The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 35 out of 53
MONBODDO, JAMES BURNETT, LORD, a Scottish judge, born in
Kincardineshire, an eccentric writer, author of a "Dissertation on the
Origin of Language" and of "Ancient Metaphysics"; had original fancies on
the origin, particularly of the human race from the monkey, conceived not
so foolish to-day as they were then (1714-1799).
MONCREIFF, SIR HENRY WELLWOOD, Scottish clergyman, born at
Blackford; from 1775 to 1827 minister of St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh, and
leader of the evangelical party of the Scottish Church.
MONCREIFF, JAMES W., LORD, second son of preceding, eminent Scottish
judge; was the author of the Veto Act which led to the Disruption of 1843
(1776-1851).
MONCREIFF, SIR HENRY W., son of preceding, became a Free Church
minister, and was Principal Clerk of the General Assembly of the Free
Church; an authority on Church law (1809-1885).
MONCREIFF, JAMES, brother of preceding, bred for the Scottish bar;
was Lord Advocate of Scotland under four administrations; was appointed
Lord Justice-Clerk in 1860; was raised to the peerage in 1874
(1811-1895).
MOND, LUDWIG, distinguished technical chemist and inventor, born at
Cassel, in Germany; was a pupil of Kolbe and Bunsen, and has made
important additions to chemical-industrial processes and products; _b_.
1839.
MONEY, defined by Ruskin to be "a documentary claim to wealth, and
correspondent in its nature to the title-deed of an estate."
MONGE, GASPARD, celebrated French mathematician, born at Beaune; one
of the founders of the Polytechnic School in Paris (1746-1818).
MONGOLS, a great Asiatic people having their original home on the
plains E. of Lake Baikal, Siberia, who first rose into prominence under
their ruler Genghis Khan in the 12th century; he, uniting the three
branches of Mongols, commenced a career of conquest which made him master
of all Central Asia; his sons divided his empire, and pursued his
conquests; a Mongol emperor seized the throne of China in 1234, and from
this branch sprang the great Kublai Khan, whose house ruled an immense
territory 1294-1368. Another section pushed westwards as far as Moravia
and Hungary, taking Pesth in 1241, and founded the immense empire over
which Tamerlane held sway. A third but later movement, springing from the
ruins of these earlier empires, was that of Baber, who conquered India,
and founded the Great Mogul line, 1519. Now Mongols are constituent
elements in the populations of China, Russian, and Turkish Asia.
MONICA, ST., the mother of St. Augustine, who became to him the
symbol of "the highest he knew on earth, bowing before a Higher in
heaven."
MONISM, the name given to the principle of any system of philosophy
which resolves the manifold of the universe into the evolution of some
unity in opposition to DUALISM (q. v.).
MONK, GEORGE, DUKE OF ALBEMARLE, general and admiral, was a
Devonshire man, who spent his youth in the Dutch wars, and returned to
England just in time to side with Charles I. against the Parliament;
after leading a regiment in Ireland, he was captured at Nantwich in 1644,
and spent two years in the Tower; obtaining his release by changing
sides, he won commendation from Cromwell at Dunbar in 1650, and was
entrusted with the command of operations in Scotland afterwards; in 1653
he beat Van Tromp at sea, twice; from 1654 till 1660 he was Governor of
Scotland; on the death of Cromwell he saw the confusion, marched with
6000 troops to London, and after cautious negotiations, brought Charles
II. to England and set him on the throne, receiving a peerage and many
honours for reward; he behaved well as Governor of London in the plague
year, and was again admiral in the Dutch wars of 1666 (1608-1670).
MONMOUTH, GEOFFREY, a Welsh priest of the 12th century, compiler of
what he called a "History of the Early Kings of Britain," from that of
Brut, through the story of King Arthur and others, such as King Lear,
down to that of Cadwallo, a Welsh king, who died in 689.
MONMOUTH, JAMES, DUKE OF, illegitimate son of Charles II., born at
Rotterdam; was admitted to Court after the Restoration, and received his
title in 1663; his manners and his Protestantism brought him popular
favour in spite of his morals, and by-and-by plots were formed to secure
the succession for him; forced to fly to Holland in 1683, he waited till
his father's death, then planned a rebellion with Argyll; Argyll failed
in Scotland; Monmouth, landing in Dorsetshire 1685, was soon overthrown
at Sedgemoor, taken prisoner, and executed (1649-1685).
MONMOUTHSHIRE (252), a west of England county lying N. of the Severn
estuary, between Glamorgan and Gloucestershire; is low and flat in the
S., but otherwise hilly, and is traversed by the Usk River; more than
half the surface is under permanent pasture; the wealth of Monmouthshire
consists of coal and iron-stone; Monmouth (5), the county town, is the
centre of beautiful scenery, and has some fine buildings.
MONOPHYSITES, a body of heretics who arose in the 5th century and
maintained that the divine and human natures in Christ were united in one
divine-human nature, so that He was neither wholly divine nor wholly
human, but in part both.
MONOTHEISM, belief in the existence of one God, or the divine unity,
or that the Divine Being, whether twofold, as in dualism, threefold, as
in Trinitarianism, is in essence and in manifestation one.
MONOTHELISM, a heresy which arose in the 7th century, in which it
was maintained that, though in Christ there were two natures, there was
but One Will, viz., the Divine.
