pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
NICEPHORUS, Gregoras, a Greek historian, was born about the close of the thirteenth century, and flourished in the fourteenth, 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 as 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 Barlaam and Palamos, he took part with the former, and maintained his cause zealously in the council held at Constantinople in 1351. For this 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 the Byzantine history from 1204, when Constantinople was taken by the French, to the death of Andronicus the younger, in 1341; a work which is not only barbarous in style, but inaccurate in facts. This history, with a Latin translation by Jerome Wolf, was printed at Basil in 1562, and again at Geneva in 1615; but a more correct edition than either of the preceding is that which was printed at the Louvre in 1702, by Boivin, in two vols. folio. Nicephorus was the author of several other works, all of which remain inedited, excepting his Scholia upon the treatise of Synesius de Insomniis, which were published by Turnebus in 1553.

Nicephorus, Calistus, a learned monk of Constantinople, who flourished in the fourteenth century, under the Emperor Andronicus Palaeologus the elder. He wrote in Greek an ecclesiastical history in twenty-three books, eighteen of which are still extant, and contain the transactions of the church from the birth of Christ till the death of the Emperor Phocas in the year 610. Of the other five books we have nothing but the arguments, which show that they embraced the portion extending 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. This history was dedicated 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, published in 1630.
NICETAS, David, a Greek historian, a native, as some relate, of Paphlagonia, who lived about the end of the ninth century. He wrote the Life of St Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople, which was translated into Latin by Frederic Mutius, bishop of Termoli; and he also composed several panegyrics in honour of the apostles and other saints, which are inserted in the last continuation of the Bibliotheca Patrum by Combesis.

Nicetas, Achominates, a Greek historian of the thirteenth century, called also Choniates, from having been born at Chone, or Colossus, in Phrygia. He was employed in several considerable affairs at the court of Constantinople; and when that city was taken by the French in 1204, he withdrew, with a young French captive, whom he afterwards married at Nice, in Bithynia, where he ended his days in 1206. He wrote a History, or Annals, from the death of Alexius Comnenus in the year 1118, to that of Badouin"in 1205; a work of which we have a Latin translation by Jerome Wolf, printed at Basil in 1557, and inserted in the body of the Byzantine Historians, printed at the Louvre.
NICHOLSBURG, a city in the circle of Brunn, in the Austrian province of Moravia. It is the municipal city of a majorat belonging to Prince Dietrichstein, which comprehends four market-towns and eight villages. There is a most magnificent palace, in a most picturesque situation, belonging to the noble proprietor, in which is a library containing 20,000 volumes. There are a minster and several other churches, with 760 houses and 7420 inhabitants, who carry on some extensive woollen and cotton manufactures, and much internal trade towards Vienna. Near to it are vineyards, yielding good wine. Long. 16. 31. 25. E. Lat. 48. 47. N.
NICODEMUS, a disciple of Jesus Christ, one who was a Jew by nation, and by sect a Pharisee. The Scripture calls him a ruler of the Jews, and our Saviour gives him the name of a master of Israel. When our Saviour began to manifest himself by his miracles at Jerusalem, at the first passover which he celebrated there after his baptism, Nicoemus made no doubt but that he was the Messiah, and came to him by night, that he might learn of him the way of salvation. Jesus told him, that no one could see the kingdom of heaven except he should be born again. Nicoemus, taking this in the literal acceptation, asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” To this Jesus replied, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Nicoemus asked him, “How can these things be ?” Jesus answered, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? No one hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever bclieveth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

After this conversation Nicoemus became a disciple of Jesus Christ, and there is little doubt that he went to hear him as often as our Saviour visited Jerusalem. It happened, however, that the priests and Pharisees had sent officers to seize our Lord; but they, returning to their employers, reported, that never man spoke as he did. To this the Pharisees replied, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him ?” Upon this Nicoemus thought himself obliged to make answer, saying, “Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth ?” To this they replied, “Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. After this the council was dismissed. At last Nicoemus declared himself openly to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and he came along with Joseph of Arimathea to pay the last duties to the body of Christ, which they took down from the cross, embalmed, and laid in a sepulchre.

we are told that Nicoemus received baptism from the disciples of Christ; but it is not mentioned whether this was before or after the passion of our Lord. It is added, that the Jews being informed of the circumstance, deposed him from his dignity of senator, excommunicated him, and drove him from Jerusalem; but that Gamaliel, who was his cousin-german, took him to his country-house, and maintained him there till his death, when he was honourably interred near St Stephen. There is still extant an apocryphal gospel under the name of Nicoemus, which in some manuscripts bears the title of the Acts of Pilate.
