are the quarto edition of the Optics (Lond. 1704), and the quarto edition of the Principle, published at Cambridge in 1713.

NEWTON, ISAAC, 1794-1858; b. New York; son of a revolutionary soldier; became a great ship-builder, superintended the construction of more than 90 vessels, and was a naval architect of distinguished reputation. He was the builder of the Hendrick Hudson, a river steamboat named in honor of the discoverer, and at the time (1851) considered very elegant; also the New World, built about the same time, for the navigation of the North river.

NEWTON, JOHN, 1725-1807; b. London, son of a sea captain; devoted by his mother to the Christian ministry. But her death occurring when he was seven years of age, he was neglected by his father and step-mother, and soon learned the ways of vicious boys with whom he associated. After a little time at a boarding-school ir Essex, he went to sea at the age of eleven. During the next six years he was exposed to the influence of atheistical books and companions. Reading Shaftesbury's Character istics he became an infidel. In his 19th year he was unexpectedly promoted to the rank of a midshipman on board the Havre man-of-war. But in his self-will he abandoned the ship while she lay at Plymouth. He was caught, brought back, flogged, and degraded; but became only more hardened. In 1745 he set sail for India as a common sailor. Unable to endure the taunts of his messmates and the frowns of his superiors. he entered at Madeira a Guinea vessel which took him in exchange for another. In six months he left this ship and landed penniless on the African coast near Sierra Leone. He soon found employment in the service of a slave-trader in one of the islands of the Plantanes, and was compelled to perform the most groveling drudgery. In a year the "stout English sailor was transformed into a spiritless, half-naked wretch, suffering under the effects of fever, shivering under the wind and wet of the rainy season, devour ing the nauseous roots which he stole by night from the plantations, or the fish which he caught by the sea-shore, and exciting the contempt and even the pity of the meanest of the slaves." In 1747 an English captain arriving at Sierra Leone with orders from his father to bring him home found him "herding contentedly with the negroes in their low pleasures and gross superstitions." He sailed in Mar., 1748. The ship came near foundering in a terrible storm. His mind was awakened to serious thoughts. At the near prospect of death his skeptical indifference and blasphemous defiance deserted him. He prayed, he read the New Testament and Thomas à Kempis, and when the ship reached Ireland he was a changed man. In 1750 he married Mary Catlett. Soon afterwards he was appointed commander of an African slaver, and for four years continued in the slave trade, confessing that "he never had the least scruples as tc its lawfulness," though afterwards he labored earnestly to expose its cruelties. During the intervals between his voyages while on shore, and on deck at sea, he studied Horace, Livy, and Erasmus. In 1754 a sudden attack of sickness led hin to abandon a sea-faring life, and for 8 years he was tide-surveyor at Liverpool. At this time he studied Greek and Hebrew, and the best theological works in Latin, French, and English. In 1764 he was ordained, and appointed curate of the parish of Olney, where he remained 16 years. He entered heartily into the religious views and work of Wesley and Whitefield. At Olney he published An Authentic Narrative of some Remarkable and Interesting Particulars in the Life of the Rev. John Newton. Here too he formed an intimate friendship with Cowper, and in connection with him produced the Olney Hymns. Most of them were written by himself for the use of his congregation. In 1779 he was presented with the rectory of the united parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth and St. Mary Woolchurch Hau, London, where he remained till his death, continuing to preach three times a week, even when more than four-score years old, and sight, hearing and memory were fast failing. When entreated to stop, he exclaimed, "What! shall the old African blasphemer stop while he can speak?" His labors were very effective, and he contributed much to dispel the religious apathy of that age. His works besides Olney Hymns, were Omicroris Letters; Review of Ecclesiastical History; Cardiphonia, or Utter ances of the Heart; The Christian Character Exemplified; Letters to a Wife; Messiah, being 50 discourses on the Scripture passages in the oratorio of the "Messiah;" Letters to the Rev. William Bull, and numerous sermons, discourses, tracts, etc. His letters are beautiful specimens of clearness and simplicity, and rich in Christian experience. Though ir his preface to the Olney Hymns he disclaims all pretension to being a poet, and claims only" the "mediocrity of talent which might qualify him for usefulness to the weak and poot of his flock," yet his verses, being as he himself says, "the fruit and expression of his own experience," live in the memory and affection of Christians, and some find a place in our best collections of hymns. He was a leader in the evangelical party in the church of England.

