3S6 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



Veiled Prophet. Lalla Roqkh, Moor<>. H 

 sumed to be a god, and maintained that he had been 

 Adam, Noah, and other representative men. Having 

 lost an eye, and being otherwise disfigured in battle, he 

 wore a veil to conceal his face, but his followers said it 

 was done to screen his dazzling brightness. 



Ve'ni Crea'tor Spi'ritus. An ancient and very cele- 

 brated hymn of the Koman Breviary, which occurs in 

 the offices of the Feast of Pentecost, 'and which is used 

 in many of the most solemn services of the Roman Catho- 

 lic Church. Its author is not known with certainty. 



Ver mm. Die or Diana. Rob Roy, Scott. The 

 heroine of the story, a high-born girl of great beauty and 

 talents. She is an enthusiastic adherent to a persecuted 

 religion and an exiled king. She is excluded from the 

 ordinary wishes and >chemes of other girls by being pre- 

 destined to a hateful husband or a cloister, and by receiv- 

 ing a masculine education, under the superintendence of 

 two men of talent and learning. 



Ver>ion of the Scriptures. The common English 

 version of the Scriptures, the most remarkable of Bible 

 translations, was made by a company of forty-seven 

 scholars who did their work at the request of King 

 James I. The version was published in 1611. "Tyn- 

 dale's translation of the New Testament is the most im- 

 portant philological monument of the first half of the 

 Sixteenth Century, both as an historical relic, and as hav- 

 ing more than anything else contributed to shape and 

 fix the sacred dialect, and establish the form which the 

 Bible must permanently assume in an English dress." 



Vicar of Wakefield. The hero of Goldsmith's novel 

 of the same name. Dr. Primrose, a simple-minded, 

 pious clergyman, with six children. He begins life with 

 a good fortune, a handsome house, and wealthy friends, 

 but is reduced to poverty without any fault of his own, 

 and, being reduced like Job, like Job he is restored. (See 

 Primrose.) 



Vin-cen'ti-o. The Duke of Vienna in Shakespere's 

 "Measure for .Measure." He commits his scepter to 

 Angelo, under the pretext of being called to take an 

 urgent and distant journey, and by exchanging the royal 

 purple for a monk's hood, observes incognito the condi- 

 tion of his people. 



Vi'ola. Twelfth Night, Shakespere. A sister 

 of Sebastian. They were twins, and so much alike that 

 they could be distinguished only by their dress. When 

 they were shipwrecked Viola was brought to shore by 

 the captain, but her brother was left to shift for him- 

 self. Being in a strange land, Viola dressed as a page, 

 and, under the name of Cesario, entered the service of 

 Orsino, Duke of Illyria. The duke greatly liked his 

 beautiful page, and, when he discovered her true sex, 

 married her. 



Violen'ta. All's Well that Ends Well, Shakes- 

 pere. A character in the play who enters upon the 

 scene only once and then she neither speaks nor is spoken 

 to. The name has been used to designate any young 

 lady nonentity; one who contributes nothing to the 

 amusement or conversation of a party. 



Vin'land. A name given, according to Snorro Stur- 

 leson, by Scandinavian voyagers, to a portion of the 

 coast of North America discovered by them toward the 

 close of the Tenth Century, well wooded, and producing 

 agreeable fruits, particularly grapes. It is thought to 

 have been some part of the coast of Massachusetts or 

 Rhode Island. 



Viv'ien or Viv'ian. Idylls of the King, Tennyson. 

 She is also known as the Lady of the Lake, and according 

 to early legends was of a high family. These legends 

 tell that Merlin in his dotage, fell in love with her, and 

 she imprisoned him in the forest of Brittany. She then 

 persuaded Merlin to show her how a person could be 

 imprisoned by enchantment without walls, towers, or 

 ( h tins, and after he had done so, she put him to sleep. 

 While he slept, she performed the needful ceremonies, 

 whereupon he found himself enclosed in a prison stronger 

 than the strongest tower, and from that imprisonment 

 was never again released. 



Volapuk. This so-called universal language was 

 invented in 1879, by Johanri Martin Sehleyer, a Swabiari 

 pastor and later a teacher in Constance. Of the 

 vocabulary, about one-third is of English origin, while 

 the Latin and Romance languages furnish a fourth. 

 The grammar is simplified to the utmost. 



Vulgate. Name given to a version of the Scriptures 

 made in Latin, probably by St. Jerome, about the year 

 380. This version was authorized by the Council of 

 Trent in the year 1546. 



Walden. A record of the experiences of the author, 

 Thoreau, while living near Walden Pond, on nine cents 

 a day. He read Homer, watched the birds, bees, ants, 

 and the animals that came within his range, describing 



the results of his acute powers of observation in a char- 

 acteristic, quaint form. 



a vcrley. Name of hero and title of novel by Scott. 