MONRO, ALEXANDER, founder of Edinburgh Medical School, born of
Scotch parentage in London; studied there, and at Paris and Leyden, and
was appointed lecturer on Anatomy by the Surgeons' Company at Edinburgh
in 1719; two years later he became professor, and in 1725 was admitted to
the University; he was a principal promoter and early clinical lecturer
in the Royal Infirmary, and continued his clinical work after resigning
his chair to his son Alexander; he wrote several medical works, and was a
Fellow of the Royal Society; he was called _primus_, to distinguish him
from his son and grandson, who were called respectively _secundus_ and
_tertius_, and were professors of Anatomy in Edinburgh like himself
(1697-1767).
MONROE, JAMES, American President, born in Virginia, of Scottish
descent; left college to join Washington's army; was wounded in the war,
and studying law, entered Congress in 1783; he assisted in framing the
Constitution, and sat in the Senate 1790-1794; his diplomatic career in
France was marked by the purchase of Louisiana from that country in
1803; he was governor of Virginia thrice over, and Secretary of State
till 1817; then followed two terms of the Presidency, during which
Florida was acquired from Spain 1819, the delimitation of the slave limit
by the Missouri compromise, the recognition of the South American
Republics, and the statement of the "MONROE DOCTRINE" (q. v.);
in his later years his generosity led him into debt, and he spent his
closing days with relations in New York (1758-1831).
MONROE DOCTRINE, the doctrine of James Monroe, twice over President
of the United States, that the United States should hold aloof from all
interference with the affairs of the Old World, and should not suffer the
Powers of the Old World to interfere with theirs.
MONSON, SIR EDWARD, English diplomatist; entered the diplomatic
service in 1856, and after service at various courts, became ambassador
at Paris in 1896; _b_. 1834.
MONSOON originally denoted a periodical wind in the Indian Ocean,
which blows from SW. from April to October, and from NE. from October to
April; now denotes any wind connected with a continent regularly
recurring with the seasons.
MONSTRANCE, a transparent pyx on which the Host is exhibited on the
altar to the people, or conveyed in public procession.
MONT BLANC, in the Graian Alps, on the French-Italian frontier, the
highest mountain in Europe, 15,782 ft., the upper half under perpetual
snow; has 56 magnificent glaciers, including the Mer-de-Glace; it was
first climbed by Balmat and Paccard in 1786, and since then has been many
times ascended, now by 50 parties every year.
MONT CENIS, an Alpine peak (12,000 ft.) on the Savoy-Piedmont
frontier and the adjacent pass, over which a road was constructed
1802-1810, and near which a railway tunnel was pierced (1857-70) at a
cost of L3,000,000.
MONT DE PIETE, an institution to lend money to the poor at little or
no interest, first established in the 15th century, a time when lending
to the poor was as much a work of mercy as giving to them; a public
pawnbroking establishment, so called in France.
MONTAGNARDS. See MOUNTAIN, THE.
MONTAGU, LADY MARY WORTLEY, an English lady, born in
Nottinghamshire, celebrated for her wit and beauty, and for her "Letters
on the Manners of the East" (1690-1762).
MONTAIGNE, MICHEL DE, a sceptico-speculative thinker and moralist,
born in the Chateau of Montaigne, Perigord; an easy-going mortal, but a
keen observer of the ways and manners of other people, which some
experience in travel gave him opportunities to do, as well as the study
of the old classic Latin authors; his fame rests on his "Essays," in
which he records his observations of mankind, but in which, from a
decided descendental twist he had, he betrays a rather low idea of the
morale of the race; the book, however, is a favourite with all observant
people of education, and a translation of it by Florio is the one book we
know for certain to have been in the library of Shakespeare; bred as he
was by his father's arrangement among the common people, he always
retained a friendly feeling towards his neighbours, and they cherished
towards him feelings of very high regard; he was a quiet, tolerant man,
and his writings reveal a character which commands the respect of men who
affect a much higher level of thinking than that occupied by himself
(1533-1592).
MONTALEMBERT, COMTE DE, a French politician, born in London, son of
a French emigrant; was associated with Lamennais and Lacordaire in the
conduct of the _Avenir_, an Ultramontane Liberal organ, and spent his
life in advocating the cause of a free unfettered system of national
education; wrote the "Monks of the West," his chief work (1810-1870).
MONTANA (132), a State of the American Union, in the NW., lies along
the Canadian border between Idaho and the Dakotas, with Wyoming on the
S.; has a mild climate, and a soil which, with irrigation, produces fine
crops of grain and vegetables. Cattle-raising is profitable, but the
chief industry is mining, in the Rocky Mountains, which occupy a fifth of
the State. There gold, silver, copper, and lead abound. The Missouri and
the Columbia Rivers rise in Montana, and the Yellowstone traverses the
whole State. The State was admitted to the Union in 1889, with Helena (9)
as capital.
MONTANISM, a heresy which arose in the 2nd century; derived its name
from an enthusiast in Phrygia named Montanus, who insisted on the
permanency of the spiritual gifts vouchsafed to the primitive Church, and
a return to the severe discipline of life and character prevailing in it.
