MUCKLEWRATH, a fanatic preacher in Scott's "Old Mortality."

MUCOUS MEMBRANE, a delicate membrane which lines the cavities and

the canals of the human body.

MUEZZIN, an official, usually blind, attached to a Mohammedan

mosque, summons the faithful to prayers with a chant from a minaret.

MUFTI, a doctor and interpreter of Mohammedan law.

MUFTI, THE GRAND, is head of the Ulema, or interpreters of the

Korân; holds his appointment from the Sultan, and exercises great

influence at the Porte; legal advisers to local and general councils in

the Turkish empire are also styled Mufti.

MUGGLETON, founder of the Muggletonians, a tailor who, along with

one Reeve, at the time of the Commonwealth, pretended to be the two

witnesses of the Revelation and the last of God's prophets, invested with

power to save and to damn; individuals of the sect founded by him existed

so recently as the beginning of this century.

MUIR, JOHN, a Sanskrit scholar, born in Glasgow; was of the Indian

Civil Service; was a man of liberal views, particularly in religion, and

a patron of learning; endowed the Chair of Sanskrit in Edinburgh

University (1810-1882).

MUIR, SIR WILLIAM, an Arabic scholar, brother of the preceding;

Principal of Edinburgh University; was in the Indian Civil Service; wrote

a "Life of Mahomet," on the rise of Mohammedanism, and on the Korân; _b_.

1819.

MUKDEN (250), in Chinese Shing-king, the capital of Manchuria, on a

tributary of the Liao, in the S. of the province; is a city of

considerable commercial importance, and has good coal-mines in the

neighbourhood; there are a great palace, and numerous temples; Irish and

Scotch Presbyterian and Roman Catholic missions have a centre here; the

Japanese invasion of 1894-98 was directed towards it.

MULL (5), large island in the NW. of Argyllshire, third of the

Hebrides; is mountainous and picturesque, with greatly indented

coast-line; the highest peak is Ben More, 3185 ft., the largest inlet

Loch-na-Keal; the soil is best adapted for grazing. TOBERMORY (1),

in the N., is the only town.

MÜLLER, GEORGE, founder of the Orphan Homes near Bristol; born in

Prussia; founded the Orphan Home, in 1836, on voluntary subscriptions, in

answer to prayer, to the support one year of more than 2000 orphans

(1805-1898).

MÜLLER, JOHANNES, eminent German physiologist, born at Coblenz;

professor at Berlin; ranks as the founder of modern physiology, and famed

as author of a text-book on the science, entitled "Handbuch der

Physiologie des Menschen" (1801-1858).

MÜLLER, JOHANNES VON, celebrated historian, born at Schaffhausen,

the "History of Switzerland" his principal work (1752-1809).

MÜLLER, JULIUS, a German theologian, born at Brieg; professor at

Halle; his great work, the "Christian Doctrine of Sin"; he collaborated

on theological subjects with Neander and Nitzsch (1801-1878).

MÜLLER, KARL OTFRIED, archæologist and philologist, born at Brieg,

brother of the preceding; was professor at Göttingen, and distinguished

for his researches in Grecian antiquities and his endeavour to construe

all that concerns the history and life of ancient Greece, including

mythology, literature, and art (1797-1840).

MULOCK, DINAH MARIA (Mrs. Craik), English novelist, born in

Stock-upon-Trent, authoress of "John Halifax, Gentleman," and other

novels (1820-1887).

MULREADY, WILLIAM, _genre_ painter, born at Ennis, Ireland,

illustrated the "Vicar of Wakefield" and other works (1786-1863).

MULTAN (75), a Punjab city near the Chenab River, 200 m. SW. of

Lahore; has many mosques and temples; manufactures of silks, carpets,

pottery, and enamel ware, and considerable trade.

MÜNCHHAUSEN, BARON VON, a cavalry officer in the service of Hanover

famed for the extravagant stories he used to relate of his adventures and

exploits which, with exaggerations, were collected by one Raspe, and

published in 1785 under Münchhausen's name (1720-1797).

MÜNICH (351), capital of Bavaria, on the Isar, 440 m. by rail SW. of

Berlin; is a city of magnificent buildings and rare art treasures;

palaces, public buildings, cathedral, churches, &c., are all on an

elaborate scale, and adorned with works of art; there are galleries of

sculpture, and ancient and modern painting, a university, colleges, and

libraries; the industries include stained glass, lithographing,

bell-founding, and scientific instrument-making; and there are enormous

breweries. Münich has been the centre of artistic life and culture in the

19th century, and associated with it are Cornelius, Kaulbach, and many

famous names.

MÜNSTER (49), capital of Westphalia, a mediæval-looking town, 100 m.

by rail N. of Cologne; has textile, paper, and printing industries; there

is an old cathedral of 12th century, a town-hall, castle, and

16th-century wine-cellar; the place of the Catholic university has been

taken by an academy with Catholic theological and philosophical

faculties; here took place the Anabaptist movement of 1535; the bishops

retained their secular jurisdiction till 1803.

