8 NEUSER
the Church; Koch, Gesch. des Kirchenliedes, vol. i, ii, and iv ; Herzog, Real-Kncyklop. x, 300. (S. S.)
Neumark, Jehuda Lob (bkn-Daviu), of Ha- NAU. a Jewish writer <il note, flourished near the open- ing of the 18th century. He died April 9, 1723. Ja- blonski (q. v.) mentions Neumark in the preface to his Biblia Uebraica cum nods Ilebraicis (Berlin, 1099) as the author of a Hebrew Grammar, entitled nn'n^ w"lij (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1693), which was long used and valued. In the preface to this grammar Neumark gives a history of the best Hebrew grammarians, and criticises very sharply the neglect of llcbrew philology. See Fiirst, Bibl. Judaica, iii, 31 ; De Kossi, iJhiouario storico derjli autori Ebrei, p. 245 (Germ, transl.) ; Ka- lisch, Hebr. Grammar, ii, 35 ; Steinschneider, Bihlio- fjraphisches Ilandbuch, p. 101 ; Catalorfus Libr. Ihhr. in Bibl. Bodkiana, p. 1364 ; Zunz, Monatstage des Kalen- derjuhres, p. 18 (Berlin, 1872 ; Engl, transl. by the Hev. B. Pick in Jewish Messenger, New York, 1874). (B. P.)
Neumeister, Eudmanx, a German Protestant di- vine and author of numerous hymns, was born at Uech- tritz, near A\'eissenfels, May 12, 1671. He studied first at the school of Pforta, and afterwards at the Univer- sity of Leipsic. In 1697 he became pastor at Bibra, in Thuringia, and filled successively the same office at Eckartsberga,Weissenfels, Sorau, and Hamburg, where he died, while pastor of the church of St. Jacob, Aug. 18, 1750. He was an opponent both of pietism and of chil- iasm, and held fast to the old orthodoxy. Neumeister is best known by his hymns, of which he wrote about 700 ; some of them are trulj' excellent, and still in use. Among these we notice, " Gott macht ein grosses Abend- mahl," etc.; "Jesus nimmt die Sunder an," etc. (Engl, transl. in villi's Ilorm Germanica, p. 73, " This man sinners doth receive"); "Wie Gott will!" also "Will ich sagen" (Engl, transl. in Hymns from the Land of Lu- ther, p. 155, as " Thou wilt, my God, I ever say") ; and " Lass irdische Geschlifte stehn," etc. He wrote also a Specimen dissertationis historico-cnticce de j^oetis Ger- manicis. His poetical works are, FUnJfache Kirchen- anduchten (1716 and 1717): — Forigesetzle ftinffache Kirchenandachten {172G) : — Evanf/elischer Nachklang (1718-1729): — Zugang zum Gnadenstuhl. See Herzog, heid-EncyUopddie, x, 301 ; Koch, Gesch. des deulschcii Kirchenliedes, v, 371 sq.; During, Die Deutschen Kanzel- redner, s. v.; Knapp, Evungelischer Liederschutz, p. 1339 sq. (J.H.W.)
Neuser, Adam, a German Socinian theologian. was born in Swabia in the 16th century. Educated in Lutheranism by his parents, who belonged to that com- munion, he entered the Reformed Church, after having finished his studies, probably because he sought greater liberty of thought than he could find in the Lutheran Church. He then established himself in the Palatinate, and soon gained the good-will of the elector, who ap- pointed him pastor of St. Peter's Church of Heidelberg, and who even formed the project of giving him a pro- fessor's chair in the universitj' of that city. But this |iriiui' wi-hinu- in 1569 to introduce into his states the i.rl.-i-i-ii. ,il ili-.iiilinc of the Church of Geneva, Nen- M-r >iioii^l\ n >i>t<Ml the innovation, perhaps not so much because it departed from the civil power as because this discipline, by an excessive rigor, would have caused an intolerable weight of ecclesiastical despotism over the Reformed Church of the Palatinate. This bold opposi- tion deprived him of tiie good graces of the elector, and he was dismissed from the pastorate. Neiiser now openly espoused Socinianism, to which he had long in- clined, and he exerted himself to spread its jirinciplcs among his friends. Sylvanus, pastor at Ludemburg, joined him in this design, which was communicated to (Jeorg Blandrata, physician of the vaivode of I'ran- sylvania, and to some other ministers who professed the Socinian opinions. It is related that Neuser and Sylvanus souglit to assure themselves of the protec- tion of the sultan Selim, but that they were beuayed
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by the ambassador of the vaivode of Transj'lvania, wliom they had charged with this negotiation, and that he delivered their letters to the elector palatine. Whatever may be the true history of it, they were cer- tainly arrested, and conducted to Amberg. Sylvanus was decapitated in 1572; Neuser succeeded in escaping from his prison, and, after having wandered over the country for some time, arrived in Constantinople, where he became a Mussulman, and died in the Mohammedan faith, Oct. 11, 157G. As might be expected, the mem- ory of this restless and adventurous man has not been spared. He has been accused, though without a))par- ent ground, of all vices, among others of drunkenness. It is just to add that those who have painted him in black colors recognise, however, by a singular contradic- tion, that there never was anything to reprimand in his conduct except his departure from orthodoxy, and this, of course, must be regretted. We are assured that he obtained a great ascendencj' over the people of the Pal- atinate, and that he owed this extraordinary consider- ation as well to his religious zeal as to his eloquence. It is a pity that a man of his ability should have suf- fered himself to be led away from his moorings to land finally in Mohammedanism. The biographical Lexikon of Jcicher assures us that he has left no printed work; the Biographie Universelle, on the contrary, pretends that his writings are numerous, and that tliey have been collected by the Socinians. The Bihliotheque ties Anti-Tnni(ai?-es, which calls him N^eusner, quotes but one— Scopus Septimi Capitis ad Romanos (Ingolstadt, 1583, 8vo). His letter to Selim, if it be authentic, is found in the collection of Mieg — Monunieniu pietatis et. litteraturcB (Frankfort, 1702, 4to), pt. i, p. 318; vol. iii of the Melanr/es tires de la Bihliotheque de Wolfenbilttd has another letter of Neuser, containing the apology for his conduct, dated at Constantinople the Wednesday be- fore Easter of the year 1571. See Jcicher, Gelehrten- Lexikon, s. v. ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Geiierale, s. v. ; Gass, Dogmengesch. ii, 21. (J. H.W.)