Vadius, a grave and heavy pedant.--Molière,Les Femmes Savantes(1672).
⁂ The model of this character was Ménage, an ecclesiastic, noted for his wit and learning. Vadius, although a caricature, was at once recognized by Molière’s readers.
Vafri´no, Tancred’s squire, practiced in all disguises, and learned in all the Eastern languages. He was sent as a spy to the Egyptian camp. Tasso,Jerusalem Delivered(1575).
Vagabonds(The).
“We are two travellers, Roger and I.Roger’s my dog;--come here, you scamp!Jump for the gentleman,--mind your eye!Over the table--look out for the lamp!The rogue is growing a little old;Five years we’ve tramped through wind and weather,And slept out-doors when nights were cold,And ate and drank--and starved--together.”* * * * * * * * * *Trowbridge,The Vagabonds(1869).
“We are two travellers, Roger and I.Roger’s my dog;--come here, you scamp!Jump for the gentleman,--mind your eye!Over the table--look out for the lamp!The rogue is growing a little old;Five years we’ve tramped through wind and weather,And slept out-doors when nights were cold,And ate and drank--and starved--together.”* * * * * * * * * *Trowbridge,The Vagabonds(1869).
“We are two travellers, Roger and I.Roger’s my dog;--come here, you scamp!Jump for the gentleman,--mind your eye!Over the table--look out for the lamp!The rogue is growing a little old;Five years we’ve tramped through wind and weather,And slept out-doors when nights were cold,And ate and drank--and starved--together.”* * * * * * * * * *Trowbridge,The Vagabonds(1869).
“We are two travellers, Roger and I.
Roger’s my dog;--come here, you scamp!
Jump for the gentleman,--mind your eye!
Over the table--look out for the lamp!
The rogue is growing a little old;
Five years we’ve tramped through wind and weather,
And slept out-doors when nights were cold,
And ate and drank--and starved--together.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Trowbridge,The Vagabonds(1869).
Vagabond(The Bishop’s), “Cracker,” who imposes in countless ways upon the credulity and takes advantage of the humanity of a benevolent man. In the end he saves the bishop’s life at the cost of his own, and, as the good man offers to pray by his dying bed, tries to wave his hand in the old airy style. “I reckon God a’mighty knows I’d be the same old Demming ef I could get up, an’ I don’ mean to make no purtenses. But mabbe it’ll cheer up th’ ole ’ooman a bit; so you begin, an’ I’ll bring in an ‘Amen’ whenever it’s wanted.” When the prayer ended there was no “Amen.” Demming was gone where prayer may only faintly follow.--Octave Thanet,Knitters in the Sun(1887).
Vain´love, a gay young man about town.--Congreve,The Old Bachelor(1693).
Valantia(Count), betrothed to the Marchioness Merĭda, whom he “loved to distraction till he found that she doted on him, and this discovery cloyed his passion.” He is light, inconsiderate, unprincipled and vain. For a time he intrigues with Amantis, “the child of Nature,” but when Amantis marries the Marquis Almanza, the count says to Merida she shall be his wife if she will promise not to love him.--Mrs. Inchbald,Child of Nature. (SeeThenot.)
Valclusa(Vaucluse), the famous retreat of Petrarch (father of Italian poetry) and his mistress, Laura, a lady of Avignon.
At last the Muses rose ... from fair Valclusa’s bowers.Akenside,Pleasures of Imagination, ii. (1744).
At last the Muses rose ... from fair Valclusa’s bowers.Akenside,Pleasures of Imagination, ii. (1744).
At last the Muses rose ... from fair Valclusa’s bowers.Akenside,Pleasures of Imagination, ii. (1744).
At last the Muses rose ... from fair Valclusa’s bowers.
Akenside,Pleasures of Imagination, ii. (1744).
Valdes(2syl.)and Cornelius, friends of Dr. Faustus, who instruct him in magic,and induce him to sell his soul, that he may have a “spirit” to wait on him for twenty-four years.--C. Marlowe,Dr. Faustus(1589).
Valence(Sir Aymer de), lieutenant of Sir John de Walton, governor of Douglas Castle.--Sir W. Scott,Castle Dangerous(time, Henry I.).
Valenti´na, daughter of the conte di San Bris, governor of the Louvre. She was betrothed to the conte di Nevers, but loved Raoul [di Nangis], a Huguenot, by whom she was beloved in return. When Raoul was offered her hand by the Princess Margheri´ta di Valois, the bride of Henri le Bernais (Henri IV.), he rejected it, out of jealousy; and Valentina, out of pique, married Nevers. In the Bartholomew slaughter which ensued, Nevers fell, and Valentina married her first love, Raoul, but both were shot by a party of musketeers under the command of her father, the conte di San Bris.--Meyerbeer,Les Huguenots(1836).
Valentine, one of the “two gentlemen of Verona;” the other “gentleman” was Protheus. Their two serving-men were Speed and Launce. Valentine married Silvia, daughter of the duke of Milan, and Protheus married Julia. The rival of Valentine was Thurio.--Shakespeare,The Two Gentlemen of Verona(1595).
Valentine, a gentleman in attendance on the duke of Illyria.--Shakespeare,Twelfth Night(1602).
Valentine(3syl.), a gentleman just returned from his travels. In love with Cellide (2syl.), but Cellide is in love with Francisco (Valentine’s son).--Beaumont and Fletcher,Mons. Thomas(a comedy, before 1620).
Valentine(3syl.), a gallant that will not be persuaded to keep his estate.--Beaumont and Fletcher,Wit without Money(1639).
