NEWPORT
18
NEWTON
(474 white). About 13,464 acres are under cultiva-
tion, the principal products being copra, cotton, coffee,
and rubber.
The vicariate .\postoUc was erected on 1 Jan., 1SS9, and entrusted to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Issoudun. Since Sept.. 190."). when the Marshall Islands were made a separate vicariate, its territory is confined to the Bismarck Archipelago. The first and present vicar .\postolic is Mgr Louis Cou))pe, titular Bishop of Leros. The mis.sion has already made re- mark.ahle progress, and numbers according to the latest statistics 1.'),2L'3 Catholii's; 2S missionaries; 40 brothers; 27 Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Ili'art; 55 nati\'e catechists; 77 churches and chapels; 1)0 sta- tions (26 chief); 29 schools with over 4000 pupils; 13 orphanages.
iMonalshefle (les Missiorishauses von HillTup; Deutsche Kolonial- blalt (190S). suppl. ,78sqq.
Thomas Kennedy.
Newport (England), Diocese of (Neoporten- Sls). — This diocese takes its name from Newport, a town of about 70,000 inhabitants, situated at the mouth of the river Usk, in the county of Mon- mouth. Before the restoration of hier- archial government in England bv Pius IX in 18.50, the old "Western District of England had, since 1S40, been divided into two vicariates. The northern, corn- prising the twelve counties of Wales with Monmouth- shire and Hereford- shire, was called the Vicariate of Wales. When the country was divided by an ApostolicBricf dated 29 Sept., 1S50, into dioceses, the six counties of South ^\'ales, with IVIonmouthshire and Herefordshire, be- came the Diocese of Newport and Menevia. Mene- via is the Latin name for St. David's, and the double title was intended to signify that at some future day there were to be two distinct dioceses. The first bishop of the Diocese of Newport and Menevia was the Right Reverend Thomas Joseph Brown, O.S.B., who had already, as vicar Apostolic, ruled for ten years the Vicariate of Wales. A further re-adjust- ment of the diocese was made in March, 1895, when Leo XIII separated from it five of the counties of South Wales, and formed a new vicariate, which was to consist of all the twelve Welsh counties except Gla- morganshire. Since that date the name of the dio- cese has been simply "Newport ", and it has consisted of Glamorganshire, Monmouthshire, and Hereford- shire. The Catholic population (1910) is about 45,000, the general population being about 1,0.50,000.
The diocesan chapter, in virtue of a Decree of the Congregation of Propaganda, 21 April, 1852, issued at the petition of Cardinal Wiseman and the rest of the hierarchy, was to consist of monks of the English Benedictine Congregation resident in the town of Newport. As the congregation, up to this date (1910), have not been able to establish a house in New- port, permis.sion from the Holy See has been obtained for the members of flic chapter to reside at St. Mi- chael's pro-cathedral, Belmont, near Hereford. The chapter comprises a cat hcdral prior and nine canons, of whom four are allowed to be non-resident. Their choral habit is the cuculla or frock of the congregation with
a special almuce. In assisting the bishop they dispense
~wit h t he f!/ri(//n, and wear the almuee over the siirjiliee.
The present bishop, the Right Reverend John Cuth-
bert Iledley, O.S.B., was consecrated as auxiliary on
29 September, 1873, and succeeded in February,
1881, to Bi.shop Brown. IIc^ resides at Bishop's
House, Llanishen, Cardiff. The pro-cathedral is the
beautiful church of the Benedictine priory at Bel-
mont. There are in the diocese about 40 secular di-
ocesan priests, 21 Benedictines (of whom 15 work on
the Mission), and 14 Rosminian Fathers. There are
five deaneries. The principal towns are Cardiff,
Newport, Swansea, and Merthyr Tydvil. The only
religious house of men is the Cathedral Priory, Bel-
mont, which is the residence of the cathedral prior and
chapter, and is also a house of studies and novitiate
for the English Benedictines. Of religions women
there are houses of Poor Clares, Our Lady of Charity,
the Good Shepherd, Sisters of Nazareth, I'rsiilines of
Chavagnes, St. Joseph of Annecy, St. Vincent de Paul,
and others. There are four certified Poor Law
schools; one for boys,
at T r e f o r e s t , and
three for girls — two,
at Hereford and Bul-
lingham respectively,
conducted by the Sis-
ters of Charity, one
at Cardiff, conducted
by the Sisters of
Nazareth. There
are 50 churches in
the diocese, besides
several school chapels
and public oratories.
There are about 11,-
000 children in the
Catholic elementary
schools. There are
four secondary
schools for girls, and
one centre (in Car-
dilT) for female pupil
teachers.
- °""-^=' F. A. Crow.
Newport, Richard, V'enerable. See Scot, Wil- liam, O.S.B. , Venerable.
New Testament. See Te.stament, The New.
Newton, John, soldier and engineer, b. at Norfolk, Virginia, 24 August, 1823; d. in New York City, 1 May, 1895. He was the son of General Thomas New- ton and Margaret Jordan. In 1838 he was appointed from Virginia a cadet in the U. S. Military Academy, and graduated in 1842, standing second in a class that included Rosencrans, Pope, and Longstreet. Com- missioned second lieutenant of engineers, he was en- gaged as assistant professor of engineering at West Point, and later in the construction of fortifications and other engineering projects along the coasts of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Commissioned first lieutenant in 1852 and promoted captain in 18.56, he was appointed chief engineer of the Utah Expedition in 1858. At the opening of the Civil War he was chief engineer of the Department of Penn.sylvania, and afterwards held a similar position in the Depart- ment of the Shenandoah. Commissioned major on 6 August, 1861, he worked on the construction of the defences of Wa.shington until March, 1862. He was commissioned on 23 Sept., 1861, brigadier-general of volunteers, and received command of a brigade en- gaged in the defence of the city. He served in the army of the Potomac under McClellan during the Peninsular Campaign, and distinguished himself by his heroic condui^t in the actions of West I^oint, Gaines Mills, and Glendale. He led his brigade in the Maryland campaign, taking part in the forcing
