an ancient, large, and flourishing town of France, in the department of Gard, with a bishop's see, and an academy. The manufactures of cloth both of gold and silk, and of stuffs formerly known by the name of serge of Nîmes, exceed that of all the rest of the province. There are several monuments of antiquity, of which the amphitheatre is the principal built by the Romans. The maison quarrée, or the square house, is a piece of architecture of the Corinthian order, and one of the finest in the world. The temple of Diana is in part gone to ruin. It was taken by the English in 1417. The inhabitants were all Calvinists; but Louis XIV. demolished their church in 1685, and built a castle to keep them in awe. It is seated in a delightful plain, abounding in wine, oil, game and cattle. It contains a great number of venerable relics of Roman antiquity and grandeur, which it is not our business to describe, though it is chiefly remarkable for these and its delightful situation. It owed much to M. de Becdelievre, a late bishop there: "A prelate (says Mr Townend) equally distinguished for wisdom, benevolence, and piety; who, by his wisdom and beneficence, in the space of 45 years, much more than doubled the number of inhabitants of Nîmes; for, having found only 20,000, he had the happiness before his death of seeing 50,000 rise up to call him blest." Mr Wraxall says "it is an ill built place, containing in itself nothing extraordinary or remarkable." A hundred fables are related concerning its origin, which is carried into times anterior by many centuries to the Roman conquests. It probably does not occupy at present the fourth part of the ground on which it formerly stood. E. Long. 4. 26. N. Lat. 43. 51.