NETSCHER NEUHOF. 



191 



they both have great merit in respect to the technical 

 j>art of the art, has never been doubted ; and tht 

 they have greater merits, to a much higher degree 

 than is generally allowed them, will be evident from 

 a careful study. 



NETSCHER, GASPAR, one of the best painters of 

 his time, was born at Heidelberg, in 1639. His 

 father, John Netscher, a sculptor, died when the 

 subject of this article was quite young. Gaspar was 

 adopted by Tullekens, a physician in Arnheim, near 

 Utrecht. He soon showed his talent for painting, 

 and, at a later period, intended to go to Italy to per- 

 fect himself; but he married in Bourdeaux, and 

 returned to Holland. He settled at the Hague ; and 

 the necessity of supporting a numerous family obliged 

 him to devote himself to portrait painting and small 

 pieces, though his death of Cleopatra prove? that he 

 had talent and inclination to distinguish 'jfinself in 

 the higher branches of the art, and to ele\ ate himself 

 above his school. Even in that point which forms 

 the characteristic excellence of the Dutch school,' a 

 faithful imitation of nature, and particularly of the 

 materials of dress he excelled the Dutch painters. 

 The white satin and velvet, in the drapery of his 

 paintings, and the wool of his carpets, are true 

 almost to deception. His touch is easy and delicate. 

 His smaller cabinet pictures are most highly valued, 

 on account of their finish. In these he represents 

 groups of a few gracefully drawn figures : he is par- 

 ticularly fond of portraying among them one 

 female figure, in white satin. In his historical paint- 

 ings, he generally selected his subjects from Roman 

 history. He died at the Hague in 1684, and left 

 two sons, Constantine and Theodore (called the 

 Frenchman), who were also meritorious painters, 

 but much inferior to their father. 



NETTELBECK, JOACHIM CHRISTIAN ; a man who 

 deserves to be mentioned for his patriotism, his 

 diversified life and perseverance, exhibiting an in- 

 stance of great firmness and honesty, though there is 

 nothing brilliant in his career. He was born in 

 Colberg (q. v.), in Pomerania, had been a sea cap- 

 tain, and was one of the persons (though then 

 seventy years old) to whom Colberg was greatly 

 indebted for the honour of being the only Prussian 

 fortress not taken by the French, in 1807, in spite of 

 a severe siege. Nettelbeck died in 1824, aged 

 eighty-six years. In his old age he wrote his own 

 lite, which appeared in Leipsic, in 3 vols. It is a 

 work of much interest, and we should like to see a 

 good translation of it, as a relief among the many 

 high-flown fictions of the day. 



NETTLE (urticd) ; a genus of plants, consisting 

 chiefly of neglected weeds, having opposite or alter- 

 nate leaves, and inconspicuous flowers, which are 

 disposed in axillary racemes ; the fruit is a small 

 seed, surrounded by a persistent calyx ; the flowers 

 are monaecious, or, in a few instances, diaecious. 

 The species are mostly herbaceous, and are usually 

 covered with extremely fine, sharp, tubular hairs, 

 placed upon minute vesicles, filled with an acrid and 

 caustic fluid, which, by pressure, is injected into the 

 wounds caused by the sharp-pointed hairs. Hence 

 arises the well-known stinging sensation, when these 

 plants are incautiously handled. In Great Britain 

 this stinging is of but little consequence ; but, in 

 some tropical species, it is followed by exceedingly 

 painful and even dangerous effects. The fibre of the 

 V. dioica, a common plant in waste places, both 

 in Europe and America, resembles that of the 

 hemp, and may be obtained in the same manner: 

 very fine cloth and paper have been made from it, 

 but hitherto it has not been extensively manufac- 

 tured. The natives of Kamtschatka make cordage 

 and fishing tackle from a second species ; and it is 



probable, that several others may be employed for 

 similar purposes. More than 120 species of nettle are 

 known, of which four or five only are natives of the 

 United States of America. Among these last is the 

 U. pumila,or rich weed, remarkable for its smooth and 

 semi-transparent stem. 



NEU (German for new) occurs in a very great 

 number of geographical names, like the English new, 

 Greek neo, nea, Sclavonian novy, Russian novoi, and 

 novaia, Spanish nuevo, and the Danish and Swedish 

 ny. 



NEUFCHATEL. NEUCHATEL (Neuenburg, or 

 Welschneuburg), a Swiss canton,and sovereign Prus- 

 sian principality, contains, with the county or U'allen- 

 gin, 52,000 inhabitants, on 296 square miles, and is 

 bounded by France and Switzerland. After various 

 changes of masters, it came into the hands of the old 

 French family of Longueville, which became extinct 

 in 1707, by the death of Mary of Orleans, duchess of 

 Nemours. The king of Prussia, as heir of the house 

 of Orange, whose claims to the principality were 

 acknowledged, was then called to the sovereignty, 

 by the states of Neufchateau, and his title was con- 

 firmed by the treaty of Utrecht. In 1806, Prussia 

 ceded it to France, and the emperor conferred it on 

 marshal Berthier, afterwards prince of Neufchatel- 

 Wagram. By the peace of Paris, it was restored, 

 with additions, to Prussia. The king granted it a 

 constitutional charter, dated from London (January 

 18, 1814), with the privilege of forming a separate 

 state. In 1822, the principality was received into 

 the Swiss confederacy, as the twenty-second canton, 

 and is the only one which has a monarchical govern- 

 ment. Several ridges of the Jura run through the 

 country. The lake of Neufchatel (Neuenburgersee), 

 twenty-eighty miles long by eight broad, is plenti- 

 fully supplied with fish, and communicates with the 

 Rhine. Grazing is extensively attended to; wine, 

 fruits, hemp, and flax, are produced ; the corn raised 

 is not sufficient to supply the wants of the inhabitants. 

 The manufactures are more important ; the principal 

 are lace, cotton, and clocks ; a considerable trade is 

 also carried on in cutlery, mathematical and philo- 

 sophical instruments, chintz and other cotton stuff's. 

 The freedom and mildness of the government attract 

 many foreigners. There are about 12.000 watch- 

 makers here, whose instruments are used over all 

 Europe and in America. (See Chauxla-Fonds.) 

 The religion is Protestant (Reformed) ; there are two 

 Catholic societies. The language is French ; but 

 German is also spoken . Half of the revenue ( 1 50,000 

 livres) is applied to the improvement of the condition 

 of the country, and to the expenses of the govern- 

 ment. The capital, Neufchatel, lies at the foot of 

 the Jura, in a beautiful country, where the noisy 

 Seyon empties itself into the lake of Neufchatel. 

 The town is not badly built, and contains 5600 

 inhabitants. It is the centre of the trade of the 

 principality. Its institutions for instruction, and 

 other institutions, have been carried to a high de- 

 gree of perfection, by means of a legacy of 3,000,000 

 guilders, left by Pury, a merchant, who was a native 

 of Neufchatel, but settled at Lisbon. Pourtales, 

 another merchant, founded an hospital by a legacy 

 of 700,000 francs, which was much increased by his 

 heirs. Neufchatel furnishes 1000 men to the army 

 of the Swiss confederacy. See Switzerland. 



NEUHOF, THEODJRE, baron of, king of Corsica, 

 was descended from a noble family in Westphalia. 

 H is father, a captain in the guards of the bishop ot 

 Munster, died in 1695. Theodore studied in the 

 college of Jesuits, at Munster, at a later period at 

 Cologne, whence he fled to the Hague, after having 

 killed a young man of a distinguished family in a 

 duel. Through the mediation of the Spanish miiv 



