Encyclopaedia Britannica [13, 3 ed.]

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B RITANNICA;

ENCTCLOPJEDIA

O R,

A

DICTIONARY o r ARTS

SCIENCES AND

,

,

MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE; Conflrufled on a PLAN, BY WHICH

THE DIFFERENT SCIENCES AND ARTS Are digefted into the FORM of Diflindl

TREATISES

OR

SYSTEMS,

COMPREHENDING

The HISTORY, THEORY, and PRACTICE, of each, according to the l.ateft Difcoveries and Improvements; A XT> FUL L EXPLANATIONS GIVEN OF THE

VARIOUS DETACHED PARTS OF KNOWLEDGE, WHETHER

NATURAL

Including

RELATING TO

end ARTIFICIAL Objects, or to Matters ECCLESIASTICAL, CIVIL, MILITARY, COMMERCIAL, &C.

ELUCIDATIONS

or the moft important Topics relative to RELIGION, MORALS. and the OECONOMY of LIFE :

MANNERS,

TOGETHER

A

DESCRIPTION

A General

HISTORY,

WITH

of all the Countries, Cities, principal Mountains, Seas, Rivers, 6c. throughout the W o R L D ;

Ancient and Modern, of the different Empires, Kingdoms, and States** A ND

An Account cf the LIVES of the moft Eminent Perfons in every Nation, from the earlieft ages down to the prefent times. ' L

mii riim rs of the bfft Authors, in few al lancet; the m*ft approved DiShnariee, as well of general fueme as of its parti ^ 'cuir bran bes ■ the Franlattions, Journals, and Memoirs, of learned Sock-ties, Loth at home and abroaa the MS. Lefiurej of Eminent V rofefor sol different fiances ; a,id a variety of Original Mater isle, fttrnijheJ by an Extenfive Correfpondetsce.

2^5

THIRD EDITION, IN EIGHTEEN VOLUMES, GREATLY IMF ROVED.

ILLUSTRATED WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO COPPERPLATES.

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®ntereO (n ®tatfonew ®)alt in Cernw of t6e aa of f artiamtnt.

ENCYCLOPEDIA B RITANNICA.

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miih."K TEHEMTAK, or NHEMTAS, fon of Hach?liah, J.^1 was born at Babylon during the captivity, (Neh. i. 1,2, &c.) He was, according to fome, of the race of the priefis, but, according to others, of the tribe of Judah and the royal family. Thofe who maintain the fir ft opinion, fupport it by a paffage in Ezra, (x. JO,) where he is called a prieft; but thofe who believe that he was of the race of the kings of Judah, fay, ift, That Nehemiah having governed the republic of the Jews for a confi lerable time, there is great probability he was of th"t tribe of which the kings always were. 2dly, Nehemiah mentions his brethren Hanani, and fome other jews, who coming to Babylon during the captivity, acquainted him with the fad condition of their country, jdly, The office of cup bearer to the king of Perfia, to which Nehemiah was promoted, is a further proof that he was of an illuftrious family. 4thly, He excufes himfelf from entering into the inner part of the temple, probably becaufe he was only a laic, (Neh. vi. 11.) “ Should fuch a man as I flee ? And who is there that, being as 1 am, would go into the temple to fave his life The fcripture (Ezra. ii. 62. Nehem. vii. qj.) calls him Nr.unn tirjhatha, that is to fay, “ cup-bearer for he had this employment at the court of Artaxerxes Longimanus. He had an exceeding great tendernefs for the country of his fathers, though he had never feen it ; and one day as fome Jews newly come from Jerufalera acquainted him with the miferable eftate of that city, that its walls were beat down, its gates burnt, and the Jews were become a reproach among all nations; he was fenlibly affecHed with this relation ; he fafted, prayed, and humbled himfelf before the Lord, that he would be favourable to the defign he had then conceived of afking the king’s permiffion to rebuild Jerufalem. The courfe of his attendance at court being come, he prefented the cup to the king according to cuftom ; but with a countenance fad and dejefted ; which the king obferving, entertained fome fufpicion, as if he might have had fome bad defign ; but Nehemiah (ii.) difcovering the occalion of his difquiet, Artaxerxes gave him leave to go to Jerufalem, and repair its walls and gates: but, however, upon this condition, that he ffiould return to Court at a time appointed. Letters were made out, diretted to the governors beyond the Euphrates, with orders to furnifh Nehemiah with timbers neceffhr Afor covering the towers and gates of the city, and the houfe defigned for Nehemiah himfelf, who was now appointed governor of Judea, in the year of the world 335°. VOL.XIII. Part I»

