immense and ever-increasing shipping trade. As a centre of
shipbuilding the Tyne is second only to the Clyde.

NEWCOMEN, THOMAS, blacksmith, born at Dartmouth; invented a
steam-engine in which the piston was raised by steam and driven down by
the atmosphere after the injection into the cylinder of a squirt of cold
water, which cooled it, so that the steam when injected did not raise the
piston at once up. By James Watt's invention of a separate condenser it
was superseded, and employed afterwards principally for pumping water.
The interruption in the movement between the descent and ascent of the
piston made it worthless for such purposes as Watt's invention is applied
to; _d_. 1729.

NEWDIGATE, SIR ROGER, born in Warwickshire; represented Oxford in
Parliament, and founded the Newdigate Prize for the best English poem by
an undergraduate; the winners of it have since distinguished themselves,
chiefly in letters (1719-1806).

NEWFOUNDLAND (198), the oldest island colony of Britain, situated at
the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, North America; is about one-eighth
larger than Ireland, and triangular in shape, the northern apex running
close in to the coast of Labrador; inland the country is bleak, sparsely
populated, and ill cultivated; lakes and rivers abound; the deeply
indented coast provides excellent harbourage for the large fishing fleets
that frequent it; minerals are found, including coal, iron, lead, and
copper; agriculture and timber-felling are on the increase, but the
fisheries--cod, salmon, herring, and seal--form the staple industry; the
climate is more temperate than in Canada, although, subject to fogs;
ST. JOHNS (q. v.) is the capital; discovered in 1497 by John
Cabot, seized by the English in 1583, and finally ceded to Britain by the
French (who retained certain fishing rights) in 1713; Newfoundland
possesses a responsible government, consisting of a popularly elected
Assembly and a Crown-appointed Governor, and exercises political rights
over the adjoining coast territory of Labrador.

NEWGATE, a dark, gloomy prison in London, the original of which
dates as far back as 1218; was two centuries afterwards rebuilt, and
destroyed in the great fire of 1666; rebuilt in 1780; is now used only
for prisoners awaiting trial during Sessions, and as a place of
execution.

NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY, cardinal, born in London, son of a banker;
educated at Ealing, studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and obt