of these martial colonists seized the patrimony of Virgil, and it was probably under the auspices of Pollio that he repaired to Rome and obtained from Augustus the restitution of his inheritance. This was the beginning of a friendship not less honourable to the emperor than to the poet, who by and by removed to Rome, became one of the brightest ornaments of the court, and amassed a considerable fortune, through the favour of Mæcenas and other powerful patrons. The imperial city was then in the meridian of its splendour; the civil wars had ceased, the power of the Octavian Cæsar was felt from the Atlantic to the Euphrates; literature, philosophy, and the arts came to augment and share the glory of the palace. But neither the health nor the mental habits of Virgil accorded with the glitter and excitement of the capital. After a few years' residence on the Esquiline Hill, he sought, amid the learning and refinement of Naples, and in the quiet of his villa near Nola, the studious leisure which produced the "Georgics" and the "Æneid." The former, which describes, in four books, the labours of the husbandman, the rules of horticulture, the rearing of cattle, and the management of bees, gives the highest and, at the same time, the most accurate measure of its author's genius and abilities. Commenced probably at Rome, perhaps at Mantua, and carefully finished in the meditative retirement of his later years, it has thrown a wonderful charm over the scenes and occupations of rural life, while its copious references to history, mythology, and science, raise it far above the generality of didactic poems. Virgil undertook a more difficult task in the "Æneid," which demanded not only constructive skill, but creative power and fertility of invention. For the materials of this work, as well as their arrangement, he had to draw upon the resources of his own imagination; and, though it would be rash to conjecture what might have been accomplished by a patient revision of the characters and incidents, there are grounds for questioning his power to add the more majestic lineaments of epic poetry. The painter, who threw such clear and calm lights upon the stately form of Æneas, and brought out in warmer hues the feminine devotedness of the impassioned Dido, has not proved himself capable of producing the rugged grandeur of the Homeric Ajax, or the terrible shadows that envelop the Satan of the Paradise Lost. A more particular critical estimate of these poems may be spared from this brief sketch of their author's life, and the rest of the story may be told in a few words. His health, always delicate, became seriously affected, and he sought to restore it by travelling in Greece. Augustus, on his way home from the East, met him at Athens, and he returned to Italy in the suite of the emperor; but his strength failed so rapidly that he died a few days after landing at Brundusium, b.c. 19.—W. B.
VIRGILIUS or VERGILIUS, Polydorus, was a native of Urbino in Italy, and born in the latter part of the fifteenth century. Previous to his coming to England, where he resided many years, he had made himself known as an author—having published a collection of "Adagia," or proverbs, in 1498; and in 1499 another work, "De Rerum Inventoribus," which afterwards, in an enlarged form, passed through various editions. Being in the priesthood, Polydore Virgil was sent to England before 1503 by Pope Alexander VI. to collect the Peter-pence tax. Shortly after his arrival he obtained a living in Leicestershire, and was appointed archdeacon of Wells in 1507—receiving, besides, other church preferment. It was during his sojourn in this country that he wrote his principal work, the "Historia Anglica," a history of England from the earliest times to the end of the reign of Henry VII.; the first edition of which was published at Basle in 1534. As a Latin historian, Polydore Virgil stands high for style and general lucidity; but the verdict usually passed upon his treatise is without doubt a just one, that it is more elegant than faithful. Having left England in 1550, he returned to Urbino, where he died in 1555.—J. J.
VIRGILIUS (Saint), was born of a noble family in Ireland, and early in life crossed over to France, where he was for some time in great reputation at the court of King Pepin. Having subsequently removed to Bavaria, he got into a great quarrel with Boniface, archbishop of Mayence, about the following formula which an ignorant priest had used in baptizing—In nomine Patria, et Filia, et Spiritua Sancta. The archbishop held that all the children who had had these words said over them were not baptized at all; Virgilius maintained the contrary. In 754 the case was appealed to the judgment of Pope Zacharias, who decided in favour of Virgilius. The bold Irishman was soon after raised to the bishopric of Saltzburg, within the jurisdiction of Boniface, and in a very short space of time erected a handsome church which he dedicated to Saint Rupert, his predecessor. But his noblest work was done among the Slavonians and Huns lying to the eastward of Saltzburg. His missionary zeal was entirely praiseworthy, and he had the happiness of seeing the knowledge of Christianity spreading rapidly among these his heathen neighbours. We must not forget to add that Virgilius was censured by Pope Zacharias for holding that the earth is spherical, a belief which that pontiff declared to be of the nature of heresy. He died November 27, 780.—R. M., A.
