Coin of the Emperor Nei-v
Nervet, Jean, a French prelate, was born in 1442 at KvriMix. lie early joined the Order of St. Augustine. Louis XI, having found talent in Nervet, attached him to liis person in the capacity of almoner (1474), and selected him afterwards for confessor. His virtues and his rare prudence attracted towards him many people of consideration at the court, where he remained until the accession of Charles YIII. Nervet became successively /lior of Sainte-Catherine-la-Couture of Paris, counsel- lor of state, abbe of Juilly, and bishop of Jlegara in jnutibiis. He was educated at the University of Paris, and cultivated letters; he was one of the protectors of the Hellenist Cheradame. Nervet died November 2, 1.02.% and was buried in the cloister of Juilly. See Des- fontaines, Jugement sur lis ecrits nouream; viii, 1C8; Andion, Hi.it. eccles. de la chapdle des Rois de France, ii, 41(;; Dom Toussaint du Plcssis, Catalogue des abbes de .luillij ; Callia Christiana, iv, 787, and viii, 1677.— Iloe- fer, \ii/n: /ling. (Jenerale, s. v.
Nescient Philosophy. See Pjiilosophy.
Nesher. See Eaci.i:.
Nesmond, Frangois de. See NiiSMONi), Henri
DK.
Nesmond, Henri de, a French prel.ato and acad- tmiiian, was i)orn at Hordeaux about 164,'). He de- scended from a family originally from Ireland, and was the son (tf a president in tlie Parliament of Bordeaux. Henri was aft'ordcd superior educational advantages, and early entered upon an ecclesiastical career. The success of his preaching caused him to be maile succes- sively abbe of Chezy (May 26, 1682) and bishop of
:Montauban (Sept, 3, 1687). The differences which ex- isted between the court of France and the holy chair delayed the papal bulls of his appointment until Oct. 13, 1692. Intrusted with the government of a diocese in which were a large number of Protestants, he succeeded by his instructions, and still more by the mildness of his zeal and his exemplar}' manners, in bringing many of I them into the Cluirch. He was received as counsellor I in the Parliament of Toulouse April 26, 169.5, was trans- ferred to the archbishopric of Alby Aug. 15, 1703, and became abbii of the ilas-Garnier in 1715, and archbish- op of Toulouse Nov. 5, 1719. In this capacity he was called upon to address Louis XIV and I^iuis XV in the name of the province of Languedoc. The former of these princes loved to hear him, and called him the finest .speaker of his kingdom. JI. de Nesmond suc- ceeded Flechier in the French Academy June 30, 1710. Nesmond died at Toulouse, Jlay 27, 1727. All his wealth he left to the poor and to the hospitals. His Discourses and Sermons, etc., were collected and published (Paris, 1734, 12mo). One of his cousins, Fkan^ois dk Nks- JiONi), who made him his heir, was born at Paris, Sept. 21, 1629; became bishop of Bayeux Aug. 9, 1661; and died June 16, 1715, dean of the bishops of France, in his diocese, where his memory is held in great venera- tion through the benefits which he has conferred. See D'Alembert, Hist, des viembres de VAcad. Fran^. iv, 347; Gallia Christiana, vol. xiii. — Hocfer, Xouv. Biog. Ge- nerale, s. v.
Nessa is the name of an intercalary month intro- duced by the ancient Arabians to bring the lunar, every third year, into conformity with the solar year. The use of this month was forbidden by Mohammed in the Koran.
Nesse, Christopher, an English divine, was born December 26, 1621, at North Cowes (Yorkshire), and was educated at St. John's College, University of Cambridge. He took holy orders, and obtained a ben- efice at Cottingham, in the vicinity of Hull, as well as the lectureship in the parish of Leeds. Rejected by the established Church for non-conformity in 1662, he went to London, and took charge of a dissenting congregation in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, with which he remained connected for thirty years. He died at London, December 26, 1705. Nesse is the author of a large number of theological and other works; but he has made himself known principally by the work en- titled Historg and Mystery of the Old and A'ew Testa- ments, logicallii dUcussed and theologically improred (Lond. 1690-96,4 vols, fol.); to this work Matthew Henry is thought to owe much of his most valuable material for his Exposition. Other works of Nesse's of value are, The Christianas Walk and Work on Eai-th : — The Chris- tian's Croicn and Glory: — Church History, from .A dam : — .Antidote against Popei-y: — .4 Dirine Legacy: — .4 Discovery of the Person and Period of Antichrist (Lond. 1679, 8vo) -.— The Reigns of Times (1681, 4to) -.—Life of Pope Innocent Xf. John Dunton tells us that this book was written fer nim, and that the whole impression was sold in a fortnight. See Wilson, Hist, of Dissenting Churches; Granger, Biog. Hist, of England, v, 78 sq.; Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and A mer. A uthors, ii. 1408, 1409 ; Hook, Eccles. Biography, vii, 400. (J. II. W.)
NesBUS, the god of a river in Thrace which bore the same name.
Nest ("ii?, Am, from 'IiT, ^) build: Kn-aaKijiHorrtc, lit. a tcnt-direlling). The law in Dcut. xxii. 6, 7 directs that if one falls in with a bird's-nest with eggs or young, he shall allow the dam to escape, and not take her as well as the nest. The reason ^laimonides {Moreh Xe- buchim) gives for this is, " The eggs on which the dam is sitting, or the young ones which have need of her, are not, in general, permitted to be eaten; anil when the dam is allowed to escape she is not distressed by seeing her young ones carried oflf. It thus freiiuently happens