e's dominions,
except at such times as they have been over-run and possessed by the
power of France, which hath always been a troublesome neighbour to this
country. The castle was begun by the Arragonian counts of Provence, and
afterwards enlarged by several successive dukes of Savoy, so as to be
deemed impregnable, until the modern method of besieging began to take
place. A fruitless attempt was made upon it in the year one thousand
five hundred and forty-three, by the French and Turks in conjunction:
but it was reduced several times after that period, and is now in
ruins. The celebrated engineer Vauban, being commanded by Louis XIV to
give in a plan for fortifying Nice, proposed, that the river Paglion
should be turned into a new channel, so as to surround the town to the
north, and fall into the harbour; that where the Paglion now runs to
the westward of the city walls, there should be a deep ditch to be
filled with sea-water; and that a fortress should be built to the
westward of this fosse. These particulars might be executed at no very
great expence; but, I apprehend, they would be ineffectual, as the town
is commanded by every hill in the neighbourhood; and the exhalations
from stagnating sea-water would infallibly render the air unwholesome.
Notwithstanding the undoubted antiquity of Nice, very few monuments of
that antiquity now remain. The inhabitants say, they were either
destroyed by the Saracens in their successive descents upon the coast,
by the barbarous nations in their repeated incursions, or used in
fortifying the castle, as well as in building other edifices. The city
of Cemenelion, however, was subject to the same disasters, and even
entirely ruined, nevertheless, we still find remains of its antient
splendor. There have been likewise a few stones found at Nice, with
antient inscriptions; but there is nothing of this kind standing,
unless we give the name of antiquity to a marble cross on the road to
Provence, about half a mile from the city. It stands upon a pretty high
pedestal with steps, under a pretty stone cupola or dome, supported by
four Ionic pillars, on the spot where Charles V. emperor of Germany,
Francis I. of France, and pope Paul II. agreed to have a conference, in
order to determine all their disputes. The emperor came hither by sea,
with a powerful fleet, and the French king by land, at the head of a
numerous army. All the endeavours of his holiness, however, could not
effect a peace;