NEWTON, JOHN, b. Va., 1823. He was appointed second lieut. in the corps of engi neers, July 1, 1842, on graduating from West Point military academy, where he acted as assistant professor of engineering 1843-46. The construction of fortifications and the improvement of rivers and harbors next employed his time at various points on the Atlantic coast and great lakes, and 14 years of continuous service secured his promotion to the rank of capt. He was chief engineer of the Utah expedition of 1858. All through the civil war he was in active service, beginning as chief engineer of the department of

Pennsylvania, and later of Shenandoah.

Then he was summoned to assist in constructing the defenses of Washington, and had command of a brigade. During the peninsular and Maryland campaigns of the army of the Potomac he was a brig. gen. of volunteers, and took part in the battles of Gaines Mill, Glendale, South Mountain, and Antietam, where he was brevetted lieut.col. Commanding a division, he was engaged at Frederickburg, in the storming of Marye heights and battle of Salem, and his services at the battle of Gettysburg gave him the rank of brevet col., and the command of the 1st corps. In the invasion of Georgia he led a division of the army of the Cumberland through all the engagements preceding the capture of Atlanta, and Mar. 13, 1865, he was made brevet maj.-gen. After the war he was occupied in strengthening the defenses of New York harbor, removing the obstacles to navigation at Hell Gate and other portions of the East river, and improving some of the harbors of lake Champlain, the channel between Staten Island and N. J., and the Hudson river. June 30, 1879, he attained the rank of col. in the corps of engineers; in 1884 was made chief of engineers; retired 1886; was commissioner of public works, N. Y. city (1886-88), and became president of the - Panama railroad co. in 1888. He d. in 1895.

NEWTON, REGINALD HEBER, D.D., b. Philadelphia, 1840; son of Rev. Dr. Richard N.; was educated at the univ. of Pennsylvania; and was ordained to the Prot. Epis. ministry. His position in the Episcopal church is in the extreme "Broad Church," which by its opponents is characterized as the rationalistic party. He has written much on industrial and social topics. Among his works are: Studies of Jesus (1881); Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible (1883); The Book of Beginnings (1884), etc. Though Dr. N. gives strong utterance to his views, he is noted for kindliness of spirit, and fidelity as a Christian pastor. He is rector of All Souls' Church in New York City, and a "broad churchman."

NEWTON, ROBERT, 1780-1854; b. Roxby, Yorkshire, Eng. He was early brought under the influence of the Methodists, joining that church at the age of 17. In 1798 he was received by the British conference, and in 1803 was appointed to the Glasgow circuit, attending lectures on theology and philosophy at the same time at the university. Most of his time was spent in England and Scotland. In 1812 he was appointed to London, where he soon became distinguished for his eloquence, especially in behalf of the British and foreign Bible society. When he began his missionary work in England there were only 50 Wesleyan missionaries and 17,000 communicants; in a few years through his influence there were 350 missionaries and 100,000 communicants. His services were in great demand in England, Scotland, and Ireland. In Sheffield he did much to check the influence of Paine, which then prevailed among the working classes. From London he was sent to Wakefield, and thence to Liverpool. For 40 years he was known and honored in all the large towns and cities. He was four times elected president of the British conference, and for many years was its secretary. In 1839, at the centenary conference held in Liverpool, he was appointed delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church of the United States. He preached in New York, April 26, 1840, to a large audience, and wherever he preached vast crowds were attracted by his eloquence. In Baltimore, where the conference was held, such multitudes gathered to hear him that he afterwards preached in Monument square to an audience, it is said, of 15,000. He published Sermons on Special and Ordinary Occasions.