Valentine, brother of Margaret. Maddened by the seduction of his sister, he attacks Faust during a serenade, and is stabbed by Mephistophelês. Valentine dies reproaching his sister, Margaret.--Goethe,Faust(1798).
Valentine[Legend], eldest son of Sir Sampson Legend. He has atendrefor Angelica, an heiress, whom he eventually marries. To prevent the signing away of his real property for the advance of £4000 in cash to clear his debts, he feigns to be mad for a time. Angelica gets the bond, and tears it before it is duly signed.--Congreve,Love for Love(1695).
⁂ This was Betterton’s great part.
Valentine(Saint), a Romish priest, who befriended the martyrs in the persecution of Claudius II., and was, in consequence, arrested, beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded (February 14, 270). Pope Julius built a church in his honor, near Pontê Molê, which gave its name to the gatePorta St. Valentini, now called“Porta del Popolo,”and by the ancient Romans“Porta Flaminia.”
⁂ The 15th February was the festival ofFebruta Juno(Juno, the fructifyer), and the Roman Catholic clergy substituted St. Valentine for the heathen goddess.
Valentine and Orson, twin sons of Bellisant and Alexander (emperor of Constantinople). They were born in a forest near Orleans. While the mother wasgone to hunt for Orson, who had been carried off by a bear, Valentine was carried off by King Pepin (his uncle). In due time Valentine married Clerimond, the Green Knight’s sister.--Valentine and Orson(fifteenth century).
Valentine Mortimer, scatter-brained youth, who accepts against his conscience ill-gotten possessions, and is forced by conscience to renounce them, just before his early death.--Jean Ingelow,Fated to be Free(1875).
Valentine and Violet, two girls who are made the subject of the curious social experiment described inThe Children of Gibeon, by Walter Besant (1890).
Valentine de Grey(Sir), an Englishman and knight of France. He had “an ample span of forehead, full and liquid eyes, free nostrils, crimson lips, well-bearded chin, and yet his wishes were innocent as thought of babes.” Sir Valentine loved Hero, niece of Sir William Sutton, and in the end married her.--S. Knowles,Woman’s Wit, etc.(1838).
Valentin´ian[III.], emperor of Rome (419, 425-455). During his reign the empire was exposed to the invasions of the barbarians, and was saved from ruin only by the military talents of Aët´ius, whom the faithless emperor murdered. In the year following Valentinian was himself “poisoned” by [Petrōnius] Maxĭmus, whose wife he had violated. He was a feeble and contemptible prince, without even the merit of brute courage. His wife’s name was Eudoxia.--Beaumont and Fletcher,Valentinian(1617).
Valenti´no, Margheri´ta’s brother, in the opera ofFaust e Margherita, by Gounod (1859).
Valentino, familiar name of Duke Cæsar Borgia. Daring, unscrupulous noble, whose amours are as audacious as the measures he devises for ridding himself of his rivals and enemies. His relationship to Pope Alexander VI. gives him peculiar advantages for prosecuting his evil designs. He is poisoned at a banquet, together with his father, who dies. Valentino procures an antidote in time to save his life, but remains an invalid for long. Recovering partially, he sets sail for France, is seized by the Spaniards and imprisoned for two years in Seville. Escaping, he takes service under the king of Navarre and is killed in a skirmish with the soldiers of the constable of Lerina, at the early age of thirty-one.--William Waldorf Astor,Valentino, An Historical Romance(1885).
Valère(2syl.), son of Anselme (2syl.), who turns out to be Don Thomas d’Alburci, a nobleman of Naples. During an insurrection the family was exiled and suffered shipwreck. Valère, being at the time only seven years old, was picked up by a Spanish captain, who adopted him, and with whom he lived for sixteen years, when he went to Paris and fell in love with Elise, the daughter of Har´pagon, the miser. Here also Anselme, after wandering about the world for ten years, had settled down, and Harpagon wished him to marry Elise; but the truth being made clear to him that Valère was his own son, and Elise in love with him, matters were soon adjusted.--Molière,L’Avare(1667).
Valère(2syl.), the “gamester.” Angelica gives him a picture, and enjoins him not to lose it on pain of forfeiting her hand. He loses the picture in play, andAngelica, in disguise, is the winner of it. After a time Valère is cured of his vice and happily united to Angelica.--Mrs. Centlivre,The Gamester(1709).
Vale´ria, sister of Valerius, and friend of Horatia.--Whitehead,The Roman Father(1741).
Valeria, a blue-stocking, who delights in vivisection, entomology, women’s rights, and natural philosophy.--Mrs. Centlivre,The Basset Table(1706).
Valerian, husband of St. Cecilia. Cecilia told him she was beloved by an angel, who constantly visited her; and Valerian requested to see this visitant. Cecilia replied that he should do so, if he went to Pope Urban to be baptized. This he did, and on returning home, the angel gave him a crown of lilies, and to Cecilia, a crown of roses, both from the garden of paradise. Valerian, being brought before the Prefect Almachius for heresy, was executed.--Chaucer,Canterbury Tales(“The Second Nun’s Tale,” 1388).
Vale´rio, a noble young Neapolitan lord, husband of Evanthê (3syl.). This chaste young wife was parted from her husband by Frederick, the licentious brother of Alphonso, king of Naples, who tried in vain to seduce her, and then offered to make her any one’s wife for a month, at the end of which time the libertine should suffer death. No one would accept the offer, and ultimately the lady was restored to her husband.--Beaumont and Fletcher,A Wife for a Month(1624).