NICOLAIEV, or Nicoaief, a city of Russia, in the province of Cherson. It stands on the river Bug, at about eight leagues from the entrance of that river into the Black Sea, and at the point where the river Ingoul falls into it. From the entrance of the Bug at Oczakow, up to this city, its depth in the mid-channel is from four to six fathoms, and the navigation is consequently safe for the largest ships. This place is one of the chief naval arsenals on the Black Sea, and, besides ships of war, many gun-boats, with sails and oars fit for navigation, are built and equipped. The timber for ship-building comes chiefly by the Dnieper to Cherson. The admiral commanding in chief in the Black Sea, and a number of inferior officers, have their permanent residence at this place. The town is much scattered; its streets are wide and regular, and many of them are planted with trees on both sides, but scarcely any of them are paved. Almost all the houses are built of stone, and separated from each other by trees and gardens; but scarcely any of them are of a large size, and few have any pretensions to magnificence. The climate is healthy, the air is pure, rents are moderate, provisions are cheap, and the society is good; but fuel is scarce, and water is conveyed from a very copious fountain near the gates of the city. The principal public buildings are a new church in the great square, the guild-hall, the admiralty, the docks, the custom-house, the marine barracks, and the hospital. There is a school for naval instruction and for the education of the artillery, and a fine astronomical observatory. The number of inhabitants is now about 15,000, the greater part of whom are connected with the marine service. The observatory is situated in longitude 32. 0. 15. E. and latitude 46. 59. N.
NICOLAITANS, in ecclesiastical history, Christian heretics, who assumed this name from Nicholas of Antioch, who, being a Gentile by birth, first embraced Judaism, and then Christianity, when his zeal and devotion recommended him to the church of Jerusalem, by whom he was chosen one of the first deacons. Many of the primitive writers believe that Nicholas was rather the occasion than the author of the infamous practices of those who assumed his name, and who were expressly condemned by the Spirit of God himself (Rev. ii. 6). Their opinions and actions were indeed highly extravagant and criminal. They allowed a community of wives, and made no distinction between ordinary meats and those offered to idols. According to Eusebius, they subsisted but for a short time; yet Tertullian says that they only changed their name, and that their heresies passed into the sect of the Cainites.
NICOLAS, St, a large market-town of the Netherlands, situated in the province of East Flanders, and arrondissement of the Dender, It is well built, has a fine marketplace, and is in one of the richest agricultural districts of that rich country, where husbandry is better conducted than in almost any part of Europe. It has 11,500 inhabitants, many of whom are employed in making cloths and cotton goods, in distilleries, and in various other branches of ma nufacture.

Nicoas, St, an island of the Atlantic Ocean, and one of the most considerable of those of Cape Verd, being situated between St Lucia and St Jago. It is of a trian∙
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gular figure, and about seventy-five miles in length. Long. 33. 35. W. Lat. 17. 0. N.
NICOMEDES, the name of several kings of the ancient Bithynia. See the article Bithynia.
NICOMEDIA, the metropolis of Bithynia, which was built by Nicoedes, the grandfather of Prusias. Nicoedia was famous, not only under its own kings, but also under the Romans; it was the royal residence of Diocletian, and also, if we may credit Nicephorus, that of Constantine whilst Constantinople was building. It is situated at the bottom of a bay of the Propontis, in Asia Minor, and still bears the ancient name. Long. 30. 0. E. Lat. 4L 20. N.
NICOMEDUS, a geometrician, celebrated on account of the invention of the curve called conchoid, which is equally useful in resolving the two famous problems of doubling the cube and trisecting the angle. It appears that he lived soon after Eratosthenes, for he rallied that philosopher on the mechanism of his mesolabe. Geminus, who flourished in the second century before Christ, has written on the conchoid, though Nicoedus was always esteemed the inventor of that curve. Those who place him four or five centuries after Christ must be ignorant of these facts, by which we are enabled to ascertain approximately the time at which he lived.
NICOPOLIS, a province of European Turkey, which extends in north latitude from 42. 44. to 43. 46. and in east longitude from 23. 30. to 26. 4. This district is naturally fertile; but agriculture is in a neglected state, and the chief product is cattle. The capital, of the same name, is situated on the Lower Danube. It is fortified, and connected with a strong citadel, and it is said to contain 10,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of a Catholic and also of a Greek bishop.
NICOSIA, a city of the island of Sicily, in the kingdom of Naples, and in the province of Demone, eighty miles from Palermo. It stands on the ridge of a rocky mountain, the Herbita of antiquity. It is an ill-built city, and suffers from a scarcity of water; but as the situation is more healthy than that of many of the Sicilian cities, it contains a population of 12,060 inhabitants,occupying3167 houses, many of which are formed by excavations in the rocks. Near to it are two springs of fossil oil, a copious rock-salt mine, and several sulphureous baths.
