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VATTEL VAUDEVILLE. 



tions. Here are the stance of Raphael ; here are 

 the Sistine and Pauline chapels, the museo Chiara- 

 monti, and the museo Pio- Clementina, the apparta- 

 mento Boryia, the stansa dei Papiri (collection of 

 papyrus rolls); here in the rich Vatican library 

 (described below) ; here are pictures of almost all 

 the first masters of that glorious period of which 

 Raphael is the chief ornament ; and near it is the 

 gigantic St Peter's. The Vatican is connected 

 with the Belvedere and the castle of St Angelo. 

 In the Vatican, the conclaves are held for the elec- 

 tions of popes. As the popes formerly resided here, 

 the word Vatican was, and still is, not unfrequently 

 used for the papal government, as the cabinet of St 

 James or Berlin is used for the British or Prussian 

 government. 



Vatican Library. In the finest place that could 

 be found for a library, this precious collection is 

 deposited, which bears witness to the scientific 

 spirit, or fondness for magnificence, of many suc- 

 cessive popes. Lofty and spacious rooms, adorned 

 with fresco paintings, antique vases, and two 

 beautiful statues, contain the simple cases in which 

 the manuscripts are preserved. The history of this 

 collection, which has justly been called & panoplia, 

 reaches back to the times of Constantino the Great, 

 if we can believe the somewhat legendary account 

 of Assemanni, in the catalogue of this library (Bibl. 

 Apost. Vat. Codd. Mss. Catalogus, etc.; Rome, 

 1756). Nicholas V. increased the collection so 

 much that he may be almost considered its second 

 founder. Sixtus V. highly embellished the exterior 

 of the edifice, and prepared the great saloon in 

 which a large part of the library is now preserved. 

 Leo X. devoted himself to Greek, Pius IV. to 

 Oriental manuscripts; Pius V. united the archives, 

 which are still inaccessible, with the library ; and 

 Paul V. and Urban VIII. enlarged the accommoda- 

 tions, the present of the library of Heidelberg hav- 

 ing made greater space necessary. Clement VII. 

 added the manuscripts of the library of Urbino; 

 Alexander VIII. 1770, left by the queen Christina 

 of Sweden ; Benedict XIII. those of Ottoboni ; not 

 to mention other acquisitions and embellishments. 

 The most recent is the library of count Cicognara. 

 Yet this invaluable treasure of manuscripts and old 

 printed works (the absence of modern works is to 

 be regretted) is rendered less useful by want of or- 

 der, and even of catalogues, which do not exist, or 

 are denied to the student. The above mentioned 

 catalogue of Assemanni embraces but a very small 

 part of the collection, and is a rarity in the library 

 itself, as most of the copies of it were burned in 

 1786. For the other parts of the library, there are 

 only written catalogues ; and these are badly drawn 

 up : and the use of them is considered a favour. 

 Moreover, the ancient and not very liberal rules of 

 Clement XIII. and Innocent XIIL are still en- 

 forced, and are doubly oppressive on account of the 

 many holidays. Many complaints of modern tra- 

 vellers, among whom are some of the most distin- 

 guished men of the age, show that the present su- 

 perintendent, Maio, enforces the laws in all their 

 rigour, though he has shown, if it were necessary, 

 what treasures are contained in the library, by his 

 Scriptor. Veter. nova Collectio e Codd. Vaticanis 

 edita (Rome, 1825, 4to). 



VATTEL, OB WATTEL, EMER DE, an eminent 

 publicist, son of a clergyman of Neufchatel, was 

 born in 1714. After completing his studies, he 

 went to Berlin, and subsequently to Dresden, where 

 he was appointed privy counsellor to the elector. He 



died at Neufchatel, in 1767, in the fifty-third year 



of his age. He owed his early literary reputation 



to his Defence of the Philosophy of Leibnitz againvt 



De Crousaz (1741), and Pieces divernt de Morale 



et d'Amusement (Paris, 1746). His great work 



\ was published at Neufchatel, under the title of 



i Droits des Gens, ou Principcs de la Loi naturcllc 



' (1758). It was translated into English, (1760, 



. 4to., and 1793, 8vo.). 



VAUBAN, SEBASTIAN LE PBESTRE, seigneur de, 

 marshal of France, and the greatest engineer which 

 that country has produced, descended of an ancient 

 and noble family of Nivernois, was born 1633, and 

 early entered the army, where his uncommon talents 

 and genius for fortification soon became known, and 

 were signally displayed in various successive sieges. 

 He rose to the highest military rank by his merit 

 and services, and was made governor of the citadel 

 of Lisle, in 1668, and commissioner-general of for- 

 tifications in 1678. He took Luxemburg in 1684, 

 and was present, in 1688, at the siege and capture 

 of Phib'psburg, Manheim and Frankendal, under the 

 dauphin. He was made marshal of France in 1703, 

 and died at Paris 1707, aged seventy-four. As an 

 engineer, he carried the art of fortifying, attacking 

 and defending towns to a degree of perfection un- 

 known before his time. He fortified above 300 

 ancient citadels, erected thirty-three new ones, had 

 the principal management and direction of fifty- 

 three sieges, and was present at 143 engagements. 

 His works consist of a treatise entitled La Dixme 

 Royale (1704, 4to and 12mo.), and a vast collec- 

 tion of manuscripts, in twelve volumes, which he 

 calls Mes Oisivetes, containing his ideas, reflections 

 and projects for the advantage of France. The fol- 

 lowing works have also been published either under 

 his name or from his ideas : Maniere de fortifier par 

 M. de Vauban mise en Ordre par le Chevalier de 

 Cambrai, (1689 and 1692); L'Ingenieur Francois (by 

 Herbert) ; De I'Attaque et de la Defense des Places, 

 suivant le Systeme de M. Vauban ( 1 736) ; Sur la 

 Fortification, par M. de Vauban (1746). 



VAUCANSON, JACQUES, a French mechanician, 

 born at Lyons, died at Paris in 1782. He acquired 

 celebrity by his ingenious automata. These are a 

 brazen duck, which performs all the motions of a 

 living duck, swallows the food put before it, and 

 passes it in a regular manner ; a Provencal piper, 

 and a flute-player. The last mentioned is a figure 

 as large as life, seated upon a pedestal, which con 

 tains bellows, by means of which wind is driven to 

 different parts of the machine in such a manner as 

 to move the lips and fingers of the statue. Vau- 

 canson exhibited this automaton at Paris in 1738, 

 and explained the mechanism of it in a pamphlet 

 Le Mecanisme du Fluteur Automate, par Vaucanson 

 (Paris, 1738). Vaucanson was afterwards ap- 

 pointed by cardinal Fleury inspector of the silk 

 manufactures, and introduced some improvements 

 in the throwing mills. 



VAUCLUSE (vallis clausa~) ; a small village, six 

 leagues east of Avignon, in France. This small 

 place gives its name to a department. (See De- 

 partments.') Near Vaucluse, the river Sorgue rises 

 between rocks, falls as it comes out of the rocks, 

 and, after having formed several beautiful cascades, 

 runs about ten miles through a romantic country, 

 and enters the Rhone near Avignon. Here 

 Petrarch lived ; and through him Vaucluse and the 

 source of the Sorgue have become famous. 

 VAUD, PAYS DE. See Pays de Vaud. 

 VAUDEVILLE; a species of light French songs, 



