NANCY NANTES. 



127 



the confluence of the Sambre with the Mense ; lat. 

 50 28' N.; Ion. 4 21' E.; twenty-eight miles from 

 Brussels; 116 from Amsterdam. The fortifications, 

 which were destroyed by Joseph II. (1784), have 

 been restored, and, since 1817, considerably en- 

 larged ; it has also a citadel on a steep rock. The 

 cathedral is the principal public edifice : there are 

 sixteen other churches, several hospitals, &c. ; popu- 

 lation, 16,150. Cutlery and other iron wares, glass, 

 leather, tobacco, are the principal articles of manu- 

 facture. Nanuir has been often taken in the wars 

 between France, Holland, ami Austria, and has been 

 several times inundated. 



NANCY; a city of France, formerly the capital of 

 the duchy of Lorraine, now the chief place of the 

 department of the Meurthe ; a bishop's see ; lat. 48 

 42' N.; Ion. 6 10' E.; population, 29,122. The 

 natural situation of the city, in a pleasant plain, near 

 the left bank of the Meurthe, is agreeable, and the 

 buildings are handsome. The embellishments of the 

 place are principally owing to Stanislaus, king of 

 Poland, who resided here. The old town is dark and 

 irregularly built, but the new town is regularly laid out, 

 and contains handsome streets, with splendid build- 

 ings and delightful public walks. The royal square, 

 from which a triumphal gate leads into Carriere 

 square, containing a promenade, terminated by the 

 government palace, and two beautiful gates, leading 

 into the old town, and the Pepiniere, a charming 

 walk, is particularly distinguished. Alliance square 

 has its name from two pillars erected, in 1759, com- 

 memorative of the alliance concluded between France 

 and Austria. Among the churches, the cathedral, 

 and the Franciscan church, with its rotunda, are the 

 most deserving of attention ; the latter contains the 

 tomb of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, who 

 fell under the walls of Nancy, in 1477. There are 

 also an academy, a public library of 23,000 volumes, 

 a lyceum, a society of arts and sciences, a cabinet of 

 natural philosophy, a botanical garden, and numerous 

 other literary and charitable institutions. Wool- 

 len and cotton goods and paper hangings are the 

 principal articles of manufacture. Louis XIV. took 

 possession of Nancy in 1661, and caused the fortifica- 

 tions to be demolished. 



NANGASACKI. See Nagasaki. 



NANI, JOHN BAPTIST FELIX CASPAR, a Venetian 

 Historian, was born at Venice, in 1016, and educated 

 with care. In 1638, he accompanied his father to 

 Rome, whither the latter was sent as ambassador. 

 In 1643, he himself was sent as ambassador of the 

 republic to France. His mission lasted twenty-five 

 years, during which he enjoyed the confidence of 

 cardinal Mazarin. He was appointed historiographer 

 and keeper of the archives of the republic. He 

 resided three years as ambassador at Vienna. From 

 Louis XIV., he obtained back Candia. He was 

 also made procurator of St Mark, the highest dignity 

 after that of doge, and was one of the commissioners 

 who compiled the Legum Venetarum compilatarum 

 Methods (1678, 4to). He died in the year 1678. 

 He left a relation of his second mission in France, 

 and a report on the condition and resources of Ger- 

 many ; but his great work is Istoria della Republica 

 1'eneta, the first part of which was published in 1676 

 (4to), the second, after the author's death. It forms 

 the eighth and ninth volume of the Collection of 

 Venetian Historians (1720, 4to). Nani begins his 

 work with the year 1613. It is praised for the poli- 

 tical sagacity which it exhibits, but the style is cen- 

 sured. 



NANKEEN, or NANKING ; a sort of cotton cloth, 

 which takes its name from the city of Nanking, where 

 it was originally manufactured. It is now imitated 

 in most other countries where cotton goods are 



woven ; but those of the East are superior, on 

 account of the natural colour of the cotton (gossypium 

 religiosum) being reddish, while, in those countries 

 where white cotton is used, it is necessary to give it 

 the proper hue by artificial means. 



NAN-KING, or NANKIN, or KIANG-NING : 

 a city of China, capital of Kiang-nan, 500 miles 

 south-east of Peking; Ion. 118 47' E. ; lat. 32 5' 

 N. : the amount of the population is uncertain ; it has 

 been computed at one, two, and even three millions. 

 Nanking surpasses in extent all the other cities of 

 China. We are assured that its walls are sixteen 

 miles in circumference. This city is situated at the 

 distance of three miles from the river Yangtse-kiang. 

 It is of an irregular figure, the mountains which are 

 within its circumference having prevented its being 

 built on a regular plan. It was formerly the imperial 

 city ; for this reason it was called Nan-king, which 

 signifies the southern court ; but since the six grand 

 tribunals were transferred to Pe-king, it has been 

 called Kiang ning, in all the public acts. Nan- 

 king has lost much of its ancient splendour. It 

 had formerly a magnificent palace, no vestige of 

 which is now to be seen ; an observatory, at pre- 

 sent neglected ; temples, tombs of the emperors, 

 and other superb monuments, of which nothing 

 remains but the remembrance. A third of the city 

 is deserted, but the rest is well inhabited. Some 

 quarters of it are extremely populous, and full of 

 business. It is still the first city in China with regard 

 to manufactures. The staple one is silk, also tin; 

 cotton stuffs that bear its name; beautiful paper and 

 printing. It is also the most learned city in the 

 empire, and produces the greatest number of doctors, 

 and has the best furnished booksellers' shops. The 

 streets are not so broad as those of Pe-king ; they 

 are, however, very beautiful, well paved, and bor- 

 dered with rich shops. Here are no public edifices 

 corresponding to the reputation of so celebrated a 

 city, except its gates, which are beautiful, and some 

 temples, among which is the famous porcelain 

 tower a pagoda of octagonal form, 200 feet high, 

 and divided into nine stories, by plain boards within 

 and without, by cornices and small projections 

 covered with green varnished tiles. It is mounted 

 by 884 steps. 



NANNINI, AGNOLO (known under the name of 

 Firenzuola, the place whence his family originated), 

 a celebrated author, born in Florence, in 1493, 

 studied at Sienna and Perugia, went to Rome, and 

 entered the order of Valoinbrosa, and became suc- 

 cessively abbot of Sta. Maria di Spoleto, and of S. 

 Salvador di Vajano. He was, from his youth, a 

 friend of the noted Pietro Aretino, whom he resem- 

 bled in his morals. The time of his death is uncer- 

 tain. His works, of which the best edition appeared 

 at Florence (3 vols. 1763), bear the marks of a 

 lively, satirical, licentious mind ; they are partly in 

 verse and partly in prose, and are celebrated for 

 their purity of style, on which account they are often 

 cited by the Crusca. Among them are two c<>me- 

 dies, I Lucidi and La Trinunzia, an imitation of the 

 Golden Ass of Apuleius, eight Novelle, and a Dia- 

 logue on the Beauty of Women, &c. 



NANTES, a city of France, capital of the depart- 

 ment of the Lower Loire, an episcopal see, is situated 

 on the Loire, twenty-six miles from the Atlantic, in 

 an agreeable country, formerly in the province of 

 Brittany; Ion. 1 23' W.; lat. 47 13' N.; popula- 

 tion, 81,739. It is one of the largest and richest 

 commercial cities in France. Its old ramparts have 

 been demolished, and it is now connected with its 

 five suburbs, which surpass the city in extent and 

 beauty ; it lias twenty squares, seventeen churches, 

 and many handsome buildings; the streets are gene- 



