VATICAN. 26 VAUBAN. cially of France, Belgium, Germany, and Hol- land, as well as many Catholic statesmen, consid- ere<l it inexpedient, largely for political reasons. Austria united in discountenancing the projected meeting, and althougli Xapoleon III. was not in- disposed to it within certain limits, his Min- istry generally regarded it with distrust. The Government of Italy opposed it openly. On the festival of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1869) the council held its first session in the basilica of the Vatican. There were present 719 prelates, 49 of whom were cardinals, 9 patriarchs, 4 primates, 121 archbi.shops, 479 bishops, and 57 abbots and generals of monastic Orders. This number gradually rose to 764. Although the doc- trine of infallibility had not been formally an- nounced as a portion of the programme of the council till its actual convention, yet it may be said that the council had but two real objects: the solemn ratification of this dogma, and the ut- terance of a protest against infidelity in all its aspects, whether of rationalism, pantheism, ma- terialism, or atheism. Although the decrees set- ting fortii the doctrines of the Chureh regarding God, the creation, the relation of faith to reason, etc., were unanimously adopted in the third pub- lic session (April 24, IS70), the decision in re- gard to infallibility was not arrived at so har- moniously, and not till a much later period. It had been arranged that the committee on faith should consider all other matters lying within its sphere, relating to the Church, before treating of its head and his prerogatives, but, on April 22, 1870, those prelates in favor of it addressed a collectiive note to the council urging that all questions should give way to that of Papal infallibility. The Pope approved of this change, and ordered an inversion of the order of business accordingly. The first vote was not ar- rived at till July 1.3th, when, out of 601 mem- bers, 88 voted non placet, or adversely. These, however, were by no means necessarily to be taken as not believing in the doctrine. In most cases they were simply opposed to its definition, at this time, as an article of faith. On the final vote on the question, July 18, 1870, only two prelates recorded their votes against the definition; and even these, with all the rest of their recusant brethren, ultimately acijuiesced in the decrees of the council. For the significance of the definition, see Infallibility. The council was adjourned and indefinitely postponed, October 20, 1870. in consequence of the outbreak of the Franco-Prus- sian War. For the history of tliis momentous council, consult: Fessler, Das vatih-anische Concilium (2d ed., Vienna. 1871); Manning, The True Stort/ of the Vaiicnn Council (London, 1877); the Old Catholic "Cjluirinus," Letters from Rome on the Council (Eng. trans., London, 1870); and J. Fricdrich, (leschichte dca vutikanischcn Konzils (lionn, 1877-87). The documents are in Acta el Decreta Concilii Vaiicani (Freiburg, 1892). VATICAN, Palace of tuk. The residence of the Pope in Rome, and the seat of the great li- brary, museums, and collections of art which con- stitute one of the chief attractions of the city for visitors. Pope Symmaehus (498-.')14) w.as the first to build a residence on the site, which was formerly occu])ied by the gardens of Nero. For a long time, however, the popes resided mainly at the Lateran. Nicholas V. (1447-55) began a systematic policy of improving the V.ati- ean. The same policy was pursued by Alexander VI., Julius II., and above all Leo X. In recent years Pius IX. carried out many important works of completion or restoration. The palace covers aliout 13^,2 acres, and is said to contain over 1100 rooms. Some of them are of imrivaled beauty, such as the Chapel of San Lorenzo, the Pauline Chapel, and still more the Sistine Chapel (q.v.) , the Sala Regia, and the galleries and halls decorated by Raphael, Giulio Romano, and their scholars. The magnificent library was opened for historical research by Leo XIII. in 1883, non- Catholic scholars with proper credentials being freely admitted. Consult Hare, Walks in Rome (lotii ed., London, 1900). VATICAN FRAGMENTS. See Feagmenta Vaticaxv. VATTEL, va'tC'l'. Emmeric de (1714-07). A Swiss jurist and publicist, born at Couvet, near Neuchatel. He studied at Basel and Geneva. In 1741 he published a defense of the philosoph- ical system of Leibnitz. In 1744 he received an oflSee in Dresden and from 1746 to 1758 he was the representative of Augustus of Saxony and Poland at Bern. From there he returned to Dresden, where he became a pri^'y councilor. He wrote: Loisirs philo- sophiques (1747); Melanges de litterature, de morale et d-e politique (1757) ; and also his work Droit des ffens, ou Principcs de la loi naturelle, etc. (1758), for which he is justly famous. The work was translated into niunerous foreign lan- guages (into English in 1760, and with notes by Chitty in 1838), and has still great value. VAUBAN, vo'biix', S£ba.stien le Prestkede (1633-1707). A French military engineer and marshal, born near Avallon, in Burgundy. When about seventeen he joined the Spanish forces under Condg on the frontier of the Belgian Netherlands. He studied military science and engineering while leading the active life of a soldier. He was taken ])risoner by the French in 1653 and joined the French Army, where his extraordinary aptitude won him a commission two years later as a royal engineer. After the cession of Dunkirk by the English Vauban was charged with the tiisk of fortifying it. The re- newal of the war (1667) brought him service in Flanders. He was wounded at Douai, which he cajitured, and laid successful siege to Lille. Ho had now w<m his place as the chief engineer- ing authority of France and was made Governor of Lille, with charge of all the works in Flan- ders. He was called upon to inspect and direct work on fortifications in all parts of France. At the invitation of Louvois he wrote his Mcmoirc powr se^-rir d'inst7-urtion dans la conduite drs siiges. At the siege of Macstricht in IG73 he in- troduced in Western Eurojie the system of aj)- jiroaches by |)arallels, by which he reiluocd the city in thirteen days. In 1678 at the conclusion of liostilities he was made conunissary -general of fortifications for France. Between 1688 and 1693, in the war against the League of Augsburg, he conducted several sieges — Philipsburg. .Mann- heim, Frankenthal, Jlons, Nanuir, etc. He was made a marshal of France in 1703. In the course of hir military life Vauban strengthened 300 old fortresses and built 33 new ones. He
