gress, and served several terms in that body with honor and distinction. He died at Albany, N. Y., Jan. 26, 1839.
Vane, Sir Henry, was born at London in 1612, and was educated at Oxford, where he appears to have embraced the republican principles for which he became so famous. His travels in France and Switzerland strongly confirmed him in his opposition to the Church of England; and in 1635 he sailed for New England—the refuge of freedom-loving spirits in those days. He was chosen governor of Massachusetts, but his supposed heretical opinions soon destroyed his popularity among the Puritan settlers, and after a residence of a year or two in the new colony he returned home and entered upon a political career. When the war between Charles I and Parliament broke out, no man was more active among the leaders of Parliament than Vane. In 1646 Vane was one of the English commissioners for the preservation of peace with Scotland, and in 1648 was appointed to negotiate with Charles I at the Isle of Wight. But he did not view with satisfaction the increasing power of Cromwell and the army, and was strongly opposed to the execution of the king. His views as to the rights and powers of Parliament brought him into pretty sharp conflict with Cromwell, who is said to have exclaimed, when he dissolved his Parliament in 1653: "The Lord deliver me from Sir Harry Vane!" When the restoration of Charles II took place, Vane was one of the 20 persons exempted from the act of general amnesty; and in July, 1660, he was arrested and committed to the Tower. Two years later he was brought to trial at London, and, although he defended himself with great ability and eloquence he was found guilty and condemned to death. In response to a petition that Vane's life should be spared, Charles wrote to Clarendon, declaring that he is "too dangerous a man to let live, if we can honestly put him out of the way." He was accordingly beheaded on June 14, 1662.
Var′nish, a solution of some resinous material in any proper solvent, alcohol and oils being the ones chiefly employed. The solution must be of such a consistency as to be thinly and smoothly spread over the surface intended to be varnished, so that, when it dries, it will leave a thin, resinous coating, which is either glossy or can be made so by mechanical polishing.
Var′ro, Mar′cus Terentius, "the most learned of the Romans," was born at the Sabine town of Reate in 116 B. C., and received his education first under Præsconinus and then under Antiochus, a philosopher of the Academy. He served with distinction against Mithradates, king of Pontus, and also against the Mediterranean pirates, but afterwards, as legate of Pompey in Spain, he was compelled to surrender his forces to Julius Cæsar. He continued to share the fortunes of Pompey till after his defeat at Pharsalia, when he was pardoned by Cæsar and employed by him to collect and arrange the great library designed for the public. When the second triumvirate was formed by Antony, Lepidus and Octavian, his name was on the list of the proscribed, but, after some time spent in concealment, he was received under the protection of Octavian, and the remainder of his life was spent in the prosecution of his studies. He died in 28 B. C. Varro was not only the most learned of the Romans, but the most prolific Roman author. He himself confesses to have written no less than 490 books; but only two have survived, and one of these only in a fragmentary state.
Vasari, Giorgio (jōr′jō vä-zä′rḗ), an Italian architect, painter and writer, was born in Tuscany in 1511, and died at Florence in 1574. He studied under Signorelli, Michael Angelo and Sarto. He had great architectural ability, and his Arezzo church and Uffizzi palace stand beside the best buildings of their time. His paintings, however, have every fault of the late Florentine style. His Lives of Painters, Sculptors and Architects have great value and singular charm, though he made many mistakes about the earlier artists and perhaps was prejudiced in favor of his fellow-Tuscans. The work has frequently been translated and is delightful reading.
|
| A COLLATERAL VASCULAR BUNDLE |
Vas'cular Bundles (in plants), often called woody bundles. They form the great conducting systems of fern-plants and seed-plants, by means of which water with whatever it contains in solution passes from the roots which absorb it to the leaves which use it; and by which elaborated mateterials pass to points of use and storage. The movement of water from roots to leaves is commonly spoken of as the ascent of sap (but see Water, Ascent of). This great conducting system, composed of vascular bundles, is found only in fern-plants and seed-plants, which are often called vascular plants to distinguish them from moss-plants and thallus-plants, which do not possess vascular bundles. Each bundle consists of two distinct regions: (1) xylem or wood, that which contains the tranchæ or tracheids (see both); and (2) phloem or bast, that which contains the sieve-vessels (q. v.). The xylem is concerned in the water conduction and the phloem in food conduction. In an ordinary tree the whole wood-mass is an aggregate of xylem tissue, while the
