V E R 



of copper added ; and this is to be repeated till the matter 

 appears of the proper colour ; after which it is fpread on 

 large pieces of chalk, and laid in the fun to dry. Boyle 

 oblerves, that the procefs often mifcarried, and that heating 

 the liquor, before it is poured on the whiting, has been 

 found to contribute to its fuccefs. It is ftiU, however. 

 Dr. Lewis fays, very apt to fail in the hands of the moll 

 flvilful workmen ; the preparation, inftead of a fine blue, 

 turning out of a dirty green. 



From the liquor poured off in making verditer, Mr. 

 Boyle fays (Works Abr. vol. i. p. 169.), that the refiners 

 obtain, by boiling, a kind of faltpetre, fit with the addition 

 of vitriol to yield them a new aquafortis. Some have faid 

 that a deeper and brighter kind of verditer may be made 

 by ufing a filtered folution of pearl-adies inftead of the 

 chalk, in the above procefs. 



Verditer, when good, is a cool full blue, but without 

 the leaft tranfparency either in oil or water. In oil it is 

 fubjeft to turn greenifli, and fometimes black ; and in water 

 it is not always found to hold. It is chiefly ufed for paper- 

 hangings and coarfe work, and in varnifli. 



VERDON, or Fordon, in Geography, a town of Pruf- 

 fian Pomerelia ; 60 miles S. of Dantzig. 



Vekdon, a river of France, which runs into the Durance, 

 at Pertuis, in the department of the Mouths of the Rhone. 



VERDONE, in Ichthyology, the name of a fi(h of the 

 turdus or vvrafie kind, called by fome authors tardus •viridis 

 minor. See TuRDUS and Labrus. 



It is of a fine green colour in all parts of its body ; 

 the back, fides, and belly, have all plainly the fame colour ; 

 but in different degrees : the back being of the deepeil 

 dye ; the belly has fomething of yellownefs with the green, 

 and the fides are variegated with lines of a fine blue. It 

 has only one long fin on the back, which has thirty rays or 

 ribs, the eighteen foremoft of which are rigid and prickly, 

 the others foft and flexile. It is caught in the Mediter- 

 ranean, and fold in the markets in Italy. Salvian de Aquat. 

 p. 88. 



VERDOY, in Heraldry, is applied to a bordure of a 

 coat of arms, charged with any kinds or parts of flowers, 

 fruits, feeds, plants, &c. Of thefe there are eight in 

 number. 



VERDUN, in Geography, a town of France, and prin- 

 cipal place of a diftrift, in the department of the Meufe. 

 Before the revolution the capital of a province, eaUed Ver- 

 dunois, and the fee of a bifliop, fuffragan of Treves. It is 

 large, populous, and confifts of three parts, the Upper, 

 Lower, and New Town. Exclufive of its fortifications, 

 this place is farther defended by a fine citadel. The bifliop, 

 before the city and diftrift were annexed to the crown of 

 France, was a prince of the empire, and afterwards ftyled 

 hinifelf fuch, as alfo earl of Verdun. Exclufive of the 

 cathedral in this city, are one collegiate and nine parifli 

 churches, fix abbeys, and one college. Verdun was for- 

 merly an imperial city ; 33 miles N.W. of Toul. N. lat. 



49° 9'. E. long. 5° 27' Alfo, a town of Spain, in 



Aragon ; 15 miles W. of Jaca. — Alfo, a town of France, 

 in the department of the Aude ; 6 miles N.E. of Callel- 

 naudary. 



VERDUN^wr-Garonnc, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Upper Garonne ; 12 miles S.S.E. of Caftel- 

 Sarafin. 



W ^KT>vvi-fur-Sadne, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Saone and Loire, fituated at the conflux of the Sa6ne 

 and the Doubs ; 9 miles N.E. of Chalons-fur-Saone. N. 

 lat. 46° 54'. E. long. 5° 7'. 



V E R 



VERDURE, the quality of greennefs. The word is 

 French, formed of •verd, green. 



