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VERNE

state as a minister or missionary. The number of mar- riages solemnized in 1910 was 2992. The state prison is located at Windsor, the house of correction at Rut- land, and the industrial school at Vergennes. The free exercise of reUgious beUef is granted to prisoners by Pubhc Statutes, sec. 6075. All bequests to charitable, educational, or religious societies or institutions, ex- isting under the laws of the state, are exempted from the payment of the state inheritance tax of o% (Pub. Stat., sec. 822). Blasphemy and profanity are pun- ishable as crimes, the former by a fine not exceeding $200. All persons who have arrived at the use of rea- son are amenable to the penalty for profanity (Pub. Stat., sees. 5896-7).

Licences for the sale of intoxicating liquors are granted only in towns and cities which vote to grant them at the annual March elections. They are re- stricted in number, one for each 1000 inhabitants or major fraction thereof. Licencees must be legal voters, and more than twenty-five years of age. No licences can be exercised within 200 feet of a church or school; sales can be made only on the street floor of the building specified, and no screens or obstructions can be maintained so as to prevent a view from the street; tables, chau-s, stalls, and sofas are prohibited on the licensed premises, and all licensed drinking- places are required to close at ten o'clock in the even- ing. Those authorized to sell liquor in packages are required to close at 7 P. M. All places are to close on Sundays, legal holidays, election days, and the days of circus exhibitions and agriculturalr fairs; no Uquor can be furnished to a minor for his own or another's use, or to an habitual drunkard or a person known to have been intoxicated within six months. Minors are not allowed to be employed in licensed places.

Thompson. FUat. of Vermont (1S.53); Conant, Vermont (1907); MicHADD, Diocese of Burlington in Hist, of Catholic Church, II (1899); Benedict, Vermont in the Civil IFar (1886) ; Walton, Vermont Register (1911-2).

Thos. W. Maloney.

Verna, L.\, an isolated mountain hallowed by association with St. Francis of Assisi, situated in the centre of the Tuscan Appenines, and rising about 4000 feet above the valley of the Casentino. Its name (Latin, Alvcrna) is said to come from the Italian verb vernare, to make cold or freeze. On 8 May, 1213, La Verna was given to St. Francis by Count Orlando of Chiusi as a retreat "specially favour- able for contemplation". Thither the saint with- drew in August, 1224, to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas, and it was while praying on the mountain-side that he received (on or about 14 Sept.) the stigmata. Thenceforth La Verna became sacred ground. Pope Alexander IV took it under his protection. In 1260 a church was con- secrated there in presence of St. Bonaventure and several bishops. A few years later the Chapel of the Stigmata was erected, through the munificence of Count Simone of Battifole, near the spot where the miracle took place. An older chapel, S. Maria degli Angeli, which was built 1218 for St. Francis by Orlando, is approached from the sacristy of the Chiesa Maggiore, which was begun in 1348, but not finished until 1459 From the latter church the friars dwelling on La Verna go in solemn procession twice daily (at 2 p. M. and at midnight") to the Chapel of 1 he Stigmata. On the Feast of 1 he St igmuta (17 Sept) and on other festivals, large crowds of priests with their people from neighbouring parislies, as well as straiigrrs, visit the nicmnlains, :ind on such occasions the friars dflcii acccmuiiodate and cnlertaiu between 2000 and 301)0 pilgrims. The convent was partly destroyed by fire in the fifteenth century; it suffered desecration also during the war of this cen- tury. In 1810, and again in lSt)6, the friars were expelled in consequence of the suppression of religious orders. At present they arc in possession of La

Verna which belongs, however, to the municipality of Florence.

Sbabalea, Bullarium Franciscanum. IV (Rome. 1768), 156, gives a copy (made in 1274 by the sons of Orlando) of the deed confirming the gift of La Verna to St. Francis. The original of this deed is preserved at Borgo San Sepolcro. Menchehini, Guida illustr. delta Verna (2nd ed., Quaracehi. 1907), 462, gives details of historical and traditional events connected with the mountain, as well as a complete list of its flora; Idem, L' Appenino Serafico prose di Vari autori sulla Verna (Quaracehi. 1908), 262; Carmichael, In Tuscany (London, 1901), 221-44; de Seli- couRT, Homes of the First Franciscans (London, 1905), 278-316: JoRGENSEN. Pilgrim Walks in Franciscan Italy (London, 1908), 135-76: EcKENSTEiN, Through the Casentino (London, 1902), 33-50; NoYES. The Casentino and its Story (London, 1905), 139-88.

Paschal Robinson.

Vernacular Languages, Use of in the Church. See Rites: V. Liturgical Langdage.

Vernazza, Tommasina, b. at Genoa, 1497; d. there,

1587. Her father, Ettore Vernazza, was a patrician, founder of several hospitals for the sick poor in Genoa, Rome, and Naples. Her godmother was St. Catherine Fieschi-Adorno. At the early age of 13, Tommasina entered the monastery of St. Mariadelle Grazie, and became a canoness regular, taking the name of Batti.stina. She filled at various times the office of treasurer, novice-mistress, and prioress. She wrote, among other things, a commentary on the Pater Noster; "The Union of the soul with God"; "Of the knowledge of God"; "Of prayer"; "Of the heavenly joys and of the means of attaining them"; "Of those who have risen with Christ"; meditations, spiritual canticles, and letters to eminent men of her time. Possevin speaks of her writings as inspired. Her works were published at Venice in 3 vols, in

1588. They have been published many times since in 4 or 6 vols.; in Genoa 6 editions have been issued.

Vernazza, Opere Spirituali (Venice, 1588; Genoa, 1785); Rossini, Lyceum Lateranense Cesenw (1622) ; Serr.v, Storia letteraria (Genoa, 1832); Semeria, Storia ecclesiastica di Genova (Turin, 1838); RONCO. Soneiti inediti (Genoa, 1819); Boeri, Una Gloria di Gerum (1906).

A. Allaria.

Verne, Jules, novelist, b. at Nantes, France, 1828; d. at Amiens, 1905. His first literary venture was a httle play, "Les pailles rompues", which was I)roduced on the stage in the early fifties, but the difficulty he expe- rienced in o^'er- coming the ill-will of the theatre managers discour- aged him, and he began to publish, in the "Musee des Families", novel- ettes after the fashion of Edgar .Mian Poe. One o f the in, " k Drama in the Air ", attracted the :it- tention of the pub- lie. The subject is this: a madman ,, ■''i"' \ t-K^^'^

embarks l)y mi.s-

t.ake in the cai' of an aeronaut, and while in the air he tries to kill his companion. Verne had dis- covered his forte and it was his good fortune at this juncture to find in his publisher, Mr. Ilerzel, a man of sound ju<lginent, who advised him not to wa.ste his strength, but to limit his energies to the kind of novel he seemed to have discovered. Verne followed this advice, and success crowned his talent .and strenuous work. Most of his novels h;ive had a vogue that has Iieen denied many a masterpiece of French literature, and tliis vogue has not been limited to France; it has