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 VAN EENSSELAER VANVITELLI 263 tnin of volunteers, and excelled in military sub- jects, and in etchings from his own designs. VAN REJNSSELAER. I. Stephen, known as " the patroon," an American statesman, born in New York, Nov. 1, 1764, died in Albany, Jan. 26, 1839. He was the fifth in lineal descent from Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the original patroon or proprietor of the " colonie of Rensselaers- wyck," who in 1630 and subsequently pur- chased land, which in 1637 formed a tract of 48 m. by 24, extending from the immediate vicinity of Fort Orange (now Albany) over the greater part of the present counties of Albany, Rensselaer, and Columbia. His mother was Catharine, daughter of Philip Livingston. He entered Princeton college, but owing to the proximity of the British army removed to Har- vard college, where he graduated in 1782. In 1783 he married a daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler. He was a member of the house of assembly of the state in 1789, and of the senate from 1790 to 1795, when he was chosen lieu- tenant governor, which office he filled for six years. He presided over the constitutional con- vention of 1801, and in 1810-'!! he was one of the commissioners for exploring the route and considering the feasibility of a western canal. He was made commander of the cavalry of the state with the rank of general in 1801 ; and in 1812, in command of the New York militia, he assaulted and took Queenstown, Canada, but was ultimately defeated by the refusal of the militia to go out of the state, whereupon he resigned. After the war he devoted his ener- gies, in connection with De Witt Clinton, to the prosecution of the Erie canal, and from 1816 till his death was one of the board of canal commissioners, and for 15 years its pres- ident. He was again a member of the legisla- ture in 1816; in 1819 was elected a regent of the state university, and subsequently its chan- cellor; in 1820 president of the agricultural board of the state; and in 1821 a member of the constitutional convention. Under his di- rection and at his expense, geological surveys were made by Prof. Amos Eaton of Albany and Rensselaer counties and along the line of the Erie canal in 1821-'3, and the reports published in 1824. He also employed Prof. Eaton to deliver familiar lectures on natural science through the state. In November, 1824, he established at Troy a scientific school, which was incorporated in 1826 as the Rensselaer polytechnic institute. Fully half of its cur- rent expenses were borne by him, and he continued to aid it till his death. He was a member of congress in 1822-'9, and his vote secured the election of John Quincy Adams as president. In 1825 Yale college conferred on him the degree of LL. D. See " A Dis- course of the Life, Services, and Character of Stephen Van Rensselaer, with an Historical Sketch of the Colony and Manor of Rensse- laerwyck," by Daniel D. Barnard (8vo, Albany, 1839). II. Solomon, an American soldier, a relative of the preceding, born in Rensselaer county, N. Y., Aug. 6, 1774, died in Albany, April 23, 1852. He entered the army in 1792, and as captain took part in the battle of Miami, where he was severely wounded. In 1800 he left the service, but was adjutant general of the New York militia for several years subse- quently. In 1812 he was lieutenant colonel of volunteers, and in the assault on Queenstown heights was again seriously wounded. In 1819- '22 he was a member of congress. In 1836 he published a "Narrative of the Affair at Queens- town." III. Cortland, an American clergyman, son of Stephen, born in Albany, May 25, 1808, died in Burlington, N. J., July 27, 1860. He graduated at Yale college in 1827, and was admitted to the bar in 1830 ; but he soon af- terward entered the theological seminary at Princeton, was ordained in 1835, and com- menced preaching in Virginia. In 1837 he be- came pastor of the first Presbyterian church in Burlington, N. J., and the same year corre- sponding secretary of the board of education of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church, both of which offices he filled till his death. He founded the " Presbyterian Maga- zine," and there is a posthumous volume of his "Essays and Discourses, Historical and Practi- cal" (12mo, Philadelphia, 1861). VAN SCHENDEL, Petrns, a Belgian painter, born in Breda in 1806. He studied at the academy of Antwerp, and settled in Brussels. Among his best works are market scenes and interiors, contrasting the effects of moonlight and fire light or lamp light. VANSITTART, Nicholas, Lord Bexley, an Eng- lish statesman, born in London, April 29, 1766, died in Kent, Feb. 8, 1851. His father, who was governor of Bengal, perished at sea on the voyage to India in 1771. Nicholas gradu- ated at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1791. From 1796 to 1802 he represented Has- tings in parliament. From 1804 he held suc- cessively the offices of Irish secretary, secre- tary to the treasury, and chancellor of the exchequer till 1823, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Bexley. He was chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster till 1828, when he retired on a pension of 3,000. In default of issue his title became extinct at his death. VAN SWIETEN. See SWIETEN. VAN VEEN, or Venins, Otho, a Flemish paint- er, born in Leyden about 1550, died in Brus- sels about 1630. He studied painting in Italy, entered the service of Alessandro Farnese, gov- ernor of the Netherlands, at Brussels, and for some years conducted an academy at Antwerp, in which Rubens received his first instruction. His chief works are in the churches of An- twerp and Brussels. He published a "His- tory of the "War of the Batavians " from Taci- tus, illustrated from his own designs. VANVITELLI, Lnigl, an Italian architect, born in Naples in 1700, died there, March 1, 1773. He was the son of Caspar van Witel, a paint- er of Utrecht who settled in Italy. He early executed fresco and oil paintings, but after-