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 VANAYL DE YONGH VAN BUREN 253 Phoenixville, Pa., where several vanadates of lead occur, and at the Cliff mine, Lake Su- perior, where a chocolate-colored mineral is found containing vanadic acid. Vanadic acid is used in the manufacture of a permanent black ink. VANAIL DE YONGH. See SAENT-ELME. IM5KI (ill, Sir John, an English dramatist, born probably in London in 1666, died there, March 26, 1726. He was of Flemish extrac- tion, and received a liberal education, which was completed in France. He entered the army as an ensign, attained the rank of captain, and afterward became an architect. In 1695 he was appointed secretary to the commission for endowing Greenwich hospital, and two years later produced at Drury Lane theatre his first play, u The Relapse," which was very suc- cessful. " The Provoked Wife " -(1697) had if possible a greater run ; and in the next year the author, alarmed at the charges of indecency and profanity brought against him in Jeremy Collier's " Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage," presented the public with a moral lecture, in the form of a comedy entitled "^Esop." An adaptation of Fletcher's "Pilgrim," produced in. 1700, was well received. In 1702 he made his first archi- tectural design of celebrity, that of Castle Howard in Yorkshire, the seat of the earl of Carlisle. His next enterprise was the construc- tion of a large theatre in the Haymarket, which he undertook to manage in conjunction with Congreve. The building was found to be in- curably defective in acoustic properties, and Vanbrugh, after producing with indifferent success "Confederacy" (1705), and adaptations of three of Moliere's comedies, retired from the enterprise, and devoted himself to the structure of Blenheim, voted by parliament to the duke of Marlborough. Before the comple- tion of the work he became involved in a quar- rel with the duchess, who after the duke's decease dismissed the architect and refused to pay him 2,000 which he had advanced to the workmen. By the aid of Sir Robert Walpole he finally got the money. Vanbrugh erected other buildings of less note, was knighted and made comptroller of the royal works in 1714, and in 1716 surveyor of the works at Green- wich hospital. He left an unfinished comedy, "The Journey to London," which was com- pleted by Colley Gibber. His plays are smooth- ly written, and present amusing pictures of contemporary manners, but their grossness has gradually banished them from the stage. The best recent edition is that of Moxon (8vo, Lon- don, 1849, containing also the works of Con- greve, Wycherly, and Farquhar), with a bio- graphical notice by Leigh Hunt. VAN BIREN, the name of four counties in the United States. I. A central county of Ar- kansas, intersected by Little Red river ; area, 1,260 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 5,107, of whom 119 were colored. The surface is undulating and the soil fertile. There is a great abundance of choice timber. The chief productions in 1870 were 165,710 bushels of Indian corn, 11,- 116 of oats, 6,199 of Irish and 6,104 of sweet potatoes, 52,985 Ibs. of butter, and 7,264 of tobacco. There were 1,029 horses, 1,416 milch cows, 3,430 other cattle, 2,574 sheep, and 11,- 559 swine. Capital, Clinton. II. A central county of Tennessee, drained by the Caney fork of Cumberland river; area, 350 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 2,725, of whom 239 were colored. The surface is generally mountainous and the soil tolerably fertile. Bituminous coal is abun- dant. The chief productions in 1870 were 14,- 002 bushels of wheat, 104,033 of Indian corn, 4,456 of oats, 5,095 of Irish and 4,216 of sweet potatoes, 32,788 Ibs. of butter, 6,006 of wool, and 9,858 of tobacco. There were 718 horses, 766 milch cows, 1,467 other cattle, 3,247 sheep, and 8,584 swine. Capital, Spencer. III. A S. W. county of Michigan, bordering on Lake Michigan, and drained by several streams; area, 633 sq. m. ; pop. in 1874, 29,156. The surface is generally level and the soil fertile. A large portion of the county is covered with forests of valuable timber. It is intersected by the Michigan Central railroad and South Haven division, and by the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore line. The chief productions in 1870 were 387,658 bushels of wheat, 572,578 of In- dian corn, 159,835 of oats, 304,465 of potatoes, 646,998 Ibs. of butter, 24,111 of cheese, 121,106 of wool, and 26,615 tons of hay. There were 6,271 horses, 5,702 milch cows, 6,857 other cattle, 32,955 sheep, and 13,294 swine ; 2 manu- factories of carriages and wagons, 10 of pig iron, 6 of iron castings, 8 tanneries, 5 curry- ing establishments, 8 flour mills, 53 saw mills, and 2 wood turning and carving establish- ments. Capital, Pawpaw. IV. A S. E. county of Iowa, bordering on Missouri and intersected by Des Moines and Fox rivers ; area, 468 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 17,672. The surface is level, consisting of prairie and timber land, and the soil is highly fertile. Bituminous coal abounds. It is intersected by the Des Moines Valley rail- road. The Des Moines river is navigable for steamboats a portion of the year. The chief productions in 1870 were 231,827 bushels of wheat, 41,205 of rye, 906,874 of Indian corn, 255,820 of oats, 73,322 of potatoes, 443,586 Ibs. of butter, 129,303 of wool, and 22,948 tons of hay. There were 7,137 horses, 5,850 milch cows, 8,996 other cattle, 38,112 sheep, and 25,- 866 swine ; 1 manufactory of agricultural im- plements, 11 of carriages and wagons, 1 of paper, 3 of stone and earthenware, 4 woollen mills, and 6 flour mills. Capital, Keosauqua. VAN BIREN. I. Martin, the eighth president of the United States, born at Kinderhook, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1782, died there, July 24, 1862. He began the study of law at the age of 14, and passed the last year of his studies in the office of W. P. Van Ness in New York. At 18 he was a delegate in a nominating convention of the republican (afterward called the demo- cratic) party. In 1808 he was appointed sur-