NEWTON, WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, b. Philadelphia, 1843; brother of Reginald Heber N. He graduated, 1865, at the univ. of Pennsylvania. He has published some vols. of sermons for children, also Essays of To-Day (1879), Priest and Man (a novel, 1883), and some vols. of verse. He is rector of a Prot. Epis. church, Pittsfield, Mass., and was the chief promoter of the "American Church Congress," whose first meeting was held, Hartford, Conn., 1885, May. It is composed of members of the various Christian denominations, and meets for discussion in a fraternal spirit, and in the interest of Christian union.

NEWTON-IN-MAKERFIELD, a parish and manufacturing t. of England in Lancashire, 15 m. w. of Manchester, on the Manchester and Liverpool railway. The chief industries are paper-making and coal mining. There is a beautiful lake in the town called Newton Mere, which is covered during the summer months with the pleasure-boats of the townspeople. Horse-races are held here in June, and horse and cattle fairs in May and August annually. Pop. '91, 12,900.

NEWTON'S RINGS. In his investigations of the colors produced by thin plates of any material, solid, fluid or gaseous, sir Isaac Newton hit upon the following mode of exhibiting the colors produced by a film of air. He took two lenses, one convexo-plane, its convex side having a radius of 14 ft., the other equi-convex, with the radii of its surfaces 50 ft., and laid the first with its plane surface downwards on the top of the second, thus producing a thin film of air between the lenses; the film being thinnest near the center, and becoming gradually thicker outwards. On slowly pressing the upper lens against the under one, a number of concentric colored rings, having the point of contact of the lenses for their center, appeared, and increased in size when the pressure was increased. These rings, or more properly systems of rings, are seven in number, and each of them is composed of a number (ranging from 8 in the first or smallest ring, to

2 in the outermost) of rings of different colors, the colors, though different in each of the systems of rings, preserving the same arrangements as the colors of the spectrum, of which they seem to be modifications; thus, in the second ring the inside color is violet, and the outside scarlet red. The colors are very distinct in the first three systems of rings, but become gradually confused and dull towards the outside, till they almost fade away in the 7th system. The center is deep black. The thickness of the air-film at the center is about half a millionth of an inch, and increases gradually to nearly 10,000 of an inch, when the colors disappear.

NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION, at Newton, Mass.; organized, 1825; the first theological seminary established in the country by the Baptist denomination. It has always been served by professors eminent for learning and piety. The buildings and grounds, valued at $200,000, occupy the summit of a hill commanding a fine view. It has an endowment of about $400,000, and a library of about 21,500 volumes; professors, '97, 9; students, 96. President, Rev. Alvah Hovey, D.D., LL.D.

NEWTON-UPON-AYR, a burgh of barony and parish of Scotland, in the co. of Ayr, ̧ on the n. side of the river Ayr, and united with the town of that name by three bridges. See AYR. Its population is 8600. Newton-upon-Ayr has shipbuilding docks, roperies, and iron and brass foundries.

NEWTOWN, a t. in Fairfield co., Conn.; on the Housatonic river and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroad; 9 m. w. of Danbury. It was incorporated in 1711, and contains the villages of Newtown, Sandy Hook, Hawleyville, and Botsford. The principal industries are agriculture and the manufacture of rubber goods, blankets, carriages and wagons, and woolen goods. Pop. '90, 3,539.

NEWTOWN, a t. in Queens co., N. Y.; on Long Island, an estuary of Long Island sound, and the Long Island railroad; bounded on the w. by the city of Brooklyn. It contains the villages of Corona, Middle, Winfield, and Woodside, many pretty villas, and extensive market gardens, and manufactories of rope, straw hats, china, oilcloth, and iron foundry products. Pop. '90, 17,549.

NEWTOWN, a modern manufacturing t. of North Wales, in the co. of Montgomery, 74 m. s.w. of the town of that name, on the right bank of the Severn, and on the Cambrian railway. It is the center of the flannel manufactures of the county. Carries on also other branches of the woolen industry. Pop. '91, 6,600.

