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286 VEYTIA, Mariano (vay-ee'-te-ah), Mexican his- torian, b. in Puebla in 1718; d. there in 1779. He was a precocious child, and at the age of fifteen years took his first degree in philosophy. Three years afterward he was graduated in civil law, and in 1737, notwithstanding his youth, he was admitted as lawyer of the audiencia by a special permission of the viceroy. In May, 1737, he sailed for Spain, and at that time he began to write a detailed nar- rative of his travels. In two years he visited Spain, France, and Holland, and afterward he went to Italy, Portugal, England, and Palestine. In 1742 he became a member of the military order of Santiago in Madrid, and he entered the convent of San Agustin in Puebla in 1768. About that time he devoted himself to the study of the ancient history of Mexico, but at the time of his death he had finished only three volumes of his work, em- bracing the period from the earliest occupation of Anahuac till the middle of the 15th century, which are noteworthy for the fidelity of his researches. Clavigero, who by this time had finished his " Storia Antica del Messico," wrote to Veytia to obtain notes on the period anterior to the beginning of his his- tory. Veytia's work was published under the title of " Historia Antigua de Mexico " (Mexico, 1836), by Jose Ortega. Veytia left also a manuscript en- titled "Historia ecclesiastiea," which has not yet been published, and translated the " Cartas provin- ciates de Pascal."

VEZIN, Hermann, actor, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 29 March, 1829. He was intended for the bar by his father, a German - American merchant of Philadelphia, and was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1847. Desiring to follow the stage, he went to England, and, after some prepa- ration, obtained, through the recommendation of Charles Kean, an engagement at a theatre in York. He appeared in London under Kean's management in 1852, and two years later played principal parts in a tour through Great Britain. He visited the United States in 1857-'8 ; but his style of acting was not popular. Returning to England in 1859, he played Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King John, Louis XL, and Shylock in 1859. After his mar- riage to Mrs. Charles Young in 1863, he travelled with his wife, and in the following year they pro- duced Westland Marston's comedy of " Donna Diana " at the Princess's theatre, London. He was successful in "The Man o' Airlie," " The Rightful Heir," '• Life for Life," and various comedies, new and old, and in 1875 added greatly to his reputation by his rendering of Jacques in " As You Like It." On 4 Feb., 1876, he played Macbeth at Drury Lane theatre for the benefit of the Philadelphia centen- nial exhibition, and subsequently he played Dan'l Druce in William S. Gilbert's drama of that name, crdated the part De Talde in " The Danicheffs " and Schelm in " Russia " in 1877, and was success- ful in the characters of Sir Giles Overreach, the Duke of Alva in " Fatherland," and Iago in a re- vival of " Othello " in March, 1878. In 1885 he played the Shepherd in an open-air representation of John Fletcher's " Faithful Shepherdess."

VIALE, Agostinho (ve-ah'-lay), Brazilian ex- plorer, b. in Sao Paulo about 1620 ; d. in the Ay mores country in 1667. In 1664 he was named by Afonso VI. administrator-general of the mines in Brazil, with power to pardon all offenders that had sought a refuge in the forests. The general belief, since justified, was that rich mines existed in the interior of Brazil, and the government, in- tending to make use of the geographical knowledge that had been obtained by the outlaws during their wandering through the forests, had decided to win their services by the offer of a complete pardon. Viale left Sao Paulo at the head of 50 soldiers and 150 Indians, and entered the vast forests of the province of Matto Grosso, but, after journeying with great difficulties for thirteen months through the territory of the warlike Aymores, he wrote to Sao Paulo in 1666 for re-enforcements, announcing that he soon hoped to reach the much-talked-of emerald mines. He was joined by a few more soldiers, and, resuming the march, entered marshes where the greater part of his host died from ma- larial fever, and Viale fell a victim to the dis- ease just in sight of the Serra das Esmeraldas. His lieutenant, Barbalho Bezena, brought back the remnants of the expedition to Sao Paulo. Viale's journey afforded some knowledge of the vast coun- tries of the interior.

VIANA, Francisco de (ve-ah'-nah), Spanish mis- sionary, b. in the province of Alava about 1530 ; d. in Coban, Guatemala, in 1609. He entered the Domini- can order at Salamanca, and about 1560 went to New Spain, where he was attached to the missions of the province of Chiapa. For more than forty years he labored among the natives of the sur- rounding district, whose language he acquired, and became superior of the convent of Coban, rebuild- ing that and the one at Zacapula. He left some valuable manuscripts, which were preserved in the library of the order at Chiapa. The principal are " Arte de la Lengua de Vera Paz," " Vocabulario de la Lengua de Vera Paz," numerous religious works, sermons, and a catechism in that language, and a "Tratado de los deberes de la Justicia, para gobierno de Alcaldes mayores de Indias," all of which were translated into Quiche by Friar Dionisio Zuniga, of the province of Guatemala.

VIANA, Miguel Pereira (ve-ah'-nah). Viscount da, Brazilian author, b. in Evora, Portugal, in 1779 ; d. in Bahia in 1838. He received his edu- cation in the college for nobles at Lisbon, and afterward obtained a place in the office of the sec- retary of state, whom he accompanied to Brazil with the royal family in 1806. There he was ap- pointed secretary of the commission to mark the frontier between the Portuguese and the Spanish possessions, became councillor of state, sided in 1822 with the party of Dom Pedro, who made him a viscount, and was appointed in 1828 civil judge at Bahia. He wrote " Romanceiro historico do rio Amazonas " (Bahia, 1825) ; " Ensaio historico e de- scriptivo do rio Amazonas " (1829) ; and " Descripcao geral da provincia da Bahia " (1832).

VICENTE Y BENNAZAR, Andres (ve-then'tay), Spanish geographer, lived in the second half of the 15th century. He published at Antwerp in 1476 four charts, representing the four continents of the world. Unlike Columbus, he did not imagine America to be part of Asia, but represented it as a distinct continent and, what is more remarkable, as a continent divided into two parts by an isthmus. This publication, at so early a date, and before columbus's discovery, has caused much discussion. Some authorities think that Vicente y Bennazar had arrived at the conclusion that America existed as a distinct continent; others, that such an opinion was general among scientific circles in the 15th century; and still others, that he only intended to reproduce the lost Atlantis spoken of by Plato and the ancients.

VICK, James, horticulturist, b. in Portsmouth, England, 23 Nov., 1818 ; d. in Rochester, N. Y., 16 May, 1882. He received a common-school edu- cation, came early to the United States, gained a practical knowledge of gardening and floriculture, i wrote on these subjects, and in 1850 became pub-