NICARAGUA SHIP-CANAL 



NICHOLAS 



493 



America (1877); Leoy, Nottw Ocograficat y Ecm.om.ica* 

 tobre Nicarayva (Paris, 1873); Bancroft, History of 

 Pacific Stata : Central America (1882); and Bonvallius, 

 Jfifaraguan Antiquitiet (Stockholm, 1886). 



\iraragiia Ship-canal. The plan of cut- 

 ting a canal through Central America by way of 

 the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua is liy no 

 means new. But the project was not taken up in 

 earnest until 1884, when a treaty with this object 

 in view was signed between the United States and 

 Nicaragua. The Nicaragua Canal Company was 

 formed early in 1889, and operations were com- 

 menced at Greytown, at the mouth of the San 

 Juan, in November of the same year. During the 

 first year of work the harbour was dredged, a pier 

 built, and some 10 miles of railway constructed, 

 and the ground cleared for excavation. The plans 

 liave been prepared by A. G. Menocal or the 

 United States navy. The canal utilises the San 

 Juan and Lake Nicaragua, and will have a total 

 length of 170 miles ; of this distance 121 miles will 

 be free navigation on the river (64J miles) and 

 lake (56A miles), 21 miles free navigation on basins 

 formed liy damming small streams, and 28 miles 

 only will" be excavated. A breadth of only 12 

 miles, with a low divide ( 152 feet above sea-level ), 

 intervenes between the lake and the Pacific ; this 

 will l>e traversed from the lake exit near Rivas to 

 Port Brito by basin navigation and cut stretches of 

 artificial canal. There will l>e three locks on each 

 side of the lake (110 feet above sea-level), and 

 there will be a minimum depth of 30 feet of water 

 in the canal. The original estimated cost was 

 12,000,000. A United States government com- 

 mission in lX!Ki thought 26,000,000 a more likely 

 figure, and recommended some modifications ; and 

 financial and other difficulties have created serious 

 delays. See the problems discussed by Arch. 

 Colquhonn in The Nicaragua Canal (1895). 



Nircola I'isano. See PISANO. 



Niccolo da Folign See ALUNNO. 



Nice (Hal. Nizzn), chief town of the depart- 

 ment of the Alpes Maritime*, France, stands on a 

 beautiful well -sheltered site on the coast, 140 miles 

 E. by N. of Marseilles and 110SW. of Genoa. It 

 has for many long years been celebrated as a winter- 

 resort for invalids ; the number of visitors is usually 

 estimated at 15,000, but in the winter of 1889 

 and 1890 they reached 40,000 to 45,000. The mean 

 temperature of winter is 49 F., of summer 72. 

 Frosts occur but seldom. Pop. (1872) 42,363; 

 (1891) 74,250 (commune, 88,27.1). The city con- 

 sists of three parts the New Town on the west, 

 the Old Town, and the Port on the east. The first 

 of these is the part frequented by foreigners, par- 

 ticularly English ( whence its name of ' English 

 town'). Beautiful promenades stretch along the 

 seashore, and are overlooked by villas and hotels. 

