christ and His teaching has never been surpassed, while in Christian character he was, if ever man was, "without spot and blameless" (1789-1850).

Neath (11), a borough and river port of Glamorganshire, on the navigable Neath, 6 m. NE. of Swansea; is an old town, and has interesting ruins of an abbey and of a castle (burned 1231); has prosperous copper, tin, iron, and chemical works.

Nebiim, the prophets of Israel as an organised class, who first figure as guardians of the spiritual interests of the nation to the time of Samuel, when it was threatened with extinction piecemeal at the hands of the Philistines, and whose mission it was to recall the divided tribes to a sense of their unity as the chosen of Jehovah, and to see that they were welded into one under a single king; they lived together in communities, appeared in companies, wore a distinctive dress, and were called the sons of the prophets; while they were performing and discharging their offices they were true to their calling, but when order was established they, as is usual in such cases, became more and more lax, until first Elijah, and then another and another who were for most part not of the order, had, if they would be true to their own souls, to remind the nation of what its authorised teachers, in their unfaithfulness, were failing to do, and in consequence suffering God's cause to go to wreck.

Nebraska (1,058), one of the west central States of the American Union, has Dakota on its N. and Kansas and Colorado on the S., is 1½ times the size of England; in the E. stretches of fertile land yield abundant crops of grain (maize chiefly), hemp, flax, sugar-beet, and tobacco, while in the W. rich prairie pastures favour a prosperous stock-raising; the Platte, Niobrarah, and Republican Rivers follow the eastward slope of the land; Omaha and Lincoln (capital) are the chief centres of the manufacturing industries; climate is dry and bracing; wolves, foxes, skunks, &c., abound, chiefly in the "Bad Lands" of the N.; Nebraska was incorporated in the American Union in 1867.

Nebulæ, name given to masses larger or smaller of misty light in the heavens caused by a group of stars too remote to be severally visible to the naked eye.

Nebular Hypothesis, the theory that the sun and planets with their satellites in the solar system were originally one mass of nebulous matter which, gradually cooling and contracting, under violent revolution resolved itself into separate revolving orbs.

Necker, Jacques, celebrated financier, born at Geneva, banker in Paris; married the accomplished Susanne Curchod, the rejected of Gibbon, and became by her the father of Mme. de Staël; was a man of high repute for probity and business capacity; became in 1777 Director-General of Finance in France, tried hard and honestly, by borrowing and retrenchment, to restore the fallen public credit, but was after five years dismissed; was recalled in 1788, but though the funds rose, and he contributed to their relief two million livres of his own money, was again dismissed, to be once more recalled, only to expose his inability to cope with the crisis and to be forced to retire (1732-1804).

Nectar, in the regard of the Greeks the drink of the gods, which, along with ambrosia, their food, nourished the ichor, their blood, and kept them ever in the bloom of immortal youth; it was not permitted to mortals to drink of it.

Needle-gun, a breech-loading gun, the cartridge of which is exploded by a needle.

Negative, in photography a picture of an object in which the lights and shadows are reversed, so that the shady part appears white and the light in it appears dark.

Negativity, the name given in philosophy to the negative element determinative or definitive of things and all ideas of things, whereby a thing is this because it is not that, and is seen to be this because it is seen not to be that, an antagonism essential to all forms of being, spiritual as well as material, and to all definite and distinct thought.

Negritoes, Spanish name for certain distinctive tribes of a diminutive race resembling negroes, occupying the central portions of some of the Philippine Islands, also known as Aëtas or Itas; sometimes loosely used to designate Papuans and all the Melanesian peoples of Polynesia.

Negroes, the dark race of tropical Africa, distinguished by their dark woolly hair, their black eyes, their flat noses, and their thick lips; they occupy rather a low level in the scale of humanity, and are lacking in those mental and moral qualities which have impressed the stamp of greatness on the other races that have distinguished themselves in the history of the world.

Nehemiah, a Jew of the captivity, of royal degree and in high favour, being king's cup-bearer at the court of Artaxerxes, the Persian king; received a commission from the king to repair to Jerusalem and restore the Jewish worship, and ruled over it for 12 years, till he saw the walls of the city amid much opposition restored; returned afterwards to superintend the reform of the worship, of which the book of the Old Testament named after him relates the story.

Nehushtan (a piece of brass), the name given in contempt to what was alleged to be the "Serpent in the Wilderness," which had become an object of worship among the Jews, and was destroyed by King Hezekiah among other idolatrous relics (2 Kings xviii. 4).

Neilgherry Hills, a bracing mountain district in South India, forming a triangular-shaped and somewhat isolated mass of elevated country, peaks of which attain an altitude of close upon 9000 ft.; grassy slopes alternate with thick masses of forest, amid which several small native wild tribes still dwell; Ootacamund is the chief station of the many Europeans who frequent the district as a health resort.

