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Rh and remained there till he was sixteen. Outside its walls he studied, with a view to his future profession, such branches of knowledge as geometry, geography and the construction of military weapons. He entered the navy in 1701, and from that time until 1707 took part in many expeditions in the Mediter- ranean and the West Indies. He served with Sir George Rooke at the taking of Gibraltar in July 1704; and on his return to England Queen Anne acknowledged his gallantry with the present of two hundred guineas. He next served in the West Indies with Commodore Sir Charles Wager, a brave seaman, who afterwards rose to the highest position at the admiralty in the Whig ministry of Walpole, and was pitted against Vernon both in the House of Commons and at the polling-booth. In 1715, and again in 1726, Vernon assisted in the naval operations in the Baltic, supporting Sir John Norris in the first enterprise, and on the latter serving under his old chief, Sir Charles Wager. During the long supremacy of Walpole little opportunity arose for distinction in warfare, and Vernon's energies found relief in politics. At the general election of 1722 he was returned for both Dunwich in Suffolk and Penryn in Cornwall, but chose the latter constituency. In the succeeding parliament of 1727 he was again chosen member for Penryn; but he failed to retain his seat after the dissolution in 1734. At this period the English people regarded the Spaniards as their legitimate enemies, and the ill-feeling of the two countries was fanned both in poetry and in prose. The political antagonists of Walpole charged him with pusillanimity to Spain. With Pulteney and most of his associates this battle-ground was selected rather from expediency than from principle; but Vernon represented the natural instincts of the sea-captain, and with the sailor as with the soldier the motto was "No peace with Spain." In debate he spoke often, and frequently with effect, but his language always savoured of extravagance. He pledged himself in 1739 to capture Porto Bello with a squadron of but six ships, and the minister whom he had assailed with his invectives sent him, as vice-admiral of the blue and commander of the fleet in the West Indies, to the enterprise with the force which he had himself called sufficient. Vernon weighed anchor from Spithead on the 23rd of July 1739 and arrived off Porto Bello on 20th November. Next day the combat began with a bombardment of an outlying fort which protected the mouth of the harbour, and on the 22nd of November the castle and town surrendered with a loss on the English side of only seven men. The joy of the nation knew no bounds. Vernon's birthday was celebrated in 1740 in London with public illuminations, and 130 medals were struck in his honour. In February 1741 in a by-election at Portsmouth Vernon was again sent to parliament. At the general election in the following May he was returned for Ipswich, Rochester and Penryn, and all but succeeded in winning Westminster. He elected to sit for Ipswich. A larger squadron was placed under Vernon's command at the close of 1740, and with this force he resolved upon attacking Cartagena. After a fierce struggle, the castle, which stood at the harbour's entrance, was gained; but in the attack upon the city the troops and sailors failed to act in concert, and, with the numbers of his forces thinned by combat and by disease, the British admiral retired to Jamaica. The incidents of this disastrous attempt are described in Smollett's Roderick Random, chap, xxxi., &c. A similar enterprise in July 1741 against Santiago de Cuba met with a similar reverse, and Vernon attributed the defeat to the divided command of the British forces. During his command he did a good deal for the health of his crews. He first introduced the custom of mixing the rum served to the sailors in the West Indies with water. The word " grog " is said to be derived from the nickname of " old Grog " given him by the sailors, because he wore a peculiar grogram boat-cloak. He landed at Bristol on the 6th of January 1743, and on the 24th of January received the freedom of the city of London. When the country dreaded the march of Prince Charles to London, the fleet in the Downs was placed under the command of Vernon; but his jealous disposition brooked no interference from the admiralty, and on the 1st of January 1746 he struck his flag and handed over the command to another. His next act was to describe his grievances in a couple of angry pamphlets, revealing the communications of his official chiefs, and for this indiscretion he was struck off the list of flag officers (April 11, 1746). He continued to represent the borough of Ipswich until his death, but with this proceeding his public services practically ceased. He died suddenly at Nacton in Suffolk, the 30th of October 1757, and was buried in the church of the village.

VERNON, a town of north-western France, in the department of Eure, 19 m. E.N.E. of Evreux by road. Pop. (1906) 7274. Vernon stands on the left bank of the Seine opposite the forest of Vernon, a stone bridge uniting it to Vernonnet on the right bank, where there are important stone] quarries. The forest of Bizy lies to the south of the town. Its church is an interesting building dating from the 12th to the 15th centuries, and there is a cylindrical keep built by Henry I. of England. The port on the Seine carries on trade in stone and coal, and the town has workshops for the manufacture of army engineering material and manufactures benzine, aniline dyes, wooden shoes, liqueurs, &c.

VEROLI (anc. Verulae), a town and episcopal see of the province of Rome, Italy, 10 m. by road N.E. of Frosinone, 1870 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 2622 (town); 12,655 (commune). The town is situated on a hill in a strong position with a fine view, on the site of the ancient Hernican town of Verulae, 7 m. S.E. of Aletrium. It retains remains of its ancient polygonal enceinte, especially near the summit of the hill, later occupied by a medieval castle. It is hardly men- tioned in history: we know that it became a municipium in 90 B.C. The cathedral treasury contains the breviary of S. Louis of Toulouse, and some interesting reliquaries, one in ivory with bas-reliefs, and two in the Gothic style, of silver gilt.

VÉRON, LOUIS DÉSIRÉ (1798-1867), French publicist, was born at Paris on the 5th of April 1798. In 1829 he founded the Revue de Paris, and from 1838 to 1852 was owner and director of the Constitutionnel, in which he published in Eugene Sue's Wandering Jew. It was also during Veron's direction and at his suggestion that Sainte-Beuve contributed the Causeries du lundi. From 1831-1835 he was director of the Paris Opera. In 1852 he was elected to the Corps Legislatif as an official candidate. He was the author of various books, of which the best known is Memoires d'un bourgeois de Paris (1853-1855). He died in Paris on the 27th of September 1867.

VÉRON, PIERRE (1831-1900), French publicist, was born in Paris on the 19th of April 1831, and in 1854 published his first book, a volume of verse. In 1858 he joined the staff of Charivari, and edited that paper from 1865-99. He was the author of a large number of novels dealing with Parisian life, and for many years his rooms in the Rue de Rivoli were the meeting-place of the most famous French literary, artistic and political celebrities. He died in Paris on the 2nd of November 1900.

VERONA, a city and episcopal see of Venetia, Italy, the capital of the province of Verona, situated 194 ft. above sea-level in a loop made by the winding of the Adige (anc. Alhesis). Pop. (1906) 61,618 (town); 79,574 (commune). It is 93 m. E. of Milan and 71 m. W. of Venice by rail, and is also the point of departure of the main lines to Mantua and Modena and to the Brenner, while a branch line runs N.W. to Caprino, another S.E.