NICOT, John, seigneur of Villemain, and master of the French king’s household, was born at Nismes, and sent in 1559 as ambassador to Portugal, whence he brought the plant which, from his name, was called Nicoiana, but is now more generally known by the name of tobacco. He died at Paris in the year 1603. Nico wrote a French and Latin dictionary, in folio; a Treatise on Navigation; and some other works.
NICOTERA, a city of the province of Calabria Ulteriore, in the kingdom of Naples. It stands on the sea-coast, at the mouth of the river Mesina, is the seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral, with several other churches. It suffered by the earthquake of 1783; but has been since restored, and now contains 6250 inhabitants, who follow chiefly the fisheries, and cure large quantities of anchovies and sardinias.
NIDDUI, in the Jewish customs, is used to signify separated or excommunicated. This, according to some, was to be understood only of the lesser sort of excommunication in use amongst the Hebrews. He who had incurred it was obliged to withdraw himself from his relations, at least to the distance of four cubits; and it commonly continued a month. If it was not removed in that time, it might be prolonged for sixty or even ninety days; but if, within that term, the excommunicated person did not give satisfaction, he fell into the cherem, which was a second sort of excommunication; and thence into the third sort, called shammatapv shernatta, the most terrible of all. But Selden has proved that there were only two kinds of excommunication, the greater and less; and that these three terms were used indifferently.
NIDEGH, a considerable town of Caramania, in Asiatic 1urkey, being the ancient Cadyna. Some parts of the old walls are still standing, composed of large stones decayed with age; and the streets contain many ruined fragments of columns. It is inhabited by about 5000 Greeks and Turks, who are very poor, and is the residence of a pasha. It is twenty-two miles east of Karahissar.
NIDJIGUL, a fortress of the south of India, in the province of Mysore. It was taken in 1770 by the Mahrattas, afterwards recovered from them by Hyder, and now belongs to the rajah of Mysore. Long. 77. 16. E. Lat. 13. 15. N.
NIDIFICATION, a term generally applied to the formation of a bird’s nest, and its hatching or bringing forth its young. See Ornithology.
NIDUS, amongst naturalists, signifies a nest or proper repository for the eggs of birds, insects, &c. where the young of these animals are hatched and nursed.
NIDYCAVIL, a small village in the south of India, in North Coimbetoor, being situated in the tract between the Karnata and Chera countries. Long. 77. 42. E. Lat. 11. 51. N.
NIECE, a brother’s or sister’s daughter, which in the civil law is reckoned the third degree of consanguinity.
NIEMEN, a large river of Poland, which rises in Lithuania, where it passes by Bielicka, Grodno, and Kowno; it afterwards runs through part of Samogitia and Prussia, where it falls into the lake called the Knrisch-haff, by several mouths, of which the most northern is called the Russ. This lake communicates with the Baltic.
NIEPER, or Dnieper, a large river of Europe, and one of the most considerable of the north, formerly called the Borysthenes. Its source is in the middle of Muscovy, and it runs westward by Smolensko as far as Orsa; it then turns south, and passing by Mohilow, Bohaczo, Kiow, Czyrkassy, the fortress of Kudak, Dessau, and Oczakow, falls into the Black Sea. ±, ι
NIESTER, or Dneister, a large river of Polish Russia, having its source in the lake Niester, in the palatinate of Lemburg, where it passes by Halicz. It then separates Podolia and Oczakow from Moldavia and Budziac Tartary, and falls into the Black Sea at Belgorod, between the mouths of the Dnieper and the Danube.
NIEUPORT, a fortified city of the Netherlands, in the province of West Flanders, and arrondissement of Fumes.
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The environs are unhealthy, from the low situation, which, by the facility of inundation, forms one of the chief means of defence. It is situated at the mouth of the Iser, by which it has water communication with Dunkirk, Bruges, and Ypres. It contains 2600 inhabitants, who are chiefly occupied in the herring and cod fisheries. Long. 2. 39. E. Lat. 51. 7. N.
NIEVRE, a department of France, formed out of the ancient duchy of Nivernois. It extends in north latitude from 46. 52. to 47. 36. and in east longitude from 2. 39. to 4. 6. It is bounded on the north by the departments of the Loiret and of the Yonne, on the east by the Côte d’Or and Saone-Loire, on the south by the Saone-Loire and the Allier, and on the west by the Cher. In extent it is 2953 square miles, or 686,619 hectares, and is divided into four arrondissements, twenty-five cantons, and 330 communes, the population of which amounts to 240,250 persons. It is generally a hilly district, and on the eastern side it is mountainous. Nearly one third of the surface is covered with forests; and as the cultivation is bad, it does not produce a sufficiency of corn for the supply of the people, what it does yield consisting mostly of oats, rye, and barley, with very little wheat. Some of the meadows on the banks of the rivers feed cows, which, with the produce of the forests, furnish the chief commodities with which the people are enabled to buy corn. There are some mines of iron, the working of which, and converting the raw material into common utensils, furnish the chief employment to the scanty population. Some wine is grown, but mostly of inferior quality, and not adequate to the consumption. By its rivers and canals the department is well supplied with cheap means of conveyance for its wood and its iron. The fisheries on the rivers and the lakes are productive, and in part supply fish to Paris. The department elects two deputies for the legislative body. The capital is the city of Nevers.
