Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/427

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
*
*


province was ably represented at the various meetings of the continental congress preceding and leading to the war of the Revolution, and from the breaking out of hostilities bore more than its full share of the burdens necessary to bring the war to a successful conclusion. The last provincial assembly was prorogued in December 1775. The provincial congress, elected in accordance with the ordinance of the preceding congress, convened in June 1776, and on the 18th of July assumed the title of the “convention of the State of New Jersey.” An Act of Assembly of September 1777 substituted the word “State” for the word “Colony” in all cases of writs, commissions, indictments, &c., &c. In the war New Jersey furnished to the “continental line” 10,726 men, besides large numbers of militia, and expended for war purposes, on account of the continental government, $5,342,770. Some very important and interesting operations of the war were conducted within the limits of the State; and from its peculiar position New Jersey suffered more from the evils of the war than any of the thirteen colonies, except perhaps South Carolina. In the whisky insurrection of 1794 the State furnished more than 2000 militia, who under Governor Howell formed part of the army in Pennsylvania. In the war of 1812 it furnished nearly 7000 militia, and in the Mexican war three companies of regular infantry and a battalion of volunteers. At the breaking out of the civil war of 1861 the number of men in the State available for military duty was 98,806; and during that war New Jersey organized and maintained 37 regiments of infantry, 3 regiments of cavalry, and 5 batteries. The national guard of the State now consists of 48 companies of infantry and 2 Gatling gun companies, numbering 3220 officers and men, thoroughly organized, drilled, and equipped for service.

See Samuel Smith, History of the Colony of New Jersey to the year 1721, Burlington, 1765, republished 1877; Gordon, History of New Jersey to the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Trenton, 1834; Mulford, Civil and Political History of New Jersey, Camden, 1848; Barber and Howe, Historical Collections; New Jersey Archives, first series; Whitehead, Contributions to the Early History of Perth Amboy, New York, 1856, and Contributions to East Jersey History; Winfield, History of Hudson County; Hatfield, History of Elizabeth, New Jersey, 1868. For the geology, Cook, Geology of New Jersey, 1S68; and Annual Reports of the State Geologist of New Jersey. (G. B. M‘C.)

NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH. See Swedenborg.

NEW LONDON, a city and port of entry of the United States, one of the shire towns of New London county, Connecticut, lies on the west bank of the Thames, about 3 miles above its entrance into Long Island Sound. It is the southern terminus of the Central Vermont Railroad, and a station on the New York, New Haven, and Hartford and the New York, Providence, and Boston Railroads, whose trains cross the river by ferry. By rail it is 126 miles from New York and 62 from Providence. Two lines of steamers ply daily to New York. The city is built on a declivity facing the south-east, and from the higher points enjoys fine views over Long Island Sound and the surrounding country. To the south lies Fort Trumbull, having 80 guns and room for 800 men, but too near the city to be a sufficient defence. At Groton Heights on the opposite bauk, a small battery occupies the site of Fort Griswold, near which is a granite shaft, 127 feet high, commemorating the massacre of its garrison by Arnold's troops in 1781. As a fashionable summer resort, rivalling Newport, it is well provided both with private residences and public hotels. The city-hall, the county court-house, and the custom-house are among the most conspicuous buildings. The harbour of New London, the best on Long Island Sound, and one of the best in the world, is 3 miles in extent, and has a depth of from 4 to 7 fathoms; the river is navigable also for 3 miles above the city. The granite wharf, built by the New London Northern (Central Vermont) Railroad, is 1125 feet long, 220 feet wide at the river end, and 150 feet at the shore end. On the east side is a United States navy yard. As a whale-fishery port New London was from 1840 to 1857 second only to New Bedford. Since the decline of the whale fishery it has prosecuted the seal fishery (Alaska and New Shetland), and the cod and mackerel fisheries. A woollen mill, a cotton-gin factory, iron foundries, a fruit-canning establishment, and an extensive cracker bakery are the chief manufacturing works in the city. The population was 8991 in 1850, 10,115 in 1860, 9575 in 1870, and 10,537 in 1880. In 1645 John Winthrop the younger settled on what was then known as Pequot Harbour, and in 1658 the Connecticut assembly resolved that the "plantation" should bear the name of New London. During the Revolution the harbour was the headquarters of the Connecticut privateering fleet. In 1781 the city was captured by Benedict Arnold, and, together with Groton, was burned by accident or design.

NEWMARKET, a market-town, partly in Cambridge and partly in Suffolk, and the seat of important races, is situated on the Cambridge and Bury branch of the Great Eastern Railway, 13 miles north-east of Cambridge and 60 north by east of London. The parish church of Saint Mary, an old Gothic building of stone, was recently restored. Newmarket has been celebrated for its races from the time of James I. The house built for this monarch's use during his visit to the races, and enlarged by Charles II., is now partly occupied by a Congregational chapel. The Beacon race-course at Newmarket is about 4 miles long, and is the finest in the world. The town is the chief seat of the Jockey Club, and of the training establishments for races, more than 1000 horses generally occupying the stables at one time. Near the race-course is the Devil's Ditch, consisting of a ditch and mound 4 or 5 miles long and 100 feet broad, with a slope of 50 feet on the south-west side. Roman remains have been found in the neighbourhood. The population of the urban sanitary district (740 acres) in 1871 was 4534, and in 1881 it was 5093.

Plate IX. NEW MEXICO, a Territory of the United States, is bounded on the N. by Colorado, on the E. by Texas and unorganized “public lands” adjacent to the Indian Territory, on the S. by Texas and Mexico, and on the W. by Arizona. It forms nearly a square, being about 335 miles in width from east to west and 345 miles in length from north to south on the eastern border, which lengthens to 390 miles on the west. As formed originally by the Organic Act of 1850, the Territory embraced Arizona and southern Colorado. In 1854 the “Gadsden Purchase” from Mexico added a strip along the southern boundary. In 1863 Arizona was detached and made into a separate Territory, and in 1867 the portion of New Mexico north of the 37th parallel was added to Colorado, leaving the Territory with its present boundaries, and an area of 122,460 square miles.

Physical Features.—The whole area is elevated far above the ocean, the table-lands of the north being 6000 to 6500, those of the centre 5000, and those of the south about 4000 feet above sea-level. The fall in the Rio Grande from the Colorado line to that of Mexico is about 3500 feet. The whole except the eastern portion is traversed by mountains, passing from north to south, not continuously but in broken ranges, which, for convenience of description, may be divided into three parts. The main range of the Rocky Mountains enters the Territory from the north, the highest peaks being the Costilla (12,615 feet), Taos, Mora (12,020), Truchas (13,150), and Baldy (12,661). This range disappears as a continuous chain near Glorieta. Running east from this as a kind of spur along the Colorado line are the Raton Mountains, the pass in which, south of Trinidad, is 7893 feet high. The railroad crosses this range through a tunnel. Commencing about 20 miles south of Santa Fé, and extending southwards on the east side of the Rio Grande, is a broken range, known variously in localities from north to south as the Cerrillos, Placer, Sandia, Chilili, Manzana, Jumanes, Oscura, San Andres, and Organ Mountains,—the last-named crossing into Mexico near El Paso. Nearer to the Rio Grande in Socorro county are the Fra Cristobal and Caballo Mountains. East of the above chain is a series of ranges, generally short, locally known as the Gallinas,