Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/636

* NICHOLAS. o-i-2 NICHOLL. nominally the secretary of Charles I. until his execution, and tried to serve Charles II. as faith- fully, but the jealousy of Queen Henrietta ilaria prevented him from holding the position, except in name. He returned to England at the Restora- tion, but retired in 1GG2. NICHOLAS, CtEorce (c.1755-99). An Ameri- can soldier and politician. He was born in Hanover. Va., and graduated at William and Mary College in 1772. He took the patriot side in the Kevolution, became captain of the Second Virginia Regiment in October in 1775, major of the Eleventh ^"irginia Regiment in November in 1771), lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment in September, 1777, and resigned from the service in the following November. In 1781, as a mem- ber of the Virginia Assembly, he introduced articles of impeachment, founded on charges of incompetency, against Governor .Jefferson, but they were not adopted. In 1788 he did much in the Virginia Convention to secure the ratifica- tion of the Federal Constitution. He removed to Kentucky in 17!tO, took the leading part in framing the State Constitution of 1792. and be- came the first Attorney-General of the State. NICHOLAS, Saint (?-320). A highly popu- lar saint of the Roman Catholic Church, rever- enced with still greater devotion by the Rus- sian Clnircb. Of his personal history hardly anything is known with certainty. He is said to have been Bishop of Jlyra in Lycia and to have taken part in the Council of Nicoea. With more probability, however, he is referred to a later date, but he certainly lived prior to the reign of Justinian, in whose time several of the churches of Constantinople were dedicate<l to Saint Nicho- las. The great popularity of Saint Nicholas rests mainly on the traditions, both in the West and in the East, of the many miracles wrought through his intercession. He is regarded in Catholic countries as the special patron of the young, and particularly of scholars; also parish clerks, travelers, sailors, and i)awiibrokers. As his protection was implored against robbers, these per.sons came to Ije called 'Clerks of Saint Nicho- las.' In England his feast was celebrated in an- cient times with great solemnity in the public schools and elsewhere; the supposed day of his death. DeceiMl)er (i, is still observed with curious popular ceremonies iu (lermany. The nearness of his feast to that of Chri.stmas Day led to the confounding of the two, .so that we are told that Santa Klaus, a Dutch corruption of the name Saint Nicholas, gives the presents of Christmas. In art Saint Nicholas is re])resented as clad in episcopal rol)es and carrying three purses, three different stories, illustrating the saint's charity. The supposed relics of Saint Nicholas were con- veyed from the East to Bari. in the Kingdom of Naples. May 9. 1087. and in the Russian Church the anniversary of this translation is still ob- served ;is a festival. NICHOLAS, Wilson- Tary (c.l7.")7-lS2n). An American legislator, the son of .Judge Robert Car- ter Nicholas. He was born at Hanover, ^'a.. grad- uated at William and Mary College in 1774. and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War enlist- ed in the Continental .Vrniy. serving for thi' great- er part of the war as an officer of Washington's 'T>ife CJnarils.' In 1788 he was n mend)er of the Virginia convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, and was himself a supporter of that instrument. In 1799 he became a Republican member of the United States Senate, but resigned in Deeendier, 1804, to become collector of customs for Norfolk and Portsmouth. F'rom 1807 to 1811 he was a member of Congress, and from 1814 to 1817 was Governor of Virginia. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, nik"l-bl. A nov- el by t liarlc's Dickens. It aijjjeared as a serial in 1838 and 1839. The hero began his career as a teacher in Squeers's school, Dotheboys Hall, Yorkshire, of which Dickens gives a ter- rible picture, showing the evils of cheap schools of that time. After a struggle as secretary, actor, and clerk, Nicholas became a member of the firm of Cheeryble Brothers. The lea<ling charac- ters are Ralph Niekleby, his son. the miserable Smike. the Squeerscs, and the Mantalinis. NICHOLAS OF CLEMANGES, kla'maNzh'. See I'l.l.MAM.Ks. NICHOLAS OF CITSA. See CusA. NICHOLAS OF LY'BA (c.1270-1340). An eminent biblical scholar. He was born at Lyra (Lyre) in Norman<ly ; entered the Franciscan Col- lege at Verneuil in 1291, and afterwards studied in Paris; became a doctor of theology, and a successful teacher; held some of the most im- portant posts of his Order, among which was that of Provincial for lUirgundy, and was emi- ment as a lecturer on biblical interpretation. His works were approved by the Reformers and used by them to support their arguments. In his sys- tem of interpretation he gave preference to the literal, as being the one on which all the other methods — mystical, allegorical, and spiritual — were based. His chief work, Poslilhe I'crprUiw hi V)iirrrsa liihiin. has been regarded as mark- ing the beginning of a school of natural exegesis. He also wrote on the coming of the Messiah, in reply to Jewish critics (Traclatiis Fratris Jficho- Ini dc Mcssia Kju.ique Adientu Una cum Respoii- sione ad Judworuin Aryumcnta Quatuordccim contra Verilatcm Evanrieliorum, 1309) ; and a work on the Sacrament {Tractatiis dc Idonco Minisfrante ct fitiacipicntc Saiicti Altaris t^ticrn- mcntum). An edition of his works in five vol- umes was published at Rome (1471-72), and one in six volumes at Antwerp (1034). Consult: Davidson. Sacred Hcrmvncutics (London, 1843) ; Graetz, Gcschichte der Jiiden (11 vols., Leipzig, 18,53-70) ; and for different editions, Graesse, Tn'- sor rfis lirres rarcs ct pr^ciciix (Dresden, ISSO- G9). NICHOLASVILLE, nik'A-las-vil'. A city and the county-seat of Jessamine County, Ky., 83 miles east-southeast of Louisville, on the Cin- cinnati Southern and other railroads (Map: Kentucky, (! 3). It is the seat of the .Tessa- mine Female Institute, opened in 18.54. and is an important tobacco market and the centre of extensive horse-breeding interests. The chief industrial plants are a large .sawmill and wheel works. Nicholasville was settled in 1799. and was first incorporated in 1835. Population, 1890, 21.57: 1900, 239,3. NICHOLL, nik'ol, Horace Wadham (1S48 — ). An AngIo-.merican musician, horn at Tip- ton, near Hirmingham. Eng. He was educated uniler native teaeliers. the most famous of whom was Samuel Prince, anil after holding one or two local organ ap))ointments moved to America and setlleil in Pittsburg. After 1878 he made his ]