NATURE NAUMANN. 



disposition, of an individual. In theology, the word 

 nature is often used ; thus men speak ot the " divine 

 and human natures of Christ," of the "natural state 

 of man," &c. 



In the fine arts, nature often means the successful 

 imitation of nature ; but, with artists of a higher 

 order, nature does not signify a mere copy, but, as it 

 were, the expression of the ideal of nature, at which 

 she aims in all her formations, yet without reaching 

 it, as she never produces, in crystallization, precisely 

 that mathematical figure which constitutes her model. 

 (See Copy.) Though the angles are exact, there is 

 always some side larger than the others. 



NATURE, PHILOSOPHY OF. The German Natur- 

 philosophie is very different from the English natural 

 philosophy. This latter is termed, by the Germans, 

 Physik, or Naturkunde. The philosophy of nature, 

 in the German sense, is an investigation of its inmost 

 principles, such as the great question of the connexion 

 between matter and mind, either in the case of the 

 individual man, or of the connexion between God 

 and the outward universe, and other questions of 

 this sort, the riddles that have always vexed the 

 human understanding. Natural philosophy (Physik) 

 is the great instrument of the philosophy of nature, 

 furnishing it with the materials from which its con- 

 clusions must be drawn. Such speculations, even if 

 not likely to lead to any satisfactory results, are yet 

 not to be hastily condemned. One of the strongest 

 proofs of the elevation of which man is capable, is his 

 perpetual striving to rise above the field of ordinary 

 observation, to " pass the flaming bounds of space 

 and time," and, in spite of the weakness of mortality, 

 to explore the abyss of the infinite and the everlast- 

 ing. If we take the word nature in its most com- 

 prehensive sense, as embracing the whole of exis- 

 tence, it will include man both as a spiritual and a 

 material being ; so that the philosophy of nature, in 

 this sense, will embrace all the departments of 

 philosophy. In its more common sense, however, it 

 has a more limited meaning, and is contradistin- 

 guished to intellectual philosophy. While this latter 

 strives to investigate the essential principles of religion, 

 morality, law, the philosophy of nature seeks for the 

 ultimate elements of what is generally termed natural 

 science. The origin of this philosophy of nature is 

 to be looked for among the Greeks, where Pythagoras 

 presented his views of it in a mathematical form. 

 The term itself is undoubtedly derived from the 

 Philosophies nataralis Principia muthematica of 

 Newton, although Newton himself advised the 

 students of natural science to avoid this sort of 

 speculation. Schelling must be considered as the 

 reviver of the philosophy of nature in Germany, and 

 has been followed by many others, particularly Oken. 

 Although, as we have said, we do not consider such 

 inquiries as unsuitable exercises of the human mind, 

 we are far from admiring the extravagances to which 

 they have, in many cases, led the German philosophers. 

 Deprived of the subjects which exercise the activity 

 of man in free states, the Germans have pushed their 

 speculations, in many branches of philosophical 

 science, beyond all reasonable limits, and not unfre- 

 quently lost themselves in a wilderness of words, 

 reminding us of the remark of Goethe's Mephisto- 

 pheles : 



Denn tben wo Begriffe fe/tlen, 



Da stelit cin Wort xur rechten Zeit sich ein. 



For when idcRS have grown scant, 



A ready word supplies the want. 



It is but fair, however, to quote, 011 the other side of 

 the question, a passage of a contemporary writer,* 



Professor Follen, in his Inaugural Discourse, Cambridec, 

 Way, 1831. 



who treats the subject in a peculiar way. Alluding 

 to the views he has before expressed, he says, " With 

 such an idea of this science (philosophy), it is natural 

 that all German speculations should bear more the 

 character of beginnings than of finished results. 

 Important as some of the results are to which these 

 speculative efforts have led, still their greatest value 

 consists in the unwearied and never-satisfied strivings 

 of the mind to sound and comprehend itself, and that 

 whole, of which itself is but a particle. Jacob, who, 

 in his dream, wrestled with the Lord of heaven and 

 earth, bearing off in his lameness a revelation of 

 Omnipotence, is the true emblem of German philo- 

 sophy. It is something that you must not expect to 

 turn to immediate account in your particular trade 

 or profession ; nor is it necessary, in order to be 

 benefited by it, that you should adopt its results. 

 German metaphysics have been called the best 

 gymnastics of the mind : and the true object of 

 gymnastics, we know, is not to give the power to 

 perform some great and astonishing feat, but metho- 

 dically to unfold, invigorate, and refine all the grow- 

 ing powers of man." 



NAUMACHIA (from the Greek iavt*a%ia, a sea- 

 fight), among the Romans; a public spectacle, repre- 

 senting a naval action. Cassar was the first who 

 exhibited a spectacle of this sort, which soon became 

 the favourite amusement of the Roman people. The 

 circus maximus, in which they were at first repre- 

 sented, being found inconvenient, buildings were 

 erected by the emperors, particularly calculated for 

 the purpose : these edifices were likewise called 

 naumachice. They resembled the amphitheatres, 

 and, like them, were, at first, built of wood. Domi- 

 tian appears to have been the first who erected one 

 of stone. A naumachia, built by Augustus, was 

 1800 feet long and 200 wide, and was capable of 

 containing fifty ships with three banks of oars, besides 

 many small vessels. They were suddenly laid under 

 water by means of subterraneous canals, so that the 

 ships were raised at once from the dry floor before 

 the eyes of the spectators. The water was usually 

 brought from the Tiber, near which the naumachiae 

 were usually built, but sometimes from aqueducts. 

 The naumachiarii, or persons who fought in these 

 exhibitions, were- gladiators, slaves, criminals, &c., 

 who were doomed to die, unless they were saved by 

 the interposition of the people, or of the person pre- 

 siding at the show. 



NAUMANN, JOHN GOTTLIEB, or AMADEUS, one 

 of the greatest composers, chapel-master to the 

 elector of Saxony, at Dresden, was born at Blasewitz, 

 near that city, in 1741. His father was a peasant, 

 who, perceiving his son's talent for music, permitted 

 him to go every day to school, in Dresden. A mem- 

 ber of the chapel at Stockholm, having been led, by 

 chance, into the house of his father, was astonished 

 to find some difficult pieces of music lying on the 

 harpsichord, and offered to take the boy, then thirteen 

 years old, to Italy. The offer was accepted with 

 reluctance. The boy was obliged to perform the 

 roost menial services for his master. He followed 

 him, on foot, to Hamburg, and thence, in 1758, to 

 Italy, where he was obliged to earn his own subsistence, 

 by copying music, and to cook for his master. He 

 finally obtained admission into the number of Tartini's 

 pupils in Padua, and, soon after, found a kinder 

 master. He remained for three years in Padua, and 

 then went to Naples, where his taste for theatrical 

 music was awakened. He settled in Venice, where 

 he gave lessons, and composed some theatrical pieces. 

 After a residence of eight years in Italy, he was called 

 to Dresden, where he was appointed, in 1765, a com- 

 poser to the elector. He soon after made a second 

 journey to Italy, residing chiefly at Naples, where he 