MÜNZER, THOMAS, Anabaptist leader, born at Stolberg, and began to

preach at Zwickau 1520; he came into collision both with the civil

authorities and the Reformed Church; for several years he travelled

through Bohemia and South Germany, and in 1525 settled at Mühlhausen;

here his communistic doctrines obtained popularity and kindled an

insurrection; the rebels were routed at Frankenhansen, and Münzer was

captured and executed (1489-1525).

MURAT, JOACHIM, king of Naples, born near Cahors, the son of an

innkeeper; entered the army, attracted the notice of Bonaparte, and

became his aide-de-camp; distinguished himself in many engagements,

received Bonaparte's sister to wife, and was loaded with honours on the

establishment of the Empire, and for his services under it as a dashing

cavalry officer was rewarded with the crown of Naples in 1808, but to the

last allied in arms with his brother-in-law; he had to fight in the end

on his own behalf in defence of his crown, and was defeated, taken

prisoner, and shot (1771-1815).

MURATORI, LUDOVICO ANTONIO, Italian antiquary and historian, horn in

Vignola, Modena; became librarian in Milan 1695, and of the D'Este

library, Modena, in 1700, in which city he died; he edited the Italian

chronicles of the 5th-16th centuries, with many essays and dissertations,

and many other historical and antiquarian works; but his name is chiefly

associated with the "Muratorian Fragment," which dates from the 2nd

century, and contains a list of the then canonical scriptures, and which

he published 1840 (1672-1750).

MURAVIEFF, COUNT, Russian statesman, born of a distinguished family;

entered the diplomatic service in connection with the Russian embassies

at Berlin, Stockholm, The Hague, and Paris, and became Minister to

Denmark in 1893; in 1897 he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in

succession to Lobanoff; _b_. 1845.

MURCHISON, SIR RODERICK IMPEY, geologist, born in Ross-shire;

entered the army and served in the Peninsular War, but retiring in 1816

gave himself to science; he explored many parts of Europe, predicted the

discovery of gold in Australia, was President of the British Association,

and knighted in 1846, and subsequently received many other scientific

appointments and honours; he founded the Chair of Geology in Edinburgh

University in 1870; but his fame rests on his discovery and establishment

of the Silurian system; his book on "The Silurian System" is the chief of

several works (1792-1871).

MURDOCH, WILLIAM, engineer, born at Auchinleck, Ayrshire; was a

manager of the Soho Works under Boulton and Watt, where he distinguished

himself by his inventive ingenuity, and where on his suggestion coal-gas

was first employed for lighting purposes (1754-1830).

MURE, COLONEL, Greek scholar, born at Caldwell, Ayrshire; wrote a

scholarly work, "A Critical Account of the Language and Literature of

Ancient Greece" (1799-1860).

MÜRGER, HENRI, French novelist and poet, born at Paris; is chiefly

distinguished as the author of "Scènes de la Vie de Bohême," from his own

experiences, and instinct with pathos and humour, sadness his predominant

tone; wrote lyrics as well as novels and stories, the chief "La Chanson

de Musette," "a tear," says Gautier, "which has become a pearl of poetry"

(1822-1861).

MURILLO, a celebrated Spanish painter, born at Seville; his subjects

were drawn partly from low life and partly from religious or scripture

themes, such as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the

Virgin, as well as "Moses Smiting the Rock," the "Miracle of the Loaves

and Fishes," &c.; died from a fall from a scaffold while painting an

altar-piece at Cadiz (1618-1682).

MURRAY, JOHN, London publisher, a successful business man; was on

intimate terms with the celebrated men, such as Byron and Scott, whose

works he published (1778-1843).

MURRAY, LINDLEY, grammarian, born in Pennsylvania, of Quaker

parents; having realised a competency in business came to England and

settled near York, where he produced his "Grammar of the English

Language" in 1795 (1745-1826).

MURRAY, WILLIAM, Scottish actor, lessee of Edinburgh theatre for 42

years; enjoyed the friendship of the Edinburgh literary celebrities of

the time, and was an excellent actor, did Falstaff to perfection

(1791-1852).

MURRAY RIVER, the chief river of Australia, 1120 m. long, rises at

the foot of Mount Kosciusko, in New South Wales, flows NW. between New

South Wales and Victoria; receives the Lachlan and Darling on the right,

and entering South Australia turns southward and reaches the sea at

Encounter Bay.

MUSÆUS, JOHN AUGUST, German author, born at Jena, famous as the

author of German _Volksmärchen_, three of which, "Dumb Love," "Libussa,"

and "Melechsala," were translated in the volumes of "German Romance" by

Thomas Carlyle; he parodied Richardson's "Sir Charles Grandison" and

satirised Lavater's "Physiognomical Travels" (1735-1787).

MUSCAT (20), capital of Oman, in Eastern Arabia, on the Gulf of

Oman; is an ill-built, unhealthy city, but does an important transit

trade between Arabia, Persia, India, and East Africa; it was in

Portuguese possession from 1508 to 1658, but has been independent since.