MONTCALM DE SAINT VERAN, LOUIS JOSEPH, MARQUIS DE, born near Nimes;
entered the army early, and at forty-four was field-marshal and commander
of the forces in Quebec against the English; the capture of Forts Oswego
and William Henry and the defence of Ticonderoga were followed by the
loss of Louisburg and Fort Duquesne and the retreat on Quebec, where,
surprised by Wolfe in 1759, he was totally defeated, and Canada lost to
France; both generals fell (1712-1759).
MONTE CARLO (4), a great gambling centre in Monaco, 1 m. NE. of the
capital; visited by 400,000 persons annually. The Casino is held by a
company, and stands on ground leased from the prince.
MONTEFIORE, SIR MOSES, a philanthropic Jewish banker, born in
Leghorn; a friend to the emancipation not only of the oppressed among his
own race, but of the slave in all lands; lived to a great age
(1784-1885).
MONTEGUT, EMILE, French critic, born at Limoges; is noted for books
of travel, studies in French and English literature, and for translations
of Shakespeare, Macaulay's "History," and Emerson's "Essays."
MONTENEGRO (236), a Balkan State, less than half the size of Wales,
lying in a wild mountainous region between Herzegovina and Albania, and
touching the Adriatic Sea with its SW. corner only. The climate is severe
in winter, mild in summer. The soil is sterile, but is industriously
tilled, and patches of arable land on the mountain sides and in the
valleys yield maize, oats, potatoes, and tobacco. Cattle and sheep are
reared in large numbers; vines and mulberries are cultivated round the
lake, whose waters abound in fish. Cattle, hides, and cheese are the
exports. The Montenegrins are a primitive people; the men hunt and fight,
the women work. They are mostly of the Greek Church, and noted for their
morality. The government is patriarchal, with a prince at the head.
Education and road-making have recently advanced. The towns are mere
villages. Cetinje (1) is the capital; Antivari and Dulcigno, the Adriatic
ports.
MONTESPAN, MARQUISE DE, mistress of Louis XIV.; a woman noted for
her wit and beauty; bore the king eight children; was supplanted by
MADAME DE MAINTENON (q. v.); passed her last days in religious
retirement (1641-1707).
MONTESQUIEU, BARON DE, illustrious French publicist, born in the
Chateau La Brede, near Bordeaux; his greatest work, and an able, "Esprit
des Lois," though rated in "Sartor" as at best the work of "a clever
infant spelling letters from a hieroglyphic prophetic book, the lexicon
of which lies in eternity, in heaven"; was author of an able work "On the
Causes of the Grandeur of the Romans and their Declension" (1689-1755).
MONTEVIDEO (215), on the N. shore of the Rio de la Plata, 130 m. E.
of Buenos Ayres; is the capital of Uruguay; a well-built town, with a
cathedral, university, school of arts, and museum. The chief industries
are beef-salting and shipping, though there is practically no harbour.
Nearly half the population are foreigners.
MONTEZ, LOLA, an adventuress of Spanish descent, born at Limerick;
contracted no end of marriages, which were broken off one after another;
took to the stage; took to lecturing, and ended in trying to reclaim
fallen women (1818-1861).
MONTEZUMA II., the last of the Mexican emperors; submitted to Cortez
when he landed; died in 1520 of a wound he received as he pled with his
subjects to submit to the conqueror, aggravated by grief over the failure
of his efforts in bringing about a reconciliation.
MONTFORT, SIMON DE, son of a French count; came to England in 1230,
where he inherited from his grandmother the earldom of Leicester;
attached to Henry III., and married to the king's sister, he was sent to
govern Gascony in 1248; returned in 1253, and passed over to the side of
the barons, whom he ultimately led in the struggle against the king;
after repeated unsuccessful attempts to make Henry observe the Provisions
of Oxford, Simon took arms against him in 1263; the war was indecisive,
and appeal being made to the arbitration of Louis the Good, Simon,
dissatisfied with his award, renewed hostilities, defeated the king at
Lewes, and taking him and his son prisoner, governed England for a year
(1264-65); he sketched a constitution for the country, and summoned the
most representative parliament that had yet met, but as he aimed at the
welfare of not the barons only, but the common people as well, the barons
began to distrust him, when Prince Edward, having escaped from captivity,
joined them, and overthrew Simon at Evesham, where he was slain
(1206?-1265).
MONTGOLFIER BROTHERS, inventors of the balloon, who made their first
ascent in Paris in 1783 in "their paper dome, filled with smoke of burnt
wood, amid the shouts of congregated men"; JOSEPH (1740-1810), and
ETIENNE (1745-1799).
MONTGOMERIE, ALEXANDER, Scottish poet, born, it is alleged, in
Ayrshire, from a branch of the Eglinton family; wrote sonnets and some
short poems, but his best-known piece is an allegorical poem, "The Cherry
and the Slae" (1556-1610).
MONTGOMERY, COMTE DE, a French knight of Scottish descent, captain
of the Scottish Guard under Henry II. of France; having in 1559 mortally
wounded the king in a tourney, he fled to England, but returned to fight
in the ranks of the Huguenots, and having had to surrender, he was taken
to Paris and beheaded, in violation of the terms of surrender, which
assured him of his life (1530-1574).
