NERI
NERO
On SUi. Ncreuii and Arhillous: Ada SS.. May. Ill, 6-13; Mou-
BRITK'H, Sanetuarium. I, 23S-40; 11. 159 8qq.. 201; Bibliotheca
htn/un;Taphica Lil\na, il. SS3 jiqq.: Bibliotheea hag. gr(rca^'2a(i f^d.,
ISS; WiKTH. Acta SS. .\erri el AchitleC (LcipilR. 1S90); AcuELlB,
ActaSS. SfTfiet AchiUfiili Tfxteund Untersuchunofn.Xl, 2 (Leip-
lifi, 18y2); ScHAKFEB. Dif Akten der hi. \ereu3 und AchilUus in
Rdmuchr QuarUiUchrift (1SU4). 89-119; DcFOlBCQ, Lei (Sella
MarlvTum Romaina, I (Paris. 190O). 251-55, 305-07; L'bbais,
Bin Martyrologium der chriiU. Gemeinde zu Rom (Leipzig. 1901).
143-44; Allard. Hiftoire des perifcutious. I (2nd ed.. Paris. lsy2).
168 sq.; DE R088I in Butlettino di archeologia criitiana (1874), 5
aqq., 6S sqq., 122 sqq. (1S75), 5 sqq.; Maritchi, Guide des cfita-
combes romaines (Home. 1903), 97 sq. On St. Pnncratius: Ada
SS., May. III. 21; Analecta Bollandiana, X. 53-56; Ditoircq.
GeMa Martj/Tum Romains, I, 235-37; Marucchi, Guide des cata-
combet TOTTtaines, 43-46.
J. P. KiRSCH.
Neri, Antonio, Florentine chemist, b. in Florence in tlie sixteenth century; d. 1614, place unknown. We have hut few details of his life; Dr. Merret. an English i)hysician. who translated his work only fifty years after its first publication, states in his preface that he could find no account whatever of the author. It is known however that he was a priest and devoted to the study of chemistry: he travelled somewhat extensively in Italy and Holland, and during these journeys gained a great deal of information concerning the manufacture of glass and its treatment for various purposes. This knowledge he gave to the world in his book "L'Arte Vetraria", which for a long time formed the basis of most other works on this subject. It is a book rich in detail, giving the then known methods of making glass, of colouring it, and of imitating precious stones. The original work has appeared in three editions: Florence, 1612; Florence, 1661; and Milan, 1817. In 1662 Merret translated it into Latin, adding to it notes and a commentary of his own: this was publi-shed at Amsterdam in 1668 and again in 1681. It w;is translated into German by Johann Kunckel, who publislied a revised and enlarged edition of it in 1689. About a centurj' later there appeared the French edition, "Art de la Verrerie de Neri, Merret et Kunckel", etc., "Traduits de I'.^llemand par M. D***" (Pari.s, 1752).
Brunet. Manuel du Libraire, IV (Paris. 1863); Pogoendorff, Handworterhuch zur Geschichte der exacien Wissenscha/ten, II (Leipzig, 1863): prefaces to the various translations mentioned above.
Edw.^rd C. Phillips.