MUSES, THE, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosynë, presided over the

liberal arts particularly, were nine in number, and dwelt along with

Apollo near Parnassus, Pieria, and Helicon; Clio presided over history,

Euterpë over music, Thalia over comedy, Melpomenë over tragedy,

Terpsichorë over choral dance and song, Erato over erotic poetry and

elegy, Polyhymnia over lyric poetry, Urania over astronomy, and Calliopë

over eloquence and epic poetry.

MUSPELHEIM. See NIFLHEIM.

MUSSELBURGH (9), an old-fashioned Midlothian fishing town on the

coast, 6 m. E. of Edinburgh, with golf links, paper, nets, and tanning

industries, and Loretto school.

MUSSET, ALFRED DE, the premier poet of modern French literature,

born in Paris of good parentage; wayward and impulsive in youth, he would

settle to no occupation, till his already awakened taste for poetry

receiving a powerful stimulus through contact with Victor Hugo, led him

to embrace the profession of letters; two volumes of poetry were

published before he achieved, in 1833, his first signal success with the

dramas "André del Sarto" and "Les Caprices de Marianne"; in the same year

began his famous _liaison_ with GEORGE SAND (q. v.), involving

him in the ill-fated expedition to Venice, whence he returned in the

spring of 1834 shattered in health and disillusioned; from one unhappy

love intrigue he passed to another, seeking in vain a solace for his

restless spirit, but reaping an experience which enriched his writings;

"Confessions d'un Enfant du Siècle" appeared in 1836, and is a

significant confession of his life at this time; two years later he was

appointed librarian at the Home Office, and in 1847 his charming comedy,

"Un Caprice," was received with enthusiasm; in 1852 he was elected to the

Academy, but his work was done, and already an ill-controlled indulgence

in alcohol had fatally undermined his never robust strength; his

writings, besides possessing the charm of an exquisite style, heightened

by an undertone of true tenderness, are chiefly remarkable for the

intense sincerity of feeling, albeit of a limited range, which animates

them, and which finds its highest expression in his four great lyrical

pieces, "Les Nuits"; his fine instinct for dramatic situation and gift of

witty dialogue are manifest in the dramas already mentioned, as also in

many others; of his prose works, "Le Fils du Titien," "Mademoiselle Mimi

Pinson," and the "Confessions" are his best; he was a handsome man, with

fascinating manners (1810-1857).

MUTSU HITO, the Mikado of Japan, ascended the throne in 1867,

married in 1869; has one son, Prince Yoshihito, and three daughters; his

reign has been marked by great reforms, and especially the abolition of

the feudal system which till then prevailed, to the great and increasing

prosperity of the country, and the opening of it to the ideas and arts of

Western civilisation; _b_. 1852.

MUZAFFER-ED-DIN, Shah of Persia, second son of Nasr-ed-Din, who

nominated him to succeed him; succeeded his father on his death by

assassination in 1896, on the 1st of May; _b_. 1853.

MYCENÆ, capital of Agamemnon's kingdom, in the NE. of the

Peloponnesus, was in very ancient days a great city, but never recovered

the invasion of the people of Argos in 468 B.C.; excavations point to

its civilisation being more akin to Phoenician than Greek.

MYRMIDONS, "ant-men," so-called because Zeus was said to have

peopled Thessaly, from which originally they came, by transforming ants

into men; they were the people of Ægina, whose warriors followed Achilles

to the siege of Troy.

MYSORE (4,900), a native State, half the size of England, embedded

in the Madras Presidency, occupies a lofty, broken, but fertile

tableland; the upper waters of the Kistna and Kaveri are used for

irrigation purposes; betel-nut, coffee, cotton, rice, and silk are

exported; cloth, wheat, and precious metals are imported; the climate is

healthy and pleasant; under British government from 1831, it was restored

to its prince in 1881, under British protection; the capital is

MYSORE (74), a prosperous, well-built town.

MYSTAGOGUE, in Greece, was the priest who instructed candidates and

prepared them for initiation into the various religious mysteries; in the

Christian Church it denoted the catechist who prepared catechumens

previous to their admission to the sacraments.

MYSTERIES, sacred rites and ceremonies of stated observance among

the Greeks and Romans in connection with the worship of particular

divinities, to which only the initiated were admitted, and in which, by

associating together, they quickened and confirmed each other in their

faith and hope, and in which it would seem they made solemn avowal of

these; the name is also applied to the MIRACLE PLAYS (q. v.) of

the Middle Ages.

MYSTICISM, a state of mind and feeling induced by direct communion

with the unseen, and by indulging in which the subject of it estranges

himself more and more from those who live wholly in the outside world, so

that he cannot communicate with them and they cannot understand him.

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.

NEREIDES, nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea, daughters of Nereus, 60

in number, and attendant on Poseidon.

NEREUS, the god of the Mediterranean Sea, the son of Pontus and

Gaia, the husband of Doris, and father of the Nereides, represented as a

sage, venerable old man.

