ports or roadsteads and in its waters any violation of the preceding provisions.
Art. 26.—The exercise by a neutral power of the rights defined by the present Convention can never be considered as an unfriendly act by either belligerent who has accepted the articles relating thereto.
Art. 27.—The contracting powers will communicate to each other, as soon as feasible, all the laws, ordinances and other provisions which within their jurisdiction govern belligerent ships of war in their ports and waters, by means of a notification addressed to the government of the Netherlands and immediately transmitted by the latter to the other contracting powers.
Art. 28.—The provisions of the present Convention are only applicable as between contracting powers, and only if the belligerents are all parties thereto.
Other reforms may be expected from the Conference of 1915. Germany in the course of the South African War and Great Britain in that of the Russo-Japanese War showed great irritation at the stoppage of certain of their merchant vessels, and Great Britain in the one case had to consent to and in the other to demand a modification of belligerent right under International Law—a modification which, be it said, is a perfectly justifiable one, viz. that the right of search for contraband of war be restricted to a specified area. It is probable that, in future wars, powerful neutral states will show, in similar cases, quite as much irritation as did Germany and Great Britain. (T. Ba.)
NEUVILLE, ALPHONSE MARIE DE (1836–1885), French
painter, was born, the son of wealthy parents, at Saint-Omer,
France, on the 31st of May 1836. From school he went to
college, where he took his degree of bachelier ès lettres. In spite
of the opposition of his family he entered the naval school at
Lorient, and it was here, in 1856, that his artistic instincts first
declared themselves. After being discouraged by several
painters of repute, he was admitted to work in Picot’s studio.
He did not remain there long, and he was painting by himself
when he produced his first picture, “The Fifth Battalion of
Chasseurs at the Gervais Battery (Malakoff).” In 1860 de
Neuville painted an “Episode of the taking of Naples by Garibaldi”
for the Artists’ Club in the Rue de Provence, and sent to
the Salon in 1861 “The Light Horse Guards in the Trenches
of the Mamelon Vert.” He also illustrated Le Tour du monde
and Guizot’s History of France. At the same time he painted
a number of remarkable pictures: “The Attack in the Streets
of Magenta by Zouaves and the Light Horse” (1864), “A
Zouave Sentinel” (1865), “The Battle of San Lorenzo” (1867),
and “Dismounted Cavalry crossing the Tchernaia” (1869).
In these he showed peculiar insight into military life, but his full
power was not reached till after the war of 1870. He then aimed
at depicting in his works the episodes of that war, and began by
representing the “Bivouac before Le Bourget” (1872). His
fame spread rapidly, and was increased by “The Last Cartridges”
(1873), in which it is easy to discern the vast difference between
the conventional treatment of military subjects, as practised by
Horace Vernet, and that of a man who had lived through the
life he painted. In 1874 the “Fight on a Railroad” was not
less successful, and was followed by the “Attack on a House at
Villersexel” (1875) and the “Railway Bridge at Styring”
(1877). In 1878 the painter exhibited (not at the Great Exhibition)
“Le Bourget,” the “Surprise at Daybreak,” “The Intercepted
Despatch-bearer,” and a considerable number of drawings.
He also exhibited in London some episodes of the Zulu War.
In 1881 he was made an officer of the Legion of Honour for
“The Cemetery of Saint-Privat” and “The Despatch-bearer.”
During these years de Neuville was at work with Detaille on an
important though less artistic work, “The Panorama of Rézonville.”
De Neuville died in Paris on the 18th of May 1885.
At the sale of his works the state purchased for the Luxembourg
the “Bourget” and the “Attack on a Barricaded House,” with
a water-colour “The Parley,” and a drawing of a “Turco in
Fighting Trim.”
See Montrosier, Les Peintres militaires (Paris, 1881), “De Neuville,” in Gazette des beaux arts (Paris, 1885).
