VERNIER
359
v£ron
spread beyond its frontiers. Verne was wont to show
to visitors, not witliout a certain legitimate pride, the
translations of his works kept in his Ubrary, where
they occupied a goodly number of shelves, on which
every language seemed to be represented. This
wonderful success was undoubtedly due to the
charming talent of the WTiter and the public's fond-
ness for novels of adventure, but there was another
cause for it, at least in so far as France was concerned.
The P>ench reading public had become tired of the
pale copies of Dumas' stories that were published in
the early fifties, and it was Verne's good luck and
merit to revive in an attractive manner a kind of
novel that seemed to be exhausted. With no less
dexterity, and, it must be said, with no greater regard
for accuracy, than that displayed by Dumas in his
adaptation of history to the whims and fancies of
story-telling, he brought science into the realm of fic-
tion, and whatever may be the final verdict on the
value of his work, he deserves the commendation
that none of his books contains anything offensive to
B;ood taste or morals. Verne lived and died a Cath-
alic.
The following are the best-known of his novels that have been translated into EngUsh: "Around the World in Eighty Days"; "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea"; "Michael Strogoff"; "A Floating City, and the Blockade Runners"; "Hector Serva- iac"; "Dick Sands"; "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth"; "The Mysterious Island"; "From the Earth to the Moon"; "The Steam House"; and 'The Giant Raft".
P. Marique.
Vernier, Pierre, inventor of the instrument ivhich bears his name, b. at Ornans, Franche-Comt^, 3. 1580; d. there, 14 Sept., 16.37. His father was his
- eacher in science. He became captain and castellan,
'or the King of Spain, of the castle at Ornans, and councillor and director general of moneys in the [bounty of Burgundy. At Brus.sels, 1631, he pub- ished and dedicated to the Infanta, the treatise "La jonstruction, I'usage, et les proprictes du quadrant louveau de mathcmatiques", describing the ingenious device on which his fame now rests. To a quadrant with a primary scale in half degrees. Vernier pro- posed to attach a movable sector, thirty-one half de- uces in length but divided into thirty equal parts
- each part consisting then of a half degree plus one
ninute). In measuring an angle, minutes could be
- asily reckoned by noticing which division line of the
sector coincided with a division Une of the quadrant. Zlhristopher Claviua (q. v.) had mentioned the idea DUt had not proposed to attach permanently the scale
- o the ahdade. The name frrnicr, now commonly
ipplied to a small movable scale attached to a sex-
- ant, barometer, or other graduated instrument, was
- iven by Lalande who showed that the previous name
■loniux, after Pedro Nunez, belonged more properly
- o a different contrivance.
Delambre, Histoire de Vastronomie modftrne, II (Paris, 1821), 119-25; Lalande, Bibtiographie astronomique (Paris, 1803). 196.
Paul H. Linehan.
Veroli, Diocese of (Verulana), in the Province ->{ Home. The city of Veroh (Verulae) is situated on the crest of the Hemican Mountains, at the elevation -){ 1040 feet above the sea level, with the River Cora running below it. Its antiquity is evidenced by the remains of Pelargic walls. Upon the loftiest portion ?tand the ruins of a very ancient castle which served IS a prison for John X. The textile industry, which 9till flourished in the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury, is now reduced to very small proportions. The cathedral and episcopal palace received their present Form from Bi.shop Ennio Filonardi in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Some very precious manu- scripts and documents are preserved in the archives
of the chapter, among them the Breviary of St. Louis,
Bishop of Tolosa. Adjoining the cathedral is the
Church of St. Salome, whose body is beheved to be
preserved there. S. Erasmo still retains its Gothic
porch, though its interior has been entirely trans-
formed. The seminary has a rich hbrary, the gift of
Bishop Vittorio Giovardi, who had the seminary
rebuilt in 1753. At the same period a school of canon
and civil law, founded as early as 1538, was combined
with the seminary.
Veroh was a city of the Hemici, and thus was aUicd with the Romans against the Volsci; remaining so during the Samnite War, it was able to preserve its autonomy. In 872 it was taken by the Saracens. In 1144 Roger I besieged it in vain. It served as a place of retreat for Alexander III and other popes. A memorable event in its history was the meeting which took place there between Honorius III and Frederick II. The humanists Giovanni Sulpizio and Aonio Paleario (Antonio Pagliari), the latter burned in 1.570 for his writings in support of Protes- tantism, were natives of Veroli. The city boasts of having received the light of the Gospel from St. Mary Salome, whose relics, it is said, were discovered in 1209 through a vision seen by one Thomas. Never- theless, no bishop is known before Martinus (743). The martyrs Blasius and Demetrius are still vener- ated there. Among the bishops worthy of mention are Agostino (1106) and Faramondo (1160), who had been abbots of Casamari; Giovanni (1223), the restorer of clerical discipline; Ennio Filonardi (1,503), who was distinguished in the nunciature; Gerolamo Asteo (1608), a Conventual, founder of the seminary and author of many works, mostly unpublished; Domenico de Zaulis (1690), who restored the cathe- dral and other churches; Antonio Rossi (1786), who, with his whole chapter, took the oath of allegiance to Napoleon.
"The diocese is immediately subject to the Holy See. It has 37 parishes, with 7000 souls; 100 secular and 100 regular priests; 10 houses of male religious, 11 of sisters; 4 schools for boysj and 5 for girls.
Caperna, SioTia di Veroli (Veroh. 1907) : Cappelletti, Le Chiette d'Ttalian, VI, 467; RoNDiNiNi, Monasterii . . . deCaste Mario brevis historia (Rome, 1707).
U. Benigni.
Veron, Francois, French controversalist, b. at Paris about 1575; d. at Charenton, 1625. After brilhant studies under the Jesuits he became one and taught in several colleges. In order to devote himself more freely to preaching and controversy against Protestants, he left the Society. He did not hesitate to challenge every minister he encountered, even the most learned and famous, such as Moulin, Blondel, Daillfi, or Bochard. His conferences with them and many other occasional or controversial writings he afterwards published. Having secured from King Louis XIII letters patent authorizing him to dehver his sermons in public and to conduct conferences with the ministers or any other Protestants wheresoever he pleased, he went to Paris, to Charenton, where he was cur6 for ten years (1638-48), because Calvinism had there its chief stronghold, to Saintonge, Bl^arn, Brie, Champagne, Lorraine, Normandy etc. Enor- mous success crowned hiszeal, which was supported by animation of spirit, facility of speech, extensive and solid learning, and courage. He preached before audiences of 9000 or 10,0(K) persons; ministers like Boule, after h.aving heard him, abjured Calvinism after thirty ye.ars in the ministry. "He has van- quished more ministers", wrote publicly the congre- gation of the Propagation of the Faith, "than another could have seen, alone he has converted more heretics to the Catholic faith than a thousand others." V<5ron became the most celebrated controversialist in France; the general aa.sembly of the clergy assigned him a pension of 600 hvres yearly and accepted tie
