V I L 
VILLEFRANCHE, a considerable town of France, 
situated on the Aveyron, and-surrounded by lofty hills; 25 
miles west of Rodez. It contains nearly 10,000 inhabitants. 
—2. Another town in the south of France; 20 miles south¬ 
east of Toulouse.—3. A town of France; 22 miles south of 
g ar | af 
VILLEFRANCHE DE QUEYRON, a town of France, 
department of the Lot and Garonne; 14 miles south of 
Marmande. 
VILLEHARDOUIN (Geoffroide), wasmarshal of Cham¬ 
pagne, an office held by his father and his descendants. 
He took a principal part in the fourth crusade of 1198, which 
produced the capture of Constantinople by the French and 
Venetians in 1204; and of this expedition he wrote or dic¬ 
tated a narrative, which is curious and interesting. The best 
edition is that of Du-Cange, fob 1657, with many notes. 
Moreri. 
VILLE-JUIF, a village 3 miles south of Paris, with 1400 
inhabitants. 
VILLELAS, San Joseph de, a settlement of Peru, in 
the province of Tucuman. 
VILLEMUR, an inland town of France, department of 
the Upper Garonne; 20 miles north of Toulouse, Popula¬ 
tion 4000. 
VILLENA, a considerable town in the south of Spain, 
in Murcia, on the borders of Valencia; 40 miles north- 
north-east of Murcia, and 66 south-south-west of Valencia. 
VILLENAUXE LA GRANDE, a town of France, de¬ 
partment of the Aube ; 6 miles north-north-west of Nogent 
sur Seine. Population 2500. 
VILLENEUVE, a town of France, department of the 
Herault, near the great canal of Languedoc; 2 miles from 
Clermont Lodeve. 
VILLENEUVE (the ancient Pennilucus'), a small town 
of the Swiss canton of the Pays de Vaud, on the Lake of 
Geneva; 17 miles east-south-east of Lausanne. Population 
1600. 
VILLENEUVE, a town of France, department of the 
Aveyron; 28 miles west-by-north of Rhodez. Population 
3100. 
VILLENEUVE D’AEGF.N, an inland town of France, 
department of the Lot and Garonne, situated on the River 
Lot; 14 miles north-east of Agen. Population 5500. 
VILLENEUVE D’AVIGNON, a small town of France, 
department of the Gard, on the Rhone, opposite to Avig¬ 
non, with which it communicates by a wooden bridge of 
late construction ; 22 miles east-by-north of Nimes. It con¬ 
tains 3300 inhabitants. 
VILLENEUVE DE BERG, a small town in the south 
of France, department of the Ardeche, on the river Alise; 
14 miles south of Privas. Population 2200. 
VILLENEUVE DE MARS AN, a town of France, de¬ 
partment of the Landes, on the Midou; 12 miles east of 
Mont de Marsan. 
VILLENEUVE LA GUYARD, a town of France. It 
stands on the Yonne, about 23 miles north-north-west of 
Sens. 
VILLENEUVE L’ARCHEVEQUE, another town of 
France, department of the Yonne; 11 miles east of Sens. 
VILLENEUVE ST. GEORGES, a town in the north of 
France, situated on the Seine; 9 miles south-by-east of 
Paris. 
VILLENEUVE SUR VANNES, a town of France, with 
1600 inhabitants, and is 12 miles east of Sens. 
VILLENEUVE SUR YONNE, a town of France, de¬ 
partment of the Yonne; 9 miles north-west of Joigny. 
Population 4600. 
VILLENO, Cape, a promontory in the north of Spain, 
on the coast of Biscay. Lat. 43. 26. N. long. 2. 58. W. 
VILLEPUCHE, a village of the United States, in the 
Missouri Territory, on the west side of the Mississippi; 19 
miles below St. Lewis. 
VILLEQUIERS, a town of France, department of the 
Cher; 22 miles south-east of Bourges. 
VILLEREAL, a town of France, department of the Lot 
Vox.. XXIV. No. 1644. 
