168 



NECROLOGY NEERWINDEN. 



her youth, was tlie object of the attachment of Gib- 

 bon. Having accompanied madame de Vermenoux 

 to Paris, as Latin instructress of her son, Miss Cur- 

 chod there became acquainted with Necker, to whom 

 she was married in 1765. Madame Necker was of 

 a most excellent character, and, under all circum- 

 stances, a tender, affectionate, and faithful wife, 

 mother, and friend. Her heart was not less carefully 

 cultivated than her mind ; and on her husband's 

 elevation, she made use of his influence and fortune 

 only for purposes of benevolence and kindness. She 

 erected an hospital, in the neighbourhood of Paris, 

 at her own expense, and devoted to it her personal 

 fare. She had many friends among the men of 

 letters, particularly Thomas, Buffon, and Marmontel, 

 who has given an accurate account of her. She died 

 in 1794. Madame Necker is the author of several 

 works Des Inhumations precipities (1790) ; Memoire 

 sur I' Etablissement des Hospices, and Reflexions sur 

 le Divorce. After her death, appeared Melanges, 

 (1798), and Nouveaux Melanges (1801). 



NECROLOGY (from vix.^a s , dead, and Ays, word, 

 &c.) signifies, in monasteries and cathedrals, the 

 records of those bishops, canons, and others, who 

 have made grants to the church, &c. Each one's 

 record is read on the anniversary of his death, with 

 prayers for him. Formerly, also, what is now called 

 martyrology was called necrology. The biographical 

 notice of a deceased person is likewise called ne- 

 crology. 



NECROMANCY (from vxg^*TS(a, or iixvopav- 

 Ti<a) ; the divination of the future, by questioning 

 the dead. (See Divination.) This, like many super- 

 stitious rites, originated in the east, or the extreme 

 north, and is of the highest antiquity. Some have, 

 indeed, maintained that it was not brought from 

 Egypt or Persia to Greece, but originated in the last 

 country ; but it is difficult to prove this. We find 

 mention made of necromancy in the Old Testament ; 

 for instance, in the first book of Samuel (i. 18), and 

 in Deuteronomy (xviii. 11), where it is forbidden. 

 In the eleventh book of the Odyssey, Homer has 

 made Ulysses raise the shade of Tiresias from the 

 infernal regions. The rite, as there described, con- 

 tains nothing magical, and consists merely in the 

 performance of a sacrifice with peculiar solemnities. 

 This description of Homer proves that necromancy 

 was common in Greece before his time. In many 

 parts of Greece, there were oracles of the dead", the 

 origin of which is lost in the obscurity of history. 

 The fable of the descent of Orpheus to Hades is, by 

 some, considered to refer to this species of necro- 

 mancy. Indeed, it is very doubtful whether the 

 expression used of many of the Greek heroes, that 

 they descended to the infernal regions, means any 

 thing more than that they consulted an oracle of the 

 dead. While, in the rest of Greece, necromancy was 

 practised in the temples by priests, or other reli- 

 gious persons, individuals called ^v^ayuyot (evokers 

 of spirits) practised it in Thessaly, the native country 

 of magic, and made use of magical practices. In 

 later times, these practices became horrible, for 

 magicians, ascribing a superior power to human blood, 

 and every thing which came from the gibbet or the 

 grave, were led to the most revolting and disgusting 

 acts. They tore men, half burned, from their funeral 

 piles, buried others living, ripped out unborn babes 

 from the wombs of their mothers, and committed 

 other similar enormities. They frequently butchered 

 men, in order to consult their spirits before they had 

 time to hasten down to the regions of the dead. In 

 case the invoked spirits (and this was the ancient 

 and usual custom) actually presented themselves to 

 the exorcist, necromancy was also called ffKioftxt-ma, 

 and -^u^f^atruK, that is, divination by shades (//), 



or departed souls (^u%*i). After the total downfall 

 of paganism, men were satisfied with a kind of necro- 

 mancy by which they merely caused the voices of the 

 dead to be heard from their graves. 



NECROPOLIS (from i* e o;,dead, and a-x, city); 

 the city of the dead. This name is given, in parti- 

 cular, to the ancient cemeteries, which, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of some of the great cities, are very exten- 

 sive, and filled with magnificent remains. It has 

 also been given to some modern cemeteries, as at 

 Glasgow, Liverpool, &c. 



NECTAR, in the Grecian mythology; the drink 

 of the gods, which seems never to have been given to 

 mortals. A beverage, made of honey and sweet wine, 

 was also called nectar; and a sweet wine of Scio, 

 made of half-dried grapes, still bears the same name. 



NECTARINE. This fruit seems to differ from 

 the peach only in having a smooth skin, and it is 

 even found occasionally growing upon the same tree. 

 The tree, in its foliage, parts of fructification, wood, 

 and growth, is entirely similar to the peach. 



NECTARY, in botany; that part of the flowei 

 which yields the honey. 



NEDSHED. See Arabia. 



NEEDLE, MAGNETIC. See Magnet, Magnetic 

 Needle, and Compass. 



NEEDLE-STONE. See Zeolite. 



NEEF, or NEEFS, PETER, the elder, an eminent 

 artist, was born at Antwerp, in 1570. He painted 

 the interiors of churches and temples with surprising 

 neatness and delicacy. To avoid the monotony 

 attendant upon such a style, he introduced a variety 

 of objects ; and, by a good management of the chiar- 

 oscuro, he gave a lively and animated effect to what, 

 otherwise, would have been tame and uninteresting. 

 As he was but an indifferent designer of figures, 

 some of his pictures are decorated with those of 

 Velvet Brueghel, Teniers, and others. He died in 

 1651. His son Peter, the younger, painted similar 

 subjects, but they are deficient both in neatness and 

 correctness. 



NEELE, HENRY ; an ingenious English poet and 

 novel-writer, who died, by his own hand, February 9, 

 1828, in a fit of insanity, supposed to have originated 

 from too intense application to study. He was the 

 son of an engraver, and was educated for the profes - 

 sion of a solicitor, which he practised, with reputa- 

 tion, in London, till his death. He was a man of 

 amiable disposition, and highly respected by his 

 acquaintance. Among his publications are Poems ; 

 Dramatic Scenes ; and the Romance of History 

 (3 vols. 12mo), a series of tales relating to persons 

 and events mentioned in the English annals. His 

 Literary Remains have been published since his 

 death (1 vol. 1829). 



NEER, ARNOLD VAN DER, an eminent artist, was 

 born at Amsterdam, in 1619. He excelled in paint- 

 ing views in Holland, cottages, or fishermen's huts, 

 and in his beautiful delineation of the effect of moon- 

 light. He was a perfect master of the chiaroscuro. 

 His sunsets are excellent; nor was he less successful 

 in painting water pieces, in which he is only sur- 

 passed by Cuyp. He died in 1683. His son Eglon 

 Hendrick Van der Neer was born in 1643, and was 

 an historical and portrait painter. His pictures of 

 conversations and gallant subjects are most admired ; 

 they are well coloured and highly finished. He was 

 employed, for some time, by the elector palatine at 

 Dusseldorf, where he died in 1703. 



NEER WINDEN ; a village in the province of Bra- 

 bant, kingdom of Belgium, sixteen miles from Lou- 

 vain. In 1693, the marshal of Luxembourg gained 

 a victory here over the allies under William III., king 

 of Britain. In 1793, the French, under DumourieE, 

 were defeated here by the Austrians. 