NEWTOWNARDS, a civic and market t. of the co. Down, Ireland, 12 m. e. from Belfast by railway. Pop. '91, 9,200. In point of population it is the second town in the county. It contains a court house, a town hall, and a market square; a Protestant church, a Roman Catholic chapel, Presbyterian meeting-houses, numerous schools, and a union workhouse. It is a neat and well-built town, of considerable trade, and with extensive muslin, flax-spinning, and weaving factories, as well as two large hem-stitch factories.

NEWTOWN-LIMAVADY, now called Limavady (Ir. Leim-a-madha, "The Dog's Leap") a market t. of the co. of Londonderry, Ireland, and 16 m. e.n.e. of the town of Londonderry. Pop. less than 3,000. Newtown-Limavady, 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 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 center of the flax trade, once the staple of that district, and again rising in importance. It possesses a town-hall, weaving factory, extensive oat and maize mills, markets, and brewery; union workhouse, Protestant church and other places of worship, and comfortable hotels.

NEW WESTMINSTER, a city in central British Columbia, on Fraser river in the midst of the gold region, the former capital and one of the chief cities of the province; pop. '91, 6,641, including some Indians. It is 15 m. above the mouth of the river, 75 m. n.e. of Victoria, and 100 m. from Yale, at the head of river navigation. The river empties into the gulf of Georgia, and steamers from Vancouver Island make this place a freight and passenger station for ocean steamers, whence the river steamers forward them to Yale. Between this place and Victoria steamers ply frequently. The river at this point is about a mile wide, and contains several inhabited islands. The city is the center of considerable tracts of arable land, delightfully located, has a fine climate and a large rainfall; and the vicinity is a silver producing region, though mines are not yet opened. Its leading industry is salmon fishing, several establishments largely exporting the fish in cans and barrels; and other kinds of fish are caught for this trade, and for the manufacture of fish oil. It has also a large trade in lumber and furs. Anthracite and bituminous coal are exported. It has several churches, Methodist and Roman Catholic colleges, the provincial asylum for the insane, the Dominion penitentiary, residences of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops, public library, electric lights, electric street railroad, public parks, and important manufactories.

NEW-YEAR'S DAY, the first day of the year. The custom of celebrating by some religious observance, generally accompanied by festive rejoicing, the first day of the year, appears to have prevailed among most of the ancient nations. The Jews, the Egyptians, the Chinese, the Romans, and the Mohammedans, although differing as to

New York.

the time from which they reckoned the commencement of the year, all regarded it as a day of special interest. In Rome the year anciently began in March; and when Numa, according to the ancient legend, transferred it to Jan. 1, that day was held sacred to Janus Bifrons, who was thus supposed to turn at once back upon the old year and forward into the new. On the establishment of Christianity, the usage of a solemn inauguration of the new year was retained; but considerable variety prevailed, both as to the time and as to the manner of its celebration. Christmas day, the annunciation (Mar. 25), Easter day, and Mar. 1 have all, at different times or places, shared with Jan. 1 the honor of opening the new year; nor was it till late in the 16th c. that Jan. 1 was universally accepted as the first day of the new year. The early fathers-Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, Peter Chrysologus, and others-in reprobation of the immoral and supersti tious observances of the pagan festival, prohibited in Christian use all festive celebration; and, on the contrary, directed that the Christian year should be opened with a day of prayer, fasting, and humiliation. The mandate, however, was but partially observed. The festal character of the day, generally speaking, was pertinaciously preserved, but the day was also observed as a day of prayer; and this character was the more readily attached to it when the year began with Jan. 1, as that day, being the 8th after the nativity of our Lord, was held to be the commemoration of his circumcision (Luke ii. 21). The social observances of the first day of the new year appear to have been in substance the same in all ages. From the earliest recorded celebration, we find notice of feasting and the interchange of presents as usages of the day. Suetonius alludes to the bringing of presents to the capital; and Tacitus makes a similar reference to the practice of giving and receiving new-year's gifts. This custom was continued by the Christian kingdoms into which the western empire was divided. In England we find many examples of it, even as a part of the public expenditure of the court, so far down as the reign of Charles II.; and, as all our antiquarian writers mention, the custom of interchanging presents was common in all classes of society. In France and England it still subsists, although eclipsed in the latter country by the still more popular practice of Christmas gifts. In many countries, the night of New-Year's eve, St. Sylvester's eve," was celebrated with great festivity, which was prolonged till after 12 o'clock, when the new year was ushered in with congratulations, complimentary visits, and mutual wishes for a happy new year. This is an ancient Scottish custom, which also prevails in many parts of Germany, where the form of wish-“ Prosst- (for the Lat. prosit) Neu-jahr ”—“ May the new year be happy "-sufficiently attests the antiquity of the custom. In many places the practice of tolling bells at midnight, and thus "ringing in the new year," is still ob served. Many religious communions are wont to celebrate it with a special service. In the Roman Catholic church, the Te Deum is still sung at the close of the old year; and New-Year's day is a holiday of strict obligation.

