Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/420

 VERRAZANO

364

VERROCCHIO

Shea, Hint. Catholic Church in the U. S.. IV (New York, 1892) ; Clarke, Lites of Deceased Bishops. Ill (New York, 1SS8) ; vari- ous pastoral letters (Savannah and St. Augustine, lS58-7o); O'CoNNELL, Catholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia (New York, 1878).

James Veale.

Verrazano, Giovanni da, navigator, b. about 1485, of good family, at Val di Greve, near Florence; executed at Puerto del Pico, Spain, November, 1.527. Entering the naval service of Francis I of France, he soon became famous as a corsair, preying on the sliips of Spain and Portugal, one of his prizes in 1522 being the treasure- s h i p sent to Charles V by Cort(5s with Mexi- can spoils, valued at nearly two mil- lion dollars. In Jan., 1524, he be- gan a voyage of discovery to the New World on behalf of his pa- tron Francis I, during which he kept a log-book (if his experiences. In 1.556 Ramusio published in his collection of voy- ages a letter writ- ten by Verrazano giving an account of his voyage to and its explora-

North America

the coast

tion from 30° to 50° N. lat. It is the first post-Columbian description of the North At- lantic coast, and gives the first description of New York Bay and harbour and the present Hudson River. Thence he sailed along Long Island Sound to Block Island and Newport, of which he makes men- tion. From this note-book of the voyage his brother Hieronimo drew in 1529 a map of the North Atlantic coast, which is now in the museum of the Propaganda at Rome, and testifies to the accuracy of Verrazano's observations along the coast as far as a point in the present State of Maine, whence he returned to France, arriving at Dieppe in July, 1524. Little that is authentic is known of his subsequent career; Spanish records relate that he was captured in 1527, while cruising off the coast of Cadiz, and executed by order of the Emperor Charles V. The authenticity of his letter descriptive of his voyage along the Atlantic coast has given rise to an extensive historical contro- versy, but the most recent researches affirm its reliability as well as that of his brother's map, the best sixteenth-century map extant in its original form, which has special influence on the subsequent cartography of the time.

A bronze statue, set up in 1910, by his admiring fellow-countrymen, facing the mouth of the great river on whose east bank the metropolis of the United States has grown, proclaims their conviction that Giovanni da Verrazano, and not Henry Hudson, was its discoverer.

Memorial History of the City of New York, II (New York, 1892) ; Brevoort. Verrazano the Nai'igalor (New York, 1874); Idem. Verrazano the First Explorer of the Atlantic Coast in Magazine of Am. Ilisl.. VIII (New York, 1SS2). 481: de Costa, Verrazano the Explorer (New York. 1880) ; Murphy. Voiiages of Verrazano (New York. 1875); Collections of N. Y. Hist. Soc, I (New York, 1841), 37; Bennett, Catholic Footsteps in Old New York (New York, 1909).

Thomas F. Meehan.

Verreau, Hospice-Anthelme, a French-Cana- dian priest, educator, and historian, b. at I'lslct,

P. Q., 6 Sept., 1828, of Germain V.and Ursule Foumier; d. at Montreal in 1901. After terminating his classical course at the Quebec Seminary, he taught at Ste Therese College, and, in 1857, was appointed principal of the newly founded Jacques-Cartier Normal School, an office he held until his death. He was made a Lit.D. of Laval (1878) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1873 he was commissioned by the Quebec Government to investi- gate certain European archives for materials relating to Canadian history. Besides many contributions to the Historical Society of Montreal, of which he was the first president, and to the Royal Society, he pubUshed (1^70-73) two volumes of memoirs concerning the invasion of Canada by the Americans. His chief publications are: "Notice sur la fondation de Montreal"; "Des commencements de I'^glise du Canada;" "Jacques-Cartier; Questions du calen- drier civil et eccMsiastique; Questions de droit politique, de legislation et d'usages maritimes". These works of patient research and erudition are written in a chaste, clear, and ea.sy style. He eluci- dates some very obscure historical points regarding the true motives animating the founders of Ville- Marie. As an educator he was incomparable, ever striving to realize his lofty ideal of those who are called to train youth for life's duties. This he strove to obtain through love of God and country, by a firm and just discipline, whereby order was observed, study seriously pursued, application duly controlled, and Christian politeness inculcated.

Morgan, Bibliotheca canadensis (Toronto, 1898); Casgrain, Annuaire de I' Universite Laval (Quebec. 1902); Desrosiers, Lea Ecoles Normales de la Prov. de Quibec (Montreal, 1909).

Lionel Lindsay.

Verri, Pietro, Count, economist, b. at Milan, Dec, 1728; d. there, 29 June, 1797. After studying at Monza, Rome, and Parma, he entered the Austrian army. Returning home, he devoted himself to the study of administration and political economy. He became vice-president (1772), and then president (1780), of the Chamber of Counts; but retired to pri- vate hfe in 1786. With his brother Alessandro (1741- 1816), the philosopher Beccaria, and others, Verri founded the "Society del Caffe", in which the chief problems of philosophy, economy, and literature were discussed. His chief works are: "Meditazioni suU' economia politica" (Leghorn, 1771), translated into French and German; "Discorsi suU' indole del piacere e del dolore, suUa felicitS, e suUa economia politica" (Milan, 1781); "Riflessioni suUe leggi vincolanti prin- cipalmente nel commercio dei grani" (ISIilan, 1796); "Klemorie storiche sull' economia politica nello stato di Milano" (published after the author's death in Custodi's collection); and some memoranda on coinage in the Milanese territory. He also wrote small dra- matic works. His economic theories are midway be- tween Pliysiocratism and the theories of Smith. He advocated the breakingupof large estates infavourof small holdings. His greatest merit is to have formu- lated and expounded the theory of tlemand and supply, in defence of which he carried on a controversy with Melchiorre Gioia. His works have been printed in Custodi's "Sorittori classici italiani di economia politica" (Milan, 180.3-16) and, in part, in Fcrrara's "Biblic.tocadcU' Economista" (Turin, 18.52).

BuNrHi Eh«iio »/./n>i, di P. r,Tri (Cremona, 1S03); Ccstodi. Nutizir .lulh riln del P. IVrri (Milan, 1843); BotrvT, Le comie P. Verri (Paris, 1889); Pecchio, Hist, de Viconomic politique en Italic, tr. Galuhs (Paris, 1830); McCclloch, Literature of Political Economy (London, 1845); Nouteau diet, d'iconomie politique, s. V. Verri.

U. Benigni.

Verrocchio, Andkea dki., b. at Florence, 1435; d. at Venice, 148S. He was called .Andrea di Michelc di Francesco de' Cioni,but for his true name he substi- tuted that of his master, the goldsmith Giuliano Ver-