NEWTON-NEWTON'S RINGS. Corporum, and were afterwards more completely quarto edition of the Optics (Lond. 1704), and NEWTON, THOMAS, an English prelate of the 18th c., was born at Lichfield, January 1, 1704. He was educated at Westminster School, and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1730, in which year also he was ordained priest. After holding several minor preferments, he was made Bishop of Bristol in 1761, and died 14th of February 1782. Without any remarkable merit, N. has, one cannot well say how, succeeded in obtaining a place in literary history, His two productions, whose fortunes have surpassed their deserts, are an edition of Milton's Paradise Lost (2 vols. 1749), with a memoir of the poet, and critical and explanatory notes; and Dissertations on the Prophecies (3 vols. 1754-1758). Besides these, he wrote occasional sermons, and a host of scriptural dissertations, the theology of which is reckoned not always 'orthodox.' NEWTON, a township in Massachusetts, United States of America, on Charles River, eight miles west of Boston. It contains two villages, Upper Falls and Lower Falls, with five paper-mills, a cotton factory, a, Baptist theological seminary, and 12 churches. Pop. (1860) 8382. NEW TON-A'BBOT, a market town of England, in the county of Devon, beautifully situated in a vale on the river Lemon, 15 miles south-south-west of Exeter. The portion of the town called NewtonBushel is on the left side of the stream. It has been undergoing considerable improvements within recent years. William of Orange, after landing at Torbay, in 1688, made his first public declaration here. Pop. (1861) 5221. Shortly before the Principia was given to the public, N. had been called to take an active part in defending the rights of the university against the illegal encroachments of James II. The conspicuous part which he had taken on that occasion procured him a seat in the Convention Parliament, in which he sat from January 1689 to its dissolution in 1690. In 1696, he was appointed Warden of the Mint, and was afterwards promoted to the office of Master of the Mint in 1699, an office which he held till the end of his life. He again took a seat in parliament, in the year 1701, as the representative of his university. Thus engaged in the public service, he had little time left for mere scientific studies-pursuits which he always held of secondary importance to the public duties in which he was engaged. In the interval of public duty, however, N. shewed that he still retained the scientific power by which his great discoveries had been made. This was shewn in his solution of two celebrated problems proposed, in June 1696, by John Bernouilli, as a challenge to the mathematicians of Europe. A similar mathematical feat is recorded of him so late as 1716, in solving a problem proposed by Leibnitz, for the purpose, as he expressed it, of feeling the pulse of the English analysts. When in parliament, N. recommended the public encouragement of the invention of a method for determining the longitude -the first reward in consequence being gained by John Harrison for his chronometer. He was President of the Royal Society from 1703 till his death, a period of twenty-five years, being each year reelected. In this position, and enjoying the confidence of Prince George of Denmark, he had much in his power towards the advancement of science; and one of his most important works during this time was the superintendence of the publication of Flamsteed's Greenwich Observations-a task, however, not accomplished without much controversy and some bitterness between himself and that astronomer. The controversy between N. and Leibnitz, as to priority of discovery of the differential calculus, or the method of fluxions, was raised rather through the partisanship of jealous friends, than through the anxiety of the philosophers themselves, who were, however, induced to enter into and carry on the dispute with some degree of bitterness and mutual recrimination. The verdict of the impartial historian of science must be, that the NEWTON-UPON-AYR, a burgh of barony methods were invented quite independently, and that, although N. was the first inventor, a greater and parish of Scotland, in the county of Ayr, on the north side of the river Ayr, and united with the debt is owing by later analysts to Leibnitz, on See AYR. account of the superior facility and completeness town of that name by three bridges. of his method. The details of these controversies, Pop. of burgh, 4807. N. has ship-building docks, with all other information of the life of this phil-roperies, and iron and brass foundries. It exports osopher, will be found admirably collected in the 100,000 tons of coal annually. Life by Sir D. Brewster, who writes with not only an intimate acquaintance with N.'s works, but in the possession of all the materials collected in the hands of