VERE, Sir Francis, in Biography, an Englifh oiEcer 

 in the reign of queen EUzabeth, was a defcendant from a 

 branch of the De Veres, earls of Oxford, and born in 

 1554. Being fent with a body of troops, under the com- 

 mand of the earl of Leicefter, to the afllftance of the 

 United Provinces in 1 585, he diftinguiflied himfelf firft in 

 the defence of Sluys, and in 1588 at Bergen-op-Zoom by 

 refifting the arms of the duke of Parma. For his fervices 

 on this occafion he obtained the honour of knightliood, and 

 was employed on many fubfequent occafions, in which he 

 gained fignal reputation, infomuch that he was at length en- 

 trufted with the command of the Englifli forces ferving 

 with the States. When thefe forces were withdrawn in the 

 year 1592, Sir F. Vere was chofen reprefentative for the 

 borough of Leominfter. In 1596 he fuccefsfully executed 

 a commiflion with which he was entrufl;ed to the States, and 

 on his return obtained the command of a fliip, witli the rank 

 of vice-admiral. In the expedition againil Cadiz, he ac- 

 quitted himfelf with flcill and courage, and was principally 

 inftrumental in the capture of the town. On his return 

 from an expediticn with the earl of Eflex to the Azores, he 

 was appointed governor of Brill, one of the towns affigned 

 to queen Elizabeth as fecurity for money advanced to the 

 States. At the battle of Nieuport, in i6oo, his conduft, 

 and the valour of the Engliih whom he commanded, con- 

 tributed very elfentially to the fuccefs of the day, though 

 the lofs of lives was confiderable, and Vere himfelf received 

 a wound, which he concealed till viAory was fecured. The 

 States, duly apprized of his merit, appointed him, in 1601, 

 governor of Oftend, which was befieged by a powerful army 

 under the command of archduke Albert. By means of ar- 

 tifices which fome have thought incompatible with the cha- 

 rafter of a generous foldier, he prolonged the fiege, and 

 deferred a furrender by negotiation, till he obtained a re- 

 inforcement of troops, and then informed Albert that the 

 treaty was at an end. The prince was indignant, nor were the 

 States pleafed with the fraud. This circumftance probably 

 occafioned his refignation of the command at Oftend; but 

 being folicited by the States to procure frefli fuppHes of 

 men from his own country, he fucceeded in obtaining them. 

 His government of the Brill, which expired with the 

 death of Elizabeth, was renewed by James I. ; but his peace 

 with Spain in 1604 terminated the occupation of mihtary 

 men. Sir Francis was alfo governor of Portfmoitth, and 

 remained at home till his death, in 1608, the 54th year of 

 his age. A fplendid monument was erefted to his memory 

 in Weftminfter Abbey by his widow. His exploits have 

 been recorded by himfelf, in a work entitled " The Com- 

 nientaiies of Sir Francis Vere, being diverfe Pieces of Ser- 

 vice wherein he had Command, written by Himfelf in way 

 of Commentary," publilhed from his MSS. by William Dil- 

 lingham, D.D. fol. Cambridge, 1657. 



Vere, Hokace, baron of Tilbury, younger brother of 

 the preceding, whom he accompanied in many of his ac- 

 tions in the Low Countries, and diftinguiflied himfelf on 

 feveral occafions. He fucceeded his brother in the govern- 

 m.entof Brill, and held it till the year 161 6, when it was re- 

 ftored to the States. Altliough he was entrnfted, in 1620, 

 by king James with a tardy and fcanty aid to his fon-in-law 

 the king of Bohemia, he contributed for fome time to pre- 

 ferve the Palatinate from being overrun by the Imperialifts ; 

 and at lail furrendered on honourable term.s to Tilly at 

 Manheim. On the acceffion of Charles I. he was the firft 

 peer created by the king, under the title of lord Vere of 

 Tilbury. Retaining the poft of general of the forces in 



the 



