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VER become an active politician, was chosen a member of the first Italian parliament, the distraction of which occupations estranged him for a while from the pursuit of his art. After four years he accepted an engagement to compose "La Forza del Destino" for Petersburg, whither he went at the commencement of 1862 to direct its production. For this work the composer received the unprecedented sum of £6000, half of which was paid by the directorate of the Petersburg opera house, half by the several publishers of Milan, Paris, London, &c. The commissioners of the London International Exhibition of 1862, upon Rossini's refusal, requested Verdi, as the representative of musical Italy, to compose an instrumental work for their inaugural ceremony. With better judgment of his own powers, he offered to write rather a cantata, and the commissioners accepted his proposal. It came too late, however; but was produced with success at her Majesty's theatre, in the composer's presence, three weeks after the event which it was written to celebrate. Verdi has earned his great popularity by his emphatic original melodies, with their characteristic but unsought harmony; by his powerful embodiment of dramatic situations; by his novel and effective manner of treating the voice; and by the scope his music affords the singer for impassioned declamation. But it must be admitted that even his best works are greatly defaced by a large proportion of vapid writing, which, whether intentionally introduced to relieve the more salient points, or from whatever motive, degrades them as artistic productions.—G. A. M.  VERDUGO,, a brave Spanish administrator and soldier, who fought and ruled in the Netherlands in the reign of Philip II. He rose to the highest honours by no other means than his own talents and perseverance. He was for some time governor of Haarlem in Holland, and became admiral after the Count de Bossu was made prisoner. He was next appointed commander of the catholic army, and he served in the capacity of general-in-chief under Farnese, prince of Parma, when the latter marched to the aid of France. Verdugo, who had highly distinguished himself in arms, was subsequently appointed governor-general of Friesland, Overyssel, and of the lordships of Drente, Fruente, and Lingen, a post which he filled for fourteen years. After his death on the 29th of September, 1595, at the age of sixty-four, Spain demanded his corpse, but the province of Luxembourg, which Verdugo had succeeded in delivering from the hostilities of the French, refused to part with it; and so high did the quarrel rise, that the matter had at length to be submitted to the arbitrement of William of Verdugo, count of the Holy Roman empire.—R. M., A.  VERE,, the name of the most illustrious titled family of England—a family which ranks with the Fitzgeralds of Ireland and the Montmorencys of France, as one of the three noblest names in Europe. "It had its origin," as Macaulay remarks, "at a time when the families of Howard and Seymour were still obscure; when the Nevilles and Percys enjoyed only a provincial celebrity; and when even the great name of Plantagenet had not yet been heard in Europe." The first that bore this designation in England was, who came over with William the Conqueror, held high command at Hastings, and obtained numerous lordships in the counties of Middlesex and Essex. Towards the close of his life this renowned warrior assumed the cowl, died a monk, and was buried in the church of Colne Priory in Essex, which he founded.—His son,, was the favourite minister of Henry Beauclerc, who conferred upon him the office of lord high-chamberlain of England.—His son,, was created Earl of Oxford, as a reward for his fidelity to the Empress Maud, and confirmed in the office of chamberlain and in all his father's great territorial possessions.—, third earl of Oxford, was conspicuous among the barons who extorted the Great charter from King John.—, fourth earl, took a prominent part in the reign of Henry III. in resisting the exactions of the pope, and the prodigality of the sovereign.—, fifth earl, was one of the lords who fought against the king under the banner of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, and was surprised and taken prisoner by Prince Edward at Kenilworth, along with young De Montfort, a few days before the decisive battle of Evesham. But he made his peace with the king, and afterwards served under Edward I. in his Welsh wars.—, seventh earl, was a celebrated military commander, and shared in all the glories of Edward III.'s campaigns in France. He served in Scotland along with Henry of Lancaster, and fought with great distinction at Cressy and Poictiers. He eventually died from fatigue, in the English army encamped before the walls of Rheims, in 1306. This powerful baron left immense estates in no fewer than ten counties.