NEW YORK, a Middle Atlantic state and one of the original 13; between lat. 40° 29' 40" and 45° 0' 42" n. ; long. 71° 51' and 79° 45′ 54.4" w. ; bounded on the n. and n.w. by Canada (Ontario and Quebec), the St. Lawrence forming a part of the boundary, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie; on the e. by Vermont, Lake Champlain, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Lower N. Y. Bay and the Atlantic; ou the s. by the Atlantic, Lower N. Y. Bay, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; on the w. by New Jersey, the Hudson River separating, Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and their connecting river, Niagara. Long Island (q.v.), which forms a part of the state, is bounded on the n. by Long Island sound; on the e. and s. by the Atlantic; on the w. by New York bay. Greatest length of state from n. to s., 3113 m.; greatest breadth, including Long Island, 412 m.; land area, 47,620 sq.m.; gross area, 49,170 sq.m., or 31,468,800 acres. The total extent of the boundary lines on the border of Canada, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania is 541.28 m. The geographical, political, and commercial importance of N. Y. have given it the popular name of the Empire State."

HISTORY.-While it is claimed that John de Verrazano landed on the coast of N. Y. in 1524, the first white man who is known to have been within the present boundaries of the state was Samuel Champlain, the French navigator, who set sail down the lake which was named after him, on July 4, 1609, antedating by two months Hudson's discovery from the sea. Champlain, governor of Canada, was on an expedition up the St. Lawrence, when he met a war-party of Hurons, which he and two other Frenchmen joined. July 5, at Crown Point, the Hurons met 200 Iroquois, and defeated them, Champlain shooting their chief with his arquebuse. This was the initiatory act which incurred the enmity of the Five Nations, with whom the French continued at war until the final surrender of their possessions in America. Sept. 9, 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of the Dutch East India company, sailed his little 80-ton shallop Half Moon into the waters of New York bay, and three days later commenced his voyage up the river to which his name is attached, which he explored to a point between Hudson and Albany. All the land which he discovered was claimed by the Dutch and named New Netherland; and in 1611 the States-General offered special privileges to any company opening and encouraging trade with the natives of their newly acquired possessions. This encouragement procured not only trading but colonization. In 1613 a fort was built on Manhattan Island, but the settlement about it was broken up by the English. In the following year another Dutch colony established itself on the same spot, and continued in

possession; and during the ten years succeeding, the shores of the Hudson and those of Long Island sound were explored, and at Fort Orange (Albany) another trading-post was established. In this region the Indians were tribes of the great Algonquin family, while the remainder of the state was occupied by the Five Nations. But while Champlain had embroiled himself with the Indians in the part of the country included in his explorations, thus entailing a long and bloody war upon the French, the Dutch settlers in the s. e., more wary, cultivated amity with the red men, to their own material advantage. In 1621 the prospects of a lucrative commerce with America had induced certain merchants in Holland to combine in the organization of the Dutch West India company, for colonization purposes, and two years later this company took out 18 families who settled at Fort Orange, and 30 families who remained at New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island.