NERI, ST. PHILIPPO DI, Italian priest, born at Florence, of noble

family; founder of the Congregation of the Oratory; was known from his

boyhood as the Good Pippo, and he spent his life in acts of devotion and

charity (1515-1592). Festival, May 26.

NERO, Roman emperor from A.D. 54 to 68, born at Antium, son of Cn.

Domitius Ahenobarbus and of Agrippina, daughter of Germanicus; after the

murder of Claudius, instigated by Agrippina, who 4 years previously had

become the emperor's wife, Nero seized the throne, excluding Britannicus,

the rightful heir; during the first 5 years of his reign his old tutors,

Seneca and Burrus, were his advisers in a wise and temperate policy, but

gradually his innate tendency to vice broke through all restraint, and

hurried him into a course of profligacy and crime; Britannicus was put to

death, his mother and wife, Octavia, were subsequent victims, and in 64

numbers of Christians suffered death, with every refinement of torture,

on a trumped-up charge of having caused the great burning of Rome,

suspicion of which rested on Nero himself; a year later Seneca and the

poet Lucan were executed as conspirators, and, having kicked to death his

wife Poppæa, then far advanced in pregnancy, he offered his hand to

Octavia, daughter of Claudius, and because she declined his suit ordered

her death; these and many other similar crimes brought on inevitable

rebellion; Spain and Gaul declared in favour of Galba; the Prætorian

Guards followed suit; Nero fled from Rome, and sought refuge in suicide

(37-68).

NERVA, Roman emperor from 96 to 98, elected by the Senate; ruled

with moderation and justice; resigned in favour of Trajan, as from age

unable to cope with the turbulence of the Prætorian Guards.

NESS, LOCH, the second largest loch in Scotland, stretches along the

valley of Glenmore, in Inverness-shire, is 22½ m. long, and has an

average breadth of 1 m. and an extreme depth of 280 ft.: its main feeders

are the Morriston, Oich, and Foyers; the Ness is its chief outlet.

NESSELRODE, COUNT VON, celebrated Russian diplomatist, born at

Lisbon, where his father was Russian ambassador; represented Russia at a

succession of congresses, played a prominent part at them, and directed

the foreign policy of the empire under Alexander I. and Nicholas I., from

1816 to 1856, though he strove to avoid the war which broke out in 1853

(1780-1862).

NESSUS, a Centaur who, for attempting to carry off Dejanira,

Hercules' wife, was shot by Hercules with an arrow dipped in the blood of

the HYDRA (q. v.), and who in dying handed to Dejanira his

mantle, dipped in his poisoned blood, as a charm to regain her husband's

affections should he at any time prove unfaithful. See HERCULES.

NESSUS' SHIRT, the poisoned robe which Nessus gave Dejanira, and

which in a moment of distrust she gave to Hercules. See NESSUS.

NESTOR, king of Pylos, a protégé and worshipper of Poseidon, the

oldest, most experienced, and wisest of the Greek heroes at the siege of

Troy; belonged to the generation of the grandfathers of the rest of them.

NESTORIUS, a celebrated heresiarch, born in Syria; was made

patriarch of Constantinople in 428, deposed for heresy by the Council of

Ephesus 431, and banished to the Lybian Desert, where he died; the heresy

he taught, called after him Nestorianism, was that the two natures, the

divine and the human, coexist in Christ, but are not united, and he would

not allow to the Virgin Mary the title that had been given to her as the

"Mother of God"; the orthodoxy of the Church as against the doctrine was

championed by Cyril of Alexandria.

NETHERLANDS, a term formerly applied to the whole NW. corner of

Europe, occupied by BELGIUM (q. v.) and Holland, but now an

official designation only of HOLLAND (q. v.).

NETLEY, the site of the handsome Royal Victoria Hospital, on the

shore of Southampton Water, 3 m. SE. of Southampton, and connected by a

direct line with Portsmouth; founded in 1856 as an asylum for invalided

soldiers, also the head-quarters of the female nurses of the army; in the

vicinity also are interesting remains of a Cistercian abbey.

NETTLERASH or URTICARIA, an irritating eruption in the skin

causing a sensation like the stinging of nettles. It may be acute or

chronic, frequently caused by errors of diet.

NEUCHÂTEL (109), a western canton of Switzerland, lying between Lake

Neuchâtel and France; the surface is diversified by the Jura Mountains,

and plentifully supplied with small streams; the greater part of the

inhabitants are French Protestants; coal and iron are found,

stock-raising and agriculture are engaged in, but the great specialty of

the canton is watchmaking, which is chiefly carried on at La

Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle; Neuchâtel was incorporated in the Swiss

Confederation in 1815. NEUCHÂTEL (17), capital of the canton, has a

fine situation on the NW. shore of the lake, 86 m. NE. of Geneva; has

many educational, art, and charitable institutions, and is chiefly

engaged in the manufacture of watches, jewellery, &c. LAKE OF

NEUCHÂTEL is a beautiful sheet of water, 25 m. in length, and from 3

to 6 in breadth.