his family. N. died on 20th March 1727, and his remains received a resting-place in Westminster Abbey, where a monument was erected to his memory in 1731. A magnificent full-length statue of the philosopher, executed by Roubilliac, was erected in 1755 in the antechapel of Trinity College, Cambridge. This work was assisted by a cast of the face taken after death, which is preserved in the university library at Cambridge. In 1699, N. had been elected a foreign associate of the Academy of Sciences, and in 1703, he received the honour of knighthood from Queen Anne. Among the best editions of N.'s principal works are the NEWTON-IN-MA'KERFIELD, a thriving NEWTON'S RINGS. In his investigations of 755 1 NEWTOWN-N'GAMI. These rings, or more properly systems of rings, are diversion an important movement of the Archduke NEW TOWN, a modern manufacturing town of North Wales, in the county of Montgomery, 8 miles south-west of the town of that name, on the right bank of the Severn, and on the Montgomery Canal, which connects it with the inland navigation of the country. It is the centre of the flannel manufactures of the county. It has 40 factories, employing in all 960 men. Pop. (1861) 5916. NEWTOWNARDS, a market town of the county Down, Ireland, 12 miles east from Belfast by railway. Pop. (1861) 9521, of whom 5855 are Presbyterians, 1765 Protestants of the Established Church, and 1139 Roman Catholics, and the rest Protestants of various denominations. It is a neat and well-built town, of considerable trade, and with extensive muslin, flax spinning, and weaving factories. Since the Union, it has ceased to be a parliamentary borough. The affairs of the town are administered by commissioners. NEW TOWN-LIMAVA'DY (Ir. Leim-a-madha, "The Dog's Leap'), a market town of the county of Londonderry, Ireland, and 16 miles east-northeast of the town of Londonderry. Pop., in 1861, 2734, of whom 931 are Presbyterians, 873 Catholics, 803 Protestants of the Established Church, and the rest Protestants of other denominations. N.-L., in the period anterior to the establishment of English rule, was the seat of the powerful sept of the O'Cahans, or O'Kanes; and during the wars of the Revolution, owing to its importance as a native stronghold, and its many historical associations, it was the scene of more than one struggle between the followers of James II. and those of William. Its chief importance at present is as a centre of the flax trade, once the staple of that district, and again rising in importance. Charles against Massena and the army of Switzerland. After the peace of Lunéville, Bonaparte, anxious to win N., with other republicans, to his party, brought about his marriage with a young friend of Hortense Beauharnais, and appointed him of the empire, he was made a marshal. In 1805, he stormed the intrenchments of Elchingen, and was created Duke of Elchingen. He afterwards rendered important services in the Tyrol; contributed much to the French successes of 1806 and 1807; and served in Spain with great ability in 1808 and 1809, till he was dismissed by Massena, the commander-in-chief, on a dispute about the plan of the campaign. Chagrined by this, and dissatisfied with Napoleon's despotism, he remained for some time inactive; but in 1812 received the command of the third corps d'armée, and greatly distinguished himself at Smolensk and the Moskwa, in consequence of which he was created Prince of the Moskwa. He also displayed great abilities in the French retreat. He had a principal part in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814, but after the capture of Paris, he urged the emperor to abdicate, and submitted to Louis XVIII., who loaded him with favours. On Napoleon's return from Elba, N. assured the king of his fidelity, and was sent against Napoleon at the head of 4000 men; but finding the emperor to be received with general enthusiasm, and his own soldiers to be favourable to his cause, N. went over to his side. In the battle of Waterloo, he commanded the centre, and had five horses shot under him. After the capitulation of Paris, he yielded to the entreaties of his family to retire to Switzerland; but a costly Egyptian sabre, the gift of Napoleon, led to his being suspected by an official, and arrested. He was condemned to death for high treason, and was shot in the garden of the Luxembourg on 7th December 1815. He left three sons, who published his Mémoires (2 vols. Par. 1833). N'GA'MI, LAKE. The existence of lakes in the interior of Africa was vaguely known as far back as the days of Herodotus; and the earliest modern maps, shew at least half-a-dozen large and small, one of which is about the size, and very nearly in the position of that shallow reservoir of surface drainage which was discovered, or at least first visited by a European in 1849, when Dr Livingstone and Mr Oswell, who were aware of its existence from native