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NADEN. 217 N^VIUS. ton, Birminfjliam, Jaiuuuy 24, 1858. She at- teiuk'il classes in science at the Biiinintjhani and Midland Institute and at Mason Ccillc;.'c, and became a close student of Herheil Spencer, on wliose philosophy she frequently gave lectures. She died December 23, ISS'J. Miss Xaden pub- lished two volumes of poems; Songs and i<oiuiets of S/irinfftide (1881), and -l Modern Apostle and Other Poems ( 1887 ) . containing pieces, as The Pantheist's Song of Immortality," that give her an assured place among the lesser poets. Consult the Memoir by V. R. Hughes and others (London, 1891); Induction and Deduction, a prize essay, ed. by Lewins (ib., 1890) ; and Complete Poetical Works, ed. by Lewins (ib., 1894). NA'DIR (Ar. nakir, similar, corresponding (i.e., to the zenith) , from ua::ara, to behold, to be face to face). That point in the heavens which is diametrically opposite to the zenith, so that the zenith, nadir, and centre of the earth are in one straight line. The zenith and nadir are 90° distant from every part of the horizon {q.v. ). See Zenith; Meridian Circle. NADIR SHAH, na-der' shil (1G88-1747). A King of Persia, lie belonged to the Afshars, a Turkish tribe. He was born near Kelat. in the centre of the Persian province of Khorasan. At the age of seventeen he was taken prisoner by the Usbek Tatars, but, escaping after four years of captivity, he entered the service of the Governor of Khorasan, and soon obtained high promotion. Having, however, been degraded and punished for some real or supposed offense, he became an outlaw and for several years was the leader of a band of 3000 robbers. At this period the Persian throne was occupied by a usurper, Mir Vaiz, of the Afghan tribe of Ghilzai, who were bitterly hated by the Persians for cruelty and oppression. In favor of the rightful heir, Tahmasp 11., Xadir took up arms against Malik Asliraf, the successor of Vaiz, and in token of his loyalty assumed the name of Tahmasp Kuli, or Slave of Tahmasp. Defeating the usurper in a series of engagements, he freed the provinces of Irak, Fars, and Kirman of even the semblance of Afghan domination. The as- sassination of Ashraf during his retreat ter- minated the war. Tahmasp then ascended the throne, and Xadir received for his services the government of the provinces of Khorasan, Mazan- deran, Seistan. and Kirman. He was sent against the Turks in 1731. and defeated them at Hama- dan, regaining the Armenian provinces which they had .seized in the preceding reign. Mean- while Tahmasp himself had been unsuccessful in his operations against the Turks. Nadir took this as a pretext to imprison the Shah, whose infant son, Abbas II., he placed on the throne in 1732. The death of this puppet, in 1730, opened the way for the elevation of Xailir him- self, who was crowned as Xadir Shah. Februarv 26, 1736. To win the support of the Afghans, the new ruler declared the Sunnite form of Jlohammedanism to be the State religion instead of the Shiite, which has always been favored by the Persians. Xadir resumed the war with the Turks, and, though totally defeated in the first two battles by the Orand Vizier Asman, turned the tide of fortune in the subsequent canipaign, and granted peace to the Turks on condition of receiving Georgia. He also con- ([Uered Afghanistan, and drove back the invading I'sbeks. His ambassador to the tireat Mogul having been nuirdered together with his suite at Jelalabad, and satisfaction having been re- fused, Xadir, in revenge, ravaged the Xorth- west Provinces and took Delhi, the capital of the Great Mogul, which was pillaged against his will (1739). With booty to the amount of four hundred million dollars, including the Koh- i-nur (q.v.) diamond and the famous peacock throne, he returned to the west bank of the Indus. He next reduced Bokhara and Kliwa- rezm, restoring to Persia her limits under the Sassanids, ancl formed plans, which were never realized, for making Persia a maritime power. Embittered by an attempt to assassinate him in 1741, of prompting which he suspected the heir apparent, Rizakuli. wluun he blinded and im- prisoned, Nadir's character underwent a sudden change. Formerly open-hearted, liberal, and talented, he became suspicious, avaricious, and tyrannical. He was assassinated on June 20. 1747, and was succeeded by his nephew, Ali, who as- cended the throne as Adil Shall, or the 'righteous king.' but was deposed within a vear. Consult Maynard, Sadir Hhah (Oxford, 1885). NADLER, na'dler, Karl Chri.stian Oott- FRiEn (1809-49). A German poet, who wrote in the dialect of the Rhenish Palatinate. He was born at Heidelberg, and studied there and at Berlin. His poems, under the title Frdhlich Pale, Oott erhalts (1847; 8th edition, 1882), were excellent pieces of genre verse, tlie drinking songs being peculiarlj- rollicking and musical. NADSON, niit'sSn, Semyon Yakovlevitcii (1862-87). A Russian lyric poet, born in Saint Petersburg, of .Jewish extraction on his father's side. In 1878 he published his first poem. At Dawn. Shortly after he entered the army, but soon left it because of poor health. His volume of poems was bequeathed to the Literary Fund, which had advanced him a loan to go abroad. Its sale — over 50.000 copies — was unprecedented. It is now in the fourteenth edition, an<l a special Xadson Fund of 50,000 rubles has accumulated. His poetry charms by the soft melancholy of a youthful dreamer who is a prey to phj'sical suffering. NJE'VIVS. Gn.eus. One of the earliest Lat- in poets, jirobably born in Campania, in the first half of the third century B.C. In his youth he served in the First Punic War, but later made his appearance at Rome as a dramatic writer. He was very decidedly attached to the plebeian party, and in his plays satirized and lampooned the Roman nobles with extreme virulence. His rashness ultimately caused his banishment to Utica in Africa, where he died about B.C. 200. Besides his dramatic writings, comprising both tragedies and comedies, he wrote an epic poem, De Hello Punico, in the old Sa- turnian metre. Of the plays only a few very unimportant fragments are extant, which may be found in Bothe's Poetarum Latinoruni fleeni- eorum Frafimcnta. i Halberstadt, 1824); Kluss- mann's collection of the same (.Jena, 1843) ; Miiller's Lirii Androniei et Cn. Xavi Frihularum lieliquiw (Berlin. 1885); or Ribbeck's Hen-niem Ifomnnorum Poesis Frapmenta (Leipzig. 1S97- 98). See also Sellar's Roman Poets of the Re- public (Oxford, 1881).