MONTGOMERY, JAMES, poet and hymn-writer, born at Irvine, son of a
Moravian minister; studied for the same profession, but was not licensed;
after some years of various occupation he started journalism, and
eventually produced a journal of his own, _Sheffield Iris_, 1794-1825; he
was twice fined and imprisoned for seditious publications, but became a
Conservative in 1832, a pensioner 1835, and died at Sheffield; of his
poetry most is forgotten, but "For ever with the Lord," and some dozen
other hymns are still remembered (1771-1854).
MONTGOMERY, ROBERT, author of "The Omnipresence of Deity" and
"Satan," born at Bath, son of a clown; passed undistinguished through
Oxford, and was minister of Percy Street Chapel, London; all his many
works are forgotten save the above, which lives in Macaulay's famous
review (1807-1855).
MONTGOMERYSHIRE (58), a North Wales inland county, surrounded by
Merioneth, Cardigan, Radnor, Salop, and Denbigh; is chiefly a stretch of
mountain pasture land, which rises to 2500 ft. at Plinlimmon, and in
which the Severn rises; but in the E. are well wooded and fertile
valleys. There are lead and zinc mines, and slate and limestone quarries.
There is some flannel manufacture at Newtown. The county town is
Montgomery (1).
MONTHOLON, COMTE DE, French general, born in Paris, served under
Napoleon, accompanied him to St. Helena, and left "Memoirs" (1782-1853).
MONTMORENCY, ANNE, DUC DE, marshal and constable of France, born of
an old illustrious family; served in arms under Francis I.; was
associated with Conde against the Huguenots, and was mortally wounded at
St. Denis fighting against them (1492-1567).
MONTMORENCY, HENRI, SECOND DUC OF, born at Chantilly; distinguished
himself in arms under Louis XIII., but provoked along with Gaston, Duke
of Orleans, into rebellion, he was taken prisoner and beheaded,
notwithstanding intercessions from high quarters on his behalf for the
zeal he had shown in defence of the Catholic faith (1596-1632).
MONTPELIER (4), capital of Vermont, 250 m. N. of New York and 120 m.
NW. of Portland, Maine, is on the Onion River, and has some mills and
tanneries.
MONTPELLIER (66), capital of Herault, France, on the Lez, 6 m. from
the Gulf of Lyons, 30 m. SW. of Nimes, is a picturesque town, containing
a cathedral, a university, picture-gallery, libraries, and other
institutions, and has been a centre of culture and learning since the
16th century; it also manufactures chemicals, corks, and textiles, and
does a large trade in brandy and wine.
MONTREAL (217), the greatest commercial city of Canada, on an island
in the St. Lawrence, at the confluence of the Ottawa River, 150 m. above
Quebec, is the centre of railway communication with the whole Dominion
and the States, connected by water with all the shipping ports on the
great lakes, and does an enormous import and export trade; its principal
shipment is grain; it is the chief banking centre, has the greatest
universities (M'Gill and a branch of Laval), hospitals, and religious
institutions, and pursues boot and shoe, clothing, and tobacco
manufactures; more than half the population is French and Roman Catholic,
and the education of Protestant and Roman Catholic children is kept
distinct; founded in 1642 by the French, Montreal passed to Britain in
1760; in 1776 it was occupied by the revolting colonies, but recovered
next year, and since then has had a steady career of prosperity and
advancement.
MONTROSE (13), an ancient burgh and seaport of Forfarshire, 35 m. S.
of Aberdeen, stands on a tongue of land between the sea and a basin which
is almost dry at low water; carries on timber-trade with Baltic and
Canadian ports, and spins flax, makes ropes and canvas.
MONTROSE, JAMES GRAHAM, MARQUIS OF, born at Old Montrose, and
educated at St. Andrews; travelled in Italy, France, and the Netherlands;
returning in 1637 he joined the Covenanters, and we find him at Aberdeen,
Stonehaven, and across the English border supporting the Covenant by
force of arms; suspected of treachery to the cause he was imprisoned for
a year, 1641-42, in Edinburgh Castle, whereupon he joined the side of the
king; in 1644-45 he did splendid service for Charles in Scotland,
defeating the Covenanters near Aberdeen, at Inverlochy and Kilsyth; but
routed by Leslie at Philiphaugh he lost the royal confidence, and next
year withdrew to Norway; an unsuccessful invasion in the Stuart cause in
1650 ended in his defeat at Invercarron, capture, and execution; "The
Great Marquis," as he is called, was a soldier of genius, and a man of
taste, learning, clemency, and courage (1612-1650).
MONTYON PRIZES, four prizes in the gift of the French Academy, so
named from their founder, Baron de Montyon (1733-1820), and awarded
annually for (1) improvements in medicine and surgery; (2) improvements
tending to health in some mechanical process; (3) acts of disinterested
goodness; (4) literary works conducive to morality; the last two are
usually divided among several recipients.
MOODY, DWIGHT LYMAN, evangelist, born in Massachusetts; settled in
Chicago, where he began his career as an evangelist, associated with Mr.
Sankey; visited great Britain in 1873 and 1883, and produced a
wide-spread impression, especially on the first visit; _b_. 1837.
MOON, the satellite of the earth, from which it is distant 238,800
m., and which revolves round it in 27-1/3 days, taking the same time to
rotate on its own axis, so that it presents always the same side to us;
is a dark body, and shines by reflection of the sun's light, its diameter
2165 m.; it has a rugged surface of mountains and valleys without
verdure; has no water, no atmosphere, and consequently no life.