report, reached its shores by a circuitous route from the Cape Colony. Although since ascertained to be of little importance in the physical geography of NEXT FRIEND is, in English Law, the name in some way connected with the larger inland seas these regions, Lake N. was at first supposed to be given to the person in whose name, or rather by of Nyassa, Victoria Nyanza, and Taryanaka. It is whose agency, an infant-i. e., a person under the situated between the 20th and 21st parallels of S. age of 21-sues in the courts of law and equity. lat., and between the meridians 22° 10′ and 23° 30′ The object is chiefly to have some party responsible for costs in case the infant fails in the action. In E. long., at a height of about 2500 feet above practice, the father, if alive, is usually the next the level of the sea, and is connected by a series friend, but any substantial person may be so. of sluggish anastomosing streams with the riverIn the Court of Chancery, a married woman sues or system of the Zambezi; its extent as well appears by the intervention of a next friend, where depth varies with the fall of rain in the country to the north of it, but its average size may be she is personally interested. taken at 70 miles long, by a breadth of 20 and a depth varying from 3 to 28 feet. In 1853, Lake N. was reached from the west coast near Walfish Bay by the traveller Andersson, and there is now a well-beaten route for traders between these two places, and a considerable quantity of ivory and ostrich feathers are annually collected in the neigh. bourhood of the lake. The principal characteristics of the region are rivers, with very sluggish current, and often flowing in different directions to and from the lake, large salt-pans and extensive NEY, MICHEL, a celebrated marshal of the first French empire, was the son of a cooper, and was born at Saarlouis, 10th January 1769. He was a non-commissioned officer in a hussar regiment when the Revolution began, and afterwards rapidly rose to high military rank. For the capture of Mannheim by a coup de main, he was made a general of division in 1799. He was interim commander of the army of the Rhine for a short time, during which he frustrated by a bold as NIAGARA-NIBBY. dry flats, covered with dense bush, the haunt of elephants and other large animals. În 1855, the well-known sportsman and traveller, F. Green, ascended the River Tonka, which flows into the north-west angle of Lake N., as far north as the town of Lebebe, in 18° 11' lat., and then supposed that a communication existed with the waters of Cuanene, a river of the west coast. If such is the case, it would be a curious phenomenon in physical geography, communicating, as we know Lake N. also does, with the Zambezi, a river of the east coast. in 1863. a NIA'GARA, a river of North America, which flows from Lake Erie northwards into Lake Ontario. It is about 36 miles in length, and its descent from the level of the one lake to that of the other is about 334 feet. On issuing from Lake Erie, it is threequarters of a mile broad; but as it flows on, it becomes several miles wide, making room for a number of islands, the largest of which, Grand Island, is 12 miles long, and from 2 to 7 broad. At the foot of Grand Island, which reaches within 14 mile of the Falls of N., the river is contracted to a breadth of 24 miles, and grows narrower as it proceeds. By this, and by the descent in the channel, which is about 60 feet in the mile above the Falls, are produced the swift currents known as the Rapids, in which the river, notwithstanding its great depth, is perpetually white with foam. At the Falls, which are 22 miles from Lake Erie, the river is divided by an island containing about 75 acres, called Goat Island; but in consequence of bend in the channel, by far the larger portion of the water is sent down by the Canadian side. On this side, therefore, is the grander cataract which has been named the Horseshoe Fall, but no longer bears the name appropriately, as the precipice has been worn from a curved into a somewhat angular shape. This process of wearing away goes on gradually still, a large projection on the Canadian bank, known as the Table Rock, having partly fallen off The Horseshoe Fall is above 600 yards in breadth, and about 154 feet in height. The water is so deep that it retains its green colour for some distance below the brow of the precipice; and it rushes over with such force, that it is thrown about 50 feet from the foot of the cliff. One may thus, having donned an oil-skin dress, enter two or three yards behind the curved sheet of water; but the spray is so blinding, the din so deafening, and the current of air so strong, that it requires a tolerably calm nerve and firm foot. The separation caused by Goat Island leaves a large wall of rock between the Canadian and American Falls, the latter being again divided by an islet at a