V I L 389 
and Garonne, near the river Droat; about 18 miles north of 
Villeneuve. 
VILLERS COTTERETS, a town of France, department 
of the Aisne. It has a castle, and contains 2400 inhabitants; 
14 miles south-west of Soissons. 
VILLERS LE BOCAGE, a small town of France, in 
Normandy; 16 miles south-west of Caen. 
VILLERS SEXEL, a town of France, department of the 
Upper Saone. It contains 1100 inhabitants, and has several 
iron works; 14 miles east-south-east of Vesoul. 
VILLETTE, a village of France, in the department of 
the Seine; about 2 miles north-east of Paris. 
VILLETTE, a small town of Switzerland, in the Pays de 
Vaud, on the lake of Geneva; 9 miles east-south-east of 
Lausanne. 
VI'LLI, s. [Latin.] In anatomy, are the same as fibres; 
and in botany small hairs like the grain of plush or shag, 
with which, as a kind of excrescence, some trees do abound. 
Sidney. 
VILLIERS (George), the first duke of Buckingham, was 
born in that county, A. D. 1592. His graceful person and 
gay disposition recommended him at court, to which he 
was introduced by Sir John Graham, a gentleman of the 
king’s privy chamber. In 1613, James I. conferred upon 
him the office of his cup-bearer. Upon the fall of the earl 
of Somerset, Villiers took his place in the affection and con¬ 
fidence of the king, who knighted him in 1615, and made 
him gentleman of the bed-chamber, with a pension of 
1000/. a-year. He soon after became master of the horse, 
and in 1616 was honoured with the garter, created a baron 
and viscount, and in the following year advanced to the 
earldom of Buckingham, and admitted into the privy- 
council. After his return from Scotland, whither he ac¬ 
companied the king in 1617, he was created a marquis, 
and promoted to the dignities of lord high-admiral of Eng¬ 
land, chief justice in eyre south of the Trent, master of the 
king’s bench office, steward of Westminster, and constable of 
Windsor Castle. He also employed his powerful interest 
with the king for the advancement of his family and con¬ 
nections. His character was that of an ardent friend and 
implacable enemy, insolent and arrogant to those who op¬ 
posed him, and regardless of real merit in those whom he 
patronized. To his pusillanimous sovereign and to prince 
Charles he manifested his arrogant disposition; but in order 
to engage the prince’s attachment, he proposed a visit of 
respect to his intended bride, the infanta of Spain. The 
king, at first averse from this journey, at length granted to 
his importunity a relunctant consent. His manners, how¬ 
ever, disgusted the Spanish court, and he returned avowing 
his enmity to the prime minister Olivarez. Such was his 
powerful influence at home, that he was appointed lord 
warden of the Cinque Ports. By misrepresenting the ne- 
gociations with Spain relating to the proposed marriage, he 
inflamed the nation against the Spaniards, and became po¬ 
pular; and dreading the return of lord Bristol from his em¬ 
bassy, and a true statement of this business, he joined the' 
opposers of the court and promoted popular measures. 
Upon the accession of Charles his influence was augmented, 
and he was sent to France, in order to conduct into England 
the royal bride, Henrietta-Maria. At length, his inordinate 
use of the power with which he had been entrusted rendered 
him an object of national jealousy and abhorrence; and in 
May 1626, the earl of Bristol, who at his instigation had 
been committed to the Tower, and afterwards banished from 
the court, exhibited against him a charge of high treason. 
He was also accused by the Commons of high crimes and 
misdemeanours; but his master averted the stroke that was 
aimed against him by the dissolution of parliament. In the 
war now subsisting with Spain, he went to the Hague to 
concert a treaty with the States-general for the recovery of 
the Palatinate; but his conduct towards France soon pro¬ 
duced a war with that country. At his solicitation, France 
was invaded in 1627 by an expedition under his command; 
and he landed on the isle of Rhe, whence he was obliged to’ 
withdraw' with great loss. In order to recover his reputation 
4 E after 
