NAU 
assemblage of the mechanical properties of 
matter, as tigure, motion, &c. 
Those wlio desire a more particular dis- 
cussion of each of these opinions, may con- 
sult Boyle’s “ Free Inquiry into the Vulgar 
Notion of Nature.” By a modern French 
writer we have the following account of 
Nature. This word, which we so fre- 
quently employ, must only be regarded as 
an abridged manner of expressing some- 
times the results of the laws to which the 
Supreme Being has subjected the universe ; 
at others, the collection of beings which 
have sprung from his hands. Nature, con- 
templated thus under ils true aspect, is no 
longer a subject of cold and barren specu- 
lation with respect to morals : the study of 
its productions, or of its phenomena, is no 
longer bounded to enlightening the mind ; 
it aflFects the heart, by kindling therein sen- 
timents of reverence and admiration at the 
sight of so many wonders, bearing such vi- 
sible characters of an infinite power and 
wisdom. Such was the disposition that was 
cultivated by the great Newton, when, af- 
ter having considered the mutual connec- 
tion which subsists between effects and their 
causes, which makes all the particulars con- 
cur to tlie harmony of the whole, he ele- 
vated his mind to the idea of a Creator and 
Prime Mover of matter, and enquired of 
himself why nature had made nothing in 
vain ? whence it happens that the sun, and 
the planetary bodies, gravitate the one to- 
wards the other, without any intermediate 
dense matter and, how it could be possible 
that the eye should be constructed w'ithout 
the knowledge of optics, or the organ of 
hearing without the intelligence of sounds ? 
NAVAL affairs, comprehend whatever 
relates to navigation, ship- building, sailors, 
&c. See Navigation, Ship-building. 
NAUCLEA in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Aggregate. Rubiaceae, 
Jussieu. Essential character ; corolla, fun- 
nel-form ; seed one, inferior, tw'o-celled ; 
receptacle common globular. There are 
four species, of which N. parviflora is a 
beautiful large tree, growing naturally in 
almost every part of the coast of Coroman- 
del, but chiefly among the mountains, flower- 
ing during the cold season ; the wood is of 
a light chesniit colour, firm and close grain- 
ed ; it is used for various purposes, where 
it can be kept dry ; if exposed to moisture 
it vei-y soon decays. It is called by the 
Telingas, bota cadamic. 
NAUDE (Philip), in biogi'aphy, an 
NAU 
able professor of mathematics at Berlin in 
the seventeenth and early part of the eigh- 
teenth century, was born at Metz in Lor- 
rain, in the year 1654. At tlje age of about 
twelve, he was taken into the service of tlie 
court of Eysehach, in the capacity of page, 
and attendant on the young princes. In 
this situation his behaviour secured him the 
esteem of all who knew him ; and while he 
continued here he learned the German 
language, which afterwards proved of great 
use to him. When he had spent about four 
years at Eysenach, his father chose to take 
him home ; but how he was employed dur- 
ing the next fifteen years of his life we are 
not informed. We are only told that his 
father had neither the intention nor the 
means of affording him a learned education ; 
but that, notwithstanding the disadvantages 
of his condition, having an unconquerable 
thirst for knowledge, he became his own 
master, and made considerable proficiency 
in different branches of learning, particu- 
larly in the mathematical sciences. As he 
was in principle a Protestant, when the 
edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, he 
left France with his wife and young child 
about nine months old, and resided about 
two years at Hanau. Hence he removed 
to Berlin, where he contracted an intimacy 
with M. Langertield, mathematician to the 
court, and tutor to the pages. This gentle- 
man, who knew how conversant he was 
with tlie sciences, advised him to open a 
mathematical school, and recommended 
pupils to him. In 1687, he received an 
appointment to teach arithmetic and the 
elements of the mathematics at the college 
of Joachim ; and in 1690, he was made 
secretary interpreter. Upon the death of 
M. Langertield not many years afterwards, 
M. Naude succeeded him in 1696, both in 
his employments at court, and the pro- 
fessorship in the Academy of Sciences, In 
1701 he was elected a member of the Aca- 
demy of Sciences ; and in 1704, when the 
king founded the Academy of Princes, M. 
Naude was attached to it by a special 
patent, as professor of mathematics. He 
died at Berlin in 17529, at the age of seventy- 
five, highly respected for his integrity and 
general excellence of character. Though 
the mathematics chiefly occupied his atten- 
tion, he was not unacquainted with the 
other sciences, and as he was zealous for 
the religion which he professed, he had 
made divinity his particular study, and 
written several treatises on religious and 
moral subjects. In mathematics, his sole 