Valerius, the hero and title of a novel by J. G. Lockhart (1821). Valerius is the son of a Roman commander, settled in Britain. After the death of his father, he is summoned to Rome, to take possession of an estate to which he is the heir. At the villa of Capĭto he meets with Athanasia, a lady who unites the Roman grace with the elevation of the Christian. Valerius becomes a Christian also, and brings Athanasia to Britain. The display at the Flavian amphitheatre is admirably described. A Christian prisoner is brought forward, either to renounce his faith or die in the arena; of course the latter is his lot.
This is one of the best Roman stories in the language.
Valerius, the brother of Valeria. He is in love with Horatia, but Horatia is betrothed to Caius Curiatius.--Whitehead,The Roman Father(1741).
Valiant(The), Jean IV. of Brittany (1338, 1364-1399).
Valiant-for-Truth, a brave Christian, who fought three foes at once. His sword was “a right Jerusalem blade,” so he prevailed, but was wounded in the encounter. He joined Christiana’s party in their journey to the Celestial City.--Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, ii (1684).
Valjean(Jean), ex-convict, whose efforts at re-habilitation meet with rebuff and misconstruction. The best qualities of a really noble nature appear in his care for his adopted child, the daughter of poor Fantine.--Victor Hugo,Les Miserables.
ValkyriororValkyrs, stern, beautiful maidens, who hover over battle-fields to bear away to Valhalla the souls of slain heroes. They also wait at table in the halls of Valhalla.--Scandinavian Mythology.
Val´ladolid´(The doctor of), Sangrado, who applied depletion for every disease, and thought the best diet consisted of roast apples and warm water.
I condemned a variety of dishes, and arguing like the doctor of Valladolid, “Unhappy are those who require to be always on the watch, for fear of overloading their stomachs!”--Lesage,Gil Blas, vii. 5 (1735).
Valley of Humiliation, the place where Christian encountered Apollyon, and put him to flight.--Bunyan,Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).
Valley of the Shadow of Death, a “wilderness, a land of deserts, and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death” (Jer.ii. 6). “The light there is darkness, and the way full of traps ... to catch the unwary.” Christian had to pass through it, after his encounter with Apollyon.--Bunyan,Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.--Psalmxxiii. 4.
Valunder, the Vulcan of Scandinavian mythology, noted for a golden arm-ring, on which was wrought all the heathen deities, with their attributes. It was once stolen by Sotê, but being recovered by Thorsten, became an heirloom, and of course descended to Frithjof, as one of his three inheritances, the other two being the sword Angurva´del, and the self-acting ship,Ellīda.--Tegnér,Frithjof Saga, iii. (1825).
Farewell, and take in memory of our loveMy arm-ring here, Valunder’s beauteous work,With heavenly wonders graven on the gold.viii.
Farewell, and take in memory of our loveMy arm-ring here, Valunder’s beauteous work,With heavenly wonders graven on the gold.viii.
Farewell, and take in memory of our loveMy arm-ring here, Valunder’s beauteous work,With heavenly wonders graven on the gold.viii.
Farewell, and take in memory of our love
My arm-ring here, Valunder’s beauteous work,
With heavenly wonders graven on the gold.
viii.
Valver´de(3syl.), a Spaniard, in love with Elvi´ra. He is the secretary of Pizarro, and at the end preserves the life of Elvira.--Sheridan,Pizarro(altered from Kotzebue, 1799).
Vamen, a dwarf, who asked Baly, the giant monarch of India, to permit him to measure out three paces to build a hut upon. The kind monarch smiled at the request, and bade the dwarf measure out what he required. The first pace compassed the whole earth, the second the whole heavens, and the third all pandalon or hell. Baly now saw that the dwarf was no other than Vishnû, and he adored the present deity.--Hindû Mythology.
⁂ There is a Basque tale the exact counterpart of this.
Vamp, bookseller and publisher. His opinion of books was that the get-up and binding were of more value than the matter. “Books are like women; to strike, they must be well dressed. Fine feathers make fine birds. A good paper, an elegant type, a handsome motto, and a catching title, have driven many a dull treatise through three editions.”--Foote,The Author(1757).
Van(The Spirit of the), the fairy spirit of the Van Pools, in Carmarthen. She married a young Welsh farmer, but told him that if he struck her thrice, she would quit him forever. They went to a christening, and she burst into tears, whereupon her husband struck her as a marjoy; but she said, “I weep to see a child brought into this vale of tears.” They next went to the child’s funeral, and she laughed, whereupon her husband struck her again; but she said, “I truly laugh to think what a joy it is to change this vale of tears for that better land, where there is no more sorrow, but pleasures for evermore.”Their next visit was to a wedding, where the bride was young, and the man old, and she said aloud, “It is the devil’s compact. The bride has sold herself for gold.” The farmer again struck her, and bade her hold her peace; but she vanished away, and never again returned.--Welsh Mythology.
Vanbeest Brown(Captain)aliasDawson,aliasDudley,aliasHarry Bertram, son of Mr. Godfrey Bertram, laird of Ellangowan.
Vanbeest Brown, lieutenant of Dirk Hatteraick.--Sir W. Scott,Guy Mannering(time, George II.).
Vanberg(Major), inCharles XII., by J. R. Planché (1826).
Vanda, wife of Baldric. She is the spirit with the red hand, who appears in the haunted chamber to the Lady Eveline Berenger, “the betrothed.”--Sir W. Scott,The Betrothed(time, Henry II.).