short distance from Goat Island. This fall is from eight to ten feet higher than the Horseshoe, but only about 220 yards broad. A little above the Fall, the channel is divided by Bath Island, which is connected by bridges with Goat Island and the American shore. A small tower, approached from Goat Island, has been built on a rock over the brow of the Horseshoe Fall; and from this the finest view on the American side may be obtained, the Table Rock on the Canadian side giving the completest view of the entire cataract. The Falls can also be seen from below on both sides, and every facility is given for viewing them from all the best points, while magnificent hotels, Canadian and American, offer their inducements to the tourist to stay till he has received the full influence of the scenery. The river is crossed about 200 or 300 yards below the Falls, where it is 1200 yards broad. The current is lessened for about a mile, but increases again as the channel becomes narrower and the descent greater. Between three and four miles below the Falls, a stratum of rock runs across the direct course of the river, which, after forming a vast circular basin, with an impassable whirlpool, is forced away at right angles to its old channel. The celebrated wire suspension-bridge for the Great Western Railway, with a road beneath for vehicles and foot-passengers, crosses the river 1 mile below the Fall; it is 800 feet long, 40 broad, and 200 feet above the surface of the water. West, is situated on Lake Ontario, at the mouth NIAGARA, chief town of Lincoln County, Canada of the river Niagara, and is distant by water from Toronto 36 miles. Burned down in December 1813 by the American General M'Clure on his retreat, it was afterwards rebuilt, and promised to be a flourishing town; but its trade has fallen off within the last few years, and its population, which was once much larger, had decreased in 1861 to 2070. NIA'S, an important island belonging to Holland, lies to the west of Sumatra, in 0° 18′ 54′′—1° 35′ N. lat., and 97°-98° E. long., and has an area of about 1575 square miles. In 1857, when the Dutch took complete possession of the island, the population was reckoned at 170,000. There are several places where On the east coast is the village Nias, and on the west, ships can anchor and take in provisions, water, &c. Silorongang. Little islands and coral reefs lie here and there on the coast, which in some places is steep, while mountain-chains run from the southeast to the north-west. There is a greater breadth of excellent farming-grounds than the population, reduced by internal wars and the exportation of slaves, can properly cultivate. They grow rice, cocoa-nuts, bananas, tobacco, sugar-canes, &c., and horses have been imported, and they pay great annually about 110,000 lbs. of pepper. Cattle and about 500 Niassers were carried away annually as attention to the raising of pigs and fowls. Formerly, slaves to Batavia and other places, and though this traffic has been in a great measure suppressed, it is still to some extent carried on. The Niassers are of the Malay race, but fairer They are gentle, than the Malays usually are. sober, and peaceful, remarkably ingenious in handicraft, ornamenting their houses with wood-carvings, children weave mats, while the men look after the forging arms, &c. The women labour in the fields, the live-stock, and hunt the deer and wild swine. They worship a superior deity, and fear a powerful one, who pursues them if they do evil. Polygamy is permitted, but is rare. The gift to the bride's family is from 60 to 500 dollars. allowed, and adultery is punished by the death of both parties. Dead bodies are placed in coffins above the ground, and creepers and flowering shrubs planted, which speedily grow up and cover them. Trade is on the increase.-See Malayan Miscellanies, vol. ii.; Het Eiland Nias, door H. J. Domis; Crawford's Descriptive Dictionary (London, 1856); Tydschrift voor Ned. Indië, 1854, 1860, &c. Divorce is not NIBBY, ANTONIO, a Roman archæologist of high celebrity, was born in 1792. He was one of those who, following in the footsteps of Winckelmann, made an elaborately minute investigation of the remains of antiquity their special study. The first work that made him known was his translation of Pausanius, with antiquarian and critical notes. In 1820, he was appointed Professor of Archæology in the University of Rome. In the same year appeared his edition of Nardini's Roma Antica; and in 18371838, his learned and admirable Analisi Storicotopografico-antiquaria della carta de Contorni di Roma, to which was added (1838-1840) a description of the city of Rome itself. Among his other writings, may be mentioned his Le Mura di Roma disegnate NIBELUNGENLIED-NICARAGUA. result of his investigations in an edition published at Berlin, 1826, and again in his treatise Zu den Nibelungen und zur Klage (Berl. 