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* VOTYAKS. 228 VOZNESENSK. Boninariage. La Riissie d'Europe (Brussels, 1903) ; Wiedemann, Grammatih: der wotjakixchen Sprache (Reval, 1851); Wicbmann, ^Votjakische Spruchproben ( Helsiugfors, 1893). VOUCHER (from vouch, from OF. voucher, vochfr, from Lat. vocare, to call, from vox, voice ). In law, a written or printed instrument which records the particulars of a payment of money, or which entitles a person to receive a sum of money. It is something more than a re- ceipt, as it "sets forth more fully the essential facts of the transaction, and may operate as an order as well as as an acknowledgment. The term was also formerly employed to describe a person who was called into court by a tenant to defend tlie latter's title on a general warranty. VOUSSOIRS. The individual stones forming an arch, of which the central one is called the keystone. They are alwa}"s of a truncated wedge- form. VOW (OF. vou, vo, veil, Fr. vceu, from Lat. votum, wish, engagement, vow). A promise made to God of a certain thing or action good in itself, and within the dominion and right of the person promising. The practice of vous appears to have formed part of the religious observance of almost all races in any degree civilized; and it largely pervaded the whole ceremonial system of the Mosaic dispensation (Gen. xxviii. 20; Lev. xxvii. 2; Xum. x.xx. 2; Judges xi. 30). The stringency of the obligation of fulfilling a vow when once made is distinctly laid down (Deut. xxiii. 21; Eccles. V. 4, 5) ; but it is equally clearly stated, that it is by no means a matter of obligation to make a vow (Deut. xxiii. 22). The practice of making vows continued among the Jews in the time of Christ ; and Saint Paul, after his con- version to Christianity, continued to conform to this usage (Acts xviii. 18). Vows, while dis- carded as a religious observance by the Reforui- ers, enter largely into the system of the Roman Catholic Church. The objects of these engage- ments among Catholics are various ; but they are drawn, for the most jjart, from what are called the evangelical 'counsels,' in contradistinc- tion to 'prece|)ts' or 'commands' — the most ordi- nary subject of vows being the so-called 'evangeli- cal' virtues of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Pilgrimages, however, acts of abstinence, or other self-mortifie^tions whether of the body or of the will, special prayers or religious exercises, are fre<|u<'ntly made the object of vows; and there is another large class of more material ob- jects, as the building of churches, monasteries, hospitals, and other works of public interest or utility, to which media-val Europe was indebted for many of its most magnificent memorials of piety and of art. Vows in the Church law are either 'simple' or 'solemn.' The principal dift'er- cnce between them consists in the legal effects of the 'solenm' vow which, where the siiljject of such vow is chastity, renders not merely unlaw- ful, but null and void, a marriage subsequently contracted. A 'simple' vow of chastity makes it unlawful to marry, but, except in the .Jesuit so- ciety, does not invalidate a marriage, if subse- quently contracted. Catholics acknowledge in the Church a power of dispensing from vows; bishops are held to possess the power of dispensing from simple vows generally; but the power of dispens- ing from solemn vows and certain simple vows, as, for example, that of absolute and perpetual chastity, and of the greater pilgrimages, is re- served to the Pope. The pr.ictical operation of the canon law regarding vows has evidently been much modified^ even in Catholic countries, since the French Revolution, and the subsequent po- litical changes; but this must be understood to regard chiefly their external and purely juridical effects. So far as concerns their spiritual obli- gation, the modern Catholic theology recognizes little if any change. VOWELS AND CONSONANTS. See Pho- netics. VOX CLAMANTIS (Lat., voice of one cry- ing). A Latin poem by .John Gower, completed in 1384, but never printed. It is the second of the three parts of Gower's great work, and de- scribes allegoricallv the rising under Wat Tyler in 1381. VOYAGE AUTOXJE DE MA CHAMBBE, vwii'yiizh' o'tcFlr' d'' mii shax1)r' ( Fr.. journey around my room). A prose work by Xavier de Jlaistre (1794) written during an enforced con- finement to the barracks. It consists of a series of little descriptions of the furniture about him, flights of imagination suggested by the different articles, and memories of his mistress, his ser- vant, and other acquaintances. VOY'NICH, Mrs. Ethel Lillian (1864—). An English novelist, daughter of George Boole ( q.v. ) . She passed several years on the Continent, and married Wilfrid Michael Voynich, a native of Lithuania, who set- tled in England, owing to his dislike of the harsh government of the Czar. She began her literary work by translating, from the Russian, tales and plays, published under the title of The Hu- mour of Russia (preface by Stepniak, 1895). Her first novel, The Gadfly ('l897), met with in- stant success, and was followed in 1901 by Jack Raiimond. VOYSEY, voi'zl. Charles (1S28— ). An Encr- lish clergyman, foimder of the 'Theistic Church.' He was born in London, graduated at Oxford (1851), and was ciirate of Hessle. Yorkshire (1852-59) ; of Cvaighton. .Jamaica (18G0-61) : of Saint JNIark's, Whitechapel. London (1861). He was ejected on account of a sermon against end- less punishment. He was vicar of Healaugh, Yorkshire (1864-71). In 1865 he published, in The Sling and the l^tortf. sej'mons preached at Healaugh on the atonement, justification, in- carnation, and inspiration, which were deemed at variance with the Bible and the Thirty-nine Articles. The secretary of the ,rchbisho|i of York prosecuted him in the Chancery Court of the diocese. From the sentence of condemnalinn he appealed to the judicial committee of the Privy Council, which confirmed the sentence, de- prived him of his living, and required him to pay the costs (1871). He afterwards preached ami lectured in Saint George's Hall, London, a fund having been raised by men of wealth called tile 'Voysey establisliment fund.' the outcome of which was the 'Theistic Church.' Many of his discourses have been published. VOZNESENSK, voz'nye-syensk'. A town in the (Hivernment of Kherson, South Russia, situ- ated on the Bug, 100 miles northwest of Kherson (Map; Russia, D 5). It has extensive ware-