a celebrated philanthropist, was born in the parish of Pouy, near the Pyrenees, on the 24th of April, 1576. Till his twelfth year he assisted his parents in the care of their little farm, but his opening talents induced them to place him as a student in the convent of the Cordeliers at Acqs. Devoting himself to the ministry of the church, he took the tonsure in 1596, and proceeded the next year to the university of Toulouse for the study of theology. In 1600 he was ordained a priest, and declining the parish of Tilh in his native diocese, in order that he might devote his whole time to theological studies, he obtained in 1604 the degree of bachelier des lettres, with license to lecture. Hitherto his only trial had been that of poverty, but now a succession of heavy misfortunes befel him. Having taken a journey to Marseilles, in order to obtain possession of a considerable legacy which had been left him by a friend in that city, and returning by sea, the ship in which he sailed was attacked by Tunisian corsairs, and he was carried off a captive to Tunis, wounded and robbed. He was a slave for two years under three successive masters; but having induced the last of them—an Italian renegade whom he reconverted to Christianity—to leave the country and escape with him to France, he succeeded in regaining his liberty in 1607. In 1609 he arrived in Paris as the bearer of an important despatch from the ambassador of Henry IV. at Rome; and devoting himself to the service of the sick of the Hôpital de la Charité, he was beginning to attract the admiration and favour of the court, when he was unjustly accused of an act of robbery by a fellow-lodger in the same house, from which he was not able to clear himself for six years. The true criminal was at length discovered, but not till Vincent's patience and resignation had been put to the severest proof. In 1613 he entered the family of the Count de Joigny, general of the galleys of France, to take charge of the education of his three sons—two of whom, the Duc de Retz and the Cardinal de Retz, were destined to play a conspicuous part in French history; and in this service he continued till 1624, being encouraged both by the count and countess to connect with it a series of eminently successful missions of religion and philanthropy. Devoting himself to the temporal and spiritual relief of the poor, he originated and established in several of the dioceses of France—in Amiens, Beauvais, Soissons, Sens, Macon, and Bordeaux—what he called confrériés de charité, which led to the formation of numerous similar fraternities in France and other catholic countries. Having occasion frequently to accompany the Count de Joigny to Marseilles, he remarked with deep compassion the miserable state of the numerous criminals who were confined in the galleys of that port, and he undertook the apparently desperate task of ameliorating both their moral and temporal condition. The difficulties of the problem were enormous, but his self-devotion and humility after a time prevailed, and the improvement and reformation which his persevering philanthropy at length effected were so conspicuous, that the count sent a report of Vincent's successful labours to Louis XIII., who showed his sense of the value of his services to the state by appointing him in 1619 to the important office of almoner-general of the galleys of France. In 1623 he undertook a similar reform in the condition of the criminal population of the galleys of Bordeaux. In 1624 he founded at Chartres a new religious association, under the name of the "Congregation of the Missions," the object of which was to train up efficient preachers for the provinces of France, who were to act as assistants to the regular clergy, and be subject to the authority of the bishops; and in the same year he left the family of the Count de Joigny in order to devote his whole time, for a period, to the care and development of this new institution, till in 1627 it was sufficiently consolidated to be authorized by letters patent from the king, and in 1631 to be approved by a bull of Pope Urban VIII. In 1632 he accepted the charge of the house and property of the priory of St. Lazarus, the brethren of which consecrated their lives to the instruction and relief of the poor peasantry, and he lived to see the influence of this small order largely increased, and extended into several of the other catholic countries of Europe, But of all his numerous foundations for the relief of human misery and suffering, by far the most important and lasting in its influence was that of the Sisters of Charity, who specially devoted themselves to the care of the sick—an institution which has since become universal in Roman catholic countries, and has lately called forth emulation in a modified form in several protestant states, including our own. Closely connected with this work was another of equal value, that of the foundation of hospitals for the reception of the sick poor. Several of the existing hospitals of Paris owe their existence to his exertions. To these must be added several hospitals for foundlings at Paris, "Les Enfans Trouvés," which were a clamant necessity of the time, and for the establishment and maintenance of which Vincent de Paul put forth some of his greatest efforts of zeal and sacred eloquence. Passing over other instances of his inexhaustible beneficence, it remains to be mentioned that his zeal as a practical philanthropist did not prevent him from taking an influential part in the theological and ecclesiastical strife of his age. He took side with the jesuits against the jansenists, and he bore a prominent part in procuring from the court of Rome that famous bull which pronounced upon the writings of the latter a definitive sentence of condemnation. He survived till the 27th September, 1660. He was interred with every circumstance of public honour in the church of St. Lazarus in Paris, and his panegyric was pronounced by the Cardinal Maury, who published it in the last edition of his Essai sur l'Eloquence de la Chaire. His memory was honoured by the church with a beatification in 1729, and with the higher degree of a canonization in 1739, when his festival was appointed for the 19th of July. His writings were very few; he was a man of deeds more than of words, though as a speaker also he sometimes rose, under the fervid inspiration of christian sympathy and compassion, to the height of eloquence. He is the John Howard of the Romish church.—P. L.
