Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/364

 352 NEW YORK (STATE) The bestowal of gifts upon new year's day was not peculiar to the Romans. The druids dis- tributed branches of the sacred mistletoe, cut with peculiar ceremonies, as new year's gifts among the people ; and the Saxons of the north, according to Bishop Stillingfleet, observed the festival with f eastings and sending gifts. Hen- ry III. of England is said to have extorted new year's gifts, and Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe and jewelry were probably almost wholly sup- plied from these contributions. Dr. Drake says that, although the queen made returns to the new year's gifts in plate and other articles, she took care that the balance should be in her own favor. As late as 1692, as appears from the "Monthly Miscellany" for December of that year, the English nobility were accustomed, " every new year's tide," to " send to the king a purse with gold in it." In England the ring- ing in the new year from the belfries of church- es is now the only open demonstration of joy at the recurrence of the anniversary. In the city of New York the day is made the occasion of social visits by gentlemen, a custom dating back to the settlement of the town by the Dutch ; and the practice has become prevalent in many parts of the United States. The Jews celebrate their new year's festival (Bosh Jiashshanah) at the beginning of the month of Tishri (September-October), the first of the civil year corresponding to the seventh of the Mosaic or ecclesiastical. The distinguishing feature of the celebration in the synagogues is the blowing of horns, in accordance with Le- viticus xxiii. 24. Among the Chinese the new year's celebration, continued for three days, is the greatest festival of the year. Preparatory to it, all accounts are settled and debts paid so far as possible ; and tradesmen who cannot pay their debts are generally obliged to give up all their property to their creditors. On new year's day calls are made upon friends, joyous greetings are exchanged in the streets, paper prayers are offered in the temples, fireworks are burned, gongs are beaten, and a general hubbub prevails. At night gambling is prac- tised to an enormous extent. NEW YORK, one of the thirteen original states of the American Union, and one of the middle states, situated between lat. 40 29' 40" and 45 0' 42" N., and Ion. 71 51' and 79 45' 54" W. ; extreme length E. and W., 412 m. ; breadth varying from 8 or 10 m. on Long island, and 18| m. at the W. extremity of the state, to 31 If m. from the Canada boundary to the S. point of Staten island; area, 47,000 sq. m. It is bounded N". and N. W. by Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river, and again N. by Cana- da along the parallel of 45 from the St. Law- rence to the head of Lake Champlain ; E. by Vermont (separated in part by Lake Cham- plain), Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the At- lantic ocean ; S. by the Atlantic, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and W. by Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, and the Niagara river. It is divi- ded into 60 counties, viz. : Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cort- land, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Frank- lin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Her- kimer, Jefferson, Kings, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, New York, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Suffolk, Sullivan,Tioga,Tomp- kins, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westchester, Wyoming, and Yates. Albany, the capital, is on the W. bank of the Hudson river, about 140 m. N. of New York city; pop. in 1870, within its present limits, 76,216. The population of New York city in 1870 was 942,292, but recent annexations have in- creased it, according to the census of that year, to 973,773; its total population in 1874 was about 1,050,000. The other cities of the state, with the number of inhabitants as re- ported by the federal census of 1870, are : Au- burn, 17,225 ; Binghamton, 12,692; Brooklyn, 396,099; Buffalo, 117,714; Cohoes, 15,357; Elmira, 15,863 ; Hudson, 8,615 ; Kingston (1874), about 22,000 ; Lockport, 12,426 ; Long Island City (1874), about 16,000; Newburgh, 17,014 ; Ogdensburg, 10,076 ; Oswego, 20,910 ; Poughkeepsie, 20,080 ; Rochester, 62,386 ; Rome, 11,000; Schenectady, 11,026; Syracuse, 43,051; Troy, 46,465; Utica, 28,804; Water- town, 9,336; Yonkers (1874), about 16,000. In population New York surpasses every other state in the Union. Under the colonial gov- ernment, the number of inhabitants in 1698 was 18,067; 1703,20,665; 1723,40,564; 1731, 50,824; 1737, 60,437; 1746, 61,589; 1749, 73,348; 1756, 96,790; 1771, 163,337. The results of the United States decennial census- es have been as follows : YEARS. White. Free colored. Slave. Total. Rank. 1790.. 814,142 4,654 21,824 840,120 5 1800 657731 10417 20908 589 051 3 1810 918 699 25833 15017 959 049 2 1820 1,832,744 29,279 10,088 1,872,111 1 1830 1 873 663 44870 75 1,918 608 1 1840 2 878 890 50027 4 2 428 921 1 1850 8.048,325 49,069 8,097,894 1 I860 8 881 590 49,005 3,880 735 1 18TO... 4,330,210 52,081 4,382,759 1 Included in the total of 1860 were 140 Indians, and in that of 1870, 439 Indians and 29 Chi- nese. Censuses have also been taken by the state as follows : 1814 (total population), 1,035,- 910; 1825, 1,614,456; 1835, 2,174,517; 1845, 2,604,495; 1855, 3,466,212; 1865, 3,831,777. The population increased from 1698 to 1771, or during a colonial period of 73 years, 804-06 ?er cent., or at the rate of 11 '014 per annum, he increase from 1790 to 1850, or during a period of 60 years, was 810-67 per cent., or 13-51 per annum; 1840 to 1850, 27*52 per cent., or 2'75 per annum; 1850 to 1855, 11-91 per cent., or 2-38 per annum ; 1855 to 1860,