V r R 



V I R 



and all thofe little poems, of which the refrain, or burden, is 

 the moil agreeable part. 



VI RET, Peter, in Biography, a famous Calviniftic 

 divine, was born in lyii, at Orbe, in the canton of Berne, 

 and during his ftudios at Paris formed an acquaintance with 

 Farel, with whom he co-operated in propagating the doc- 

 trines of the Reformation in feveral towns of Switzerland, 

 and particularly at Geneva, whither he accompanied Farel 

 in 1534. At Laufanne he exercifed his miniftry with great 

 fatisfaiftion, fo that he declined the offer of being colleague 

 with Calvin at Geneva. He is faid, in one of his vifits to 

 Geneva, to have efcaped death by poifon, adminiftered to 

 him by the inftigation of fome of the popifh canons of that 

 church, which, though it did not prove inftantly fatal, in- 

 jured his conltitution, which was dehcate, and (hortened his 

 life. From Laufanne he removed to Nifmes and Mont- 

 pellier, and at length fettled at Lyons. But in 1653 he 

 was obliged to quit his ftation, in confequence of the ediA 

 of Charles IX., wliich prohibited his fubjedls of the re- 

 formed religion from having minifters that were not born 

 in the kingdom. He then retired to Orange, and from 

 thence, by the invitation of the queen of Navarre, to Berne. 

 In 1569 he was in prifon, and exchanged for the governor 

 of a town. His death happened, probably at Pau, in 

 157 1, at the age of 60. 



Viret pofTeffed a confiderable Ihare of learning, and was 

 an eloquent preacher. His works were numerous ; of thefe, 

 feveral upon the do£trines and fuperftition of the Romifn 

 church were written in a ilyle of ludicrous farcafm, but 

 others were ferious. His work " On True and Falfe 

 Religion," publifhed at Geneva in ij6o, difplays much 

 reading on the fubjeft of fuperftition : but his largeft work 

 i$ " An Expofition of the Doftrine of the Chriftian Faith," 

 which Dupin depreciates, as lie does his fmall trafts of 

 controverfy. Bayle. Dupin. 



VIRGA. See Yard. 



ViRGA is particularly jufed in law ft)r verge, or rod, fuch 

 as fheriffs and bailiffs carry, as a badge of their office. 



" Ranf. ap Howell, pr;r-pofitus de Lantiffin amerciatus 

 pro eo quod habuit in manii fua coram jufticiariis hie virgam 

 nigram & inhoneftam, ubi habere debuiffet virgum album 

 et honellum certae lonj/itudinis, prout decel." In fen\. Itin. 

 de Cardiff. 7 Hen. VI. 



ViRGA Aurta, in Botany. See Solidago. 



ViRGA Pajloris, a name given by fome authors to 

 Spfacus ; which fee. 



Where the name virga paftoris occurs in the tranflation of 

 the Arabian writers, it is not to be fuppofed to mean the 

 plant we call virga paftoris. 



It is, indeed, the literal tranflation of the hafTalclrheir of 

 Serapion and Avicenna ; but they called the common horfe- 

 tail by this name, when ihey applied the adjeftive female to 

 it ; and when they added the male, they meant by it the 

 common knot-grafs. 



Virga Sangu'mea, a name given by Matthiolus, and fome 

 other authors, to the cornus fcemina, or dogberry-bufh, 

 common in our hedges. See Cornus. 



VlRCE Lateralis Minimus, in Anatomy, a name given by 

 fome writers to a miifele, called by others levator ani 

 parvus, and by fome tranfvcrfus ani. It is called by Albinus 

 the tranfverfus perinxi, and by fome tranfverfahs penis. 



Virg.t:, in Phyfiology, a meteor, called alfo eohmelU, and 

 Junes lenlorii ; being an alTemblage of feveral ftrcams of 

 light, reprefenting a bundle of rods or ropes. 



It is fuppofed owing to the ftreaming of the fun-beams 

 through certain rimula:, or chinks ; at leaft through tlie 



Vol. XXXVII. 



more lax and open parts of a watery cloud, happening 

 chiefly in the morning and evening. 