1836). W. Grimm has also given a comprehensive analysis of the poem in his Deutschen Heldensage (Gött. 1829). Among the various translations into modern German, those of Simrock (Berl. 1827) and Pfitzer (Tüb. 1842) are the best. All the manuscripts of the N. comprise another poem under the title of Die Klage, which treats of the burial of the heroes who fell in the conflict at Etzel's court, and the laments which were composed in commemoration of that event. It is of greater antiquity than the N., and, like it, the work of an unknown author. A critical analysis of the N. will be found in Carlyle's Miscellaneous Essays. NICE'A. See NICE. da W. Gell, and a large number of valuable treatises in an historical and philological point of view was on the form and arrangement of the earliest Chris-recognised. Lachmann, who had submitted the tian churches, the Circus of Caracalla, the Temple poem to a critical examination, made known the of Fortuna at Præneste, the graves of the Horatii and the Curiatii, &c. N. died 29th December 1839. NIBELUNGENLIED, or Nibelunge Not,' as the words are written in the oldest manuscripts, is one of the most finished specimens of the genuine epic of Germany belonging to the middle ages. There exist twenty more or less perfect manuscript copies of this curious poem, the earliest of which belong to the beginning of the 13th c., from which period till the middle of the 16th c. it enjoyed the greatest popularity among Germans of all classes. Nothing certain is known of the author or authors of the work beyond the fact, that it was put into its present form by a wandering minstrel in Austria about or prior to the year 1210, which is the date of the oldest accredited manuscript. According to W. Grimm and Lachmann's critical analysis of the poem, it is in itself a compilation of pre-existing songs and rhapsodies, strung together into one whole upon a plan remarkable for its grand simplicity, although less skill is shewn in some instances in the manner in which the several parts are connected. In the more authentic manuscripts the poem consists of only twenty parts, and it is conjectured that the latter portions of the epic, | which are given only in some of the texts, as that of St Gall, are the composition of later compilers. The epic cycle embraced in the N. may be more specially regarded as the fusion of the history of the mythical people, called in the poem the Nibelungen, with five leading groups of myths, in which are incorporated the adventures of some of the most universally popular personages belonging to the semi-historic myths of medieval German folk-lore, as, for instance, the hero Siegfried with his mantle of invisibility, and the lovely Icelandic heroine Brunhilt; King Günther of Burgundy, and his fair sister, Kriemhilt, the wife of Siegfried; Haco of Norway, Dietrich (Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths) of Berne (Verona), and Etzel (Attila), king of the Huns. The loves and feuds, and the stormy lives and violent deaths of these national heroes and heroines, are skilfully intertwined in the N., and artistically made to centre round the mythical treasure of the Nibelungen, which, after the murder of Siegfried, who had brought it from the far north, is secretly buried by his murderer Haco beneath the Rhine, where it still remains. The poem, in its rude but strict versification, tells the tale of Kriemhilt's vengeance for her husband's death with a passionate earnestness that carries the sympathies of the reader with it, until the interest culminates in the catastrophe of the fierce battle between the Burgundians and Huns at the court of Etzel, whose hand Kriemhilt has accepted, the better to accomplish her purposes of revenge. The tale of horrors fitly closes with the murder of Kriemhilt herself, after she has satisfied her vengeance by slaying with Siegfried's sword his murderer Haco. This tale, which seemed to echo back the clash of arms and strife of passion which characterised the early periods of German history, kept a firm hold on the imaginations of the people till the taste for polemic writings, fostered, if not created at the period of the Reformation, caused this as well as many other treasures of folk-lore to be almost lost sight of and forgotten. Attention was, however, again drawn to it in the 18th c., by the publication of detached portions of the poem by Bodmer, Chriemhilden-Rache (Zurich, 1751), and by Müller in his Sammlung deutscher Gedichte aus dem 12-14 Jahrh. (Berl. 1782); but it was not till comparatively recent times that the value of the work | The NICARAGUA, a republic of Central America, bounded on the N. by the republic of Honduras, on the W. by the Caribbean Sea, on the S. by the republic of Costa Rica, and on the E. by the Pacific; lat. 10° 45'-15° N.; long. 83° 20—87° 30′; area about 57,000 square miles; pop. estimated at 400,000, of whom