NEVERS is the capital of the Nevernois in France, and government of Orleansis. It is situated E. longitude 3.15. N.latitude 46.50. on the river Loire, which here receives the rivulet Nevre, from which this city derives its name. It is a place of great antiquity, supposed to be Caesar's Noviodunum in Aeduis, where he erected magazines for his armies. Francis I. made it a duchy and principality in 1521, in favour of Francis of Cleve, to whom it came by marriage. It devolved afterwards to the house of Mantua, and then to the Palatine family, who in 1651 sold it to cardinal Mazarin. The cardinal obtained a title of duke and peer for his nephew Philip Mancini, in whose family it continued till the late revolution, though it is impossible, in the present unsettled state of France, to say what property it may be now. The town is fortified with walls, defended with many high towers and deep ditches, and is the seat of a bishopric, suffragan of Sens, as likewise of a bailiwick and chamber of accounts.

(a) We have given this detail in Mr Coxe's own words, as it appears to us to deserve attention on account of the greatness of the project, which would have excited admiration had it been attempted by one enlightened by science and liberal arts, much more when it comes through the humble medium of a Russian peasant. It was never executed, as we are just informed by a gentleman who left St Petersburgh about the beginning of June 1793; but the model remains, and is still shown. The same gentleman (we quote his own words) adds, "that every mechanic thinks it practicable; and that the general belief is, that the empress would have built it, had she not found use for all her money in carrying on her warlike and diplomatic transactions with other courts." Nevers, counts. There is a stone-bridge on the Loire, with twenty arches, a draw-bridge on each side, and towers to defend them. The cathedral is dedicated to St Cyr. There are eleven parishes in the town, and a great many religious houses. The Jesuits college near the gate des Ardelliers is a handsome structure. The palace of the dukes of Nevers has a large front between two great towers, with a court on one side and a garden on the other. Here it was that John Casimir king of Poland died the 16th of December 1672.

Near this palace stands the convent of Cordeliers, who have a magnificent church, in which the tombs of duke John and Catharine of Bourbon on the right, and those of Lewis of Gonzaga duke of Nevers, and Henrietta of Cleves his wife, merit your attention.—This town is famous for its glass-manufacture and earthen-ware, and is said to contain about 8000 inhabitants.

In the centre of Nevers, on the summit of a hill, is built the palace of the ancient dukes. It appears to have been constructed in the sixteenth century, and though beginning to exhibit marks of decay, is yet a model of the beauty and delicacy of the Gothic architecture. The apartments are hung with tapestry of 200 years old, which have an air of grotesque and rude magnificence. There is in one of the chambers a portrait of Madame de Montespan, who appears rising from a superb couch, the curtains of which are drawn back, and supported by Cupids. Her attitude is half voluptuous, half contemplative. She is dressed in a negligent dishebble, and her hair floats down over her shoulders and neck in waving ringlets. Her head rests on her left hand, and one of her feet is concealed by her robe; the other, which is naked to the mid-leg, and on which the painter, with great taste, has exhausted all his art, is placed on an embroidered cushion. Her slippers are thrown carelessly by.