Van´dunke(2syl.), burgomaster of Bruges, a drunken merchant, friendly to Gerrard, king of the beggars, and falsely considered to be the father of Bertha. His wife’s name is Margaret. (Bertha is in reality the daughter of the duke of Brabant.)--Beaumont and Fletcher,The Beggars’ Bush(1622).
Vandyck(The English), William Dobson, painter (1610-1647).
Vandyck in Little, Samuel Cooper. In his epitaph in old St. Pancras Church he is called “the Apellês of his age” (1609-1672).
Vandyck of France, Hyacinth Rigaud y Ros (1659-1743).
Vandyck of Sculpture, Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720).
Vane(Ellery), a coquettish girl, who has method in her coquetry, beguiles Ellery Vane to the loss of his heart by tying on her hat in his presence.
“Ah! Ellery Vane, you little thought,An hour ago, when you besoughtThis country lass to walk with you,After the sun had dried the dew,What perilous danger you’d be inAs she tied her bonnet under her chin!”Nora Perry,After the Ball and Other Poems(1875).
“Ah! Ellery Vane, you little thought,An hour ago, when you besoughtThis country lass to walk with you,After the sun had dried the dew,What perilous danger you’d be inAs she tied her bonnet under her chin!”Nora Perry,After the Ball and Other Poems(1875).
“Ah! Ellery Vane, you little thought,An hour ago, when you besoughtThis country lass to walk with you,After the sun had dried the dew,What perilous danger you’d be inAs she tied her bonnet under her chin!”Nora Perry,After the Ball and Other Poems(1875).
“Ah! Ellery Vane, you little thought,
An hour ago, when you besought
This country lass to walk with you,
After the sun had dried the dew,
What perilous danger you’d be in
As she tied her bonnet under her chin!”
Nora Perry,After the Ball and Other Poems(1875).
Vane(Henry), a man who begins life as a flippant young fellow with a French education; settles down into an astute money-maker; falls in love seriously when he meant to flirt, and, finding that the girl with whom he is enamored has played a sharper game than he, and is engaged to another man, blows out his own brains.--Frederic Jesup Stimson,The Crime of Henry Vane.
Vanessa, Miss Esther Vanhomrigh, a young lady who proposed marriage to Dean Swift. The dean declined the proposal in a poetical trifle calledCadēnus and Vanessa.
Essa,i.e., Esther, and Van, the pet form of Vanhomrigh; hence Van-essa.
Vanity, the usher of Queen Lucifĕra.--Spenser,Faëry Queen, i. 4 (1590).
Vanity, a town through which Christian and Faithful had to pass on their way to the Celestial City.
Almost five thousand years agone, there were pilgrims walking to the Celestial City,... and Beëlzebub, Apollyon, and Legion ... perceived,by the path that the pilgrims made, that their way to the city lay through this town of Vanity.--Bunyan,Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).
Vanity Fair, a fair established by Beëlzebub, Apollyon and Legion, for the sale of earthly “vanities,” creature comforts, honors, decorations and carnal delights. It was held in Vanity town, and lasted all the year round. Christian and Faithful had to pass through the fair, which they denounced, and were consequently arrested, beaten and put into a cage. Next day, being taken before Justice Hate-good, Faithful was condemned to be burnt alive.--Bunyan,Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).
⁂ A looking-glass is called Vanity Fair.
Vanity Fairis the name of a periodical noted for its caricatures signed “Ape,” and set on foot by Signor Pellegrini.
Vanity Fair, a novel by W. M. Thackeray (1848). Becky (Rebecca) Sharp, the daughter of a poor painter, dashing, selfish, unprincipled, and very clever, contrives to marry Rawdon Crawley, afterwards his excellency Colonel Crawley, C.B., governor of Coventry Island. Rawdon expected to have a large fortune left him by his aunt, Miss Crawley, but was disinherited on account of his marriage with Becky, then a poor governess. Becky contrives to live in splendor on “nothing a year,” gets introduced at court, and is patronized by Lord Steyne, earl of Gaunt; but, this intimacy giving birth to a great scandal, Becky breaks up her establishment, and is reduced to the lowest Bohemian life. Afterwards she becomes the “female companion” of Joseph Sedley, a wealthy “collector,” of Boggley Wollah, in India. Having insured his life and lost his money, he dies suddenly under very suspicions circumstances, and Becky lives for a time in splendor on the Continent. Subsequently she retires to Bath, where she assumes the character of a pious, charitable Lady Bountiful, given to all good works. The other part of the story is connected with Amelia Sedley, daughter of a wealthy London stock-broker, who fails, and is reduced to indigence. Captain George Osborne, the son of a London merchant, marries Amelia, and old Osborne disinherits him. The young people live for a time together, when George is killed in the battle of Waterloo. Amelia is reduced to great poverty, but is befriended by Captain Dobbin, who loves her to idolatry, and after many years of patience and great devotion, she consents to marry him. Becky Sharp rises from nothing to splendor, and then falls; Amelia falls from wealth to indigence, and then rises.
Vanhorne(Miss), “an old woman with black eyes, a black wig, shining false teeth, a Roman nose and a high color,” who munches aromatic seeds coated with sugar, and tries to make or mar the fortunes of everybody she knows. Lonely, crabbed and rich.--Constance Fenimore Woolson,Anne(1882).
Van Ness(Aunt), sentimental, worldly old woman, who succeeds in marrying her niece, Constance Varley, to the man she does not want to accept.--Julia Constance Fletcher,Mirage(1878).