 Numerous bridges across the little river Paglione 

 (Paillon) connect the New Town with the Old or 

 Upper Town. This part, with narrow streets, 

 clusters at the foot of a rocky height, the Castle 

 Hill j on the other (east) side of this hill is the 

 harlionr, which was enlarged to twice its original 

 size in 1889, and deepened to 25 feet. The Castle 

 Hill is an isolated mass of limestone 318 feet high, 

 formerly crowned by a strong castle, now in mins, 

 and is laid out in public gardens. The chief public 

 buildings are the cathedral, the Gothic church 

 of Notre Dame, the natural history museum, art 

 gallery, library, oliservatory, casino, &c. The 

 people manufacture artistic pottery, perfumery, 

 ancf Italian pastes, grow flowers ana southern 

 fruits, the last of which they preserve, and pro- 

 duce inlay work in olive-wood^ Most of these 

 things are exported, chiefly by way of Genoa and 

 Marseilles. The exports from the port of Nice 



range in annual value from 94,656 to 56,982, the 

 greater portion being for olive-oil. The imports, 

 varying from 570,687 to 1,809,590, consist of 

 wine, oil, and cereals, with smaller quantities of 

 coal, charcoal, timber, bran, and flour. The ancient 

 Ligurian town of Niciva, founded by a colony of 

 Phoca>ans from Massalia (Marseilles), became sub- 

 ject to Rome in the 2d century B.C. It was in the 

 hands of the Saracens during the greater part of 

 the 10th century. Then, after existing as an in- 

 dependent city, it acknowledged the supremacy of 

 the Counts of Provence and the House of Savoy 

 (1388). In 1543 it was taken and pillaged by the 

 Turks under Barbarossa. From 1600 onwards it 

 was repeatedly taken by the French ; and they 

 kept possession of it from 1792 to 1814. In 1860 it 

 was ceded to France by Sardinia ( Savoy ). Massena 

 was born near to the city, and Garibaldi in it. See 

 Nash, Guide to Nice (1884). 



Xice, or NIC^EA, a city of ancient Bithynia, in 

 Asia Minor, situated on the eastern shore of Lake 

 Ascania. It was built by Antigonus, the son of 

 Philip. (316 B.C.), and received the name of Anti- 

 goneia, which Lysimachus changed to Nica>a, in 

 honour of his wife. It was a handsome town, and 

 of great im[K>rtance in the time of the Roman and 

 Bvzantine emperors. It is famous in ecclesiastical 

 history for two Councils held in it, the First and 

 Seventh Ecumenical Councils. The First Council 

 of Nice was held 325 A.D., and was convened by 

 the Emperor Constantine, for the purpose of defin- 

 ing the questions raised in the Allan controversy 

 (see ARIUS, ATHANASIUS) ; the Nicene Creed 

 adopted is discussed at Ci'.KKD. The Council also 

 deliWrated on the Meletian Schism ; and its decree 

 on the celebration of Easter met with universal 

 acceptance. See Stanley's History of the Eastern 

 Church. The Second Council assembled under the 

 Empress Irene (787), for the purpose of reconsider- 

 ing the subject of Images (see IMAGE- WORSHIP). 



Nicholas the name of five popes and an anti- 

 pope. NICHOLAS I. was born of a noble Roman 

 family, and was elected as successor to Benedict 

 III. in 858. He showed great persistence in his 

 endeavours to assert the supremacy of the Roman 

 curia, especially in his successful disputes with Arch- 

 bishop Johannes of Ravenna, Archbishop Hincmar 

 of Kheims, and the patriarch Photius of Constant- 

 inople. His latest triumph was the restoration to 

 her rights of Tliietberga, the unjustly divorced wife 

 of the Emperor Ludwig's younger brother, Lothaire, 

 king of Lorraine. A synod of Metz in 862 had 

 allowed the king to put her away and marry his 

 mistress, but the pope reversed the judgment and 

 deposed the too compliant Archbishop* of Cologne 

 and Treves. Nicholas died in 868. NICHOLAS V. 

 was originally called Thomas Parentucelli. Born 

 at Pisa in 1398, he was educated at Florence and 

 Bologna, and was named Bishop of Bologna by 

 Eugenius IV. He showed such astuteness during 

 the troubles of the Councils of Basel and Florence 

 that he was chosen to succeed Eugenius IV. in 1447. 

 He prevailed on the antipope, Felix V., to abdi- 

 cate, and thus restored the peace of the church in 

 1449. He was a liberal patron of scholars, and 

 despatched agents both to the East and West, to 

 purchase or to copy important Greek and Latin 

 manuscripts. The number collected is said to have 

 exceeded 5000. He remodelled, and may almost be 

 said to have founded, the Vatican Library. He 

 invited to Rome the most eminent scholars of the 

 world, and extended his especial patronage to 

 those Greeks whom the troubles of their native 

 country drove to seek a new home in the West. 

 He endeavoured to arouse the Christian princes of 

 Europe to the duty of succouring their brethren of 

 the East ; but the age of enthusiasm was past, and 