MOON, MOUNTAINS OF THE, a range of mountains supposed by Ptolemy and
early geographers to stretch across Africa from Abyssinia to Guinea, now
variously identified as the Kenia, Kilimanjaro, Ruwenzori, &c.
MOONSHEE, in India a teacher of languages, especially Hindustani and
Persian.
MOORE, FRANK FRANKFORT, novelist and dramatist, born at Limerick,
both his novels and his dramas are numerous; commenced his literary
career as a journalist in connection with the _Belfast News Letter_ as
literary and art editor, a post he relinquished in 1893 to settle in
London; _b_. 1855.
MOORE, JOHN, M.D., author and novelist, born at Stirling, studied
medicine in Glasgow, and practised there, in Holland, Paris, and London;
he published books on the countries of Europe which he visited, an essay
on the French Revolution, and among several novels, one of some note,
"Zeluco" (1789); he died at Richmond (1730-1802).
MOORE, SIR JOHN, general, eldest son of above, born at Glasgow;
served in Corsica, the West Indies, Ireland, Holland, Egypt, Sicily, and
Sweden; his famous and last expedition was to Spain in 1808, when with
10,000 men he was sent to co-operate in expelling the French; Spanish
apathy and other causes weakened his hands, and in December he found
himself with 25,000 men at Astorga, a French force of 70,000 advancing
against him; retreat was necessary, but disastrous; he was overtaken by
Soult at Coruna in the act of embarking; the victory lay with the
English, but Moore was killed (1761-1808).
MOORE, THOMAS, the Bard of Erin, born in Dublin, the son of a
grocer, studied at Trinity College; went to London with a translation of
"Anacreon," which gained him favour and a valuable appointment in the
Bermudas in 1803; fought a duel with Jeffrey in 1806, began his "Irish
Melodies" in 1807, and published "The Twopenny Postbag" in 1812; in 1817
appeared "Lalla Rookh," a collection of Oriental tales, and in 1818 a
satiric piece "The Fudge Family," and published a Life of Byron in 1830;
Moore's songs were written to Irish airs, and they contributed much to
ensure Catholic emancipation (1779-1852).
MOORS, a general term for tribes in North Africa descended from Arab
and Berber stock; they were Christians for several centuries, but on
their conquest by Arabs in 647 embraced Mohammedanism; the town Moors do
not hold before European settlers, but the nomad tribes show more
vitality; Moorish peoples seized and settled in Spain early in the 8th
century, and, introducing a civilisation further advanced than that in
Europe generally with respect to science, art, and industry alike,
maintained a strong rule till the 11th century; then the Spaniards
gradually recovered the peninsula; Toledo was taken in 1085, Saragossa in
1118, Valencia in 1238, Seville in 1248, Murcia in 1260, and Granada in
1492; Turkish successes in the East came too late to save the Moors, and
the last were banished from the country in 1609.
MORAINES, masses of rock which become detached from the hill-side
and find lodgment on a glacier are so called, and are further described
as lateral, medial, terminal, or ground moraines, according as they lie
along its edges, its middle, are piled up in mounds at its end, or
falling down crevasses, are ground against the rock underneath.
MORALITIES, didactic dramas, following in order of time the miracle
plays and mysteries, in which the places of saints and biblical
personages in them were taken by characters representing different
virtues and vices, and the story was of an allegorical nature; were the
immediate precursors of the secular drama.
MORAVIA (2,277), a crownland in the N. of Austria, lying between the
Moravian and the Carpathian Mountains, with Silesia on the N., Hungary on
the E., Lower Austria on the S., and Bohemia on the W.; is mountainous,
with lofty plains in the S., and is watered by the March, a tributary of
the Danube; the valleys and plains are fertile; grain, beetroot, flax,
hemp, and vines are grown; cattle and poultry rearing and bee-keeping
occupy the peasantry; sugar, textiles, and tobacco are the chief
manufactures; there are coal and iron mines, graphite and meerschaum are
found; the capital is Bruenn (94), which has woollen and leather
industries; associated with Bohemia in 1029, Moravia passed with that
country to Austria in 1526, its association with Bohemia terminating in
1849; the inhabitants are two-thirds Slavs and one-third German, and are
mostly Roman Catholic.
MORAVIANS, a sect of Protestant Christians who, followers of John
Huss, formed themselves into a separate community in Bohemia in 1467 on
the model of the primitive Church, in which the members regarded each
other as brethren, and were hence called the United Brethren; like other
heretics they suffered much persecution at the hands of the orthodox
Church; they are known also as Herrnhuters.
MORAY, JAMES STUART, EARL OF, illegitimate son of James V. of
Scotland, and so half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots; was from 1556 the
leader of the Reformation party, and on Mary's arrival in her kingdom in
1561 became her chief adviser; on her marriage with Darnley he made an
unsuccessful attempt to raise a Protestant rebellion, and had to escape
to England 1565, and after a visit to Edinburgh, when he connived at
Rizzio's murder, to France in 1567; he was almost immediately recalled by
the nobles, who had imprisoned Mary in Lochleven, and appointed regent;
next year he defeated at Langside the forces which, on her escape, had
rallied round her, and in the subsequent management of the kingdom
secured both civil and ecclesiastical peace, and earned the title of "the
Good Regent"; he was shot by a partisan of the queen's, James Hamilton of
Bothwellhaugh, when riding through Linlithgow (1531-1570).
