Vigilance Committee
in the United States , an organization of citizens to put down lawlessness. A vigilance committee differs entirely from a mob. In case crime becomes rampant and it is impossible to control the criminal class by ordinary process of law, an orderly assemblage of citizens and the formal selection of a public committee to enforce the law are considered a legitimate procedure. In the early days of San Francisco , for instance, thugs, thieves, gamblers, and other disreputable people, attracted by the mining camps, filled up the city and overrode the law. The police were terrorized. Citizens were shot down in the streets. No one's life or property was safe. Crime ran riot. In this emergency the bolder citizens convened and organized a committee known as the vigilantes. This committee went after the lawless element and made short, sharp work of the desperadoes. Murderers and other desperate characters were haled out of the saloons and resorts and were hung to the nearest tree or lamppost. Those who were not caught fled. Within a few days order was restored and the city resumed its usual aspect.
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Vignaud
(JEAN) HENRY, an American diplomatist; born in New Or- Ame leans, Nov. 27, 1830; engaged in teaching and newspaper work till the outbreak of the Civil War, then became a captain in the 6th Louisiana Regiment; was taken prisoner at New Orleans in 1862. After his release, as secretary of the Confederate Diplomatic Commission, he went to Paris in 1863. He was connected with the Alabama Claims Commission in 1872, and in the following year was a United States delegate to the International Metric Conference. He was made second secretary to the American legation in Paris in 1875 and first secretary in 1882, serving until 1909. He published several books on Columbus and on early voyages to America.
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Vigo
a seaport town of Spain, in the province of Pontevedra. It is inclosed by a wall and trench, and has an excellent harbor with deep anchorage close in-shore. It was captured by the English in 1719. It has a lazaretto, a fortress, an export trade in wine, bacon and maize, and a prosperous pilchard fishery. It is a port of call of several steamship lines. Pop. about 45,000.
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Vijayanagar
a ruined city 8 miles in circuit, in Madras province, British India; about 40 miles to the N. W. of Bellary, in a plain encumbered with granite rocks, many of which have been rudely sculptured into a variety of forms. After having been for two centuries the metropolis of a powerful Hindu kingdom, Vijayanagar was sacked and ruined by the Mohammedans of the Deccan in 1565. At that date it is described as 24 miles round. The ruins of the ancient city, the building of which was begun in 1336, now cover 9 square miles. The modern village on its site is called Hampi.
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Viking
a rover or sea robber belonging to one of the bands of Northmen who scoured the European seas during the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries. This word has been frequently confounded with sea-king, a term which is applied to a man of royal race, who took by right the title of king when he assumed the command of men, although only of a ship's crew; whereas the former term is applicable to any member of the rover bands.
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Vikings
. See Norsemen
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Vila, The
Vili were nymphs who frequented the forests that clothe the bases of the Eastern Alps. They have been seen traversing glades, mounted on stags; or driving from peak to peak on chariots of cloud. Serbian ballads tell how Marko the great hero of ancient Serbia, was joined in bond of "brotherhood" with a Vila, who showed to him the secrets of the future. At that period Serbia was a mighty nation, extending from the Alps to the Black Sea , from the Danube to the Adriatic-before her freedom was lost at the battle of Varna.
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Vilaine
a river of France which rises in the department of Mayenne and flows into the Atlantic at Penestin, in the department of Morbihan. It is 140 miles long. Its principal tributaries are the Ille, Oust, Cher, Don, and Isac.
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Vilas
WILLIAM FREEMAN, an American lawyer; born in Chelsea, Vt., July 9, 1840; removed to Madison, Wis., in 1851; and was graduated at Wisconsin University in 1858. He was admitted to the bar in 1860, and on the outbreak of the Civil War enlisted in the Union army in which he served till 1863; was Postmaster-General in 1885- 1888; and subsequently was Secretary of the Interior in President Cleveland's cabinet in 1888-1889. He was United States Senator in 1891-1897, becoming a Gold Democrat in 1896. He died Aug. 27, 1908.
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Vilayet
a name officially applied since 1865 to the large administrative districts of Turkey.
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Viliorjaci
(See Slavs .)
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Villafranca
a town of Italy, in the province of Verona, on the Tartaro. It is celebrated as having been the center of the wars of 1848 and 1866. The preliminaries of peace between Napoleon III. and the Emperor of Austria were signed here, July 11, 1859. Pop. about 12,000.
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Villari
PASQUALE, an Italian historian; born in Naples, Italy, in 1827. His principal works are: "History of Girolamo Savonarola and his Times" (1859-1861); "Niccolo Machiavelli and his Times" (1877-1882); "Ancient Legends and Traditions Illustrating the Divine Comedy" (1865); "Essays Critical, Historical, and Literary" (1868); "Teaching History" (1869); "The School and the Social Question in Italy" (1872). He died in 1914.
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Villars
CLAUDE LOUIS HEC- TOR, DUC DE, a French military officer; born in Moulins, France, May 8, 1653. He early distinguished himself under Turenne, Condé, and Luxembourg, and was created maréchal de camp in 1690, and lieutenant-general in 1693. In the wars of the Spanish succession he was sent to co-operate with the Elector of Bavaria. He defeated Prince Louis of Baden at Friedlingen, Oct. 14, 1702, for which he received the marshal's baton; and having joined the elector he defeated the Prince of Baden at Höchstadt, Sept. 21, 1703. His success in dealing with the insurrection of the Camisards obtained for him the title of duke (1705). Having been sent to defend the frontier against Marlborough, he forced the formidable lines of Stollhofen, near Strassburg, and penetrated far into Germany (1705-1707). In 1709 he replaced Vendôme in Flanders, and fought the battle of Malplaquet against Marlborough and Eugene, in which he was seriously wounded. In 1712 he defeated the allies at Denain, took Marchiennes, and relieved Landrecy. After the peace of Utrecht he opposed Eugene with uninterrupted success, and negotiated with him the peace of Rastadt, March 7, 1714. On the renewal of the war with Austria in 1733 he was sent to Italy at the head of an army, with the title of Marshal- General of France. After a successful ampaign, he died in Turin, Italy, June 14, 1734.
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