an ancient, handsome, and considerable town on the confines of France and Italy, and capital of a county of the same name, with a strong citadel, a bishop's see. It had formerly a senate, and was a kind of a democracy. It was united to France during the late revolution, but was disjoined from it in 1814, and is now included in the dominions of Sardinia. It is very agreeably situated, four miles from the mouth of the river Var, 83 miles S. by W. of Turin. E. Long. 6. 22. N. Lat. 43. 42.

province formerly belonging to the duke of Savoy, but now annexed to France. The inhabitants supply Genoa with timber for building ships; and carry on a trade in linen cloth, paper, oil, wine, and honey.

Although the county of Nice be on this side of the mountains, geographers have always considered it as a province of Italy, since they have given to this beautiful province of Italy the river Var for a western limit, which is also the boundary of the county, and flows into the sea at a league distance from the capital. This province is partly covered by the maritime Alps; and is bordered on the east by Piedmont, and the states of Genoa; on the south by the Mediterranean; on the west by the Var; and on the north by Dauphiny. Its length is about 20 leagues of the country, which make about 36 English miles; its breadth is 10 leagues; and its population is about 120,000 souls.

The city of Nice is the capital, and the seat of the bishopric, and government. It has become, within these few years, a delightful abode, by the number of strangers who assemble there in the winter, either to re-establish their health, or to enjoy the mildness of the climate, and the beauty of the country, where an unceasing verdure presents eternal spring.

The town is situated on the sea shore, and is backed by a rock entirely insulated, on which was formerly a castle, much esteemed for its position; but it was destroyed in the year 1706 by Marechal Berwick, the garrison being too thin to defend the extent of the works. There is a distinction between the old and the new town; this last is regular, the houses are well built, and the streets are wide. Its position is by the side of the sea, and it is terminated, on one side, by a charming terrace, which serves for a promenade.

Any person may live peaceably in this province, without fear of being troubled on points of faith, provided he conducts himself with decorum. The town has three suburbs. 1st, That of St John, which conducts to Cimier, about three leagues north from Nice, &c. The promenades this way are very delightful, and may be enjoyed in a carriage. 2d, That of the Poudriere. That of the Croix de Marbre, or Marble Cross. This suburb is new; and the English almost all lodge in it, being very near the town. The houses are commodious, facing on one side the great road which leads to France, and on the other a fine garden, with a prospect of the sea. All the houses are separate from each other: the company hire them for the season, i.e., from October till May. Apartments may be had from 15 to 250 louis. The proprietors commonly furnish linen, plate, &c. There are also in the town very large and commodious houses; as well as the new road, which is opened from the town to the port, by cutting that part of the rock which inclined toward the sea. The situation is delightful, and warmest in winter, being entirely covered from the north wind, and quite open to the south.

"The company is brilliant at Nice, and the amusements of the Carnival are, in proportion to the size of the town, as lively as in any of the great ones in France. There is always an Italian opera, a concert and masked ball, alternately; and the company play rather high.

"It is impossible to find a happier climate than Nice, both for summer and winter. Reaumur's thermometer, in 1781, never fell more than three degrees below the freezing point, and that only for two days; whilst at Geneva it fell ten; and in the course of the winter of 1785 it fell only two degrees; while at Geneva it fell 15. The month of May is rarely so fine in France as February at Nice. The summer is not so hot as might be expected. The thermometer never rises more than 24 degrees (86° Fahrenheit) above temperate in the shade; and there is always an agreeable sea breeze from ten in the morning till sunset, when the land breeze comes on. There are three chains of graduated mountains, the last of which confound their summits with the Alps; and to this triple rampart is owing the mild temperature so sensibly different from that of the neighbouring parts.

"The cultivation of the ground is as rich as can be desired. There are alternately rows of corn and beans, separated by vines attached to different fruit-trees, the almond and the fig; so that the earth being incessantly cultivated, and covered with trees, olive, orange, cedar, pomegranate, laurel, and myrtle, causes the constant appearance of spring, and forms a fine contrast with the summits of the Alps, in the background, covered with snow."

ancient town of Asia, in Natalia, now called Isnic, with a Greek archbishop's see. It is famous for the general council assembled here in 325, which endeavoured to suppress the doctrines of Arius. It was formerly a large, populous, and well built place, and even now is not inconsiderable. See Isnic.