NEUSTRIA, western portion of the kingdom of the Franks in the time

of the Merovingian and Carlovingian dynasties, and in constant rivalry

with AUSTRASIA (q. v.), the kingdom of the East; it extended

from the Scheldt to the Loire and Soissons; Paris, Orleans, and Tours

were the chief towns.

NEUVILLE, ALPHONSE DE, French painter of battle-scenes, born at St.

Omer; he was an illustrator of books, among others Guizot's "Histoire de

France" (1836-1885).

NEVA, a river of Russia issuing from the SW. corner of Lake Ladoga,

flows westward in a broad rapid current past St. Petersburg, and

discharges its great volume of water into the Bay of Cronstadt, in the

Gulf of Finland, after a winding course of 40 miles.

NEVADA (46), one of the western States of the American Union,

occupying a wide stretch of territory on the Great Plateau or Basin,

between the Rocky Mountains on the E. and the Cascades and the Sierra

Nevada on the W., has Oregon and Idaho on the N., and California on the

S. and W.; elevated, cold, dry, and barren, it offers little inducement

to settlers, and is in consequence the least in population of the

American States; the great silver discoveries of 1859 brought it first

into notice, and mining still remains the chief industry; Virginia City

and Carson (capital) are the chief towns; was admitted to the Union in

1864.

NEVILLE'S CROSS, BATTLE OF, battle fought near Durham between the

Scots and English in 1346, in which the former were defeated and King

David taken prisoner.

NEVIS, BEN. See BEN NEVIS.

NEW BRITAIN or NEU-POMMERN, a large island in the German

Bismarck Archipelago, West Pacific, lying off the NE. coast of New

Guinea, from which it is separated by Dampier Strait; is 300 m. long,

with an average breadth of 40 m.; is mountainous and volcanic in the

interior, and thickly clad with forest trees; fruits of various kinds are

the chief product; is inhabited by Melanesian savages.

NEW BRUNSWICK (321), a SE. province of Canada, presents a long

foreshore to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the NE. and to the Bay of Fundy

on the SE., while directly E. lies Nova Scotia, to which it is joined by

the isthmus of Chignecto; the surface is diversified by numerous lakes,

magnificent forests of pine and other woods, and the fertile valleys of

the Rivers St. John, Restigouche, and Miramichi; timber is the chief

export, but only less valuable are its fisheries, while shipbuilding is

also an important and growing industry; coal is mined in good quantities,

and the chief towns, St. John, Portland, and Fredericton (capital) are

busy centres of iron, textile, and other factories; the climate is

subject to extremes of heat and cold, but is healthy; many of the

inhabitants are of French origin, for New Brunswick formed part of the

old French colony of Acadia.

NEW CALEDONIA (63), an island of the South Pacific belonging to

France, the most southerly of the Melanesian group, lying about 800 m. E.

of Australia and nearly 1000 m. N. of New Zealand; is mountainous,

produces the usual tropical fruits, and exports some nickel, cobalt,

coffee, &c.; is used by the French as a convict station; discovered by

Captain Cook in 1774 and annexed by France in 1853; Noumea (5), on the

SW., is the capital.

NEW ENGLAND, a name given in 1704 by Captain John Smith to the

eastern and most densely populated portion of the United States, which

now comprises Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,

and Connecticut; was first colonised under the name of North Virginia by

the Plymouth Company in 1606; the inhabitants, known distinctively as

Yankees, are mostly of Puritan and Scotch descent, and are noted for

their shrewdness and industry.

NEW FOREST, a district in the SW. of Hampshire, 14 m. from N. to S.

and 16 m. wide, and consisting of 92,000 acres, of which 62,000 belong to

the crown demesnes; one-fourth of the area consists of enclosed

plantations, chiefly of oak and beech, the rest being open woodland, bog,

and heath; Lyndhurst is the principal town.

NEW GUINEA, the largest island in the world (excluding the island

continents of Australia and Greenland), lies N. of Australia, from which

it is divided by Torres Strait (90 m. wide); is an irregular,

mountainous, well-rivered territory, 10 times the size of Scotland, and

is held by three European powers--the Dutch (200) in the western and

least developed half; the German (100); in the NE., Kaiser Wilhelm's

Land, administered by the German New Guinea Company, who export tobacco,

areca, bamboo, ebony, &c.; and the British (135), in the SE.,

administered by the Commonwealth of Australia. Successful encouragement

has been given to colonisation, and good exports of gold pearl-shells,

copra, &c., are made. Much of the interior is still to explore, and is

inhabited by Papuans, Negritoes, and other Melanesian tribes, many of

which are still in the cannibal stage, although others are peaceful and

industrious. A hot moist climate gives rise to much endemic fever, but

encourages a wonderful profusion of tropical growth, giving place in the

highlands to the hardier oak and pine, and still higher to a purely

alpine flora; as in Australia, the animals are chiefly marsupials; the

mountain ranges, which stretch in a more or less continuous line

throughout the island, have peaks that touch an altitude of 20,000 ft.

and send down many navigable streams. Port Moresby is the capital of the

British portion.