 Waverley was captain of " Waverley Honour" and after 

 an injury he resigned his commission, and proposed to 

 Mora M'lvor, but was not accepted. Flora's brother, 

 Ferirus M'lvor, introduced him to Prince Charles Ed- 

 ward. He entered the service of the Young Chevalier, 

 and in the battle of Preston Pans saved the life of Colonel 

 Talbot. The colonel, out of gratitude, obtained the 

 pardon of young Waverley, who then married Rose 

 Bradwardine, and settled down quietly in Waverley 

 Honour. The novel, Waverley, was the first of Scott's 

 historical novels, published in 1S14. The materials art- 

 Highland feudalism, military bravery, and description 

 of natural scenery. The chief characters are Charles 

 Edward the Chevalier, the noble old baron of Brad- 

 wardine, the simple faithful clansman Evan Dhu, and 

 the poor fool Davie Gellatley. 



\\averley Novels. General name given to Scott's 

 historical novels. Those founded on English history 

 are "Ivarihoe," " Kenilworth." " Peveril of the Teak," 

 "Betrothed," "Talisman." and "Woodstock." Founded 

 on Scotch history are "Waverley," "Old Mortality," 

 "Monastery," "The Abbott," "Legend of MontK.se," 

 "Fair Maid of Perth," and "Castle Dangerous." Treat- 

 ing of continental history are "Quentin Durward," 

 "Anne of Geirstein," and "Count Robert of Paris." 

 Twelve others in the series, including " Rob Roy," 

 "Heart of Midlothian," "Bride of Lammermoor," are 

 connected with historical events, but are more personal 

 and deal mainly with Scottish character. 



Weird Sisters, The. Three witches, in Shakespere's 

 tragedy of "Macbeth." 



Weller, Samuel. In Dickens's celebrated "Pick- 

 wick Papers." A servant to Mr. Pickwick, to whom he 

 becomes devotedly attached. Rather than leave his 

 master, when he is sent to the Fleet, Sam Weller gets 

 his father to arrest him for debt. He is an inimitable 

 compound of wit, simplicity, quaint humor, and fidelity. 

 "Tony Weller," father of Sam; a coachman of the old 

 school, who drives between London and Dorking. On 

 the coachbox he is a king, elsewhere a mere London 

 "cabby." He marries a widow and his constant advice 

 to his son is, "Sam, beware of the vidders." Every- 

 body was merry over Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller, 

 and everybody was eager to read this entertaining 

 author. 



Westover Manuscripts. In the year 1728 Colonel 

 Byrd set out with a party of commissioners to meet an- 

 other party of commissioners from North Carolina, to 

 survey and settle the boundary between North Carolina 

 and Virginia. The other Virginia commissioners were 

 Dandridge and Fitz-William. With them were two 

 surveyors, a chaplain, and seventeen woodsmen and 

 hunters. Colonel Byrd took notes of the journey. These 

 important documents remained in manuscript until 1841, 

 when they were printed under the title of "The West- 

 over Manuscripts," being so called from the estate of 

 Westover, on the north branch of the James River, 

 where the author lived. These journals of Colonel Byrd 

 are remarkable for the freshness and vividness of their 

 descriptions, and for a continued undercurrent of gopd- 

 natured humor. He is particularly fond of indulging 

 in a bit of fun at the expense of the North Carolinians. 

 The journals abound in stories illustrative of Natural 

 History. 



Whit'ting-ton, Dick. The hero of a famous old 

 legend, in which he is represented as a poor orphan boy 

 from the country, who went to London, where, after 

 undergoing many hardships he obtained a penny and 

 bought a cat. Shortly after, he sent his cat on a ven- 

 ture in his master's ship; and the King of Barbary, 

 whose court was overrun with mice, gladly bought the 

 cat at a high price. With this money Whittington 

 commenced business, and succeeded so well that he 

 finally married his former master's daughter, was 

 knighted, and became lord mayor of London. 



Wilfer. Name of a family prominent in " Our Mutual 

 Friend," by Dickens. Reginald Wilfer, called by his 

 wife It. W., and by his fellow-clerks Humty. He was 

 cleric in the drug-house of Chicksey, StobbleB, and Vc 

 neering. Mrs. Wilfer, wife of Mr. Reginald, a most ma- 

 jestic woman, with an exalted idea of her own impor- 

 tance. Bella Wilfer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilfer, 

 a wayward, playful, affectionate, spoilt beauty, so pretty, 

 so womanly, and yet so childish that she was always 

 captivating. She spoke of herself as "the lovely wo- 

 man." Bella married John Harmon. Lavinia Wilfer, 

 youngest sister of Bella, and called "The Irrepressible." 



Winter's Tale, The. Shakespere (1604). Leontes, 

 King of Sicily, invites his friend Polixenes to yisit him, 

 becomes jealous, and commands Camillo to poison him. 