MORE, HANNAH, English authoress, born near Bristol; wrote dramas, a
novel entitled "Coelebs in Search of a Wife," and a tract "The Shepherd
of Salisbury Plain" (1745-1833).
MORE, HENRY, a Platonist, born at Grantham, a Fellow of Christ
College, Cambridge, and author of a poem "Song of the Soul"; he was a
mystic who exercised a great influence among the young men of Cambridge
(1614-1687).
MORE, SIR THOMAS, Chancellor of England, born in London; was the
lifelong friend of Erasmus, and the author of "Utopia," an imaginary
commonwealth; succeeded Wolsey as Chancellor, but resigned the seals of
office because he could not sanction the king's action in the matter of
the divorce, and was committed to the Tower for refusing to take the oath
of supremacy, whence after 12 months he was brought to trial and
sentenced to be beheaded; he ascended the scaffold, and laid his head on
the block in the spirit of a philosopher; was one of the wisest and best
of men (1478-1535).
MOREA is the modern name of the ancient Peloponnesus, that
remarkable peninsula, larger than Wales, which constitutes the southern
half of Greece, and is joined to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth,
less than 4 m. broad.
MOREAU, JEAN VICTOR, French general, born at Morlaix; served with
distinction under the Republic and the Empire; was suspected of plotting
against the latter with George Cadoudal, and banished on conviction; went
to America, but returning to Europe, joined the ranks of the Russians
against his country, and was mortally wounded by a cannon ball at Dresden
(1763-1813).
MORGANATIC MARRIAGE, is a union permitted to German princes who,
forbidden to marry except with one of equal rank, may ally themselves
with a woman of inferior status, their children being legitimate but not
eligible for the succession; the marriages of British princes contracted
before the age of 25 without consent of the sovereign, or after that age
without consent of Parliament, are of a morganatic nature.
MORGARTEN, a mountain slope in the canton of Zug, Switzerland, where
1400 Swiss, on Nov. 15, 1315, in assertion of their independence,
defeated an Austrian army of 15,000.
MORGHEN, RAPHAEL SANZIO CAVALIERE, engraver, born in Naples, of
German parentage; studied in Rome, and by genius and industry became one
of the foremost engravers; his works include engravings of Raphael's
"Transfiguration," the result of 16 years' labour, and Leonardo da
Vinci's "Last Supper," his masterpiece (1758-1833).
MORGUE, a house in which bodies found dead are placed for
identification.
MORISONIANISM, the principles of the Evangelical Union, a Scottish
denomination founded by the Rev. James Morison of Kilmarnock on his
expulsion from the United Secession Church in 1843, and united with the
Scottish Congregational Union in 1897; differed from the older
Presbyterianism in affirming the freedom of the human will to accept or
reject salvation, and the universal scope of the offer of salvation as
made by God to all men; in polity the Morisonians observed a modified
independency.
MORLEY, JOHN, politician and man of letters, born in Blackburn; is
an advanced Liberal in both capacities; besides essays and journalistic
work, has written biographies, particularly on men associated with
politics and social movements, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot,
as well as Burke, and is editor of "English Men of Letters"; in politics
he was a staunch supporter of Mr. Gladstone, though he could have little
sympathy with him as a High Churchman; _b_. 1838.
MORMON, BOOK OF, a book which in 1827 fell into the hands of Joseph
Smith, the son of a farmer, alleged by him to have been written by a
Hebrew prophet who emigrated to America 600 years before Christ, and to
have been recorded by him as a direct revelation to himself from heaven,
by means of which the interrupted communication between heaven and earth
was to be restored.
MORMONISM, the creed of the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints as they
are called, who have settlements of their own in the valley of the Salt
Lake, generally called Utah, U.S.; they conceive, according to Hepworth
Dixon, of God as a flesh and blood man, of man as of the divine
substance, as existing from, and to exist to, all eternity, and without
inherited sin, of the earth as only one of many inhabited worlds, of the
spirit world as consisting of beings awaiting incarnation, of polygamy as
of divine ordination and the relationship eternal, and of their social
system as the kingdom of God on earth.
MORNY, DUC DE, French politician, born in Paris; played a
conspicuous part in the _coup d'etat_ of December 1851, and was President
of the Corps Legislatif; was believed to have been the son of Queen
Hortense, and consequently Louis Napoleon's half-brother (1811-1865).
MOROCCO (4,000), an empire in the NW. corner of Africa, three times
the size of Great Britain, its coast-line stretching from Algeria to Cape
Nun, and its inland confines being vaguely determined by the French
hinterlands. Two-thirds of the country is desert; much of the remainder
is poor pasture land; the Atlas Mountains stretch from SW. to NE., but
there are some expanses of level fertile country; on the seaboard the
climate is delightful, with abundance of rain in the season; among the
mountains extremes prevail; south of the Atlas it is hot and almost
rainless; the mineral wealth is probably great; gold, silver, copper, and
iron are known to be plentiful, but bad government hinders development;
the exports are maize, pulse, oil, wool, fruit, and cattle; cloth, tea,
coffee, and hardware are imported; the chief industries are the making of
leather, "Fez" caps, carpets, and the breeding of horses; government is
extremely despotic and corrupt, and the Sultan's authority over many of
the tribes is merely nominal; there is no education; the religion is
Mohammedanism, and slavery prevails; there are no roads, and the country
is imperfectly known; telegraph, telephone, and postal service are in
European hands; the country was taken from the Romans by the Arabs in the
7th century, and has ever since been in their hands, but Berbers,
Spaniards, Moors, Jews, and negroes also go to make up the population.
