Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/270

* NAPIER. 232 NAPIER. tary experience was in Ireland in ll'JS. His next active service was in Spain during tlie Napoleonic wars, and lie commanded the I'ifticth Infantry at Corufia, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. Marshal Ney dismissed him on parole, and he went to England, but returned in 1810 to the Peninsula after having been exchanged. At Coa he fought as a volunteer and had two horses killed under him. At Busaco a shot in the face broke his jaw and injured an eye: but he re- covered in time to be present at the battle of Fuentes de OQoro and the second siege of Bada- joz, both in 1811. In the smnmer of 1813 he was with the fleet under Beckwith. and afterwards under Coekbnrn, engaged in desultory operations on the coast of the United States. In 1815 he took part in the storming of Cambrai, and marched into Paris with the allied armies. From 1822 to 1830 he was Resident (Governor) of Cephalonia, one of the Ionian Islands, the af- fairs of which he administered with great energy and intelligence. In 1841 he was ordered to India to take command of the army at Bombay. The most splendid service of his life now began, and resulted in the conquest of Siiidh against great odds. In the battle of Miani, 1843. Napier with about 2000 troo|)s attacked a strongly posted native force ten times as great, and de- feated it, killing more than 6000 men. There- upon all the ameers surrendered with the ex- ception of Shir Muhammed, who brought 2.5,000 men into line of battle at Hyderabad. In three hours Napier's little army of 5000 men gained a decisive victory, and a few days afterwards the English general was master of Sindh. The Governor-tieneral, Lord Ellenborough, made him (idvernor of the conquered territory, but though his administration was very successful, as were also various campaigns against the hill tribes, Napier retired in 1847. after liaving quar- reled with the directors of the East India Com- pany. During the Sikh war of 1848-4!) he again went to India, but arrived too late to take part in the conflict. After having put down a mutiny among the native soldiers, lie returned to Eng- land in 1850. having had another quarrel with the directors. He retired to the liainpshire Downs, near Portsmouth, busying himself with literary labors. There he died on August 20, 1853. Napier was a man brave to rashness, quarrel- some with his superiors, but beloved by his soldiers, and one of the most remarkable of the military men of his time. Consult : Bruce, Life of Oencral .S'l'i* Charles yapicr (London, 1885) : Butler, .S'ir Charles Sapier (ib., 18(10). His brother. Sir William Francis Patrick Napier (q.v.), has also written of him. NAPIER, Sir Francis (1810-98). An Eng- lish dipioniat, born at Thirlestane. in Selkirk- shire. He entered the diplomatic service in 1840, was attache at Vienna and at Constanti- nople, secretary of legation at Naples, envoy to Washington and The Hague, and ambassador to Saint Petersburg (ISdO-d-li and to Berlin (1864-66). From Berlin he was transferred to India as Governor of Ma<lras, and there labored incessantly and wisely, especially in tiehalf of public health <luring the famine in Ganjam. In 1872. after serving temporarily as GnvernorGen- cral of Inilia, he returned to Kngland and was created Baron Ettrick of Ettrick. NAPIER, John ( 15501617). A Scotch mathe- malieian, born at Mcrchiston, near Edinburgh. He was educated at Saint Andrews and probably also abroad. His natural pugnacity of character often involved him in difficulties with his neigh- bors and tenants. In 1594 he published his Platne Discofpri/ of the Whole Revelation of Saint John (2d ed., London, 1611), in which he sought to prove that the Pope was Antichrist. In somewhat the same spirit, ostensibly to defend his country from "the enemies of God and true religion," he made some secret inventions, includ- ing burning-mirrors, a piece of artillery, and a chariot of metal, none of which had any more merit than his theological contributions. Napier's fame rests on his mathematical discoveries, and he is chiefly known as the inventor of logarithms (q.v.). In his earlier investigations he seema to have been considering the subject of imaginary roots, and he refers to this as an important algebraic secret. The idea of logarithms seems to have occurred to him as early as 1504, and thenceforward the rest of his life was sjient in developing the idea and computing logarithmic tables. He also invented some mechanical de- vices for computation known as 'Napier's rods.' (See CALCUL.VTIXG ilAciii.XES.) By means of these, multiplication and division can be per- formed, and square and cube roots extracted. He was also the inventor of a number of formulas in trigonometry, known as 'Napier's circular ])arts.' (See CircvLak Parts.) Napier was one of the first English writers to make any valuable contri- bution to mathematics, and his discoveries niark an epocli in the history of science. His chief writ- ings arc: Dc Arte Logislica (written in 1573, published in 1839) ; Mirifici Logarilhmorum Canonis Descripiio (1614 and subsequent edi- tions; Eng. trans., 1616 and 1857); Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Constritetio (1619: Eng. trans. 1889) ; liahdologiir seu yiimcrationif: per Virgiilas Librl Duo (1617). Consult: JIark Napier, Memoirs of Xapier (Edinburgh, 1793) ; Earl of Buchan, Life of Xapier (ib., 1787). A complete edition of Napier's works apjieared in Edinburgh in 1839. A bibliography of Napier's works, by Macdonald. may be found in the Eng- lish translation of the Miri/icl Logarithmorum Canonis Constritetio mentioned above. NAPIER, Robert (1791-1876). A Scotch marine engineer, born at Dumbarton. He was for a time apprenticed to his father, a blacksmith, and afterwards went to Glasgow, where in 1815, after working for Robert Stcvenscm. he set up a smithy, with two apprentices. In 1823 he built his first marine engine. In 1830 he supplied engines for the Glasgow Steam-Packet Company, and ten years later he supplied the Cunard Com- pany with engines for their first four .steamers. He added shipbuilding to the construction of engines in 1841. and built more than 300 vessels for the Government, and the larger companies. NAPIER, RoREBT CoRXEUs, Lord Napier of IMag.lala (1810-90). A British soldier, born at Colombo. Ceylon. He studied at the East India Company's military college at Addiscombe. and at the royal engineering school at Chatham, and from 1828 to 1845 was chiefly employed on the public works. In the latter year, however, he par- ticipated in several liaftles of the First ."^ikh War. During the Second Sikh War (1848-49) he again saw active service, and at its close was appointed