about 30,000 are whites, 10,000 negroes, the rest Indians and Mestizoes. N. is traversed by two ranges of mountains-the western, which follows the direction of the coast-line, at a distance of from 10 to 20 miles from the Pacific; and the eastern (a part of the great range of the Cordilleras), which runs nearly parallel to it, and sends off several spurs towards the Caribbean Sea. The former is generally high and volcanic, but sinks at times almost to the level of the plains. Between the two ranges lies a great interior basin, containing the lakes of N. (q. v.) and Managua. The principal rivers are the Rio Coco, or Segovia, forming part of the boundary between Honduras and N.; the Escondido, or Blewfields; and the San Juan, all of which flow into the Caribbean Sea. The eastern coast of N. is called the Mosquito Coast. country is in many places densely wooded-the most valuable trees being mahogany, logwood, Nicaragua wood, cedar, and Brazil wood. The pastures are splendid, and support vast herds of cattle. The chief products are sugar-cane (softer and juicier than the Asiatic variety), cacao, cotton, indigo, tobacco, maize, and rice, with nearly all the fruits and edibles of the tropics, plantains, bananas, tomatoes, bread-fruit, arrow-root, citrons, oranges, limes, lemons, pine-apples, guavas, &c. The chief vegetable exports are sarsaparilla, aloes, ipecacuanha, ginger, copal, gum-arabic, caoutchouc, &c. northern part of N. is rich in minerals, gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead, but the mines are not so carefully worked now as under the Spaniards. The incessant political distractions of the country have notoriously all but destroyed the material prosperity of the country. The seat of government is Managua, with 10,000 inhabitants; but the largest town and former capital is St Leon, with a population of 35,000. N. is divided into the five depart ments' of Rivas or Meriodinal, Granada or Oriental, Leon or Occidental, Segovia or Septentrional, and Matagalpa. The N. was discovered in 1521 by Gil Gonzales de Avila, and conquered by Pedro Arias de Avila, the governor of Panama in 1522. In 1821-the great year of revolution in Central America-it threw off allegiance to Spain, and after a desperate and bloody struggle, secured its independence by the help of the liberals' of San Salvador. N. now became the second state in the federal republic of Central NICARAGUA-NICCOLINI. America, but on the dissolution of the union in of these was finished in 1260, and is reckoned the 1839, became an independent republic. In 18471848, a dispute broke out between N. and Great Britain about the Mosquito Coast, which led to some hostilities, and was only finally settled in 1860. Meanwhile, in 1855, a civil war had broken out between the so-called 'Conservatives' and 'Liberals,' which resulted in the victory of the latter, who were, however, obliged to call in the help of the since notorious Colonel William Walker (see FILLIBUSTERS). By the constitution of 19th August 1858, the republic of N. is governed by a president, who is elected by universal suffrage, and holds office for four years. There are two legislative chambersthe Senate and the House of Representatives. Liberty of speech and of the press exists, but is not absolutely guaranteed. The Roman Catholic religion, however, is the only one publicly tolerated, but the services of other religious bodies may be privately performed. NICARAGUA, LAKE (native, Cocibolca), a sheet of fresh-water in the republic of the same name, 110 miles long, and from 30 to 50 broad. Its elevation above the Pacific, from which it is separated by a low range of hills-at one point only 48 feet higher than the lake itself is little more than 100 feet. The principal rivers flowing into it are the Mayales and Malacoloja on the north, and the Frio on the south; the only one flowing out is the San Juan (formerly Usaguadero), which unites it with the Caribbean Sea. Its islands are numerous, lying mostly in groups; the principal are Ometepec, Zapatero (uninhabited, but with extensive ruins and monolithic idols), Salentanami, and the Corales, a cluster of several hundred volcanic islets lying round the base of the volcano of Mombacho, in the north-west of the lake. The scenery is surpassingly beautiful, and even grand. Lake N. is also interesting on account of the facilities which it presents for water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. NICA'STRO, a town of Naples, province of Calabria Ultra II., is most beautifully situated west of the Apennines, on the margin of the coast plains, and commanding views of the sea, 24 miles south of Cosenza. It is the see of an archbishop. There are hot springs in the vicinity. Pop. stated at 7000 and 10,200. NICCOLA PISANO, a distinguished sculptor of Pisa, to the influence of whose works the rise or restoration of sculpture in connection with