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Nehemiah being arrived at Jerufalem with the kintr’s Nehemlah, commiffion, went round the city ; and having viewed the condition of the walls, affembled the chief of the people, produced his commiffion, and exhorted them to undertake the reparation of the gates and walls of the city. He found every perfon ready to obey him ; whereupon he immediately began the work. The enemies of the Jews, obferving thefe works in fuch foi wardnefs, made ufe of all the means in their power to deter Nehemiah from this undertaking, and made feveral attempts to furprife him ; but finding.that their defigns were difeovered, and that the Jews kept upon their guard, they had recourfe to craft and ftratagem, endeavouring to draw him into an ambufeadeinthefidds, where they pretended they would finifh the difpute at an amicable conference : but Nehemiah gave them to underftand, that the work he had begun required his per fonal attendance ; and therefore he could not come to them. He lent the fame anfwer to four feveral melfages that they lent one after another on the fame fubjedi, (id. iv. and vi.) Sanballat, the chief of the enemies of the Jews, together with his aflociates, wrote word, that a report was fpread that the Jews were building the walls of Jerufalem only with a defign to make it a place of lirength, to fupport them in an intended revolt ; that it was faid alio that Nehemiah had fuborned falfe prophets to favour his defigns, and to encourage the people to choofe him king ; and to Hop the courfe of thefe rumours, he advifed him to come to him, that they might confer together, and take fuch refolutions as ffiould lie found convenient. Nehemiah gave himfelf no trouble on this account, but returned for anfwer, that, all thofe accufations were falfe and made at random. About the fame time he difeovered, that a falfe prophet, called Shemaiab, had been corrupted by his enemies, and that fome of the chief of the city were fecretly in confederacy with them. Yet all this did not difeourage him : he went on with his w'ork, and happily completed it in two and fifty days after it had been begun. Then he made a dedication of the walls, of the towers, and of the gates of Jerufalem, with the folemnity and magnificence that fuch a work required. He feparated the priefts, the Levites, and the princes of the people, into two companies, one of which walked , to the fouth and the other to the north, on the top of the walls. Thefe two companies wrere to meet at the temple. The proceffion was accompanied with mufic both vocal and inftrumental ; and when they were all come to the temple, they there read the law,