VIRIATHUS, a celebrated Lusitanian chief, who for the period of eight years defied the legions of Rome. He was originally a shepherd or huntsman, but of a brave and patriotic temper. On the treacherous butchery of a number of Lusitanians, whom Galba had enticed from their mountain fastnesses with promises of peace and rich valley lands, Viriathus called his countrymen to arms. They rose to a man, and for some time waged an incessant guerilla warfare with their deceitful enemies. Viriathus, their leader, at length found himself strong enough to engage the Roman armies in the open country. He gained victories over prætors and consuls, and at last extorted a treaty of peace from the haughty foe. But the Romans put their honour to shame a second time in their dealings with the heroic Lusitanians. Quintus Servilius Cæpio, brother of the general who had negotiated the treaty of peace, never rested till he obtained permission from the senate to declare open war against Viriathus. When the latter received intelligence of this renewal of hostilities, he sent three of his most faithful companions to the Roman general with terms of peace. The envoys, however, proved faithless friends. Corrupted by promises of large rewards, they returned and murdered Viriathus while he was asleep in his tent.—R. M., A.
VIRLEJUS, Hugh, a Carmelite monk, doctor and professor of theology at Oxford, and a celebrated preacher, was born of a noble English family, and flourished in the reign of Edward III. His works are—"Figuræ Historiarum," said to be a collection of his lectures; "Commentarii in Sanctum Matthæum;" "Prælectiones in D. Paulum;" "Lectiones in Scripturam;" "Placita Theologica;" "Sermonum per annum liber unus;" "Determinationes nonaginta sex;" "Quæstiones Ordinariæ."—R. M., A.
VISCHER or VISSCHER, Cornelius, a celebrated Dutch engraver, was born at Haarlem in 1610. He learned engraving of P. Soutman, but formed a style of his own, unlike, and far superior to, that of his master. He used both the needle and graver with mingled firmness and delicacy, drew well, and had quite a painter's feeling for colour and effect. His prints from his own designs and his portraits are his best works. Among the finest of these are the portrait of A. D. Winius, known as "the Man with the Pistol;" the minister G. de Bourna; the oculist William de Ruyck; the Rat-catcher; the Pancake Woman; and the small Sleeping Cat. Good proofs of any of these command very high prices. He also engraved several scriptural and historical subjects after P. Veronese, Parmigiano, Guido, and Rubens; and drinking subjects and landscapes after Ostade, Brouwer, and Berghem; but these are much less esteemed. He died in 1670. There is a fine collection of C. Vischer's prints in the British Museum.—Jan Vischer, his younger brother and pupil, born in 1636, was also a skilful engraver, though much inferior to Cornelius. His best prints are the Sutler's Booth, after Wouvermann, and the cottage interior known as Berghem's Ball. He is said to have turned animal painter in 1692. He died about the end of the century.—J. T—e.
VISCHER, Peter, a famous German sculptor, was born about 1450, probably at Nuremburg, but learned his art in Italy. His first important work was a monument to Archbishop Ernest, erected in 1497 in Magdeburg cathedral. Another very beautiful work by him is the "Coronation of the Virgin," at Erfurt. But his most famous production is the shrine of St. Sebald in the choir of St. Sebald's church, Nuremburg—the city in which Vischer settled, and in the churches of which are several other of his works. The Shrine of St. Sebald is wholly of bronze. It is executed with marvellous skill, and is in style a rich example of the old Gothic, with a slight interfusion of renaissance refinement and feeling. It consists of the coffer, in which are the remains of the saint, and over it a canopy of fretwork supported on thin columns, beside which are figures of the twelve apostles. Above these are twelve smaller figures of the fathers. The acts of the saint are represented in low relief on the sides.
