Neill, Hugh, an American divine of the colonial period, came to this country about the opening of the last century, and labored in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In the mother country he w^as a Nonconformist, and labored for years as Presbyterian minister both in England and in New Jersey, where he greatly distin- guished himself. He was ordained to holy orders in the Anglican establishment in 1749 by the bishop of London, and was at once appointed to missionary work. During the following fifteen years — the extent of his work in this country — his sympathies were especially directed to the negro race, whose love and confidence he gained. He died about 1770. See Anderson, Bist. of the Ch. of Enff. in the Colonies and foreir/n Dependencies of the British Empire, iii, 379-81, 457 ; Hawkins, Eccles. hist. p. 126 sq.
Neill, 'William, D.D., an eminent Presbyterian divine, was born near McKeesport, Alleghany Co., Pa., in 1778. His parents were kifled by Indians while he v.'as yet a child, so that he was raised by friends. He was engaged in a store at Canonsburg, Pa., when the question of duty being brought to his mind and heart he soon decided upon the ministry. He pursued his preparatory studies in the Old Academy, which after- wards became Jefferson College, Pa. ; graduated at Princeton College in 1803, and acted as tutor there, during which time he studied theology. In 1805 he was licensed by the New Brunswick Presbytery ; in 1806 was ordained pastor of a Church at Cooperstown, N. J.; in 1809, of the First Church, Albany, N.Y.; in 1816, of the Sixth Church, Philadelphia, where he continued to labor until 1824, when he was called to the presidency of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pa., then under the con- trol of the Presbyterians. There Dr. Neill labored for five years, when long-continued difficulties, which could not be controlled, prompted him to resign, and by the action of the trustees the college passed into the hands of the Methodists. On leaving Carlisle, in 1829, he be- came secretarj"^ and general agent for the Board of Ed- ucation, which office he held for two years. In speak- ing of his duties at that time, he says, " I was their factotum, had the office in my dwelling, kept the rec- ords, wrote the letters, travelled, preached, collected funds, and prepared the reports, without even a boy to go on errands; but, harder than all, I had to contend with the American Education Society, and the preju- dices of the people against all denominational boards. . . . However, we made some progress; a few hundred dollars were collected, a few beneficiaries were registered, and the people began to come slowly under the shadow of their own standard." Finding the work too hard and incompatible with his duty to his family, he re- signed, and in 1831 retired to Germantown, and there betook himself again to the duties of the pulpit. He preached until 1842, when he removed to Philadel- phia, and remained without charge until his death, Aug. 8, 1860. Dr. Neill was deemed one of the most useful ministers of his day. His preaching was clear and replete with Gospel truth, persuasive and tender. His active mind often found expression in the religious press. He published, Lectures on Biblical Hist07-y (1846, 1855) : — Practical Exposition of the Epistles to the
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Ephes'uins (1850): — The Divine Origin and Authority of (he Christian Religion (1854): — .4 Discourse review- ing a Ministry of Fifty Years (1857). He also for some years edited the Presbyterian Magazine, and contributed papers to several of t lie religious periodicals. After his death there was published a volume of his Sermons with his AutiilJiogriiphi/, and a Commemorative Discourse by the IJev. Dr. J. II. Jones. Sec Wilson, Presb. Hist. A Imanac, ISUl, p. 102 ; AUibone's Diet. <f Authors, s. v. ; A merican Presbyterian Reunion Memorial Volume, 1837- 1871, p. 128-133. (J.L.S.)
Neilson, Jons, a Scotch martyr to religious liberty, was a nobleman of considerable influence in Galloway, lie had enjoj'ed superior educational advantages, was by nature quite talented, and enjoyed an unblemished character. But he was a Covenanter, and consequently subjected to severe persecutions on the part of the An- glican clergy. When the peojile of Galloway rose in self-defence, he joined them ; and, notwithstanding the cruel treatment which he and his family had received from Turner, Mr. Neilsoa argued strenuously and suc- cessfully against the proposal of some to put the op- pressor to death. As the prelates could not conceive that the persecuted Presbyterians would have dared to rise in self-defence unless there had been a widely ex- tended conspiracy, they determined to extort a confes- sion of the nature and extent of this plot from such of the prisoners as were certain to be acquainted with it if it existed. For this reason they resolved to put Neilson to the torture of the boot. In vain did they crush his leg in this fearful engine of torture; shrieking nature attested his agony, but his soul was clear of the guilt wherewith he was charged, and he would not blacken it by making a false acknowledgment of a crime of which he was innocent. When the persecutors found that they could extort nothing from him but groans and anguish, they condemned him to suffer, along with liis guiltless friends, the shorter pangs of death. See Ilethirington, JJis!. of the Church of Scotland, p. 230; W(Mlnnv,'ii, 53, Neisser Brothers. See Moijaviaxs. Neith is the name of the female divinity of ivis- don among the ancient Egyptians. Ilcr name, which means "1 came from myself," leads to the supposition that she was au impersonation of nature. She was chiefly worshipped in the Delta, where a city was built bearing her name. Her temple, the largest in Egypt, was at Sais, the kings of which called themselves her sons. It was open to the sky, and bore an inscription, " I am all tliat was, and is, and is to be ; no mortal has lifted up my veil, and the fruit which I brought forth is the sun." Kanking next to Ptah, the most exalted ^^^ of Egy|)tian divinities, she is to ^"^ the female deities what Ptah (q.v.) is to the male ; and indeed so close- ly are the functions of the two commingled or confounded in some representations of them that Neith may be briefly defined as the fe- male counterpart of tlie great demi- ttrgus. I'tah is the primary pater- nal element in nature, Neith the I)rimary ronccptii-e element. He is tlie father of the sun, she is the mother of the same luminary, and one of her titles is consccpiently '•the great con-engenderer of the sun" (IJunsen, i, 3«G; Kenrick, i, ii'.'tl). Ptah is the primordial fire, wliile Neith is the primordial space or chaos, self-|)ro(iucing, co- eternal with him, and co-ccpial; or, in other words, the '-feminine Fi'Mue of Neith t''''cr" everywhere diffused as the (From the Esyptiau material basis of all forms of cre- Mouuiuems.) ated existence. Neith is called