Nicene Creed, was composed and established, as a proper summary of the Christian faith, by the council at Nice in 325, against the Arians.—It is also called the Constantinopolitan creed, because it was confirmed with some few alterations, by the council of Constantinople in 381. See Creed.

Nicephorus, Gregoras, a Greek historian, was born about the close of the 13th century, and flourished in the 14th, under the emperors Andronicus, John Palaeologus, and John Cantacuzenus. He was a great favourite of the elder Andronicus, who made him librarian of the church of Constantinople, and sent him ambassador to the prince of Servia. He accompanied this emperor in his misfortunes, and assisted at his death; after which he repaired to the court of the younger Andronicus, where he seems to have been well received; and it is certain that, by his influence over the Greeks, that church was prevailed on to refuse entering into any conference with the legates of Pope John XXII. But in the dispute which arose between Bartham and Palamos, taking the part of the former, he maintained it zealously in the council that was held at Constantinople in 1351, for which he was cast into prison, and continued there till the return of John Palaeologus, who released him; after which he held a disputation with Palamos, in the presence of that emperor. He compiled a history, which in 11 books contains all that passed from 1224, when Constantinople was taken by the French, to the death of Andronicus Palaeologus the younger, in 1341.—The best edition of this work is that of the Louvre, in Greek and Latin, in 1702.

Nicephorus, Colossus, a Greek historian, who flourished in the 14th century under the emperor Andronicus Palaeologus the elder, wrote an ecclesiastical history in 23 books; 18 of which are still extant, containing the transactions of the church from the birth of Christ to the death of the emperor Phocas in 610.—We have nothing else but the arguments of the other five books, from the commencement of the reign of the emperor Heraclius, to the end of that of Leo the Philosopher, who died in the year 911. Nicephorus dedicated his history to Andronicus Palaeologus the elder. It was translated into Latin by John Langius; and has gone through several editions, the best of which is that of Paris, in 1632.

Niceron, John Francis, a French philosopher, was born at Paris in 1613. Having finished his academical studies, with a success which raised the greatest hopes of him, he entered into the order of the Minims, and took the habit in 1632; and, as is usual, he changed the names given him at his baptism for that of Francis, the name of his paternal uncle, who was also a Minim, or Franciscan. The inclination and taste which he had for mathematics appeared early. He began to apply himself to that science in his philosophical studies, and devoted to it all the time he could spare from his other employments, after he had completed his studies in theology. All the branches of the mathematics, however, did not equally engage his attention; he confined himself particularly to optics, and only learned of the rest as much as was necessary for rendering him perfect in this. There remain still, in several houses wherein he dwelt, especially at Paris, some excellent performances, which discover his skill in this way, and which make us regret that a longer life did not suffer him to carry it to that perfection which he desired; since one cannot help being surprised that he proceeded so far as he did, in the midst of those occupations and travels by which he was forced from it during the short space of time which he lived. He hath himself observed in the preface to his Thaumaturgus Opticus, that he went twice to Rome; and that, on his return home, he was appointed teacher of theology. He was afterwards chosen to accompany Father Francis de la Noue, vicar general of the order, in his visitation of the convents throughout all France. But the eagerness of his passion for study put him upon making the best of all the moments he had to spare for books; and that wise economy furnished him with as much as satisfied him. Being taken sick at Aix in Provence, he died there Sept. 22, 1636, aged 33. He was an intimate acquaintance of Des Cartes. The following are his principal works: *L'Interpretation des chiffres, ou regles pour bien entendre et expliquer facilement toutes sortes des chiffres simples*, &c. 2. *La perspective curieuse, ou magie artificielle des effets merveilleux de l'optique, catoptrique, et dioptrique*. This is only an essay to the following work: 3. *Thaumaturgus opticus, sive, Admira nda opticae, catoptrices, et dioptrices, pars prima*, &c. Two other parts were intended to complete the latter work, but were unfinished at his death.