Vice-Chancellor
an officer next in rank to a chancellor; the deputy of a chancellor. In English law, a judge in the Chancery division of the High Court of Justice in England, holding a separate court. The office was abolished by the Judicature Act. The first Vice-Chancellor was appointed in 1813; the last holder of the office was Sir John Bacon, who retired Nov. 11, 1886. In Ireland there is a Vice-Chancellor, and the judge of the local Court of Chancery of the Duchy of Lancaster is also styled a Vice-Chancellor. In some of the United States there exists a judicial office analogous to the British institution described above. Where a State has a court of chancery, the highest incumbent is termed chancellor and the next vicechancellor.
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Vicenza
a town of north Italy; capital of a province of the same name; 49 miles W. of Venice, on the Bacchiglione, where joined by the Retrone at the foot of some wooded hills. It is well built, containing handsome streets and several elegant squares. The public buildings are almost all the work of Palladio, who was born here, or of scholars who rather slavishly imitated him. The most remarkable edifices are the Duomo or cathedral; the Palazzo della Ragione (town hall), an ancient Gothic building, with fine connected buildings, by Palladio; the Museum, one of Palladio's finest buildings; the Palazzo-Prefetizzio, and the theater, both by Palladio; the lyceum, churches, and hospitals. The manufactures are silk, woolen, and linen tissues, leather, earthenware, hats, etc. Vicenza (Vicentia) was founded above a century before the Christian era, and became a Roman municipal town. Pop. about 57,016.
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Viceroy
the governor of a kingdom or country, who rules in the name of the king or queen with regal authority as the king's or queen's substitute.
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Vicomte De
a French diplomatist; born in Nice, France, Feb. 25, 1848. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs (1871) and later in the diplomatic service, but left it in 1881 to devote his time to literature. He published: "Syria, Palestine, Mount Athos" (1876); "Oriental Histories" (1879); "The Son of Peter the Great" (1884); "The Russian Romance" (1886); "Souvenirs and Visions" (1887); "Remarks on the Centennial Exposition" (1889). He was a member of the French Academy. He died in 1910.
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Victor Emmanuel
. See Italy ; Cavour ; Crimean War; Savoy; Garibaldi
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Victoria Falls
. See Zambezi River
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Vicuna
ve-koon'ya, a South American animal. It is related closely to the llama and the alpaca, but it is smaller and more graceful. It stands about thirty inches high at the shoulder. It runs wild in the mountains of Bolivia and Chili. Its flesh compares favorably with venison. Its fleece is valuable in the making of the finer sorts of cloth, known as alpaca. Unlike the camel, the vicuna pines away when subjected to confinement. It is useless for carrying burdens. See Llama ; Alpaca
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Vidocq, Eugene Francois
ve-dok', Eugene Francois (1775-1857), a noted French adventurer and detective. Vidocq was born at Arras. His father was a baker. Vidocq began life by robbing his father's till of $400 and running away to Ostend. As might be expected he soon ran through his money, and for years lived the life of a vagabond. He enlisted but soon deserted the French army for the Austrian service. He received a sentence of eight years for forgery but escaped and sought refuge in Paris where he became a member of the secret service . Vidocq's knowledge of thieving and his personal acquaintance with thieves was so extensive and accurate that he was placed at the head of the Parisian detective service, a position which he held from 1812 to 1827. After his dismissal he is said to have lived an honest but obscure and poverty-stricken life. He left a volume of memoirs, but it is not believed that his statements are accurate. Vidocq figures extensively in the cheap French novel of the nineteenth century.
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Viedma
Russian name for a witch. (See Slavs .)
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Viele
EGBERT LUDOVIKUS, an American civil engineer; born in Waterford, N. Y., June 17, 1825; was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1847; took part in the Mexican War in 1847-1848 and in the campaign against the Indians in 1848-1852; served as State Engineer of New Jersey in 1854-1856, and was chief engineer and designer of Central Park in New York, and of Prospect Park in Brooklyn in 1856-1860. During the Civil War he commanded the land forces at the capture of Port Royal; directed the investment of Fort Pulaski, Ga.; planned and led the march on and capture of Norfolk, Va., and was military governor of that city, May to Nov., 1863. Subse- VICUNA quently he was park commissioner of New York City, a Democratic member of Congress, and vice-president of the American Geographical Society. In 1896 he appeared before the commission of the British House of Lords on the subject of municipal administration. His publications include "Handbook of Active Service" and "A Topographical Atlas of the City of New York." He died in 1902.
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Vienna Basin
in geology, a series of beds-the lowest Oligocene, the highest Pliocene-found in a basin-shaped hollow in the older rocks in and around Vienna. The Oligocene contains remains of Mastodon tapiroides, Rhinoc eros sansaniensis, etc., and the Pliocene, dinotherium, mastodon, rhinoceros, machairodus, hyæna, na, cervus, antelope, etc., with birch, alder, oak, beech, chestnut, hornbeam, liquidambar.
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Vigil
in ecclesiastical and Church history, originally the watch kept on the night before a feast (from the 11th or 12th century) the day and night preceding a feast. The practice of spending the night in public prayer, which is probably older than Christianity, prevailed in the early Church, and down to the 14th century was the usual prelude to the greater festivals. But there were many objections to the cusfrom about that date was tom, which, fro gradually discontinued. In the Roman Church the Midnight Mass before the feast of Christmas is the only relic of the old custom. Broadly speaking, the vigils of the Roman Church have been transferred to the English Prayer Book. Theoretically, all vigils are fast - days, but in the Roman Church the customs of different countries vary slightly. Also the devotional exercises or services appropriate to the vigil or eve of a festival.
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