Gothic architecture is mainly attributable. There is no record of the date of his birth, but from an inscription on a celebrated fountain in Perugia, designed by him and executed by his son Giovanni, it is evident that he was born at the beginning of the 13th century. His earliest work is supposed to be the 'Deposition' over one of the doors of the façade of the cathedral at Lucca, dated 1233. He worked on the principle of studying nature, modified or corrected by the ideal of antique sculpture; and it is said that he first adopted this principle from the sculpture on an ancient sarcophagus brought from Greece in the ships of Pisa; but though most of the finest specimens of Greek sculpture were not discovered till long after N.'s time, he must have had an opportunity of studying many important remains on the various classic ruins with which Italy abounds. This sculptor's reputation is supported by three important works, which remain and are still admired for their excellence-the pulpit of the baptistery at Pisa, the Arca' or shrine of St Dominic for the church of that saint at Bologna, and the pulpit of the cathedral at Siena. The first most elegant pulpit in Italy. It is of white marble, six-sided, supported by seven Corinthian columns, and adorned with five bas-reliefs of subjects from the New Testament. The second work, the 'Arca' of St Dominic, is one of even greater extent. It is composed of six large bas-reliefs, delineating the six principal events in the legend of St Dominic, and is ornamented with statues of our Saviour, the Virgin, and the four doctors of the church. The operculum or lid was added about 200 years afterwards. The subjects on the pulpit at Siena, the third of these works, are the same as those on that at Pisa, with the substitution of the 'Flight into Egypt' and the Massacre of the Innocents' for the 'Presentation;' and the enlargement of the concluding composition, the 'Last Judgment.' In these compositions there is great felicity of invention and grouping, truth of expression, and grace in the attitudes and draperies; and in that of the 'Last Judgment' the boldness displayed in the naked figures, twisted and contorted into every imaginable attitude, is wonderful, and evinces the skill with which N. drew on the antique and on nature. But it must be admitted that there is a degree of confusion or overfulness in the grouping, and that the heads of his figures are often large in proportion to the bodies; faults incidental to all early efforts. In this last work, it appears by the contract for its execution, that N. was assisted by his scholars Lapo and Arnolfo, and his son Giovanni; and this accounts for a certain feebleness Pisa, in 1276 or 1277, and was buried in the Campo that may be observed in portions of it. He died at Santo. N.'s influence on art extended widely; his pupils Arnolfo and Lapo executed numerous works at Rome, Siena, and other cities. His son and heir in reputation, though not his equal in talent, Giovanni Pisano, was constantly engaged on works of importance; in Pisa, where the Campo Santo (for he was also an architect) was erected from his of Charles I. of Anjou; at Arezzo, where he exedesigns; in Naples, which he visited on the invitation cuted the marble shrine of St Donato for the cathedral; at Orvieto, the bas-reliefs on the facerata of the Duomo, by many ascribed to N., being by him; at Pistoja, where he executed the pulpit, &c. The year of his death is not ascertained; it was probably about 1320. After Giovanni's death, the Pisan school split into two principal branches, Florence and Siena; that of Naples may also be reckoned a branch, from the influence exercised over it by Giovanni.-ANDREA PISANO, the ablest of Giovanni's pupils, was called to Florence to execute in marble the statues, bas-reliefs, &c., designed by Giotto in ornamenting the cathedral of S. Maria del Fiore, then in course of erection. The talent he displayed soon raised him to a high position and important employment. He executed numerous statues for the façade of the cathedral, and a bronze gate for the baptistery, of very great excellence. This gate still exists, along with the later and still more celebrated gates of Ghiberti. Under the influence of Giotto's genius, he became completely Giottesque in thought and style; and his works bear so distinctly the impress of that mastermind, that the design of many of them, and particularly the baptistery gate, are ascribed to Giotto. He died in 1345, aged 76. See Vasari; Christian Art, by Lord Lindsay; Agincourt, Davia Memorie Istoriche; Rosini, Storia, &c.; Cicognara (tom. i.), Monumenti Sepolcrali della Toscana. NICCOLINI, GIOVANNI BATISTA, a distinguished modern poet, was born in 1785, in the vicinity of Pisa, of a noble but impoverished family. N.'s first literary efforts were full of high promise of the classical and antique beauties which characterise |