NIGIDIUS FIGULUS, Publius, one of the most learned men of ancient Rome, who flourished at the same time with Cicero. He wrote on various subjects, but his pieces appeared so refined and difficult that they were not regarded. He assisted Cicero, with great prudence, in defeating Catiline’s conspiracy, and did him many services in the time of his adversity. He adhered to Pompey in opposition to Caesar, which occasioned his exile; and he died in banishment. Cicero, who had always entertained the highest esteem for him, wrote to him a beautiful consolatory letter, the thirteenth of the fourth book of his Epistolae ad Familiares.
NIGRITIA, Negroland, or Soudan, a general name for a considerable portion of the interior of Africa, some parts of which are as yet unknown, while some have been only recently explored by Clapperton, De Caille, Lander, and others. It comprises a great number of kingdoms, large and small, each of which will be found described under its own head. It appears to include all those countries which are situated between the sixth and seventeenth degrees of north latitude, and the eighth degree of west and thirty-second degree of east longitude. They are represented in maps as stretching along both sides of the Niger, and cluster around the great Lake Tshad or Shary. Still farther to the east, in the neighbourhood of the Bahr-el-Abiad or White River, one of the great branches of the Nile, is the country of the Shilluks, comprising Donga, Kordofan, Darfur, and Bergoo. The other chief states are Bambarra, Timbuctoo, and Kong, on the west; and Houssa, Burgou, Yarriba, Nouffe or Nyffe, Fundah, Bornou, Mandara, Be-gharmi, Kanem, and others, in the centre. These, although widely scattered, will, if taken as a whole, be found to be bounded on the north by the Sahara, on the east by Nubia, on the south by the Mountains of the Moon and Lower Guinea, and on the west by Senegambia. As thus defined, Nigritia is about 2500 miles from west to east, 500 from north to south, and has a superficial area of 1,250,000 square miles. A considerable portion of this territory is traversed by the Niger. In the centre is Lake Tshad, into which some large rivers empty themselves. For an account of this vast inland sea, and the surrounding country, the reader is referred to the article Bornou. There are several high ranges of mountains, such as those of Kong and Donga; some of the summits of the Mountains of the Moon are covered with perpetual snow. The nature of the climate, the productions and other particulars regarding this portion of Africa, will be found described in the article Africa.
NIJIBABAD, or Nijibgur, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Bareilly. It was built by a Rohilla chieftain, as a mart for the Cashmere trade, and is situated on the north branch of a small river which runs into the Ganges. Long. 78. 4L E. Lat. 29. 35. N.
NIKOLAJEW. See Nicoaiev.
NIKOLSK, a circle in the Russian province of Wologda, extending from east longitude 43. 45. to 47.59., and from north latitude 58. 10. to 60. 25., being 13,156 square miles in extent. It is an elevated district, sloping both to the north and the south, and is the source of several rivers running in both directions. It is moderately productive, affording corn in average years sufficient for its scanty population, which does not exceed 65,000 persons. Nearly one half of the surface is covered with wood. The capital, of the same name, stands on the river Jug, and depends on the river navigation. Long. 45.30. E. Lat. 59. 8. N.
NIKOLSKO1, a small town of Asiatic Russia, in the government of Oufa, on the Oural. It is eighty miles eastsouth-east of Orenburg.
NILCUND, a town of Northern Hindustan, and one of the celebrated places of Hindu pilgrimage, situated among the Himalaya Mountains, on the frontiers of Thibet. The cold at this place is intense; and at the end of June or beginning of August, when it is chiefly visited, the road is nearly impassable on account of the depth of snow. Avalanches are common on the road, and glaciers are seen in various parts. In the vicinity of this place there is a colossal statue of Gunneis; but the temple is dedicated to Mahadeva, one of whose numerous names is Nilcund, or Blue Throat. Long. 88. 50. E. Lat. 27. 51. N.
NILCUNDAH, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Hyderabad, forty-two miles south-east from Hyderabad, and the capital of a district of the same name. Long. 79. 15. E. Lat. 16. 55. N.
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