maintained;" and other posthumous pieces of that learned prelate.1 NEMESIANUS (AURELIUS OLYMPIUS), a Latin poet, was born at Carthage, and flourished about the year 281, under the emperor Carus, and his sons Carinus and Numerian; the last of whom was so fond of poetry, that he contested the glory with Nemesianus, who had written a poem upon fishing and maritime affairs. We have still remaining a poem of our author, but in an imperfect state, called "Cynegeticon," and four eclogues; they were published by Paulus Manutius in 1538; by Berthelet in 1613, and at Leyden, in 1653, with the notes of Janus Vlitias. Giraldi bath preserved a fragment of Nemesianus, which was communicated to him by Sannazarius; to whom we are obliged for all our poet's works: for, having found them written in Gothic characters, he procured them to be put into the Roman, and then sent them to Paulus Manutius. Although this poem has acquired some reputation, it is greatly inferior to those of Oppian and Gratian upon the same subject; yet Nemesianus's style is natural, and not without some degree of elegance. Such was the reputation of this poem in the eighth century, that it was read among the classics in the public schools, particularly in the time of Charlemagne, as appears from a letter of the celebrated Hincmar, bishop of Rheims, to his nephew, of Laon. There was another poet of the same name and century, who wrote a piece termed "Ixeutica," published in the "Poetæ Rei Venaticæ," but of far inferior merit. " NEMESIUS was a Greek philosopher, who embraced Christianity, and was made bishop of Emesa in Phoenicia, where he was born about the year 370. We have a piece by him, entitled "De Natura Hominis;" in which he refutes the fatality of the Stoics, and the errors of the Manichees, the Apollinarists, and the Eunomians: but he espouses the opinion of Origen concerning the pre-existence of souls. Brucker calls this treatise one of the most elegant specimens, now extant, of the philosophy which prevailed among the ancient Christians. The writer relates and examines the opinions of the Greek philosophers on the subject of his dissertation with great perspicuity of thought, and correctness of language. But the treatise is 1 Biog. Brit.-Birch's Tillotson.-Life of Kettlewell.-Knight's Life of Colet. -Nichols's Bowyer.-Seward's Anecdotes. 2 Moreri.-Saxii Onomast. chiefly curious, as it discovers a degree of acquaintance with physiology, not to be paralleled in any other writers of this period. Brucker adds, that he treats clearly concerning the use of the bile, the spleen, the kidneys, and other glands of the human body, and seems to have had some idea of the circulation of the blood. But Brucker was not aware that his knowledge of this last discovery has been shewn to be a mistake by Dr. Freind, in his "History of Physic." This treatise was translated by Valla, and printed in 1535. Another version was afterwards made of it by Ellebodius, and printed in 1665; it is also inserted into the "Bibliotheca Patrum," in Greek and Latin. The last and best edition was published at Oxford, in 1671, 8vo.' NENNIUS, an ancient British historian, abbot of Bangor, is generally said to have flourished about the year 620, and to have taken refuge at Chester, at the time of the massacre of the monks at that monastery. This, however, has been controverted by Lloyd, who says that he flourished about the beginning of the ninth century; and bishop Nicolson says, that from his own book he appears to have written in that century. He was author of several works, but the only one remaining is his "Historia Britonum," or "Eulogium Britannia," which has been printed in Gale's Hist. Brit. Scrip. Oxon. 1691. Great part of this work is supposed to have been compiled, or perhaps transcribed, from the history of one Elborus or Eivodugus. There is a MS. of it in the Cottonian library, in the British Museum.' NEPOS (CORNELIUS), a Latin historian, flourished in the time of Julius Cæsar, and lived, according to St. Jerome, to the sixth year of Augustus, about the year of Rome 716. He was an Italian, if we may credit Catullus, and born at Hostilia, a small town in the territory of Verona, in Cisalpine Gaul. Ausonius, however, will have it that he was born in the Gauls; and they may both be in the right, provided that, under the name of Gaul, is comprehended Gallia Cisalpina, which is in Italy. Leander Alberti thinks Nepos's country was Verona; and he is sure that he was born either in that city or neighbourhood. He was the intimate friend of Cicero and Atticus, and wrote the lives of the Greek historians, as he himself attests in that of Dion, speaking of Philistus. What he says 1 Cave, vol. I.-Brucker.-Chaufepie.-Saxii Onom. in the lives of Cato and Hannibal, proves, that he had also' written the lives of the Latin captains and historians. He wrote some other excellent works, which are lost. All that we have left of his at present is, "The Lives of the illustrious Greek and Roman Captains;" which were a long time ascribed to Æmilius Probus, who published them, as it is said, under his own name, to insinuate himself into the favour of the emperor Theodosius; but, in the course of time, the fraud was discovered. The first edition, under the name of Æmilius Probus, was that at Venice, 1471, fol. Since that the most valued editions are that of Aldus, 1522, 12mo; Longolius, 1543, 8vo; Lambinus, 1569, 4to; Bosius, 1657 and 1675, 8vo; the Variorum, of 1675, 8vo; at Oxford, 1697, 8vo; of Staverenus, 1773, 8vo; of Heusinger, 1747, 8vo; of Fischer, 1806, 8vo; and of Oxford, 1803, 8vo. 2 NEQUAM. See NECHAM. NERI (ST. PHILIP DE) founder of the congregation of priests of the Oratory in Italy, was born July 23, 1515, of a noble family at Florence. His piety and zeal acquired him uncommon reputation. He died at Rome, 1595, aged eighty, and was canonized by pope Gregory XV. 1622. The congregation founded by