NEW HAMPSHIRE (377), the second most northerly of the NEW ENGLAND

STATES (q. v.), and from the beauty of its lake and mountain

scenery called the "Switzerland of America," lies N. and S. between

Quebec province and Massachusetts, while the Atlantic washes part of its

eastern borders; is more engaged in manufactures than in agriculture, and

obtains valuable water-power and waterway from its rivers, the

Piscataqua, Merrimac, and Connecticut; Manchester, on the Merrimac, is

the largest city.

NEW HAVEN (108), capital of New Haven county, Connecticut, and chief

city and seaport of the State, at the head of New Haven Bay, 4 m. from

Long Island Sound, and 73 m. NE. of New York; is a finely built city,

and, since 1718, has been the seat of Yale College; is an important

manufacturing centre, producing rifles, iron-ware of all kinds,

carriages, clocks, &c., was up till 1873 joint capital of the State with

Harford.

NEW HEBRIDES (70), a group of some 30 volcanic Islands (20

inhabited) in the Western Pacific, lying W. of the Fiji Islands and NE.

of New Caledonia; is nominally a possession of Britain, and inhabited by

cannibals of the Melanesian race. Missionary enterprise has had some

effect in the southern islands; Espiritu Santo (70 m. by 40) is the

largest.

NEW HOLLAND. See AUSTRALIA.

NEW JERSEY (1,444), one of the 13 original States of the American

Union, faces the Atlantic between New York State on the N. and Delaware

Bay on the S., with Pennsylvania on its western border; the well-watered

and fertile central plains favour a prosperous fruit and agricultural

industry, tracts of pine and cedar wood cover the sandy S., while the N.,

traversed by ranges of the Appalachians, abounds in valuable forests of

oak, hickory, chestnut, sassafras, &c.; minerals are plentiful,

especially iron ores. New Jersey is thickly populated, well provided with

railway and water transit, and busily engaged in manufactures--e. g.

glass, machinery, silk, sugar. Newark (capital) and Jersey City are by

far the largest cities; was sold to Penn in 1682, and settled chiefly by

immigrant Quakers.

NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH, a church consisting of the disciples of

Emanuel Swedenborg, formed into a separate organisation for worship about

1788. See SWEDENBORGIANISM.

NEW MEXICO (154), an extensive territory embracing the SW. end of

North America and the larger part of the great isthmus which unites the

two Americas; was in 1848 detached from MEXICO (q. v.), and

constituted a part of the American Union; consists mainly of elevated

plateau, sloping to the S., and traversed by ranges of the Rocky

Mountains; the precious metals are widely distributed, especially silver;

good deposits of coal and copper are also found. In the broad river

valleys excellent crops are raised, and stock-raising is an important

industry. The territory is divided into 14 counties; Santa Fé is the

capital; a State university exists at Albuquerque.

NEW ORLEANS (287), the capital and largest city of Louisiana, is

beautifully situated on both sides of the Mississippi, 107 m. from its

mouth, with a curved river-frontage of 10 m.; is the second cotton port

of the world, and the greatest sugar-market in the United States; is the

chief trade emporium of the surrounding States, and the main outlet for

the produce of the Mississippi Valley, which includes cotton, sugar,

tobacco, wheat, and salt.

NEW SOUTH WALES (1,132), the "mother colony" of Australia, fronts

the Pacific for 700 m. on the E. between Queensland (N.) and Victoria

(S.), is 2½ times the size of Great Britain and Ireland; mountain ranges

(including the Australian Alps) running parallel with, and from 20 to 100

m. distant from, the coast, divide the narrow littoral plains from the

great plains of the W. and the interior, and are the source of many large

rivers (e. g. the Darling) flowing E. and W.; the climate is warm and

everywhere healthy; rain falls plentifully on the coast lands and

mountains, but is scarce in the W. The mineral wealth of the colony is

very great--gold and silver are found in large quantities, as also

copper, tin, iron, &c., but coal is the most abundant and valuable

mineral product. Cereals, fruits, sugar, tobacco, &c., are cultivated,

but in small quantities compared with the immense output of wool, the

chief product of the country. SYDNEY (q. v.) is the capital and

chief port of the colony. Government is vested in a Crown appointed

Governor and two Houses of Parliament (triennial and paid). Education is

free and compulsory. Established in 1788, the colony was, up to 1840,

used as a settlement for transported criminals. In 1851 the great gold

discoveries started the colony on its prosperous career.

NEW YORK (5,997), the foremost State in the American Union in

population, wealth, commerce, and manufactures, the twenty-fifth in area,

and is about the size of England; is triangular in shape, with a

north-western base on Lakes Erie and Ontario, and an eastern apex

reaching the Atlantic between Connecticut (N.) and New Jersey (S.).

Manhattan, Staten, and Long Island are the most important of many islands

belonging to the State. The land slopes from the mountainous E. to the

shores of the great western lakes, and is pleasantly diversified with

mountain, valley and plain, forest and river. The Hudson, Oswego,

Genesee, and Niagara (with its famous waterfall) are the principal

rivers, while the St. Lawrence forms part of the northern boundary.