There is alfo another kind, confifting not of ftreams of 

 mere white light, but, as it were, painted of various colours, 

 like thofe of the rainbow. 



VIRGANTIA, in Ancient Geography, a town of the 

 Segufians, according to Ammianus MarceUinus. Strabo 

 names it Brigantium : it is fo called by Ptolemy and Anton. 

 Itin. : it is the prefent Brian9on. 



VIRGAO Alba, a town of Hifpania Citerior, called in 

 Anton. Itin. Urcao, Vircao, and Virgao, and marked be- 

 tween Calpurniana and Iliturgis. 



VIRGATA Sutura, a term ufed by fome anatoraifls 

 for the fagittal future of the cranium. 



ViRGATA Terra, or Virga Ternc, a yard -land. 



VIRGATORES Serviemtes, in Fleta, are vergers, 

 or tip-ftavcs, who attend the judges. See Verger, and 

 Serjeant at Arms. 



VIRGI, or Urca, in Ancient Geography, a town of 

 Spain, upon the gulf Virginitanus Sinus. 



VIRGIL, PuBLius ViRGiLius Maro, in Biography, a 

 celebrated Roman poet, whofe name is familiar to every claf- 

 fical fcholar, was born in the year B.C. 70 at Andes, a village 

 near Mantua, and liberally educated at Cremona, Milan, and 

 Naples. His teacher in philofophy was named Syro, and the 

 philofophy in which he was inftrufted was the Epicurean. 

 From his firft eclogue, in which he is fuppofed to have re- 

 lated his own adventures under the appellation of Tityrus, 

 it appears that he firft vifited Rome in his 30th year for 

 the purpofe of recovering lands that were in the poffefTion 

 of the mihtary belonging to Oftavius and Antony, after 

 the war againft the republicans ; and having been introduced 

 to Oftavius by PoUio, or fome other perfon, and to his fub- 

 fequent patron Mecznas, he fucceeded in the objeft of his 

 vifit by their influence. His life, however, was endangered 

 by the violence of the veteran who occupied his farm, and 

 who refilled the furrender of it, fo that he was obliged to 

 feek redrefs by another vifit to Rome, and to obtain an 

 order for Ins reinftatement. His eclogues, which were 

 completed in his 33d or 34th year, were very favourably 

 received ; and in his 34th year he was induced by Mecaenas 

 to commence his Georgics ; and during a period of feven 

 years, wliich he employed in the profecution of them, he 

 refided chiefly at Naples. The latter years of his hfe were 

 devoted to the jEneid. At this time he was ranked among 

 thofe friends, who were particularly diftinguiflied by the 

 attention and confidence of Auguftus. After the death of 

 Marcelliis, in the year B. C. 23, he paid that admirable 

 tribute to his memory, which occurs in the fixth book of 

 the iEneid, and concerning which Donatus fays, that when 

 it was recited before Auguftus, in the prefencc of Oiflavia, 

 the mother of the deceafcd, as foon as the word;. " Tu 

 Marcellus eris" were pronounced, flie fainted away ; and 

 afterwards rewarded the poet with ten fcfterces (above 80/. ) 

 for each line of the pafTagc. After the completion of his 

 jEneid, Virgil went to Greece, with the view of further po- 

 lifhing it ; and on this occafion Horace is fuppofed to have 

 addrelTcd him with the third ode of his firil book, beginning 

 " Sic, te Diva potens Cypri," in whicli he exprefles tlie 

 warnu'ft afteftion for his brother poet. At Athens he met 

 with Auguftus, and propofed returning in his company ; but 

 at Mcgara he was feizcd with a diforder, whicli detained 

 him, as fome fay, at Brun<Jufium, or, accordiuj^ to others, 

 at Tarentum, and which foon terminated his life in the year 

 B.C. 19, in the 52d year of his age. His remains were 

 conveyed, in purfuaiicc of his icqucft, to Naples, and in- 

 H li terrcd 



