In Jer. xvii, 1 the same Heb. word occurs in the sense of the "point" of a stylus or metallic pen, which was often tipped with adamant or diamond (Pliny, IJist. \at. XXX vii, 4, 15). See Pen.
In Dan. iv, 33; vii, 19, the cognate Chald. "iSIJ, (e- phar', occurs of the claws of a bird or beast.
Nail, Nicholas, a French martyr to the Protestant cause, was born at Jlans in the first quarter of the lOth century. He was of humble origin, and earned his daily bread on the shoemaker's bench. He was working in Lausanne, Switzerland, when the Keformed doctrines began to gain the attention of the peojde, and Nail be- came himself interested, and finally embraced the new views. Determined that his countrymen should share the great blessing he had come to enjoy, he quitted Lausanne for Paris with a pack of books and tracts. In the French cajiital he was discovered circulating these heretical productions, and was seized by the police Feb. 14, 1553; and though he openly confessed to have freely circulated these books, because they contained the truth he espoused, he yet refused to make known his friends and assistants even after he had been ptit to the torture. Refusing also to point out the peo]ile wlio had bought his books or had become his disciples, he was linjdly tried, sentenced to death, .and led to the Place JIaubcrt, from which a crowd of witnesses had passed to heaven in the smoke and fiames of the funeral pile. In order to prevent Nail from speaking to any one on the way, a new torture was devised, A large wooden gag was put into his mouth, by which his jaws were burst asunder, and the blood streamed down his neck. Yet, though his mouth was sto])ped, by gesticulations and motions, and by lifting his eyes heavenward, he still made known his firm trust in the presence of his Saviour.
NAILLAC
833
NAIRONI
As he passed before a hospital on which an image of the Virgin was placed, an eft'ort was made to compel him to show reverence to it by crossing himself and bowing his head, but he turned from it with indigna- tion. This threw the rabble into a wild rage. Having arrived at the place of execution, Nail was bound with a rope to a roller over the funeral pile, divested of his apparel, and daubed all over with fat and powder. Next the entire mass was set on tire with bundles of straw, so that his whole body began to burn. Then he was drawn up and down on the roller over the wood- fire, which was burning under him. But he remained true to all his pledges, and was enabled to endure pa- tiently this torture. He was heard to call continually on the name of the Lord after he began to burn, the string which tied the gag in his mouth having been burned, and his lacerated mouth being again set free. With prayers and praises his spirit passed from his suftering body into the presence of the Lord. See Hurst, Martyrs to the Tract Came, p. 117, 118.
Naillac, Puilibert de, the grand-master of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, was born about 1340 of a noble family. But little is known of his personal history. He became master of this order in 1376, and engaged in the Crusades, and was greatly distinguished by his valor and skill in warfare. He was prominently engaged in the battle of Nicopolis, and served the Christian interests by his treaties with the Saracens. Thus he concluded a treaty with the sultan of Egypt, which gave the Christians permission to en- close the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem with a wall; to maintain six knights of the Order of St. John within the city, free from all tribute, who should be permitted to carry on the hospitable duties of their profession in favor of all pilgrims led thither by devotion; that Christian slaves might be redeemed, either by pur- chase or by exchange with a Saracen; and that convents might be maintained in Jerusalem and in the other principal cities of the Holy Land. In 1415 internal dis- sension threatened the very existence of the Order of St. John. NaUlac's wise counsels prevented all dis- graceful proceedings; and when he died, in 1421, "he left the fraternity, at whose head he had been placed for so many years, at union with itself, at peace with its neighbors, and in amosttiourishing state of prosperitj-." See Boissat, Hist, des Chevaliers de St. Jean de Jerusa- lem ; Porter, Kni(/hts of Malta, i, 291 sq., 313. (J. H. W.)
Ifails IN THE Crucifix. In the 13th century three are portrayed, one foot of the Crucified overlying the other without the hypopodion. James de Voragine first mentions the change, which Ayala, bishop of Ga- licia, attributes to the Albigensian heretics. 13enedict XIV pronounced the nail preserved in St. Cross, Rome, to be authentic. See Ckucifix. On Irish crosses tbe Saviour's feet are represented tied with a cord, and his arms drooping (Walcott, Sacred Archceol. s. v.). See Cross.
Nain (Gr. Natt- ; according to Simon, from Heb. ■pX3, nam', green pastures; so written in the Eastern versions of the N. T., but Schwarz, Palest, p. 1G9, writes C^S, as if from '\''"^, gracefulness), a town (ttoXiq) of Palestine, mentioned only in the N. T. as the place where Jesus raised the widow's son to life (Luke vii, 11-17). Josephus speaks of a Nain, but it was differ- ent from this, being situated in the south (IF«?-, iv, 9, 4). The site of Nain is described by Jerome as being two miles south of Tabor, near Endor (Onomast. s. v. Naim ; Eusebius has twelve miles, but the error is prob- ably that of a copyist writing tj8 instead of /3. Neither this number, however, nor that of Jerome, is accurate). Phocas places it north of Tabor (see Keland, Palcest. p. 904). As its name has always been preserved, it was recognised by the Crusaders, and has often been noticed by travellers up to the present day. It has now dwin- dled to a mean village called Ntin (according to De