Vanoc, son of Merlin, one of the knights of the Round Table.
Young Vanoc, of the beardless face(Fame spoke the youth of Merlin’s race),O’erpowered, at Gyneth’s footstool bled,His heart’s blood dyed her sandals red.Sir W. Scott,Bridal of Triermain, ii. 25 (1813).
Young Vanoc, of the beardless face(Fame spoke the youth of Merlin’s race),O’erpowered, at Gyneth’s footstool bled,His heart’s blood dyed her sandals red.Sir W. Scott,Bridal of Triermain, ii. 25 (1813).
Young Vanoc, of the beardless face(Fame spoke the youth of Merlin’s race),O’erpowered, at Gyneth’s footstool bled,His heart’s blood dyed her sandals red.Sir W. Scott,Bridal of Triermain, ii. 25 (1813).
Young Vanoc, of the beardless face
(Fame spoke the youth of Merlin’s race),
O’erpowered, at Gyneth’s footstool bled,
His heart’s blood dyed her sandals red.
Sir W. Scott,Bridal of Triermain, ii. 25 (1813).
Vantom(Mr.). Sir John Sinclair tells us that Mr. Vantom drank in twenty-three years 36,688 bottles (i.e., 59 pipes) of wine.--Code of Health and Longevity(1807).
⁂ Between four and five bottles a day.
Vanwelt(Ian), the supposed suitor of Rose Flammock.--Sir W. Scott,The Betrothed(time, Henry II.).
Vapians(The), a people of Utopia, who passed the equinoctial of Queūbus, “a torrid zone lying somewhere beyond three o’clock in the morning.”
In sooth, thou wast in very gracious fooling last night, when thou spokest ... of the Vapians passing the equinoctial of Queubus.--Shakespeare,Twelfth Night, act ii. sc. 3 (1602).
Vapid, the chief character inThe Dramatist, by F. Reynolds, and said to be meant for the author himself. He goes to Bath “to pick up characters.”
Varbel, “the lowly but faithful squire” of Floreski, a Polish count. He is a quaint fellow, always hungry.--J. P. Kemble,Lodoiska(1719).
Varden(Gabriel), locksmith, Clerkenwell; a round, red-faced, sturdy yeoman, with a double chin, and a voice husky with good living, good sleeping, good humor and good health. He was past the prime of life, but his heart and spirits were in full vigor. During the Gordon riots Gabriel refused to pick the lock of Newgate prison, though at the imminent risk of his life.
Mrs. Varden[Martha], the locksmith’s wife and mother of Dolly, a woman of “uncertain temper” and a self-martyr. When too ill-disposed to rise, especially from that domestic sickness, ill temper, Mrs. Varden would order up “the little black teapot of strong mixed tea, a couple of rounds of hot buttered toast, a dish of beef and ham cut thin without skin, and theProtestant Manualin two octavo volumes. Whenever Mrs. Varden was most devout, she was always the most ill-tempered.” When others were merry, Mrs. Varden was dull; and when others were sad, Mrs. Varden was cheerful. She was, however, plump and buxom, her handmaiden and “comforter” being Miss Miggs. Mrs. Varden was cured of her folly by the Gordon riots, dismissed Miggs, and lived more happily and cheerfully ever after.
Dolly Varden, the locksmith’s daughter; a pretty, laughing girl, with a roguish face, lighted up by theloveliestloveliestpair of sparkling eyes, the very impersonation of good humor and blooming beauty. She married Joe Willet, and conducted with him the Maypole inn, as never country inn was conducted before. They greatly prospered, and had a large and happy family. Dolly dressed in the Watteau style; and modern Watteau costume and hats were, in 1875-6, called “Dolly Vardens.”--C. Dickens,Barnaby Rudge(1841).
Vari´na, Miss Jane Waryng, to whom Dean Swift had apenchantwhen he was a young man. Varina is a Latinized form of “Waryng.”
Varney(Richard, afterwardsSir Richard), master of the horse to the earl of Leicester.--Sir W. Scott,Kenilworth(time, Elizabeth).
Varro(The British). Thomas Tusser, of Essex, is so called by Warton (1515-1580).
Vasa(Gustavus), a drama, by H. Brooke (1730). Gustavus, having effected his escape from Denmark, worked for a time asa common laborer in the copper mines of Dalecarlia [Dah´.le.karl´.ya]; but the tyranny of Christian II. of Denmark having driven the Dalecarlians into revolt, Gustavus was chosen their leader. The revolters made themselves masters of Stockholm; Christian abdicated; and Sweden became an independent kingdom (sixteenth century).
Vashti.When the heart of the king [Ahasuerus] was merry with wine, he commanded his chamberlains to bring Vashti, the queen, into the banquet hall, to show the guests her beauty; but she refused to obey the insulting order, and the king, being wroth, divorced her.--Estheri. 10, 19.
O Vashti, noble Vashti! Summoned outShe kept her state, and left the drunken kingTo brawl at Shushan underneath the palms.Tennyson,The Princess, iii. (1830).
O Vashti, noble Vashti! Summoned outShe kept her state, and left the drunken kingTo brawl at Shushan underneath the palms.Tennyson,The Princess, iii. (1830).
O Vashti, noble Vashti! Summoned outShe kept her state, and left the drunken kingTo brawl at Shushan underneath the palms.Tennyson,The Princess, iii. (1830).
O Vashti, noble Vashti! Summoned out
She kept her state, and left the drunken king
To brawl at Shushan underneath the palms.
Tennyson,The Princess, iii. (1830).