VINCENT, Ferrier (Saint), was born at Valentia in Spain on the 23rd of January, 1346, and was the son of William Ferrier, or Ferrer, and Constance Miguel. In 1363, after having attained great proficiency in his studies, he entered the order of St. Dominic at the convent of Valentia. He became doctor of theology at Lerida in 1383, and the year following was appointed preacher in the cathedral church of Valentia. Cardinal de Luna, legate of Clement VII., invited him to France, where he remained till the departure of the former for Avignon. Vincent Ferrier then returned to Valentia, whence he was summoned in 1395 to Avignon by the cardinal already mentioned, who had been elected pope by the title of Benedict XIII. On his arrival he was made master of the sacred palace; but he did not remain long at Avignon, having received, as he thought, a command from heaven to preach the gospel in France, Spain, and other countries. His career of errant preacher, which he began in 1397, lasted a considerable number of years, during which time he visited, among other countries, England, Scotland, and Ireland. He preached everywhere with a most vehement eloquence, and practised great austerity in his daily life. He died in the midst of his apostolic labours at Venues on the 5th of April, 1419. Roman catholic writers affirm that the miracles performed at his grave clearly demonstrate his extraordinary sanctity. He was author, among other works, of a book, "De fine Mundi," and of a "Tractatus de Vita Spirituali," a translation of which by Madame Louïse de Maisons, bearing the title of Exercises de piété pour passer chrétiénnement la journée, was published at Paris in 1704.—R. M., A.
VINCENT, Nathanael, younger brother of the succeeding, was born at Hertford about the year 1639. He was educated at Corpus Christi college, Oxford, where he proceeded M.A. in 1657. His conduct having meanwhile changed from over-laxity to an extreme rigour, he was nominated college preacher. Cromwell appointed him a member of Durham college, but he subsequently returned to Corpus Christi. At the Restoration he quitted the university and went up to London, where he became chaplain to Sir Henry Blount, and frequently preached at secret meetings of the nonconformists. He was several times imprisoned, particularly in 1685, on the charge of having participated in the rebellion of the duke of Monmouth. He died in 1697. He was author of a considerable number of works—"Conversion of a Sinner;" "Heaven or Hell upon earth;" "The Spirit of Prayer;" "Several Short Histories for Children;" "The True Touchstone;" "The Good of Afflictions;" and other pieces of practical puritan theology.—R. M., A.
VINCENT, Thomas, a noted nonconformist divine, son of the Rev. John Vincent of Sedgfield, Durham, was born at Hertford in 1634, and was educated at Westminster school and at Christ church, Oxford. After taking the usual degrees he entered holy orders, and became chaplain to Robert, earl of Leicester. He afterwards succeeded to the living of St. Mary Magdalen, Milk Street, London, from which he was ejected for nonconformity in