The first important illustration of the benefits of amicable intercourse with the Indians occurred in the purchase from them of Manhattan Island by the Dutch in 1626 for the sum of $24. This was accomplished by Peter Minuits, the director general who had been sent out by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its colonies, an able administrator and wise governor. See MINUIT, PETER. A feature of his administration was

the establishment of the patroon system, by which certain speculators were permitted by an act of the company passed in 1629 to gain manorial rights over immense tracts of country; thus building up a powerful land aristocracy, whose influence was great in the early history of the state, and whose claims brought about more than two centuries later the "anti-rent war between landlords and tenants in these manorial districts. The disturbance which this system immediately produced among the colonists themselves was attributed wrongfully to maladministration on the part of Minuits, and he was summoned home and his office filled, in 1633, by Wouter van Twiller, who was succeeded in 1638 by William Kieft. The administration of the latter was signalized by the first serious difficulty between the colonists and the Indians. an attack on the natives by the Dutch, which resulted in the massacre of more than 100 Some slight disagreement brought about unoffending Indians, men, women, and children, and the precipitation of a sanguinary war, which threatened the very existence of the colony. Peter Stuyvesant succeeded Kieft in 1647, and his considerate and judicious direction of affairs relieved the colony from the serious danger into which it had fallen. He pursued a conciliatory policy with the Indians, and the wisdom of his administration soon produced its effect in a satisfactory and progressive condition in the settlements under his jurisdiction. These settlements now constantly extending, soon conflicted with those of the English on the Connecticut river, and of the Swedes on the Delaware. The latter had been established by Peter Minuits, who had joined the service of the Swedish government, after being dismissed from that of the Dutch West India company. In 1655 Gov. Stuyvesant seized this settlement by force and annexed it to his government. The English opposition to the Dutch colonization schemes was persistent from the beginning, and fruitful of much conflict. The English claimed the territory n. of Virginia on the ground of the anterior discoveries by Cabot; and in 1664 a charter was granted by Charles II. to the Duke of York, which covered all the lands lying between the Hudson and the Delaware, and included New Netherland, as well as lands already held by prior grant, by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In the summer of the year in which this charter was given, Col. Nicolls was sent from England with sufficient force, and on arriving at New Amsterdam, demanded the surrender of the Dutch possessions. This demand was acceded to by Gov. Stuyvesant, who was powerless to prevent its enforcement, and the country in question passed into the hands of the English without a struggle. The name of New York was now given both to the settlement on Manhattan Island and to the entire province, and that of Albany to Fort Orange. A subsequent recapture by the Dutch was followed by speedy restoration to the English; and on the Duke of York ascending the throne of England under the title of James II., the province passed into the possession of the crown. Its condition at this time was not encouraging as to progress, either in wealth or education. The most of the land was held by aristocratic families, much of it having been dispensed by the Duke of York among his favorites. Heavy taxation and burdensome restrictions on trade bore heavily on the people; there was little political freedom or religious toleration; even under the reign of William and Mary there was little improvement. Colonial possessions, according to the general policy of the European powers, were used to placate or dispose of personal enemies, or to reward personal friends; while their trade was deemed a just perquisite for the royal exchequer. So late as 1689, the persistent tyranny of Nicholson, then governor of N. Y., aroused the colonists to resistance; and Jacob Leisler, a merchant of prominence in N. Y., and holding an official position, seized the government in the name of William of Orange, and held it for two years. He was then superseded by Gov. Sloughter, and on very insignificant grounds was tried for high treason, condemned, and put to death. See LEISLER, JACOB. While the Dutch and English were colonizing s. e. N. Y. and the line of the Hudson river, also at points some distance in the interior and on Lake Champlain, the French were incessant in their warfare with the Indians and their inroads from Canada into northern and central N. Y., varying their warlike expeditions by missionary enterprises. Excepting brief periods of peace, established by treaty stipulations often broken, the French and Indians were constantly at enmity; while the generally friendly relations of the natives with the English resulted in the northern and western frontier