Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/783

 DELFT DELHI 779 towns of Holland; pop. in 1870, 22,909, of whom 7,500 were Catholics, and the remainder chiefly Protestants. It is intersected in all di- rections by canals, which are crossed by about Town Hall. 70 bridges. Among the principal public build- ings are the palace or prinsenhof, originally the convent of St. Agatha, once the occasional resi- dence of William I. of Orange, and the scene of his assassination (July 10, 1584), now con- verted into barracks ; the town hall ; the new church, with a huge square tower and cele- brated chimes, containing the mausoleum of William I., and the tombs of the Orange fam- ily, and of Hugo Grotius ; the old church, dis- tinguished by a leaning tower, containing the oldest organ in Holland, the monument of Ad- miral van Tromp, and the tomb of Leeuwen- hoeck ; two Roman Catholic churches, several churches for various Protestant denominations, and a chapel for Jansenists. There are several associations for the promotion of art, science, and literature, and various benevolent institu- tions. Deft was formerly celebrated for its potteries (delft ware), but this manufacture is now almost entirely superseded by the superior articles made in England. The little earthen- ware now made here is of the coarser kind. Of the other manufactures, those of mathe- matical instruments are most renowned. Near the entrance of the town is the state arsenal of Holland, originally the Dutch East India house, to which a college of engineers is at- tached. Delft was almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1536, and again in 1654, when an explosion of the powder magazine demolished 500 houses and killed 1,200 persons. But by being frequently rebuilt, the town was so much improved that Pepys in his diary (May 18, 1660) describes it as " a most sweet town, with bridges and rivers in every street." In 1797 the Delft religious association (Ckristo sacrum) was established here by members of the French Reformed church, with the view of forming a union between all Christian sects, but is now almost extinct. Delft is. connected by a canal with its port, DELFT HAVEN or DELFTSHAVEN, a small town on the right bank of the Maas, 2 m. from Rotterdam, with about 3,000 in- habitants, engaged in distilleries, herring and cod fisheries, and ship building. Delft Haven is celebrated in Amer- ican history as the place where the pil- grim fathers embarked for Southampton, July 22, 1620. DELFT WARE, a kind of pottery of clay, or clay mixed with sand, and covered with a white enamel, which gives to it the appear- ance of porcelain. The vessels made of this preparation are first moulded, then slightly baked, in which state they readily receive the enamel, when a stronger heat is applied for the purpose of fusing the enamel uniformly and to complete the baking process. Sometimes this pottery is finely ornamented with paint- ing. The more common and coarser kinds, however, better resist a sudden heat. The preparation of the enamel is an important part of the process. It should be made so opaque that the ware cannot be seen through it. DELHI, Dehli, or Dilhi, a city of British India, capital of a commissionership and a district of the Punjaub, and formerly of the Mogul em- pire, situated on an offset of the Jumna, about a mile from the right bank of the main stream, 115 m. N. K W. of Agra, 40 m. S. W. of Meerut, and 830 m. N. W. of Calcutta; lat. 28 39' K, Ion. 77 18' W. ; pop. about 160,- 000, mostly Hindoos and Mohammedans, in nearly equal proportions. The city, which is 7 m. in circumference, is built on two rocky eminences, and enclosed, except on part of the water front, by a wall of red sandstone 30 ft. high, with bastions, martello towers, and 11 gates, four of which face the river. The seven landward gates are all colossal arches of free- stone, defended by round towers. There is also a dry ditch 20 ft. wide, and on the island formed by the Jumna and its offset stands the old fort of Selimgurh, whence a bridge of boats crosses the main stream. The defences were erected by Shah Jehan, and have been improved by the British. The streets are all narrow, with the exception of two, which are respec- tively 90 and 120 ft. in width, and both of which are provided with a small raised water- course bordered with trees. The Chandnee Chowk, or silversmiths' street, the main thor-