—, ninth earl, a youth of agreeable figure but of dissolute manners, was a favourite of the weak and unfortunate Richard II., who heaped possessions, titles, and dignities upon him, and created him in August, 1386, Marquis of Dublin—a title before unknown in England—and a few months later Duke of Ireland, and transferred to him by patent, which was confirmed in parliament, the entire sovereignty for life of that island. He gave him in marriage his cousin-german, the daughter of Ingelram de Couci, earl of Bedford, whom the dissolute nobleman afterwards repudiated, and married Lancerona, the daughter of a joiner who came over from Bohemia with Anne, queen of Richard II. He obtained an entire ascendancy over Richard; all favours passed through his hands, and access to the king could only be obtained through him. The high honours bestowed upon him, and his own arrogant behaviour, excited the jealousy and anger of the other nobles, who took up arms against Richard and his counsellors. The duke of Ireland having levied some forces, with which he advanced to relieve the king from the violence of his nobles, was encountered and defeated in Oxfordshire by the duke of Gloucester, and compelled to take refuge on the continent. He died in great distress and poverty at Louvain in 1392, of a wound received while hunting a wild boar. His vast estates were confiscated, and his titles extinguished by his attainder; but his uncle ultimately obtained the restoration of the earldom of Oxford and a large portion of the estates.—His grandson,, twelfth earl, was one of the chiefs of the Lancastrian party, and after the accession of Edward IV. was attainted by parliament, and beheaded on Tower Hill, along with his eldest son, Aubrey.—His second son, , thirteenth earl, was restored to his ancestral honours and estates during the temporary triumph of the house of Lancaster in 1470, and sat as lord high-steward at the trial of John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester—popularly styled "the butcher," on account of his cruelty—who was condemned and beheaded on Tower Hill. But fortune soon changed sides. Oxford, along with the famous king-maker, the earl of Warwick, was soon after totally routed at Barnet, the party of the White Rose was once more triumphant, and Oxford and his two brothers were attainted, though their lives were spared. But they subsequently made their escape from prison; and the earl led the van on the decisive day of Bosworth, and mainly contributed by his valour and skill to the victory which terminated the bloody and protracted contest between the houses of York and Lancaster. He was rewarded for the great services which he had rendered to his party, by his restoration to his hereditary possessions, and by large grants of confiscated estates. He was made constable of the Tower of London, lord high-admiral of England and Ireland, and was restored to the office of lord high-chamberlain, originally granted to his ancestor, Aubrey de Vere, by Henry I. He assisted in suppressing the rebellion of Lambert Simnell, and the insurrection of Lord Audley and the Cornish men at Blackheath. This famous nobleman lived in great splendour, and was celebrated for his magnificent hospitality. On one occasion he gave a sumptuous entertainment to Henry VII. at his castle of Henningham in Essex; and being desirous to do honour to his royal guest at his departure, the earl ordered all his retainers, with their liveries and badges, to be drawn up in two lines that their appearance might be the more gallant and splendid. "My lord," said the king, "I have heard much of your hospitality, but the truth far exceeds the report; these handsome gentlemen and yeomen whom I see on both sides of me are no doubt your menial servants." The earl smiled, and confessed that his fortune was too narrow for such magnificence. "They are most of them," subjoined he, "my retainers, who are come to do service at this time when they know I am honoured by your majesty's presence." The king started a little and said, "By my faith! my lord, I thank you for your good cheer; but I must not allow my laws to be broken in my sight: my attorney must speak with you." Oxford is said to have paid no less than fifteen thousand marks to the mean and parsimonious monarch as compensation for his offence.—, seventeenth earl, and one of the ornaments of Elizabeth's court, was distinguished by his remarkable skill and success in the exercises of chivalry, and won for himself an honourable place among the early masters of English poetry.—His son,, eighteenth earl, was 