NEUWEILER, a town of Germany, in the imperial province of Alsace-Lorraine, situated under the Vosges Mountains, 6 m. N. from Zabern by the railway to Rastatt. Pop. (1905) 1906. It is an interesting medieval town, still surrounded by walls. The Romanesque Evangelical church dates from the 12th century; there are also a Romanesque Roman Catholic church, which was restored in 1852, a synagogue, and an old town-hall. The town has a considerable trade in hops and wine. Above it rise the ruins of the fortress of Herrenstein, and of the castle of Hüneburg.
See Fischer, Geschichte der Abtei und Stadt Neuweiler (Zabern, 1876).
NEUWIED, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, the capital of the mediatized countship of Wied, is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, 8 m. below Coblenz, on the railway from Frankfort-on-Main to Cologne. Pop. (1905) 18,177. The principal edifice is the château of the princes of Wied. This is situated in a fine park, and contains a collection of Roman antiquities. The town has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church. Its chief products are starch, sugar, tobacco, cigars, chicory, buttons and enamelled goods. There are large rolling-mills, and in the vicinity are several large iron-foundries. The schools of Neuwied enjoy a high reputation.
Neuwied was founded by Count Frederick of Wied in 1662, on the site of the village of Langendorf, which was destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, and it rapidly increased owing to the toleration accorded to all religious sects. Among those who sought refuge here was a colony of Moravian Brethren; they still occupy a separate quarter of the town, where they carry on manufactures of porcelain stoves and deerskin gloves. Near Neuwied one of the largest Roman castra on the Rhine has been excavated. In April 1797 the French, under General Hoche, defeated the Austrians near Neuwied, this being their first decisive success in the revolutionary wars. Legenhaus, in the neighbourhood, is one of the residences of the princes of Weid.
See Wirtgen and Blenke, Neuwied und seine Umgebung (Neuwied, 1901).
NEVA, a river of Russia, which carries off into the Gulf of Finland the waters of Lake Ladoga, Onega, Ilmen and many smaller basins. It issues from the south-west corner of Lake Ladoga in two channels, which are obstructed by sandstone reefs, so that the better of the two has a depth of only 7 to 16 ft. A little farther down it becomes completely navigable, and attains a breadth of 4200 ft.; but between the village of Ostrovki and that of Ust-Tosna it passes over a limestone bed, which produces a series of rapids, and reduces the width of the river from 1050 to 840 and that of the navigable passage from 350 to 175 ft. Nine or ten miles before reaching its outfall the river enters St Petersburg, and 5 or 6 m. lower down breaks up into the Great Neva (850 to 1700 ft. wide), the Little Neva (945 to 1365), and the Great Nevka (280 to 1205), this last, 2 m. farther on, sending off the Little Nevka (370 to 1130 ft.). Its total length is only 40 m. In front of the delta are sandbanks and rocks which prevent the passage of vessels except by a canal, 18 m. long, 124 to 226 ft. wide, and admitting vessels with a draught of 1812 ft., from Kronstadt to St Petersburg. Most of its alluvial burden being deposited in the lakes, the Neva takes a long time to alter its channels or extend its delta. The ordinary rise and fall of the river is comparatively slight, but when the west wind blows steadily for a long time, or when Lake Ladoga sends down its vast accumulations of block-ice, inundations of a dangerous kind occur, as in 1777, 1824, 1879 and 1903.
According to observations extending from 1706 to 1899, the mean day of the freezing of the Neva is November 25th, the earliest October 28th, the latest January 9th, and the next latest December 26th. The mean day of opening is April 21st, the earliest March 18th, and the latest May 12th. The mean number of days open is 218, the least 172, the greatest 279.
NEVADA (a Spanish word meaning “snow-clad” or “snowy land,” originally applied to a snow-capped mountain range on the Pacific slope), one of the far western states of the American Union, lying between 35° and 42° N. and 114° 1′ 34″ and 120° 1′ 34″ W. (37° and 43° W. of Washington). It is bounded N. by Oregon and Idaho, E. by Utah and Arizona, the Colorado River separating it in part from the latter state, and S. and W. by California. Nevada ranks sixth in size among the states of the Union. Of its total area of 110,690 sq. m., 869 sq. m. are
