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278 forming a national university. He was one of a staff of writers employed in the production of "An Outline History of Japanese Education " for the United States centennial exhibition in 1876, and was engaged in the production of other important publications in Japan. Dr. Verbeck was one of a select committee that brought out the translation of the Bible into the Japanese language in 1887, after many missionaries had labored upon difficult parts of the work for fifteen years. He is presi- dent of the University of Tokio, and received the Japanese order of the " Rising Sun " in 1877, and the degree of D. D. from Rutgers in 1875.

VER BRYCK, Cornelius, artist, b. in Yaugh Paugh, N. J., 1 Jan., 1813 ; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y.. 31 May, 1844. He studied in 1835 under Samuel P. B. Morse, and in 1837 went to Mobile. In 1839 he visited London, England, whence he soon re- turned. He was elected an associate of the Nation- al academy in 1838, and an academician in 1841. He exhibited at the academy during 1837-'42 va- rious landscapes, figure-pieces, and portraits, and in 1839 " Charles I. in the Studio of Vandyck." His health gave way soon after his art studies be- gan, and in 1843 he went again to Europe, with the hope that a voyage might restore him, but soon returned, and his early death terminated a promising career. The New York historical so- ciety owns his " The Old Dutch Bible." Among his portraits is v one of William Cullen Bryant (1842).

VERCHERES, Mary Madeleine de, b. in Canada in 1678; d. after 1700. She was born in the fort on her father's seigniory on the St. Law- rence, about twenty miles below Montreal. In the autumn of 1692 she was on the river-bank, some distance from the fort, when suddenly she heard several shots fired, and discovered that the Indians were killing and carrying off the settlers who were working in the fields. She describes the scene in the narrative afterward written at the request of the governor of Canada. A servant shouted to her to run, and, on turning round, she saw about fifty Iroquois rushing at her. Pursued by the savages, and crying " To arms ! " she entered the fort just in time to shut the gate in their faces. Besides women and children, there were only two soldiers, an old man, and her two little brothers in the fort. Seeing that the soldiers were demoralized, she seized a rifle, put on a military cap. and ordered all to take their places and by heavy firing alarm the country. She placed her two brothers — the one twelve years old, the other fourteen — on the bastions, saying : " Let us fight till death ; we fight for our country and religion." The third bastion was defended by the old man, while she took charge of the fourth, after placing the women and children in charge of the two soldiers in a redoubt. The Iroquois made several attacks, but were repelled, and eventually retreated with loss. The siege lasted two days, during which she neither ate nor slept. After another eight days the fort was relieved by an officer and forty men from Montreal. She after- ward married De Lanaudiere, Sieur de la Perade.

VERDEN, Karl von (vair'-den), German mis- sionary, b. in Schweidnitz, Silesia, about 1620 ; d. in Buenos Ayres in 1697. He became a Jesuit, was attached to the South American missions, and labored for about twenty years among the Indians of Tueuraan. Afterward he was librarian of the convent of Buenos Ayres. His works include " Geografia y Misiones del Rio de la Plata " (Madrid, 1710); "Informe de las Misiones del Tu- cuman " (1711); and " Informacion sobre las Misi- ones y Establecimientos de la Compailia de Jesus en la America meridional " (2 vols., 1715).

VERDI, Tullio Suzzara, physician, b. in Man- tua, Italy, 10 Feb., 1829. He is of a noble family, was educated in the College of art, literature, and sciences of Mantua, and in 1847 entered the Sar- dinian army. After its defeat at Novara in 1849 he was exiled from Italy by the Austrians, came to the United States, and in 1852 became profes- sor of modern languages in Brown university. He was graduated at Hahnemann medical col- lege at Philadelphia in 1856, and in 1857 re- moved to Washington, D. C. In 1871 he was ap- Eointed a member of the board of health of the District of Columbia, of which in 1876 he was elected president, and he was appointed in 1879 a member of the national board of health. Dr. Verdi became president of the medical staff of the Na- tional homoeopathic hospital in June, 1887. He was appointed in 1873 special sanitary commissioner to the principal cities of Europe from the District of Columbia. He was physician to William H. Sew- ard while the latter was secretary of state, and the assassin that nearly killed Seward gained admission to the secretary by the pretence that he was the bearer of a professional message from Dr. Verdi. He has published " Maternity, a Popular Treatise for Young Wives and Mothers " (New York, 1869) ; " Mothers and Daughters : Practical Studies for the Conservation of the Health of Girls " (1877) ; and " The Infant Philosopher " (1886).

VERDUGO, Vicente (vair-doo'-go), Peruvian historian, b. in Cuzco about 1690; d. in Rome, Italy, in 1775. He became a Jesuit, and was su- perior of their houses at Cuzco and Lima, canon of Cuzco, and professor of history at Quito. After mastering the Quichua language and several other Indian dialects, he collected an important library of ancient documents concerning the early history of South America and its conquest. Toward 1750 he was sent to Rome and became librarian of the Roman college. His works include " Historia de las guerras civiles en Peru en el tiempo del Inca Atahualpa " (Rome, 1754) ; " Cronica veridica de la conquista de la provincia de Cuzco" (2 vols., 1756) ; and " Informacion de lo obrado en la pro- vincia del Cuzco," a manuscript which is preserved in the Roman college.

YERE, Maximilian, Freiherr von Schele de, scholar, b. near Wexio, Sweden, 1 Nov., 1820. He was educated in Germany, and entered the military and afterward the diplomatic service of Prussia. He came to the United States in 1842, and in 1844 accepted the chair of modern languages in the University of Virginia. At the beginning of the civil war he entered the Confederate service as a captain, and was afterward appointed commissioner to Germany, to explain and further there the cause of the Confederacy. He lived for some time in Europe, mainly in Italy, devoting himself to literary and social studies, but returned to this country after the war and resumed his professorship. Prof. De Vere is a member of various histoneal and scientific societies, and was one of the founders of the American philological society. Besides contributions on historical, literary, and scientific subjects, to English, American, and German periodicals, he has published " Outlines of Comparative Philology " (New York, 1853); " Grammar of the Spanish Language " (1854) ; " Strav Leaves from the Book of Nature " (1856) ; " Studies in English," " First French Reader," and " Grammar in French " (1867) ; " The Great Empress," a novel (Philadelphia, 1869) ; " Wonders of the Deep " (New York, 1869) ; " Introduction to the Study of French " (1870) ; " Romance of American History " (1872) ; " Americanisms, or the English of the New World " (1873) ; and " Mod-