Vatel, the cook who killed himself, because the lobster for his turbot sauce did not arrive in time to be served up at the banquet at Chantilly, given by the Prince de Condé to the king.
Vath´ek, the ninth caliph of the race of the Abassides, son of Motassem, and grandson of Haroun-al-Raschid. When angry, “one of his eyes became so terrible that whoever looked at it either swooned or died.” Vathek was induced by a malignant genius to commit all sorts of crimes. He abjured his faith, and bound himself to Eblis, under the hope of obtaining the throne of the pre-Adamite sultans. This throne eventually turned out to be a vast chamber in the abyss of Eblis, where Vathek found himself a prisoner without hope. His wife was Nouron´ihar, daughter of the Emir Fakreddin, and his mother’s name was Catharis.--W. Beckford,Vathek(1784).
Vathek’s Draught, a red-and-yellow mixture given him by an emissary of Eblis, which instantaneously restored the exhausted body, and filled it with unspeakable delight.--W. Beckford,Vathek(1784).
Vato, the wind-spirit.
Even Zoroaster imagined there was an evil spirit called Vato, that could excite violent storms of wind.--T. Rowe [i.e., Dr. Pegge],Gentleman’s Magazine, January, 1763.
Vaudeville(Father of The), Oliver Basselin (fifteenth century).
Vaughan, the bogie of Bromyard exorcised by nine priests. Nine candles were lighted in the ceremony, and all but one burnt out. The priests consigned Nicholas Vaughan to the Red Sea; and casting the remaining candle into the river Frome, threw a huge stone over it, and forbade the bogie to leave the Red Sea till that candle re-appeared to human sight. The stone is still called “Vaughan’s Stone.”
Vaugirard(The deputies of). The usher announced to Charles VIII. of France, “The deputies of Vaugirard.” “How many?” asked the king. “Only one, may it please your highness.”
V. D. M. I. Æ.,Verbum Dei manet in æternum(“the Word of God endureth for ever”). This was the inscription of the Lutheran bishops, in the diet of Spires. Philip of Hessen said the initials stood forVerbum diaboli manet in episcopis(“the word of the devil abideth in the [Lutheran] bishops”).
Veal(Mrs.), an imaginary person, whomDefoe feigned to have appeared, the day after her death, to Mrs. Bargrave, of Canterbury, on September 8,17051705.
Defoe’s conduct in regard to the well-known imposture, Mrs. Veal’s ghost, would justify us in believing him to be, like Gil Bias,“tant soi peu fripon.”--Encyc. Brit., Art. “Romance.”
Veal’s Apparition(Mrs.). It is said that Mrs. Veal, the day after her death, appeared to Mrs. Bargrave, at Canterbury, September 8, 1705. This cock-and-bull story was affixed by Daniel Defoe to Drelincourt’s book ofConsolations against the Fears of Death, and such is the matter-of-fact style of the narrative that most readers thought the fiction was a fact.
Vec´chio(Peter), a teacher of music and Latin; reputed to be a wizard.--Beaumont and Fletcher,The Chances(1620).
Veck(Toby), nicknamed “Trotty;” a ticket-porter, who ran on errands. One New Year’s Eve he ate tripe for dinner, and had a nightmare, in which he fancied he had mounted up to the steeple of a neighboring church, and that goblins issued out of the bells, giving reality to his hopes and fears. He was roused from his sleep by the sound of the bells ringing in the new year. (SeeMeg.)--C. Dickens,The Chimes(1844).
Vedder(Jan), a fisherman whose mistaken marriage leads to every evil he does or suffers. One who would become a good man but for his perverse, wrong-headed wife. He is desperately wounded in a quarrel, and his condition, working upon all that is best in his wife, changes her temper and behavior to him.--Amelia E. Barr,Jan Vedder’s Wife(1885).
Vegliantino[Val.yan.tee´no][Val.yan.tee´no], Orlando’s horse.--Ariosto,Orlando Furioso(1516). Also called Veillantif.
Vehmgericht, orThe Holy Vehme, a secret tribunal of Westphalia, the principal seat of which was in Dortmund. The members were called “Free Judges.” It took cognizance of all crimes in the lawless period of the Middle Ages, and those condemned by the tribunal were made away with by some secret means, but no one knew by what hand. Being despatched, the dead body was hung on a tree to advertise the fact and deter others. The tribunal existed at the time of Charlemagne, but was at its zenith of power in the twelfth century. Sir W. Scott has introduced it in hisAnne of Geierstein(time, Edward IV.).
Was Rebecca guilty or not? The Vehmgericht of the servant’s hall pronounced against her.--Thackeray,Vanity Fair, xliv. (1848).
Vehmique Tribunal(The), or the Secret Tribunal, or the court of the Holy Vehme, said to have been founded by Charlemagne.--Sir W. Scott,Anne of Geierstein(time, Edward IV.).
Veil of St. Agatha, a miraculous veil belonging to St. Agatha, and deposited in the church of the city of Catania, in Sicily, where the saint suffered martyrdom. “It is a sure defence against the eruptions of Mount Etna.” It is very true that the church itself was overwhelmed with lava in 1693, and some 20,000 of the inhabitants perished; but that was no fault of the veil, which would have prevented it if it could. Happily, the veil was recovered, and is still believed in by the people.
Veilchen(Annette), attendant of Anneof Geierstein.--Sir W. Scott,Anne of Geierstein(time, Edward IV.).
