Narses, a domestic slave of Alexius Comnēnus, emperor of Greece.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).
Naso, Ovid, the Roman poet, whose full name was Publius Ovidius Naso. (Naso means “nose.”) Hence the pun of Holofernes:
And why Naso, but for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy?—Shakespeare, Love’s Labor’s Lost, act iv. sc. 2 (1594).
Nathan the Wise, a prudent and wealthy old Jew who lives near Jerusalem in the time of Saladin. The play is a species of argument for religious toleration.—G. E. Lessing, Nathan der Weise (1778).
Nathaniel (Sir), the grotesque curate of Holofernês.—Shakespeare, Love’s Labor’s Lost (1594).
Nathos, one of the three sons of Usnoth, lord of Etha (in Argyllshire), made commander of the Irish army at the death of Cuthullin. For a time he propped up the fortune of the youthful Cormac, but the rebel Cairbar increased in strength and found means to murder the young king. The army under Nathos then deserted to the usurper, and Nathos, with his two brothers, was obliged to quit Ireland. Dar´-Thula, the daughter of Colla, went with them to avoid Cairbar, who persisted in offering her his love. The wind drove the vessel back to Ulster, where Cairbar lay encamped, and the three young men, being overpowered, were slain. As for Dar-Thula, she was pierced with an arrow, and died also.—Ossian, Dar-Thula.
Nation of Gentlemen. The Scotch were so called by George IV., when he visited Scotland in 1822.
Nation of Shopkeepers. The English were so called by Napoleon I.
National Assembly. (1) The French deputies which met in the year 1789. The states-general was convened, but the clergy and nobles refused to sit in the same chamber with the commons, so the commons or deputies of the tiers état withdrew, constituted themselves into a deliberative body, and assumed the name of the Assemblée Nationale. (2) The democratic French parliament of 1848, consisting of 900 members elected by manhood suffrage, was so called also.
National Convention, the French parliament of 1792. It consisted of 721 members, but was reduced, first to 500, then to 300. It succeeded the National Assembly.