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taking a prominent part in the storming of the Petite Rhune, and at the passage of the Nive. He was severely wounded in defending the churchyard of Arcanques ; and was again engaged at Orthes. He re- turned to England in April or May 1814, and received the brevet rank of Lieutenant- Colonel at the termination of the campaign. After recovering from a protracted illness, resulting from wounds and exposure, he joined the Military College at Farnham, whence he was hurried to Belgium in the summer of 181 5 ; but, much to his mortification, arrived too late to take part in the battle of "Waterloo. He now de- voted himself to literary pursuits, while taking an intelligent and active interest in home politics. From 1842 to 1848 he was Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey ; in the latter year he was created a K.C.B., and subsequently a General. Besides minor publications, he wrote The Conquest of Sdnde (1844) ; a history of his brother Charles's administration of Scinde (185 1) ; English Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula (1855); and Life and Opinions of General Sir Charles Napier, 4 vols. (1857). In this last work, as remarked by a critic, "the ido- latry of the Napiers was carried to the ex- tremest] fanaticism, and every one who had by any chance interfered with the plans or prospects of either of the brothers was attacked with the most contemptuous acerbity." The great work upon which his reputation as an author rests is his History of the War in the Peninsula and the South of France, 1807 to 18 14. The first volume appeared in 1828, and the sixth and last in 1840. This History has passed through several editions, and is con- sidered a standard work. The following remarks upon it will be found in the English Cyclopczdia (1857) : "Perhaps no military history of equal excellence has ever been written. It cost the author six- teen year of continuous labour. He was himself a witness of several of the series of operations, and was engaged in many of the battles. His wide acquaintance with military men enabled him to consult many distinguished officers, English and French, and he was especially supplied with materials and documents by the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Soult. The ordi- nary sources of information were embar- rassing from their abundance. One mass of materials deserves especial mention. When Joseph Bonaparte fled from Vit- toria, he left behind him a very large collection of letters, which, however, were without order, in three languages, many almost illegible, and the most important in cipher, of which there was no key. It 3S8
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was the correspondence of Joseph Bona- parte while nominally King of Spain. Sir William Napier was in a state of per- plexity, and almost in despair of being able to make any use of these valuable materials, when his wife undertook to ar- range the letters according to dates and subjects, to make a table of reference, and to translate and epitomize the contents of each. Many of the most important docu- ments were entirely in cipher; of some letters about one-half was in cipher, and others had a few words so written inter- spersed. All these documents and letters Lady Napier arranged, and with a rare, sagacity and patience she deciphered the secret writing. The entire correspondence was then made available for the historian's purpose. She also made out Sir William Napier's rough interlined manuscripts, which were almost illegible to himself, and wrote out the whole work fair for the printers, it may be said three times, so frequent were the changes made. Sir William Napier mentions these facts in the preface to the edition of 1851, and in pay- ing his tribute to Lady Napier, observes that this amount of labour was accom- plished without her having for a moment neglected the care and education of a large famUy." Criticisms and rejoinders to state- ments in this work form almost a literature in themselves, and are fully detailed by Allibone. General Sir William Napier died at Clapham, 1 2th February 1 860, aged 74. A marble statue has been erected to his memory in St. Paul's Cathedral. '^ ^so*
Nary, Cornelius, Rev., was born in the County of Kildare in 1660, and received his education at Naas. At twenty-four years of age he was ordained at Kilkenny, and shortly afterwards removed to Paris. He studied at the Irish College, of which he subsequently became Pro visor, and in 1694 took the degree of LL.J), at Cambray. After actuig for a time as tutor to the Earl of Antrim, he returned to Ireland, and was appointed parish priest of St.Michan's, in Dublin, where he continued until his death on the 3rd March 1738, aged about 78. Harris styles him " a man of learning and of a good character." He was the author of The Chief Points in Controversy between the Catholics and the Protestants (Antwerp, 1699) ; The New Testament Translated into English from the Latin (Lond. 1705); and some thirteen other works enumerated by Harris. ^^^
Neilson, Samuel, United Irishman. See Addendum,
Neligan, John Moore, M.D., a dis- tinguished physician, was born in 181 5 at Clonmel. At an early age he lost his
