MYSTERIES, sacred rites and ceremonies of stated observance among the Greeks and Romans in connection with the worship of particular divinities, to which only the initiated were admitted, and in which, by associating together, they quickened and confirmed each other in their faith and hope, and in which it would seem they made solemn avowal of these; the name is also applied to the MIRACLE PLAYS (q. v.) of the Middle Ages.

MYSTICISM, a state of mind and feeling induced by direct communion with the unseen, and by indulging in which the subject of it estranges himself more and more from those who live wholly in the outside world, so that he cannot communicate with them and they cannot understand him.

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NABOB.  See NAWAB.

NABOTH, a Jew, who was stoned by order of Ahab, king of Israel, because he refused to sell him his vineyard, an outrage for which Ahab was visited by Divine judgment; is symbol, in the regard of the Jews, of the punishment sure to overtake all rich oppressors of the poor.

NACHTIGAL, GUSTAV, German traveller and explorer; visited (1869-1874), the first European to do so, at the instance of Prussia, by way of Tripoli, the heart of Africa, and returned by way of Cairo, and wrote an account of his journey, “Sahara and Sudan”; in 1884 annexed to Germany territory in West Africa; died on his return journey, and was buried at Cape Palmas (1834-1885).

NADIR, name given to the part of the heavens directly under our feet, as zenith to that directly over our head.

NADIR SHAH, king of Persia, born in Khorassan of low origin; began his career as a brigand; set himself at the head of 3000 brigands to deliver Persia from the yoke of the Afghans, and expelled them, rising by degrees to the sovereignty of Persia himself; made war on the Afghans, invaded Hindustan, and took and plundered Delhi, restoring its former dominion to the Persian monarchy; became subject to suspicion of plots against him, had recourse to violence, and was assassinated (1688-1747).

NAEVIUS, CNEIUS, one of the earliest Roman poets, born in Campania; wrote dramas, and an epic poem on the first Punic War, in which he had served; satirised the aristocracy, and was obliged to leave Rome, where he had spent thirty years of his life; died at Utica (265-204 B.C.).

NAGARI, the name given to the characters In Sanskrit and Hindi alphabets.

NAGAS, in the Hindu mythology “deified serpents,” sons of Kadru, a personification of darkness, are represented as more or less invested with a human form, and endowed with knowledge, strength, and beauty; live in the depths of the ocean, and their capital city exposes to the vision a display of the most dazzling riches.  They are not always represented as harmful; though armed with poison they possess the elixir of strength and immortality, and form the supports of the universe.  They are a reflection of the belief that the deadly powers as well as the regenerative centre in one and the same deity, in his wisdom killing that he may make alive.  Also the name of a race of aborigines in North-East India.