St. Philip de Neri was confirmed, 1574, by pope Gregory XIII. and took the name of the Oratory, because the original assemblies, which gave rise to its establishment, were held in an oratory of St. Jerome's church at Rome; but it differs from the congregation of the Oratory founded by cardinal de Berulle, in France. Its members take no vows; their general governs but three years; their office is to deliver such instructions every day in their church as are suited to all capacities. Each institution has produced great numbers of men who have been celebrated for their learning, and services to the Romish church. It was at St. Philip de Neri's solicitation that cardinal Baronius, who had entered his congregation, wrote his Ecclesiastical Annals.2 NERLI (PHILIP DE), a celebrated historian, was born at Florence in 1485, of one of the most conspicuous families of that city, mentioned by Dante, in the fifteenth canto "Del Paradiso," where, speaking of the parsimony of the Florentines, he gives two instances of it in two of the most illustrious families of his days, the Nerli and the Vecchi : 1 Voss. de Hist. Lat.-Fabric. Bibl. Lat.-Saxii Onomast. 2 Moreri.-Dict. Hist. "E vidi quel di Nerli, e quel del Vecchio E le sue donne al fuso, ed al pennechio." We are informed, by Florentine historians, that this family had borne the highest posts of the state from the year 900, when it was raised, with five others, to the dignity of Fa miglia Cavalleresca, by the famous Ugo, marquis of Tuscany. The education of Philip de Nerli was superintended by Benedetto, a disciple of Politian; and in his youth he formed an intimacy with the most distinguished scholars of Florence. In the beginning of duke Alexander's government, in 1532, he was chosen among the first to be of the quarantotto, or forty-eight magistrates, who were afterwards called senators. He governed the chief cities of Tuscany, in quality of commissary, which title is bestowed only upon senators; and the opinion which Alexander entertained of his judgment, made him be always employed upon public affairs, and nothing important was transacted. without his concurrence. From this intimacy with political events, we may suppose him enabled to transmit to posterity the secret springs which gave them birth. He was a great favourite, and nearly related to the family of Medicis, which created him some enemies. He died at Florence, Jan. 17, 1556. His " Commentari de Fatti Civili,". containing the affairs transacted in the city of Florence from 1215 to 1537, were printed in folio, at Augsburg, in 1728, by Settimanni. As the author every where betrays his partiality to the Medici, they may be advantageously compared with Nardi's history of the same period, who was equally hostile to that family. NESBIT, or NISBET (ALEXANDER), was the youngest son of lord-president Nesbit, of Dirlton, and born at Edinburgh in 1672. He was educated for the law; but his genius led him to the study of antiquities, in which he made very great proficiency, as appears from his excellent book on heraldry, which has never yet been exceeded by any treatise on the same subject in the English language. It was published at Edinburgh, 2 vols. fol. 1722-42, and has been reprinted there within these few years. He wrote "A Vindication of Scottish Antiquities," which is now in MS. in the advocates' library at Edinburgh, and published "Heraldical Essay on additional figures and marks of 1 Tiraboschi.-Life prefixed to his "Commentari."-Roscoe's Leo X. Cadency," 1702, 8vo; and "An Essay on the ancient and modern use of Armories," Lond. 1718, 4to. He died at Dirlton, 1725, aged fifty-six.1 NESSE (CHRISTOPHER), a non-conformist divine of considerable learning, was born at North Cowes, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Dec. 26, 1621. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he resided seven years, and appears to have taken orders, as he preached soon after in various parts of his native county, and in 1650 succeeded Dr. Winter in the valuable living of Cottingham, near Hull. He appears also to have been for some years a lecturer at Leeds. In 1662 he was ejected for non-conformity, and after preaching occasionally in Yorkshire, for which he incurred the penalties of the law, he removed to London in 1675, and there preached privately for thirty years, to a congregation in Salisbury-court, Fleet-street. He died on his birth-day, Dec. 26, 1705, aged eighty-four, and was interred in the dissenters' burying-ground, Bunhill Fields. He published a considerable variety of small treatises, mostly of the practical, and some of the controversial kind, the latter against popery and Arminianism; but the work for which he is best known, is his "History and Mystery of the Old and New Testament, logically discussed, and theologically improved," 1690, 4 vols. fol. To this Matthew Henry, in compiling his "Exposition," is thought to owe considerable obligations. The style is indifferent, but, as Granger allows, "the reader will find some things well worth his notice." NESTOR (a monk of the convent of Petchersti at Kiof in Russia, whose secular name is not known) was born in 1056, at Bielzier; and, in his twenty-ninth year, assumed a monastic habit, and took the name of Nestor. At Kiof he made a considerable proficiency in the Greek language, but seems to have formed his style and manner rather from Byzantine historians, Cedrenus, Zonaras, and Syncellus, than from the ancient classics. The time of Nestor's death is not ascertained; but he is supposed to have lived to an advanced age, and to have died about 1115. His great work is his "Chronicle;" to which he has prefixed an introduction, which, after a short sketch of the early state of the world, taken from the Byzantine writers, contains a 1 Preceding edition of this Dict.-Pref. to the new edition of his Heraldry, ? Calamy-Wilson's Hist. of Dissenting Churches.-Granger, vol. III, |