358 V E R 
VETtDUROUS, ad). Green; covered with green; 
decked with green.—The scentful camomile, the verdurous 
costmary. Drayton. 
Higher than their tops 
The verd'rous wall of paradise up-sprung; 
Which to our general sire gave prospect large. Milton. 
VERE (Sir Francis), an English officer in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, was a descendant from a branch of the 
De Veres, earls of Oxford, and born in 1554. Being sent 
with a body of troops, under the command of the earl of 
Leicester, to the assistance of the United Provinces, in 1585, 
lie distinguished himself first in the defence of Sluys, and in 
1588 at Bergen-op-Zoom, by resisting the arms of the duke 
of Parma. Afterwards, in the expedition against Cadiz, he 
acquitted himself with skill and courage, and was principally 
instrumental in the capture of the town. On bis return from 
an expedition with the earl of Essex to the Azores, he was 
appointed governor of Brill, one of the towns assigned to 
queen Elizabeth as security for money advanced to the 
States. At the battle of Nieuport, in 1600, his conduct, and 
the valour of the English whom he commanded, contributed 
very essentially to the success of the day. The States, duly 
apprized of his merit, appointed him, in 1601, governor of 
Ostend, which was besieged by a powerful army under the 
command of archduke Albert. Sir Francis was afterwards go¬ 
vernor of Portsmouth, and remained at home till his death, 
in 1608, the 54th year of his age. His exploits have been 
recorded by himself, in a work entitled “ The Commentaries 
of Sir Francis Vere, being diverse Pieces of Service wherein 
he had Command, written by Himself in way of Commen¬ 
tary.” 
VERE, a river of England, in Hertfordshire, which falls 
into the Coin, about 2 miles south-east of St. Albans. 
VERE, a parish on the south side of the island of Ja¬ 
maica. 
VERE, Cape, a promontory on the west coast of Calabria. 
Lat. 39. 20. N. long. 16. 10. E. 
VE'RECUND, or Verecun'dious, ad). [verecond , old 
French; verecundus, Latin.] Modest; bashful. Diet. 
VERECU'NDITY, s. [verecundia, Latin.] Bashfulness; 
modesty; blushing. Lemon. 
VEREJA, a town of European Russia, in tire govern¬ 
ment of Moscow, on the river Protva; 60 miles west-south¬ 
west of Moscow. 
VERELIUS (Olof), a Swedish antiquary and librarian 
in the academy of Upsal. Having commenced his educa¬ 
tion in the gymnasium at Linkoeping, he pursued it for five 
years at the academy of Dorpt, and in 1638 removed to 
Upsal. He was a good Latin scholar, and well skilled in 
Swedish antiquities. He was a zealous advocate for the 
ancient origin of the Swedes, insomuch as to contend that 
the Goths who took Rome issued from Sweden, and to 
assert, “ that those who deny their antiquity ought to have 
their brains knocked out with Runic stones." 
Among his principal works are, “ Gothrici et Rolfi, 
Vestro-Gothire Regum, Historia lingua antiqua Gothica con- 
scripta, quam e Manuscripto vetustissimo edidit, Versione 
et Notis illustravit,” Upsal, 1664, 8vo. and several publi¬ 
cations relating to Gothic literature and Swedish history. 
Gen. Biog. 
VERELST (Simon), born at Antwerp in 1604, and was 
an admirable painter of fruit and flowers. He came to 
England in the time of Charles II., and obtained very con¬ 
siderable practice. 
VERENGUELA, a settlement of Peru, in the province of 
Pacajes. 
VERESTO, a small river in the Slates of the Church, de¬ 
legation of Rome. It falls into the Teverone, the ancient 
A nip. 
VERETO, a small town of Italy, in the south-east of the 
kingdom of Naples, province of Otranto. 
VEREZZO, a small town in the north of Italy, in the 
Piedmontese states, duchy of Genoa. 
VERFEIL, a small town in the south of France, depart- 
V E R 
ment of the Upper Garonne, on the river Giron; 12 miles 
north-east of Toulouse. 
VERGARA, a small town of the north-east of Spain, in 
the province of Guipuzcoa; 24 miles south-west of St. 
Sabastian, and 13 west-by-south of Tolosa, 
VERGARA, a river of Chili, which runs west, and turn¬ 
ing to the north-north-west, enters the Biobbio in a large 
stream. 
VERGATO, a small town in the north-east of Italy, in 
the States ot the Church, with 2800 inhabitants. It stands 
on the river Reno ; 15 miles south-west of Bologna. 
VERGAVILLE, a small town in the north-east of France, 
department of the Meurthe, with 800 inhabitants; 4 miles 
north-west of Dieuze. 
VERGE, s. [verge, French; virga, Latin.] A rod, or 
something in form of a rod, carried as an emblem of 
authority. The mace of a dean. 
Suppose him now a dean compleat, 
Devoutly lolling in his seat; 
The silver verge, with decent pride. 
Stuck underneath his cushion side. Swift. 
[vergo, Latin.] The brink; the edge; the utmost border. 
Would the inclusive verge 
Of golden metal, that must round my brow, 
Were red hot steel to sear me to the brain. Shakspeare , 
[In law .]—Verge is the compass about the king’s court, 
bounding the jurisdiction of the lord steward of the king’s 
household, and of the coroner of the king’s house, and 
which seems to have been 12 miles round. Verge hath 
also another signification, and is used for a stick, or rod, 
whereby one is admitted tenant, and, holding it in his hand, 
sweareth fealty to the lord of the manor; who, for that 
reason, is called tenant by the verge. Cowel. 
Fear not; whom we raise, 
We will make fast within a hallow’d verge. Shakspeare. 
To VERGE, v. n. [vergo, Latin.] To tend; to bend 
downwards. 
Man, 
Perhaps acts second to some sphere unknown ; 
Touches some wheel, or verges to some goal; 
’Tis but a part we see, and not the whole. Pope. 
VERGENNES, a city of the United States, in Addison 
County, Vermont; 11 miles below Middlebury, and 20 
south of Burlington. 
VE'RGER, s. [verger, old French, “ bedeau d’eglise,” 
Lacombe.] He that carries the mace before the dean.—-I 
can tip the verger with half-a-clown, and get into the best 
seat. Farquhar. 
VERGERIO (Pier-Paolo), a reviver of literature, was 
born about the year 1349, at Justinopolis, now Capo d’lstria. 
Having studied at Padua and Florence, he passed some years 
in different towns of Italy, particularly at Padua, where he 
officiated as professor of dialectics. His works were an 
“ History of the Princes of the House of Carrara, from its 
Origin to the Year 1355,” published in Muratori’s Collec¬ 
tion of Italian Historians; a treatise “ De ingenuis Moribus 
et liberalibus Adolescentiae studiis,” addressed to one of the 
princes of Carrara, was very popular at the time of its pub¬ 
lication. 
VERGILIO (Polydoro), an historian, was born at Urbino 
in the 15th century, and became first known to the learned 
by a Latin collection of Proverbs, preceding that of Erasmus, 
and the occasion of some bickering between them. It was 
first printed in 1498, and frequently republished. In the 
following year appeared his work “ De Rerum Inventoribus,” 
a very learned performance, but exhibiting many evidences 
of the credulity of the author. About the commencement of 
the following century, pope Alexander VI. deputed him on 
a commission to England, for the purpose of collecting the 
papal tribute called Peter-pence. As he was admired in this 
country for his learning and Latin style, he was promoted to 
the archdeaconry of Wells, and engaged by Henry VII. to 
write 