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The book which in the Englifh bible, as alfo in the Nehemiah JJefccrmah. offered facrlfices, and made great rejoicings Hebrew, has the name of Nehemiah, in the Latin bible Neius. the feaft of the tabernacle happened" at the ^me time, is called the book of Efdras ; and it muft be confeffed, it was celebrated with great folemnity, {id. viii.) Nehethat though this author fpeaks in the firft perfon, and miah obferving that the compafs of the city was too though at firft reading one would think that he had large for its inhabitants, he ordered tnat the. chief of writ it day by day as the tranfa&ions occurred, yet the nation fhould fix their dwelling in the city ; and there are fome things in this book which could not caufed them to draw lots, by which a tenth part of have been written by Nehemiah himfelf; for example, the whole people of Judah were to dwell at Jerufalem, {id. xi.) i hen he applied himfelf to the reformation of memorials are quoted wherein were regiftered the names of the priefts in the time of Jonathan the fon of Eliafuch abufes as had crept into the adminiftration of the fhib, and even to the times of the high pried Jaddus, public affairs. He curbed the inhumanity of the great who met Alexander the Great. Thefe therefore mull ones, wTho held in a flate of flavery the fons and daughters of thofe that were poor or unfortunate, keep* have been added afterwards. It may well be queftioned, whether this Nebemiah ing their lands in poffeffion, which thefe poor people had been obliged either to mortgage or to fell to the be the fame that is mentioned in Ezra, (ii. 2. and Neh. vii. 7.) as one that returned from the Baby rich. Another abufe there was, which Ezra had in lonifh captivity under Zerubbabel; fince from the firfl vain attempted to redrefs, that they had contrafted marriages wuth ftrange and idolatrous women. Nehc- year of Cyrus to the twentieth of Artaxerxes Longimiah undertook to diffolve thefe marriages, fucceeded manus, there are no lefs than ninety-two years intervening ; fo that Nehemiah muft at this time have been in it, and fent away all fuch women as had been taken againft the exprefs command of the.law, {id. ix.) Ha- a very old man, upon the lowed computation an bun* ving likewife obferved, that the priefts and Levites dred, confequently utterly incapable of being the king’s cup bearer, of taking a journey from Suftian to Jeruwere obliged to take refuge wherever they could, and fo the miniftry of the temple was not attended or per- falem, and of behaving there with all the courage and Upon this prefumpformed with that decency it ought, becaufe they did aftivity that is recorded of him. not receive the revenues that the law had appointed tion, therefore, wc may conclude that this was a diffor their fubfiftence ; he obliged the people punihially ferent perfon, though of the fame name, and that Tirto pay the minifters of the Lord what was due to them, fhatha (the other name by which he is called, Ezra ii* and enjoined the pnefts and Levites duly to attend 63, and Neh. vii. 65.) denotes the title of his office, on their refpedlive duties, and to difeharge their func- and both in the Perfian and Chaldean tongues was the tions, [id. xiii. to, II. &c.) He enforced theobferva* general name given to the king’s deputies and gover* tion of the fabbath, which had been much negle&ed nors. NEHOW, one of the Sandwich Iflands, difeovered at Jerufalem, and would not permit ftrangers to come in to buy and fell, but kept the gates of the city (hut by Captain Cook in his laft voyage to the Pacific all that day. And, to perpetuate as much as was pof- Ocean : they are eleven in number, and are fituated 0 fible thefe good regulations which he had newly effa- from 18° 4/ to 22° 15' N. Lat. and from 154 56' blifiied, he engaged the chief men of the nation fo* to 16o° 24' W. Long. They are not very particularly lemnly to renew the covenant with the Lord. This deferibed in any account that has hitherto appeared. NEIGHBOUR, i.One who dwells or is feated near ceremony was performed in the temple, and an into another (2 Kings iv. 3.) 2. Every man to whom, ftrument was drawn up, which was figned by the principal men, both priefts and people, {id. ix. x.),in the we have an opportunity of doing good (Matt. xxii. 39.) 3. A fellow-labourer of one and the fame people (Aft. year of the world 3551. We read in the books of Maccabees, (2 Macc. i. vii. 27.) 4. A friend (Job. xvi. 21.) At the time 19, 20, 21, &c.) that Nehemiah fent to fearch for the of our Saviour, the Pharifees had reftrained the holy fire, which before the captivity of Babylon the word neighbour to fignify thofe of their own nation priefts had hid in a dry and deep pit; but not finding only, or their own friends; being of opinion that to any fire there, but inftead thereof a thick and muddy hate their enemy was not forbidden by their law. But water, he fprinkled this upon the altar ; whereupon the our Saviour informed them, that the whole world were wood which had been fprinkled with this water took their neighbours; that they ought not to do to anofire prefently as foon as the fun began to appear. ther what they would not have done to themfelves; Which miracle coming to the knowledge of the king and that this charity ought to be extended even to their of Perfia, he caufed the place to be encompaffcd with enemies (Matt. v. 43. Luke x. 29, &c.) NEISSE, a handfome town of Sileiia in Germany* walls where the fire had been hid, and granted great favours and privileges to the priefts. It is recorded and the refidence of the biftiop oi Breflaw, who has a in the fame books, (2 Macc. ii. 13, 14 ) that Nehe- magnificent palace here. The air is very wholefome, and miah erefted a library, wherein he placed whatever he provifions are cheap.; the inhabitants carry on a great could find, either of the books of the prophets, of David, trade in wine and linen. This place fuffered greatly It was taken by and of fuch princes as had made prefents to the temple. by an inundation and fire in 1729. Laftly, be returned to Babylon {id. v 14. and xiii. 6,) the Pruffians in 1741, who augmented the fortifica>. according to the promife be had made to king Arta- tions after the peace in 1742, and built a citadel to xerxes, about the thirty fecond year of this prince, in which they gave the name of PruJJia. It is feated on a rithe year 3563. From thence he returned again to Je- ver of the fame name, in E Long. 17.35. N.Lat.50.32. NEIUS MOJJS (anc. geog.), at the foot of which infalem, where he died in peace, about the year 3580, having governed the people of Judah for about thirty flood Ithaca, a town of the iilaad of that name, (Homer). years. And as

