Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/182

Rh 170 N A NAN landowner was called &quot; of &quot; such and such a place (the German von, and French de), while the humbler man was called not &quot; of &quot; but &quot; at &quot; such a place, as in the name &quot;Attewell,&quot; or merely by the local name without the particle. If we add to these patronymics formed by the addition of &quot; son,&quot; and terms derived from Biblical characters (the latter adopted after the Reformation as a reaction against the names of saints in the calendar), we have almost exhausted the sources of modern English and European names. A continual development of custom can be traced, and the analysis of any man s family and Christian names will lead us beyond history into the manners of races devoid of literary records. (A. L.) NAMUR, a province of Belgium, is bounded on the N&quot;. by South Brabant, on the E. by Liege and Luxemburg, on the S. by France, and on the &quot;W. by Hainault, having a maximum length from north to south of 55 miles ; its greatest breadth is 45 miles, and the area 1413 square miles. The surface is much varied by hill and dale, being traversed by the forest of Ardennes, which here attains a height of about 2100 feet ; in some parts, especially in the valley of the Meuse between Dinant and Liege, the scenery is beautiful and romantic. The principal rivers are the Meuse and its tributary the Sambre, which joins it at Namur. Geologically the province belongs to the Carbon iferous system ; the iron mines are very rich, and along with the coal-pits employ a considerable proportion of the industry of the province. Lead mines are also worked to some extent; and building-stone, slate, and excellent marble are quarried. The soil in the arrondissement of Namur is a rich marl, fertile and well-cultivated ; about one-third of the entire province is occupied by wood, and in the arrondissement of Dinant there are considerable stretches of heath. The climate is, generally speaking, moist and cold. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, hemp, flax, and hops are the principal crops raised, but the vine is also grown. As regards live stock, sheep are preferred to horned cattle ; large numbers of horses, strong and of a good breed, are also reared. The special manufacture of Namur is cutlery, for which the province is famed. Among the other industries may be mentioned porcelain and glass- making, paper-making, cotton-spinning, and tanning. At the census of 1876 the population was 315,796. There are three arrondissements, Dinant, Namur, and Philippe- ville. NAMUR (Flem., Namen), capital of the above province, is picturesquely situated on both banks of the Sambre, at the point of its junction with the Meuse, 35 miles south east from Brussels. The rivers are crossed by several stone bridges. The streets are broad and clean, and there are two or three good squares. There are almost no buildings of any considerable antiquity now standing, if the 11th-century belfry and the palace of justice, dating from 1464 as the monastery of St Albinus, be excepted. The cathedral church of St Aubain or St Albin is a modern building (1751-72) in the Renaissance style, adorned in front with several statues in white marble. The interior has statues by Delvaux and Parmentier, a fine carved oak pulpit by Geerts, and the tomb of Don John of Austria, who died at his camp at Bouges, about a mile to the north-east of the town, in 1578. The church of St Loup is also a fine building, richly adorned in the i interior with marble and stone carving. Besides several other churches, the town has a town-hall, a theatre, a ; seminary, a picture gallery, library, and archaeological i museum, various charitable institutions, barracks, &c. The manufactures are considerable, cutlery being the specialty. Tanning is also extensively carried on, and a j great number of the inhabitants are employed in the mines ; and quarries of the neighbourhood. The situation of Namur gives it great advantages as a centre for trade. The population in 1875 was 27,068. In Caesar s time Namur was the capital of the Aduatuci, who, he tells us (B. G., ii. 29), after his defeat of the Nervii, leaving all their other strongholds betook themselves to this one town &quot;egregie natura munitum.&quot; Defended by walls of considerable thickness, by well-constructed outworks on both sides of the rivers, and by the citadel on a rocky eminence at their junction, it was long a place of great strength in modern times also. It was taken by Louis XIV. in 1692, an event which was recorded by Eacine and celebrated in verse by Boileau, but it was recovered in 1695 by the British and Dutch under William III., after a siege of ten months. The fortifications were destroyed in 1784 by Joseph II. of Austria, restored and strengthened in 1817 under the inspection of Wellington, and finally razed in 1866. NANAK. See INDIA, vol. xii. p. 808. NANA SAHIB is the common designation of Dandhu Panth, adopted son of the ex-peshwa of the Mahrattas, Baji Rao, who took a leading part in the great Indian mutiny, and was proclaimed peshwa by the mutineers. See INDIA, vol. xii. p. 810. Nana Sahib was responsible for the massacres at Cawnpore, and was engaged in the protracted campaigns in Oudh. In the closing days of 1859, when the last remnants of the rebels disappeared over the Nepalese frontier, the Nana was among the fugitives. His death was reported some time afterwards, but his real fate remains obscure. Compare NEPAL. NANCY, the ancient capital of Lorraine, afterwards the chief town of the French department of Meurthe, and since 1872 that of the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, is situated 219 miles east of Paris by railway, on the left bank of the Meurthe, 6 miles above its junction with the Moselle. It consists of two distinct portions : the old town in the north-west, between the citadel and the streets and square which bear the name of Stanislas, is composed Plan of Nancy. of narrow and winding streets ; the Stanislas town in the south-east has, on the other hand, wide straight streets which cross each other at right angles and allow views of the hills around the city. Beyond the gates (several of which are preserved on account of their antiquarian interest, and still indicate the line of the old civic boundaries) long suburbs stretch out into the country. The railway from Paris to Strasburg skirts the city on the south-west side, and to the east and north lie the Meurthe