creon.’ In 1805 Vendramini went to Russia, and was for two years in the employment of the czar, by whom his work was so much admired that, when he desired to leave, he was unable to obtain the necessary permission, and was obliged to effect his escape in disguise. After his return to England he produced many fine plates, both in stipple and line, chiefly from pictures by the old masters, including ‘Leda,’ after Leonardo da Vinci; ‘Vision of Saint Catherine,’ after Paul Veronese; ‘St. Sebastian,’ after Spagnoletto; and ‘Raising of Lazarus,’ from the picture by Sebastiano del Piombo now in the National Gallery. He died at his house in Regent Street, London, on 8 Feb. 1839. Vendramini married an Englishwoman of Portuguese origin, by whom he had two daughters.
Francesco Vendramini (fl. 1820), an engraver who was contemporary with Giovanni, and probably his brother, appears to have followed him to Russia and there settled. He practised both in stipple and line, and became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts at St. Petersburg. His finest and best known plate is the ‘Death of Peter Martyr,’ after Titian.
[Gent. Mag. 1839, i. 325; Bryan's Dict. of Painters and Engravers, ed. Armstrong; Andresen's Handbuch für Kupferstichsammler.]
VENN, HENRY (1725–1797), evangelical divine, third son of Richard Venn [q. v.], was born at Barnes, Surrey, on 2 March 1724–1725. He was admitted at St. John's College, Cambridge, in June 1742, but soon migrated to Jesus College, having been appointed to a Rustat scholarship there. He graduated B.A. in honours, 1745–6, and M.A. 1749. He was nominated by William Battie [q. v.] in 1747 to the university scholarship which Battie had just founded, and was elected to a fellowship at Queens' College on 30 March 1749, which he held till his marriage in 1757. He was ordained deacon in June 1747, and priest in June 1749, and for some time served as curate at Barton, Cambridgeshire, and elsewhere in the neighbourhood. In 1750 he left Cambridge and went as curate to Adam Langley, who held the livings of St. Matthew, Friday Street, and West Horsley, Surrey. In these years he changed his father's high-church principles for others of an evangelical character. In 1753 he was elected lecturer of St. Swithun's, London Stone. In 1754 he accepted the curacy of Clapham, where he commenced a lifelong friendship with John Thornton and others of his family [see under Thornton, Henry]. In 1759 he became vicar of Huddersfield. During the twelve years that he remained there he produced a profound impression by his piety and earnestness (see Life, pp. 38–47). In 1771, being completely broken down in health by his exhausting labours, he accepted the small living of Yelling, Huntingdonshire, about twelve miles from Cambridge, which he held till his death.
Venn is commonly spoken of as a Calvinist, but his opinions were far from extreme, and he had a strong dislike to this and other party names. His disposition, far from being gloomy, was remarkably cheerful and happy. The letters published in his ‘Life’ were naturally selected for their devotional character, but his large unpublished correspondence shows a mind of much natural shrewdness, playfulness, and affection. The singular charm of his conversation was admitted by all who met him. As one of the prominent leaders of the evangelical revival in the church of England, he became widely known by his labours as a preacher, by his writings, and, in later years, by his large correspondence and his strong personal influence on many young men who used to visit him from Cambridge. Among these were Charles Simeon [q. v.], William Farish [q. v.], and Joseph Jowett [q. v.] His most popular work was the ‘Compleat Duty of Man.’ The title was doubtless suggested by the well-known ‘Whole Duty,’ but the views expounded were widely different. It had a very large circulation. The first edition was published in 1763, and many subsequent editions followed.
Venn died at Clapham, where his son was rector, on 24 June 1797, and was buried in the old churchyard.
He married twice: first at Clapham, on 10 May 1757, Eling (d. 1767), daughter of Thomas Bishop, minister of the Tower church, Ipswich, by whom he had one son, John (see below), and four daughters. Of these, the eldest, Eling, married Mr. Charles Elliott, and was the mother of Edward Bishop Elliott [q. v.] and Henry Venn Elliott [q. v.] He married, secondly, in July 1771, a widow, Catherine Smith, daughter of James Ascough, vicar of Highworth, Wiltshire.
Venn's other works were: 1. ‘A Volume of Sermons,’ 1759. 2. ‘The Examination of Dr. Priestley's Free Address on the Lord's Supper,’ 1769. 3. ‘Mistakes in Religion exposed: an Essay on the Prophet Zacharias,’ 1774. 4. ‘Memoirs of Sir John Barnard, Mayor of London,’ 1786; and a number of separate sermons, one of these being preached at Bath on the death of George Whitefield, as ‘a token of respect.’
There are two portraits of him in posses-