One-half of the area is under cultivation; the vine flourishes, hops and

tobacco are grown, and market-gardening prospers near the large cities;

but manufacturing is the chief industry, and the transit of goods is

greatly facilitated by the many waterways and network of railways. Was

finally occupied by the English in 1664, after the expulsion of the

Dutch.

NEW YORK CITY (3,437), but including Brooklyn, Jersey City, and

other suburban places, nearly three millions, the premier city of the

American continent, and third wealthiest in the world; occupies Manhattan

Island (13½ m. long) and several smaller islands at the terminal

confluence of the Hudson with East River, which opens into Long Island

Sound; 18 m. S. of the city is Sandy Hook, where two ship channels cross

the bar, and lead into the outer or lower bay, which in turn is joined by

a strait to the magnificent harbour or inner bay; all approaches are

strongly fortified; a suspension bridge spans East River, uniting the

city with Brooklyn; the rivers and the many wharves are crowded with

shipping. The old town is a busy hive of industry, with its great centres

of banking and mercantile enterprise--Wall, New, and Broad Streets. The

modern part of the city is a model of regularity, is traversed by great

avenues 8 m. in length and 100 ft. wide, the finest being Fifth Avenue.

The City Hall and the Court House are of white marble; the hotels are the

largest in the world; Astor library (250,000 vols.), academy of design,

university, museums, art-galleries, and many other handsome buildings

adorn the streets; carries on industries of almost every description.

NEW ZEALAND (669, of which 42 are Maories), a British island colony

in the South Pacific, lying wholly within the temperate zone, 1200 m. E.

of Australia; comprises North Island (45,000 sq. m.), South or Middle

Island (58,000 sq. m.), Stewart Island (much smaller), and a number of

islets; total area considerably more than that of Great Britain. The two

main islands, separated by Cook Strait, are in no part broader than 150

m., and are traversed from end to end by a great and partly volcanic

mountain chain, the range in South Island being known as the Southern

Alps (highest peak Mount Cook, 12,350 ft), and that in North Island as

the Ruahine Range and the Tararua Mountains; everywhere rivers abound,

Waikato (North Island) and Clutha (South Island) being the largest;

numerous lakes (Lake Taupo, six times the size of Loch Lomond), fertile

valleys, and well-grassed plains, together with the mountains, make up a

beautiful and diversified surface, which much resembles that of Scotland,

while the climate, temperate and healthy, is warmer and more equable than

in Great Britain; almost all the animals have been imported, as well as

the grains and fruits; great forests of indigenous kauri pines, however,

exist; sheep-farming, agriculture, and mining (gold and coal) are the

chief industries, wool being the chief export; Auckland, the largest, and

Wellington, the capital, in North Island, and Dunedin and Christchurch in

South Island, are the chief towns; Government is vested in a

Crown-appointed Governor, an Executive Ministry, and a Parliament of two

Chambers; education is free, secular, and compulsory, but no State aid is

given to any form of religion; discovered in 1642 by Tasman, the islands

were first surveyed by Cook in 1769; their formal cession to the British

crown took place in 1840.

NEWARK (246), city of U.S., New Jersey, 7 miles W. by New Jersey

City. It has extensive tanneries, and manufactories of hats, thread, and

celluloid.

NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME (18), a borough and old market-town of

Staffordshire, 40 m. S. of Manchester; is a well-built town, actively

engaged in brewing, malting, and paper-making.

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE (186), a city and county of itself, and chief

town of Northumberland; situated on the N. bank, and 10 m. from the

mouth, of the Tyne, 275 m. N. of London. The old town extends some two

miles along the river bank, and with its crowded quays, narrow winding

streets, and dingy warehouses, presents a striking contrast to the

handsome modern portion, which stretches back on gently rising ground.

The cathedral is an imposing and interesting architectural structure,

while the public buildings are more than usually ornate. The Colleges of

Medicine and of Science are affiliated to Durham University. There are

several fine libraries, theatres, hospitals, and charitable institutions,

and the city is especially well off in the matter of public parks and

pleasure grounds. Three bridges (including Robert Stephenson's famous

High Level Bridge) span the river and connect Newcastle with Gateshead.

It is the chief centre of the English coal trade, and is a busy hive of

all kinds of metallic, chemical, machinery, and kindred works, which give

rise to an immense and ever-increasing shipping trade. As a centre of

shipbuilding the Tyne is second only to the Clyde.

NEWCOMEN, THOMAS, blacksmith, born at Dartmouth; invented a

steam-engine in which the piston was raised by steam and driven down by

the atmosphere after the injection into the cylinder of a squirt of cold

water, which cooled it, so that the steam when injected did not raise the

piston at once up. By James Watt's invention of a separate condenser it

was superseded, and employed afterwards principally for pumping water.

The interruption in the movement between the descent and ascent of the

piston made it worthless for such purposes as Watt's invention is applied

to; _d_. 1729.