Veiled Prophet of Khorassan(The), Hakim ben Allah, surnamed Mokanna, or “The Veiled,” founder of an Arabic sect, in the eighth century. He wore a veil to conceal his face, which had been greatly disfigured in battle. He gave out that he had been Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. When the Sultan Mahadi marched against him, he poisoned all his followers at a banquet, and then threw himself into a cask containing a burning acid, which entirely destroyed his body.
⁂Thomas Moore has made this the subject of a poetical tale, in hisLalla Rookh(“The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan,” 1817).
There, on that throne, ... sat the prophet-chief,The great Mokanna. O’er his features hungThe veil, the silver veil, which he had flungIn mercy there, to hide from mortal sightHis dazzling brow, till man could bear its light.* * * * * * * * *“’Tis time these features were uncurtained,This brow whose light--oh, rare celestial light!--Hath been reserved to bless thy favored sight ...Turn now and look; then wonder, if thou wilt,That I should hate, should take revenge by guilt,Upon the hand whose mischief or whose mirthSent me thus maimed and monstrous upon earth ...Here--judge if hell, with all its power to damn,Can add one curse to the foul thing I am!”He raised the veil; the maid turned slowly round,Looked at him, shrieked, and sunk upon the ground.The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.
There, on that throne, ... sat the prophet-chief,The great Mokanna. O’er his features hungThe veil, the silver veil, which he had flungIn mercy there, to hide from mortal sightHis dazzling brow, till man could bear its light.* * * * * * * * *“’Tis time these features were uncurtained,This brow whose light--oh, rare celestial light!--Hath been reserved to bless thy favored sight ...Turn now and look; then wonder, if thou wilt,That I should hate, should take revenge by guilt,Upon the hand whose mischief or whose mirthSent me thus maimed and monstrous upon earth ...Here--judge if hell, with all its power to damn,Can add one curse to the foul thing I am!”He raised the veil; the maid turned slowly round,Looked at him, shrieked, and sunk upon the ground.The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.
There, on that throne, ... sat the prophet-chief,The great Mokanna. O’er his features hungThe veil, the silver veil, which he had flungIn mercy there, to hide from mortal sightHis dazzling brow, till man could bear its light.* * * * * * * * *“’Tis time these features were uncurtained,This brow whose light--oh, rare celestial light!--Hath been reserved to bless thy favored sight ...Turn now and look; then wonder, if thou wilt,That I should hate, should take revenge by guilt,Upon the hand whose mischief or whose mirthSent me thus maimed and monstrous upon earth ...Here--judge if hell, with all its power to damn,Can add one curse to the foul thing I am!”He raised the veil; the maid turned slowly round,Looked at him, shrieked, and sunk upon the ground.The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.
There, on that throne, ... sat the prophet-chief,
The great Mokanna. O’er his features hung
The veil, the silver veil, which he had flung
In mercy there, to hide from mortal sight
His dazzling brow, till man could bear its light.
* * * * * * * * *
“’Tis time these features were uncurtained,
This brow whose light--oh, rare celestial light!--
Hath been reserved to bless thy favored sight ...
Turn now and look; then wonder, if thou wilt,
That I should hate, should take revenge by guilt,
Upon the hand whose mischief or whose mirth
Sent me thus maimed and monstrous upon earth ...
Here--judge if hell, with all its power to damn,
Can add one curse to the foul thing I am!”
He raised the veil; the maid turned slowly round,
Looked at him, shrieked, and sunk upon the ground.
The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.
Velasquez, the Spanish governor of Portugal in 1640, when the people, led by Don Juan, duke of Braganza, rose in rebellion, shook off the Spanish yoke, and established the duke on the throne, under the name and title of Juan or John IV. The same dynasty still continues. Velasquez was torn to pieces by the mob. The duchess calls him a
Discerning villain,Subtle, insidious, false, and plausible;He can with ease assume all outward forms ...While with the lynx’s beam he penetratesThe deep reserve of every other breast.R. Jephson,Braganza, ii. 2 (1785).
Discerning villain,Subtle, insidious, false, and plausible;He can with ease assume all outward forms ...While with the lynx’s beam he penetratesThe deep reserve of every other breast.R. Jephson,Braganza, ii. 2 (1785).
Discerning villain,Subtle, insidious, false, and plausible;He can with ease assume all outward forms ...While with the lynx’s beam he penetratesThe deep reserve of every other breast.R. Jephson,Braganza, ii. 2 (1785).
Discerning villain,
Subtle, insidious, false, and plausible;
He can with ease assume all outward forms ...
While with the lynx’s beam he penetrates
The deep reserve of every other breast.
R. Jephson,Braganza, ii. 2 (1785).
Velinspeck, a country manager, to whom Matthew Stuffy makes application for the post of prompter.--Charles Mathews,At Home(1818).
Vellum, in Addison’s comedy,The Drummer(1715).
Velvet(The Rev. Morphine), a popular preacher, who feeds his flock oneau sucréeand wild honey. He assures his hearers that the way to heaven might once be thorny and steep, but now “every hill is brought low, every valley is filled up, the crooked ways are made straight, and even in the valley of the shadow of death, they need fear no evil, for One will be with them to support and comfort them.”
Veneering(Mr.), a new man, “forty, wavy-haired, dark, tending to corpulence, sly, mysterious, filmy; a kind of well-looking veiled prophet, not prophesying.” He was a drug merchant of the firm of Chicksey, Stobbles and Veneering. The two former were his quondam masters, but their names had “become absorbed in Veneering, once their traveller or commission agent.”