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NELSON;

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NELSON

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(Robert), a learned and pious Engliflr

gentleman, was the fon of Mr John Nelfon a conhderable Turkey merchant, and was born in June 1656. He had the firft part of his education at St Paul’s fchool, London ; but the principal part was under a private tutor in his mother’s houfe, after which he ftudied at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1680 he was chofen a fellow of the Royal Society ; being probably inclined to receive that honour out of refpeft to bis friend 3nd fchool-fellow Dr Edmund Halley, for whom he had a particular regard, and in whofe company he fct out in his travels abroad the December following. In the road to Paris, they faw the remarkable comet which gave rife to the cometical allroromy by Sir Ifaac Newton ; and our author, apparently by the advantage of his fellow-traveller’s inItruftions, fent a defcription of it to Dr, afterwards Archbifhop, Tillotfon, by whom he was very much efteemed. Before he left Paris, he received a letter from a friend in the Englifh court, inviting him to purchafe a place there, by the promife of his affiltance in it. This propofal was made by Mr Henry Saville, brother to Lord Halifax : he had been fworn vicechamberlain of the king’s houfehold in December 1680, and was at this time envoy from Charles II. to the court of France ; though now at London, whence he fent this offer in a letter to Mr Nelfon ; who being but young, and having a great affeftion for King Charles and the duke of York, was pltafed with the thoughts of figuring it near their perfons . but as he could not refolve upon an affair of fuch confequence without the approbation of his mother and uncle, he firft applied to Tillotfon to found them, with sffurances of determining himfelf by their judgment and advice, including alfo that of the Dean ; who finding them both averte to it, he thereupon dropped the mat ter, and purfued his journey with his fellow-traveller to Rome. Here he fell into the acquaintance of Lady Theophila Lucy, widow of Sir Kingfmill Lucy of Broxburne in Hertfordfhire, bart. and fecond daughter of George earl of Berkeley, who foon difeovered a ftrong paflion for him : this concluded in marriage, after his arrival in England in 1682. But it was fome time before Ihe confeffed to Mr Nelfon the change of her rejigion ; which was owing to her acquaintance with Boffuet and converfations at Rome with Cardinal Philip Howard, who was grandion of the earl of Arundel, the colledlor of the Arundelian marbles, &c. and had been raifed to the purple by Pope Clement X. in May 1 675. Nor was this important alteration of her religious fentiments confined to her Own mind, but involved in it her daughter by her firft hufband, whom ftie drew over to her new religion ; and her zeal for it prompted her even to engage in the public controverfy then depending. She is the fuppoled authorefs of apiece written in '‘“g »u her warbke and diplomatic tranfacUons with

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There is a ftone-bridge on the Lorre, with a draw-bridge on each fide, and towers

twenty archcs,

to defend them. The cathedral is dedicated to St Cvr There are eleven parifhes in the town, and a great many religious houfes The Jefuits college near the gate des Ardehers is a handfome ftruAure. Th palace of the dukes