NEWDIGATE, SIR ROGER, born in Warwickshire; represented Oxford in

Parliament, and founded the Newdigate Prize for the best English poem by

an undergraduate; the winners of it have since distinguished themselves,

chiefly in letters (1719-1806).

NEWFOUNDLAND (198), the oldest island colony of Britain, situated at

the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, North America; is about one-eighth

larger than Ireland, and triangular in shape, the northern apex running

close in to the coast of Labrador; inland the country is bleak, sparsely

populated, and ill cultivated; lakes and rivers abound; the deeply

indented coast provides excellent harbourage for the large fishing fleets

that frequent it; minerals are found, including coal, iron, lead, and

copper; agriculture and timber-felling are on the increase, but the

fisheries--cod, salmon, herring, and seal--form the staple industry; the

climate is more temperate than in Canada, although, subject to fogs;

ST. JOHNS (q. v.) is the capital; discovered in 1497 by John

Cabot, seized by the English in 1583, and finally ceded to Britain by the

French (who retained certain fishing rights) in 1713; Newfoundland

possesses a responsible government, consisting of a popularly elected

Assembly and a Crown-appointed Governor, and exercises political rights

over the adjoining coast territory of Labrador.

NEWGATE, a dark, gloomy prison in London, the original of which

dates as far back as 1218; was two centuries afterwards rebuilt, and

destroyed in the great fire of 1666; rebuilt in 1780; is now used only

for prisoners awaiting trial during Sessions, and as a place of

execution.

NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY, cardinal, born in London, son of a banker;

educated at Ealing, studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and obtained a

Fellowship in Oriel College in 1823; trained in evangelical beliefs, he

gradually drifted into High-Church notions, and becoming vicar of St.

Mary's, the university church of Oxford, in 1826, started the Tractarian

Movement in 1833, and, busy with his pen, wrote no fewer than 24 of the

celebrated "Tracts for the Times" in advocacy of High-Church teaching,

till Tract XC., which he composed, overshot the mark, and he resigned his

connection with the Church of England, and was received into the Catholic

Church on the 28th October 1845; shortly after this he visited Rome, was

ordained a priest, and after some stay there on his return became head of

the Birmingham Oratory in 1849, where he spent over 40 of the years that

remained of his life; the influence on Church matters which he exercised

as university preacher at Oxford was very great, and made itself felt

through the voluminous writings over the length and breadth of the

Church; on his secession he continued to employ his pen in defence of his

position, particularly in one work, now widely known, entitled "Apologia

pro Vita Sua"; what he wrote was for the time he lived in, and none of

it, except certain of his hymns, is likely to endure; the religion he

fought for and vindicated was an externally authenticated one, whereas

all true religion derives itself and its evidences solely and wholly from

within, and is powerless and virtually nothing except in so far as it

roots itself there (1801-1890).

NEWMAN, FRANCIS WILLIAM, born in London, brother of the preceding,

with whom he was wholly out of sympathy, and at the opposite pole; he was

a theist in his religious opinions, and wrote in defence of them his

principal works, "The Soul: Her Sorrows and Aspirations," and "Phases of

Faith" (1805-1897).

NEWPORT, 1, capital of the Isle of Wight (10), and near its centre;

in its vicinity is Carisbrooke Castle, where Charles I. was imprisoned.

2, The largest town in Monmouth (54), at the mouth of the Usk, engaged in

manufacture of various kinds, but chiefly as a port for the export of

minerals, which is very large. 3, A town in Rhode Island, U.S., (19), a

fashionable watering-place, as well as a manufacturing; was for a time

the residence of Bishop Berkeley.

NEWSTEAD ABBEY, an abbey near Nottingham, founded by Henry II. by

way of atonement for the murder of Thomas à Becket, which was given at

the dissolution of the monasteries to an ancestor of Lord Byron, who

lived in it and sold it, since which it has been restored.

NEWTON, SIR ISAAC, illustrious natural philosopher, born in

Woolsthorpe, near Grantham, in Lincolnshire; entered Trinity College,

Cambridge, in 1661, where he applied himself specially to the study of

mathematics, invented the method of FLUXIONS (q. v.), and began

to theorise on gravitation, graduating in 1667, and becoming professor of

Mathematics in 1669; failing at first, from a mistaken measurement given

of the earth's diameter, in his attempts to establish the theory referred

to, he set himself to the construction of telescopes, and discovered the

composition of light; shortly after this, hearing of a correction of the

measurement required, he renewed his study of gravitation, and made his

theory good in a series of papers communicated to the Royal Society,

though it was not till 1687, encouraged by Halley, he gave the complete

demonstration in his "Principia" to the world; in 1695 he was made Warden

of the Mint, and afterwards Master, a post he held till his death; his

works were numerous, and he wrote on prophecy as well as treatises on

science (1642-1727).

NEWTON, JOHN, English clergyman, born in London; after a wild youth

was converted, entered the Church, and became curate of Olney, where he

became acquainted with Cowper, and had, owing to his severe Calvinism, an

influence over him not altogether for good, and was associated with the

production of the "Olney Hymns"; wrote "Cardiphonia" (1725-1807).