NARUSZEWICZ NASSAU. 



135 



voured to enrich the treasury by all the means in his 

 power, and excited the discontent of the provinces 

 subject to him, who laid their complaints before the 

 emperor Justinian II. Narses was deposed in dis- 

 grace, and sought revenge by inviting the Lombards 

 to invade Italy, which they did in 568, under Alboin, 

 their king. Muratori, and other authors, have 

 doubted whether Narses was concerned in the inva- 

 sioifof the Lombards. After his deposition, lie lived 

 in Naples, and died, at an advanced age, at Rome, in 

 567. 



NARUSZEWICZ, ADAM STANISLAUS, a Polish 

 poet and historian of eminence, born in 1733, was 

 descended Jrom an ancient Lithuanian family, and 

 entered, in 1748, the order of the Jesuits. After a 

 journey through Germany, France, and Italy, he was 

 made superintendent of the collegium nobilium of the 

 Jesuits at Warsaw. After the abolition of his order, 

 the king engaged him, in 1773, to write a detailed 

 account of the tirst partition of Poland. His work, 

 of which nothing has ever appeared in print, pleased 

 the king so much, that he encouraged him to write a 

 complete history of Poland. This work is distin- 

 guished for its acute criticism, extensive reading, and 

 concise and unadorned style, after the manner of 

 Tacitus, and is the most important that has ever 

 appeared on the history of Poland. Unfortunately it 

 is incomplete. The first volume, intended to em- 

 brace tlie earliest and most uncertain periods, and to 

 be published after the other volumes, never appeared. 

 Naruszewicz left a collection of materials for this 

 work, in three hundred and sixty folio volumes, 

 extracted from public and family archives, and 

 divided according to the years of the reigns of the 

 different kings. They were put into the hands of the 

 famous Thaddseus Czacki, the author of an excellent 

 work on the Lithuanian laws, who undertook to 

 continue the history. As a poet, Naruszewicz dis- 

 tinguished himself in several styles, particularly in 

 the idyl. He also wrote a Polish translation of 

 Tacitus (1775, 4 vols.), in which he has imitated the 

 brevity of the original with surprising success ; a 

 Biography of the Lithuanian General John Charles 

 Chodkiewicz (Warsaw, 1805, 2 vols.); Tauryka, or 

 History of the Tartars ; and other works. He died of 

 a broken heart, occasioned by the fate of his unhappy 

 country, at Warsaw, 1796, and was lamented, both 

 for his talents, and his noble and philanthropic cha- 

 racter. 



NARVA, or NARWA ; a town and fortress on 

 the west bank of the Narowa, which flows from 

 lake Tchudskoi, or Peipus, into the gulf of Finland ; 

 population, 3580, principally Germans, mostly en- 

 gaged in making nails, and sawing timber ; lat. 59 

 22' N.; Ion. 28 14' E. ; seventy-five miles south- 

 west of St Petersburg. Its commerce is consider- 

 able ; the exports are timber and boards, flax, hemp, 

 corn, &c. The fisheries, particularly of salmon, are 

 important. Narva is celebrated for the great vic- 

 tory gained by Charles XII. (q. v.), in its vicinity, 

 over the Russian?, in 1700. The latter retook the 

 place by storm, in 1704. 



NARVAEZ, PAMPHJLA DK, born at Valladolid, 

 came early to America, which was then just dis- 

 covered, served (1510) under Esquibal, governor of 

 Jamaica, and was afterwards commander of the ex- 

 pedition sent against Cortez by Diego de Velasquez, 

 governor of Cuba. (See Cortez.) He sailed, in 

 1528, with four hundred men, intending to establish 

 a colony in Florida, discovered the bay of Pensacola, 

 and, having marched into the country, was never 

 heard of more. 



NARWHAL (monodan, L.). This extraordinary 

 marine animal, of the whale tribe, which is also 

 known under the name of sea unicorn, is of consider- 



able size, attaining the length of from fifty to sixty 

 feet. The narwhal is distinguished from the other 

 whales by having no teeth, properly so called, and in 

 being armed with a formidable horn, or defence, pro- 

 jecting from the upper jaw. Sometimes the animal 

 is provided with two of these formidable weapons ; 

 but, in most cases, it is single, and is attached to the 

 left side. It is about six to ten feet long, spirally 

 striated, of a white colour, harde^r and heavier than 

 ivory. This horn, or tooth, was, at one time, in 

 high repute in Europe, not only as a substitute for 

 ivory, but also for its supposed medicinal powers, 

 as an antidote against poisons, and in the cure of 

 malignant fevers. From the accounts of voyagers, 

 it appears that, notwithstanding this weapon of 

 defence, as well as the strength and velocity of the 

 animal, the narwhal is one of the most peaceable 

 inhabitants of the ocean. It is termed by the Green- 

 landers the forerunner of the whale, as, whenever it 

 makes its appearance, that animal soon follows. 

 Cuvier is of opinion that there is but one species, 

 those recognised by Lacepede and others being only 

 varieties. 



NASEBY ; a village in Northamptonshire, Eng- 

 land, twelve miles from Northampton. In 1645, 

 Cromwell entirely defeated Charles I. in the vicinity. 

 See Cromwell. 



NASH, RICHARD, commonly called Beau Nash, is 

 known to fame as the celebrated master of fashion in 

 the watering place of Bath in England ; and his for- 

 tunes are well calculated to point a moral for the 

 place of which he was the hero. He was born in 

 1674, at Swansea, in Glamorganshire, and was 

 intended for the law, but entered the army ; being 

 disgusted at the discipline and his subordinate rank, 

 he soon forsook it, and took chambers in the 

 Temple. Here he devoted himself entirely to 

 pleasure and fashion ; and when king William visited 

 the Inn, he was chosen master of the pageant with 

 which it was customary to welcome the monarch. 

 So pleased was William with the entertainment, that 

 he offered him the honour of knighthood ; but Nash 

 refused it, saying, " Please your majesty, if you 

 intend to make me a knight, I wish it may be one of 

 your poor knights of Windsor, and then I shall have 

 a fortune at least equal to support my title." In 

 1704, he was appointed master of the ceremonies at 

 Bath, and immediately instituted a set of regulations 

 as remarkable for their strictness as for their judi- 

 cious adaptation to the wants and society of the 

 place. While in the plenitude of his power and 

 popularity, Nash lived in the most splendid style, 

 supporting his expenses by a long run of success 

 at the gaming-table. His dress was covered with 

 expensive lace, and he wore a large white 

 cocked hat. The chariot in which he rode was 

 drawn by six gray horses, and attended by a long 

 retinue of servants, some on horse, others on foot, 

 while his progress through the streets was made 

 known by a band of French horns and other instru- 

 ments. His common title was the king of Bath ; 

 and his reign continued, with undiminished splendour, 

 for more than fifteen years. His health then began 

 to decline, and his resources grew less plentiful. As 

 the change in his spirits and circumstances became 

 more evident, his former acquaintances gradually 

 forsook him, and he died at the age of eighty-eight, 

 in comparative indigence and solitude. He was 

 buried, iiowever, with great magnificence, at the 

 expense of the city : and his epitaph, a neat tribute 

 to his memory, was written by doctor Harrington 



NASSA1RIANS. See Nosairians. 



NASSAU ; a sovereign duchy of the German 

 empire, bordering on the Prussian province of the 

 Lower Rhiim Hesse- Darmstadt, and Frankfort. 