The chief towns are Fez (25), in the N., a sacred Moslem city, squalid
and dirty, but with good European trade, and a depot for the caravans
from the interior; and Morocco (60), in the S., near the Tensift River,
240 m. SW. of Fez, well situated for local and transit trade, but a
dilapidated city.
MOROCCO, a fine-grained leather of the skin of a goat or sheep,
first prepared in Morocco.
MORPHEUS (i. e. the Moulder), the god of dreams, the son of Night
and Sleep.
MORRIS-DANCE, a rustic merrymaking common in England after 1350, and
still extant; is of disputed origin; the chief characters, Maid Marian,
Robin Hood, the hobby-horse, and the fool, execute fantastic movements
and Jingle bells fastened to their feet and dress.
MORRIS, SIR LEWIS, a poet, born in Carmarthen, Wales; the author of
"Songs of Two Worlds," "The Epic of Hades," "A Vision of Saints," &c.;
often confounded with the succeeding, with whom he has next to nothing in
common; _b_. 1833.
MORRIS, WILLIAM, poet, art-worker, and Socialist, born in
Walthamstow, near London, son and heir of a wealthy merchant; studied at
Oxford, where he became the lifelong bosom friend of Burne-Jones; of an
artistic temperament, he devoted his working hours to decorative art, in
particular designing wall-papers; produced in 1858 "The Defence of
Guenevere and other Poems," in 1867 "The Life and Death of Jason," and
from 1868 to 1870 his masterpiece, "THE EARTHLY PARADISE" (q. v.);
among other works he translated the "AEneid" and the "Odyssey," and
gave a splendid rendering of some of the Norse legends (1834-1896).
MORRISON, ROBERT, first missionary to China, and Chinese scholar,
born of Scottish parentage at Morpeth; entered the Independent ministry,
and was sent to Macao and Canton by the London Missionary Society in
1807; in 1814 he published a Chinese version of the New Testament, and in
1819 of the Old Testament; in 1823 his great Chinese Dictionary was
published at the expense of the East India Company; returning to England
in 1824, he went out again 10 years later as interpreter to Lord Napier,
and died at Canton (1782-1834).
MORSE, SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE, inventor, born at Charlestown,
Massachusetts, graduated at Yale in 1810 and adopted art as a profession;
he gained some distinction as a sculptor, and in 1835 was appointed
professor of Design in New York; electrical studies were his hobby;
between 1832 and 1837 he worked out the idea of an electric
telegraph--simultaneously conceived by Wheatstone in England--and in 1843
Congress granted funds for an experimental line between Washington and
Baltimore; honour and fortune crowded on him, his invention was adopted
all over the world, and he received an international grant of L16,000; he
died in New York (1791-1872).
MORTGAGE, a deed conveying property to a creditor as security for
the payment of a debt, the person to whom it is given being called the
Mortgagee.
MORTON, JAMES DOUGLAS, EARL OF, regent of Scotland; joined the
Reforming party, was made Chancellor, took part in the murder of Rizzio,
and was privy to the plot against Darnley, joined the confederacy of the
nobles against Mary, fought against her at Langside, and became regent in
1572; became unpopular, was charged with being accessory to Darnley's
murder, and beheaded in 1581.
MOSAYLIMA, a rival of Mohammed, posed as equally a prophet, and
entitled to share with Mohammed the sovereignty of the world; two battles
followed, in the second of which Mosaylima was killed, to the dispersion
of his followers.
MOSCHUS, a Greek pastoral poet, author of lyrics which have been
translated by Andrew Lang; lived 150 B.C.
MOSCOW (799), on the Moskwa River, in the centre of European Russia,
370 m. SE. of St. Petersburg; was before 1713 the capital, and is still a
great industrial and commercial centre; its manufactures include
textiles, leather, chemicals, and machinery; it does a great trade in
grain, timber, metals from the Urals, and furs, hides, &c., from Asia;
besides the great cathedral there are many churches, palaces, and
museums, a university, library, picture-gallery, and observatory; the
enclosure called the Kremlin or citadel is the most sacred spot in
Russia; thrice in the 18th century the city was devastated by fire, and
again in 1812 to compel Napoleon to retire.
MOSELLE, river, rising W. of the Vosges Mountains, flows NW. through
French and German Lorraine, then NE. through Rhenish Prussia to join the
Rhine at Coblenz, 315 m. long, two-thirds of it navigable; it passes in
its tortuous course Metz, Thionville, and Treves.
MOSES, the great Hebrew law-giver, under whose leadership the Jews
achieved their emancipation from the bondage of Egypt, and began to
assert themselves as an independent people among the nations of the
earth; in requiring of the people the fear of God and the observance of
His commandments, he laid the national life on a sure basis, and he was
succeeded by a race of prophets who from age to age reminded the people
that in regard or disregard for what he required of them depended their
prosperity or their ruin as a nation, of which from their extreme
obduracy they had again and again to be admonished.
