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NARBONNE N ARSES. 



NARBONNE (Narbo Martins}; a city of France, 

 in the department of the Aude, seven miles from the 

 gulf of Lions, with which it is connected by the 

 canal of Narbonne ; lat. 43 11' N.; Ion. 3 0' E.; 

 population, 10,097. The streets are narrow and 

 crooked, the houses badly built. The archiepis- 

 copal palace, a sort of fortress, with square towers, 

 and the cathedral, are the most remarkable build- 

 ings. There are several churches, hospitals, and 

 public establishments here. Narbonne was one of 

 the oldest cities of Gaul. In 118, a Roman colony 

 was established there. It became the capital of Gallia 

 Narbonensis, and was ornamented with splendid 

 buildings, of which some fragments only are still to 

 be seen. Simon de Montfort demolished the walls 

 in the war against the Albigenses : the present walls 

 were built by Francis I. The archbishopric of Nar- 

 bonne has been merged in that of Toulouse. 



NARBONNE-LARA, Louis, COONT DE, born at 

 Colorno, a place in the duchy of Parma, in 1755, 

 went to France in 1760, was educated at court, 

 entered the military service, and, in 1785, was 

 colonel of the regiment Angoumois. He was after- 

 wards employed in the war office, and, having em- 

 braced the national cause in the revolution, was 

 named commander of the national guards of the 

 department of the Doubs. In 1794, he was ap- 

 pointed marichal de camp by the assembly, and, at 

 the end of that year, became minister of war. By 

 his influence, three armies were organized, under the 

 command of Rochambeau, Luckner, and Lafayette. 

 In 1792, he was removed from his post in the 

 ministry, and he immediately joined the army. 

 After the 10th of August, he was outlawed, and 

 owed his safety to the friendship of Mme. de Stael. 

 Narbonne retired to England, and used every exer- 

 tion to save the king. In 1800, he received permis- 

 sion to return to France, and, in 1809, was named 

 general of division. He was, not long after, ap- 

 pointed minister plenipotentiary to the court of 

 Munich, and aid-decamp of Napoleon. In this 

 capacity, he made the campaign of 1812, was sent 

 ambassador to Vienna, in 1813, and, in the same 

 year, died at Torgau, of which place he had just 

 been appointed commander. 



NARCISSUS, or DAFFODIL; a beautiful and 

 favourite genus of plants, belonging to the natural 

 family amaryllidece, and to the hexandria monogynia 

 of Linnaeus. The species are chiefly natives of the 

 south of Europe, and the neighbouring parts of Africa 

 and Asia. They have been cultivated, from remote 

 antiquity, on account of the elegance of their flowers, 

 which vary in colour, in the different species, from 

 snow-white to the deepest yellow, and, besides, 

 give out a delightful fragrance. On account of their 

 easy culture, they are common in the flower-gardens, 

 and have produced numerous varieties. The root is a 

 tunicated bulb. The leaves are linear, about as long 

 as the stem, flat, or slightly canaliculate. The 

 flowers are terminal, solitary, or in a cluster ; never 

 upright, but always inclining in one direction. 

 Previous to their expansion, they are contained in 

 n membranous spatha. The corolla is double, the 

 outer envelope consisting of six petaloid divisions, 

 while the inner is cup-shaped, with the margin 

 entire, or variously indented, in the different species. 

 On this cup depends much of the beauty of these 

 flowers ; and it disappears on doubling them, which 

 operation, unfortunately, is very easily accom- 

 plished. 



NARCISSUS;, I. according to mythology, the 

 on of the river-god Cephisus and the nymph 

 Liriope, or, according to a less common account, 

 Liroessa. Tiresias the Seer 'predicted that he would 

 livd to old age, if he should not become acquainted 



witli himself. The surpassing; beauty of the yonng 

 Narcissus excited the Jove of all the maidens and 

 nymphs. Echo pined away to a mere voice, because 

 her love for him found no return. Being heated one 

 day in the chase, he went to drink from a fountain, 

 and there saw, for the first time, the reflection of his 

 own beauty. Nothing could turn the unhappy youth 

 from this fountain. His raging passion for himself 

 destroyed him ; and the compassionate gods trans- 

 formed him into a yellow-leafed flower, which still 

 bears his name. Such is the account which Ovid 

 gives, in his Metamorphoses (lib. iii. 339 510.) The 

 unhappy fountain, in which Narcissus saw himself, 

 has since been shown at Thespiae, in Bceotia a 

 country where, according to the accounts of travel- 

 lers, these beautiful flowers still abound. For another 

 Narcissus, see Messalina. 



NARD (vaaSay, nardus], among the Greeks and 

 Romans ; a sort of aromatic oil ; and also a sort of 

 plant. Pliny mentions several species of the latter. 

 The ancients were accustomed to anoint themselves 

 with nard, at their feasts. In the Scriptures, the use 

 of it is also mentioned (John xii. 3, and Mark xiv. 3), 

 where different substances seem to be intended. 



NARDINI, PIETRO, one of the first violinists of 

 his time, was born at Leghorn, in 1725, studied 

 under Tartini at Padua, and soon became the niost 

 distinguished pupil of that eminent artist. In 1762, 

 Nardini was placed at the head of the chapel in 

 Stuttgard ; but returned to Leghorn, in 1767, and 

 composed most of his works after this period. In 

 1770, he went to Florence, as first violinist in the 

 chapel of the granddtike of Tuscany, and died in 

 that city, in 1796. His compositions are of a grave 

 character, and must be executed in the spirit of the 

 Tartini school. 



NARRAGANSEK BAY intersects the state of 

 Rhode Island, and is about twenty-eight miles long, 

 and ten miles broad. Its entrance extends from 

 point Judith, on the west, to Seekonnet rocks, on 

 the east ; and the northern termination is at Bul- 

 lock's point, five milt-s below Providence. It receives 

 Providence river on the north, and includes the 

 islands of Rhode Island, Canonnicut, Hope, Patience, 

 and several others. It affords capacious harbours, 

 and is navigable at all seasons. 



NARRAGANSETTS ; one of the five principal 

 tribes of Indians inhabiting New England at the time 

 of the first settlement of the English colonies. They 

 occupied a portion of the southern part of the coun- 

 try around Rhode Island. A small remnant of 

 them still resides near Charleston, Rhode Island. 



NARROWS, THE; a channel between Long 

 Island and Staten island, connecting New York bay 

 with the Atlantic, nine miles south of New York. 

 The channel is nineteen hundred and five yards 

 wide, and is well defended by forts and batteries. 



N ARSES ; a eunuch of the court of the emperor 

 Justinian I., at Constantinople. The place of his Ijirtii 

 is unknown. He so ingratiated himself with the empe 

 ror, that he appointed him his chamberlain and private 

 treasurer. In 538, he was placed at the head of an 

 army, destined to support the general Belisarius in the 

 expulsion of the Ostrogoths from Italy ; but the dis- 

 sensions which soon arose between him and Belisarius 

 occasioned his recall. Nevertheless, in 552, lie was 

 again sent to Italy, to check the progress of Totila 

 die Goth. After vanquishing Totila, he captured 

 Rome. He also conquered Tejas, whom the Goths 

 had chosen king in the place of Totila, and, in 

 the spring of 554, Bucellinus, the leader of the 

 Alemanni. After Narses had cleared nearly all 

 Italy of the Ostrogoths, and other barbarians, 

 he was appointed governor of the country, and 

 ruled it fifteen years. During this time, he endeu- 