Nelson, 1, a Prosperous manufacturing borough of Lancashire (23), 3½ m. NE. of Burnley. 2, Capital of a district in the N. end of South Island, New Zealand (11); has a busy harbour in Blind Bay, and manufactures cloth, leather, soap, &c.

Nelson, Horatio, Lord, great English admiral, born at Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk; entered the navy as a midshipman in 1770, and after voyages to the West Indies, the Arctic regions, and the East Indies, was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1777; three years later he headed the expedition against San Juan, was invalided home, and in 1781 acted under Lord Hood in American waters; in command of the Boreas on the Leeward Islands station, here he involved himself in trouble through his severe and arbitrary enforcement of the Navigation Act against American traders, and there also he met and married in 1787 the widow of Dr. Nesbit; returning home he lived for five years in retirement, but on the eve of the French Revolutionary war he was again summoned to active service, and in command of the Agamemnon, advanced his reputation by gallant conduct in the Mediterranean operations of Lord Hood, losing his right eye during the storming of Calvi, in Corsica; conspicuous bravery at the engagement with the Spaniards off Cape St. Vincent (1797) brought him promotion to the rank of rear-admiral; in the same year he lost his right arm at Santa Cruz, and in the following year, with an inferior force, annihilated the French fleet in the Bay of Aboukir, for which he was raised to the peerage as Baron Nelson, and created Duke of Bronte by the King of Naples; at this time began his lifelong liaison with Lady Hamilton (q. v.); involving himself in Neapolitan affairs, he went beyond his commission in suppressing the rebel Jacobins, and especially in executing their leader Caracciolo; in 1800 he returned home, his never robust strength considerably impaired; as vice-admiral nominally under Sir Hugh Parker, he in 1801 sailed for the Baltic and inflicted a signal defeat on the Danish fleet off Copenhagen; for this he was made Viscount and commander-in-chief; during the scare of a Napoleonic invasion he kept a vigilant watch in the Channel, and on the resumption of war he on October 21, 1805, crowned his great career by a memorable victory off Trafalgar over the French fleet commanded by Villeneuve, but was himself mortally wounded at the very height of the battle (1758-1805).

Nemean Games, one of the four great national festivals of Greece, and celebrated every other year.

Nemean Lion, a monstrous lion in Nemea, a valley of Argolis, which Hercules slew by throttling it with his hands, clothing himself ever after with its skin.

Nemesis, in the Greek imagination, the executioner of divine vengeance on evil-doers, conceived of as incarnated in the fear which precedes and the remorse which accompanies a guilty action.

Nennius, the reputed author of a chronicle of early British history, who appears to have lived not later perhaps than the 9th century.

Neology, the name given to the rationalist theology of Germany or the rationalisation of the Christian religion.

Neo-Platonism, a system of philosophy that originated in Alexandria at the beginning of the 3rd century, which resolved the absolute, or God, into the incarnation thereof in the Logos, or reason of man, and which aimed at "demonstrating the graduated transition from the absolute object to the personality of man"; it was a concretion of European thought and Oriental.

Nepal (about 2,500), an independent native State in North India, occupying a narrow mountainous territory along and including the southern slopes of the Himalayas, which separate it from Thibet; consists mainly of valleys and intervening mountain ridges, among which dwell various hill tribes, the dominant race being the hardy Goorkhas (q. v.).

Nepenthe, an imaginary goddess, the allayer of pain and the soother of sorrows, or the impersonation of stern retributive justice.

Nepos, Cornelius, Roman historian, born at Pavia; was a contemporary and friend of Cicero; was the author of several historical works, no longer extant, and the one still extant ascribed to him, entitled "De Viris Illustribus," is believed to be an abridgment of an earlier work by him.

Neptune, the chief marine deity of the Romans, and identified with the Poseidon of the Greeks, is represented with a trident in his hand as his sceptre.

Neptune, the remotest planet of the solar system at present known; it is twice as far distant from the sun as Uranus (q. v.) is, deemed before its discovery the remotest; its diameter is four times greater than that of the earth, and it takes 60,126 days to revolve round the sun, accompanied by a solitary satellite; it was discovered in 1846 by Adams (q. v.) and Leverrier (q. v.), who were guided to the spot where they found it from the effect of its neighbourhood on the movements of Uranus.

Nerbudda, or Narbada, a sacred river of India; has its source in the Amarkantak plateau of the Deccan, and flows westward, a rapid body of greenish-blue water, through the great valley between the Vindhya and Satpura Mountains, reaching the Gulf of Cambay after a course of 800 m., the last 30 of which are navigable.