Mrs. Veneering, a new woman, “fair, aquiline-nosed and fingered, not so much light hair as she might have, gorgeous in raiment and jewels, enthusiastic, propitiatory, conscious that a corner of her husband’s veil is over herself.”
Mr. and Mrs. Veneering were bran-new people, in a bran-new house, in a bran-new quarterof London. Everything about the Veneerings was spick and span new. All their furniture was new, all their friends were new, all their servants were new, their plate was new, their carriage was new, their harness was new, their horses were new, their pictures were new, they themselves were new, they were as newly married as was lawfully compatible with their having a bran-new baby.
In the Veneering establishment, from the hall chairs, with the new coat of arms, to the grand pianoforte with the new action, and upstairs again to the new fire-escape, all things were in a state of high varnish and polish.--C. Dickens,Our Mutual Friend, ii. (1864).
Veneerings of Society(The), flashy, rich merchants, who delight to overpower their guests with the splendor of their furniture, the provisions of their tables and the jewels of their wives and daughters.
Venerable Bede(The). Two accounts are given respecting the wordvenerableattached to the name of this “wise Saxon.” One is this: When blind, he preached once to a heap of stones, thinking himself in a church, and the stones were so affected by his eloquence that they exclaimed, “Amen, venerable Bede!” This, of course, is based on the verse,Lukexix. 40.
The other is that his scholars, wishing to honor his name, wrote for epitaph:
Hæc sunt in fossa,Bedæ presbyteri ossa;
Hæc sunt in fossa,Bedæ presbyteri ossa;
Hæc sunt in fossa,Bedæ presbyteri ossa;
Hæc sunt in fossa,
Bedæ presbyteri ossa;
but an angel changed the second line into“Bedæ venerabilis ossa”(672-735).
⁂The chair in which he sat is still preserved at Jarrow. Some years ago a sailor used to show it, and always called it the chair of the “Great Admiral Bede.”
Venerable Doctor(The), William de Champeaux (*-1121).
Venerable Initiator(The), William of Occam (1276-1347).
Venetian Glass, an antique goblet with a tragic history, bought in Venice of avertudealer, by John Manning, to whose remote ancestor it had belonged. Manning goes into the army, is wounded at Gettysburg, and nursed back to life by a beautiful woman. He marries her, and falls into a lingering decline. One day the Venetian goblet arrives from Italy, and his wife, in a freak, pours his medicine into it. In passing it to her husband the glass drops, and is shivered, “as its fellow had been shivered three centuries ago,” and more. She still stared steadily before her; then her lips parted, and she said, “The glass broke! The glass broke! then the tale is true!” Then, with one hysterical shriek, she fell forward amid the fragments of the Venetian goblet, unconscious thereafter of all things.--Brander Matthews,Venetian Glass(1884).
Venery.Sir Tristram was the inventor of the laws and terms of venery. Hence a book of venery was calledA Book of Tristram.
Of Sir Tristram came all the good terms of venery and of hunting; and the sizes and measures of blowing of an horn. And of him we had first all the terms of hawking; and which were beasts of chase and beasts of venery, and which were vermin; and all the blasts that belong to all manner of games. First to the uncoupling, to the seeking, to the rechase, to the flight, to the death and to the strake; and many other blasts and terms shall all manner of gentlemen have cause to the world’s end to praise Sir Tristram, and to pray for his soul.--Sir T. Malory,History of Prince Arthur, ii. 138 (1470).
Venice Preserved, a tragedy by T. Otway (1682). A conspiracy was formed by Renault, a Frenchman, Elliot, an Englishman, Bedamar, Pierre and others, to murder the Venetian senate. Jaffier was induced by his friend, Pierre, to join the conspirators, and give his wife as hostageof his good faith. As Renault most grossly insulted the lady, Jaffier took her away, when she persuaded her husband to reveal the plot to her father, Priuli, under the promise of a general amnesty. The senate violated the promise made by Priuli, and commanded all the conspirators except Jaffier to be broken on the wheel. Jaffier, to save his friend, Pierre, from the torture, stabbed him, and then himself. Belvidera went mad and died.
Venner(Dudley), sad and studious father ofElsie Venner, in O. W. Holmes’s novel of that name (1863).
Ventid´ius, an Athenian imprisoned for debt. Timon paid his debt, and set him free. Not long after, the father of Ventidius died, leaving a large fortune, and the young man offered to refund the loan, but Timon declined to take it, saying that the money was a free gift. When Timon got into difficulties he applied to Ventidius for aid; but Ventidius, like the rest, was “found base metal,” and “denied him.”--Shakespeare,Timon of Athens(1609).
Ventidius, the general of Marc Antony.
⁂ The master scene between Ventidius and Antony in this tragedy is copied fromThe Maid’s Tragedy(by Beaumont and Fletcher), Ventidius being the “Melantius” of Beaumont and Fletcher’s drama.--Dryden,All for Love, or the World Well Lost(1678).
Ventriloquist.The best that ever lived was Brabant, the engastrimisth of François I. of France.
Venus(Paintings of).Venus Anadyom´enê, or Venus rising from the sea and wringing her golden tresses, by Apellês. Apellês also put his name to a “Sleeping Venus.” Tradition says that Campaspê (afterwards his wife) was the model of his Venus.
The Rhodian Venus, referred to by Campbell, in hisPleasures of Hope, ii., is the Venus spoken of by Pliny, xxxv. 10, from which Shakespeare has drawn his picture of Cleopatra in her barge (Antony and Cleopatra, act ii. sc. 2). The Rhodian was Protog´enês.