MOSHEIM, a Protestant Church historian, born at Luebeck, was
professor at Goettingen; his principal work a History of the Church,
written in Latin, and translated into English and other languages
(1694-1755).
MOSS-TROOPERS, maurauders who formerly raided the moss-grown
borderland of England and Scotland.
MOTHERWELL, WILLIAM, Scottish poet, born in Glasgow, educated in
Edinburgh; entered a lawyer's office in Paisley in 1811 and became
Sheriff-Clerk Depute of Renfrewshire 1818; he was editor of the Paisley
Advertiser in 1828, and of the Glasgow Courier in 1830; he wrote
biographical notices of local poets, and edited "Minstrelsy, Ancient and
Modern," in 1827; but his own fame was established by "Poems, Narrative
and Lyrical," 1832, the gem of the collection being "Jeanie Morison"; he
died in Glasgow (1797-1835).
MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP, historian and diplomatist, born in
Massachusetts; commenced his literary career as a novelist, but soon
turned all his thoughts to the study of history; spent years in the study
of Dutch history; wrote the "History of the Dutch Republic," which was
published in 1856, the "History of the United Netherlands," publishing
the first part in 1860 and the second in 1868, and the "Life and Death of
John Barnevelde" in 1874; was appointed the United States minister at
Vienna in 1861, and at St. James's in 1869; he ranks high as a
historian, being both faithful and graphic (1814-1877).
MOTOR CAR, a vehicle propelled by petroleum, electricity, &c.
MOUNTAIN, THE, the name given to the Jacobins, or the extreme
democratic party, at the French Revolution, from their occupying the
highest benches in the hall of the National Convention, and included such
men as Marat, Danton, Robespierre, and the men of the Reign of Terror.
MOVABLE FEASTS, festivals of the Church, the date of which varies
with the date of Easter.
MOZAMBIQUE (1,000), the general name for Portuguese East Africa,
lies between Cape Delgado and Delagoa Bay on the mainland, opposite
Madagascar; the Rovuma River separates it from German territory in the
N.; in the S. it touches British Maputaland, while inland it borders on
British Central and South Africa and the Transvaal; the Zambesi divides
it into two; the coast is low and wet, inland are richly wooded plateaux;
the soil is fertile, and minerals abound, but the government is bad, and
industry does not develop; 52 miles of railway connect Lorenzo Marques
with the Transvaal; other chief towns are Quilimane (6), and the capital
MOZAMBIQUE (7), on an island.
MOZART, WOLFGANG AMADEUS CHRYSOSTOM, eminent musical composer, born
at Salzburg; was distinguished for his musical genius as a boy, and
produced over 600 musical compositions, but his principal works were his
operas, the "Marriage of Figaro," "Don Giovanni," and the "Magic Flute";
his fate was an unhappy one; he suffered much from poverty and neglect;
the last piece he wrote was a Requiem Mass, which he felt, he said, as if
he were writing for himself, and he died at Prague on the evening of its
rehearsal (1756-1791).
MUCKLEBACKIT, SAUNDERS, an old fisherman in Scott's "Antiquary."
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
Koran; 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 Koran; _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.
MUeLLER, 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).
MUeLLER, 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).
MUeLLER, JOHANNES VON, celebrated historian, born at Schaffhausen,
the "History of Switzerland" his principal work (1752-1809).
MUeLLER, 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).
MUeLLER, KARL OTFRIED, archaeologist and philologist, born at Brieg,
brother of the preceding; was professor at Goettingen, 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.
MUeNCHHAUSEN, 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 Muenchhausen's name (1720-1797).
MUeNICH (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. Muenich has been the centre of artistic life and culture in the
19th century, and associated with it are Cornelius, Kaulbach, and many
famous names.
MUeNSTER (49), capital of Westphalia, a mediaeval-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.
MUeNZER, 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 Muehlhausen;
here his communistic doctrines obtained popularity and kindled an
insurrection; the rebels were routed at Frankenhansen, and Muenzer 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).
MUeRGER, HENRI, French novelist and poet, born at Paris; is chiefly
distinguished as the author of "Scenes de la Vie de Boheme," 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.
MUSAEUS, JOHN AUGUST, German author, born at Jena, famous as the
author of German _Volksmaerchen_, 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 Mnemosyne, presided over the
liberal arts particularly, were nine in number, and dwelt along with
Apollo near Parnassus, Pieria, and Helicon; Clio presided over history,
Euterpe over music, Thalia over comedy, Melpomene over tragedy,
Terpsichore over choral dance and song, Erato over erotic poetry and
elegy, Polyhymnia over lyric poetry, Urania over astronomy, and Calliope
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 "Andre 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 Siecle" 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.
MYCENAE, 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 AEgina, 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).
NAEVIUS, 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.
NAGAS, 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-Inferieure,
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 Pere 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
Coruna, 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 mediaeval 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 Laetitia 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'etat_ 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 Gregoire 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 Eckmuehl, 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
Luetzen and Bautzen, he might perhaps have signed an honourable peace, but
he declined the terms offered, and was defeated at Luetzen 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 Vendee 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 Phaeacians, 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-Pyrenees; 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 AEgean 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 Esdraelon, 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
Goettingen, 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 11/2
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.
NEBULAE, 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 Stael; 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 Aetas 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), 31/2
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
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