Nerinckz, Charles, missionary priest in Ken- tucky, founder of the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross, b. in Herffelingen, Belgium, 2 Oct., 1761; d. at Ste. Genevieve, Mo., 12 August, 1824. He was the eldest of the fourteen children of Dr. Sebastian Xerinckx and Petronilla Langendries. He studied at Enghien and Gheel, made his philosophy at Louvain, and entered the theological seminary of Mechlin in 1781. Ordained in 1785, he became vicar at the cathedral of Mechlin, where he was noted for his zeal among the working classes. In 1794 he ob- tained the pastoral charge of Everberg-Meerbeke, where the devotion to the spiritual interest of his people developed that deep love for children which later characterized his misi?ionary labours in America. During his incumbency he wrote several theological treatises the manuscripts of which are still preserved in the parish archives. The I>ench Directoire re- sented his activity and ordered his arrest, but he eluded the gen.^ d'armen (1797) and for four years was in hiding at the Hospital of Dendermonde, where he continued his ministry amid continual dangers. He came to America in 1,S04. Bishop Carroll assigning him to Kentucky in 1S05. The district given to his charge was over two hundred miles in length and covered nearly half the State. He lived in the saddle; every year of hLs apostolate was marked by the organi- zation of a new ('ongregation or the building of a church. Of all the missionaries who worked in that field none deser\'es so well the title of "Apostle of Kentucky". His direction of souls was so efficient
and enlightened that to this very day the grand-
children of his penitents are still prominently known
for the earnestness of their faith and the solid-
ity of their virtue. His well-deserved fame reached
Baltimore and Bishop Carroll induced the Holy See
to appoint him Bishop of New Orleans, but Father
Nerinckx refused the honour. The Catholic education
of children was his most cherished work and to secure
its permanency he founded the Congregation of the
Sisters of Loretto in 1812. He cros.sed the ocean twice
to secure help and labourers for the missions; he thus
became instrumental in bringing from Belgium the
first Jesuits who .settled in the West, notably Father
De Sniet and Bishop Van de ^'elfle. He brought to
America a number of paintings which are to this day
the most valuable art treasures of the Diocese of
Louisville. Persecution was not wanting to him, and
for the sake of peace he went to Missouri in 1824,
intending to consecrate the last years of his life to the
Indians, but death overtook him at Ste. Genevieve.
His mortal remains were brought back to Loretto.
The Sisters erected a marble statue of their founder at
the mother-hou.se in 1910.
.Spalding, Sketches of Kentucky (Louisville, 1844); Webb. Ccn- tenary of Catholicity in Kentucky (Louis\-ilIe, 1884) ; Maes, Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx (Cincinnati, 1880); MSS. of the Botlandist Library (Brussels).
Camillus p. Maes.
Nero, 54-68, the last Roman emperor of the .lulian- Claudian line, was the son of Domitius Ahenobar- bus and Julia Agrippina, niece of Emperor Claudius. .\fter the violent death of his first wife, Valeria Messa- hna. Emperor Claudius married Julia, adopted her son Nero and gave him in marriage his own daughter, Octavia. Nero's mother had a mind to commit any crime to put him on the throne, and to prepare him for this station she had L. Anna^us Seneca appointed his tutor, and caused the freedman Afranius Burrus, a rough but experienced soldier, to be made commander of the Prxtorian guard. These men were the advisers and chief supporters of Nero on his becoming emperor, after the sudden death of Claudius. Nero was bom in Antium on 15 December, a. d. 37, and was seventeen years old when he became emperor. He believed him- self to be a great singer and poet . .All the better dispo- sitions of his nature had been stifled by his sensuality and moral perversity. Agrippina had expected to be a partner of her son in the government, but owing to her autocratic character, this lasted only a short time. The first years of Nero's reign, under the direction of Burrus and Seneca, the real holders of power, were auspicious in every way. A series of regulations either abrogated or lessened the hardships of direct taxation, the arbitrariness of legislation and provincial adminis- tration, so that Rome and the empire were delighted, and the first five years of Nero's government were accounted the happiest of all time, regarded by Trajan as the best of the imperial era.
Under Claudius, the Armenians and Parthians had revolted, and the proconsul had been unable to uphold the prestige of the Roman arms. Seneca advised Nero to assert his rights over Armenia, and Domitius Cor- bulo was recalled from Germany and Britain to go with fresh troops to Cappadocia and Galatia, where he stormed the two Armenian capitals, Artaxata and Tigranocerta in a. d. 59 and made his headquarters in the city of Nisibis. King Tividates was dethroned, and Tigranes, Nero's favourite, made vassal in his stead. But the position of Tigranes was insecure, and Vologeses, King of the Parthians, who had previously retired from .Armenia and given hostages to the Ro- mans, rekindled the war, defeated the new proconsul Patus, and forced him to capitulate. Corbulo again took command and recognized Tividates as king on condition that he should lay down his crown before the image of Nero, and acknowledge his lordship over Armenia as granted by Nero; this so flattered the
