and he was president pro tempore of the senate and acting vice-president of the United States from 6 Dec., 1813, till 17 April, 1814. He was a member of the State convention to ratify the constitution of the United States in 1787, and that of 1820 to revise the constitution of Massachusetts, acting as the presiding officer in the absence of President John Adams and Chief-Justice Parker. In 1813 he was a candidate for governor of Massachusetts against Caleb Strong, the incumbent of that office, but was defeated. Gen. Varmun was among the earliest patriots of the Revolution, having raised and commanded as captain a company of minute-men from his native town, which participated in engagements in Rhode Island and New York. For his assistance in putting down Shays's rebellion in 1787 he received a personal letter of thanks from Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the state forces. Henry Wilson, in his “History of Slavery,” quotes him in the debate on the bill for the government of the Mississippi territory before the house in March, 1798, as having been very strong and outspoken in his opposition to negro servitude. In politics, unlike his brother, Gen. James M. Varnum. who was a Federalist, he was a Democrat, and a strong and consistent supporter of the administration of Thomas Jefferson. After his retirement in 1817 from congress he was again chosen to represent his district in the legislature, and when he died he was the senior member of the senate of Massachusetts. Among the portraits of the speakers of the National house of representatives at the capitol in Washington there is a fine oil-painting of Gen. Varnum by Charles L. Elliott, a gift from the state of Massachusetts. — A grandson of Joseph B., Joseph Bradley, lawyer, b. in Washington, D. C., 9 June, 1818; d. in Astoria, N. Y., 31 Dec., 1874, was graduated at Yale in 1838, studied law at Yale and with Roger B. Taney in Baltimore, Md., and after admission to the bar practised in that city for several years. He then removed to New York city and acquired a large practice. He was a member of the New York legislature from 1849 till 1851, being chosen speaker of the assembly for the latter year. In 1852 he was the Whig candidate for congress in his district. He was a member of the assembly again in 1857. In 1871 he took an active part in the agitation against corruption in the government of New York city. He was a contributor to magazines and newspapers, and published in book-form “The Seat of Government of the United States” (New York, 1848) and “The Washington Sketch-Book.”
VARONA, Enrique José (vah-ro'-nah), Cuban
author, b. in Puerto Principe, Cuba, in 1849. He
received his education in his native city and began
his literary career in 1864 as a contributor to
reviews. In 1874 he fixed his residence in Havana,
dividing his time between teaching and journalism.
In 1885 he was elected representative for
Puerto Principe in the Spanish cortes. In 1885
he founded the “Revista Cubana,” a literary,
scientific, and philosophical review, which is considered
one of the best in the Spanish language. His
works include “Odas Anacreónticas” (Puerto
Principe, 1868); “Poesías” (Havana, 1878);
“Paisajes Cubanos” (1819); “Conferencias filosóficas;
Lógica” (1880); “Conferencias filosóficas;
Psicologia” (1881); “Estudios Literarios y filosóficos”
(1883); and “Seis Conferencias” (Barcelona, 1887).
His “Lógica” has been translated into French.
VARRICK, James, A. M. E. Zion bishop, b.
near Newburg, N. Y., about 1760; d. in 1836.
He with eight other members of the Methodist
church obtained permission from Bishop Francis
Asbury to hold separate meetings for his race.
They met in a shop in New York city for three
years, and in 1800 the society was incorporated
under the name of the African Methodist
Episcopal Zion church, their first church being
completed the same year. This was the origin of Zion
church in this country, of which James Varrick
was one of the earliest trustees. In 1820 he was
elected one of the first two elders of the church,
in the following year chairman of the New York
conference district, and in 1822 he was made the
first superintendent or bishop, his term of service
expiring in 1828.
VASCONCELLOS, Andres de (vas-cone-thayl'-los), Portuguese navigator, b. in Yelves about the end of the 15th century; d. in Portugal in the first half of the 16th century. He was an expert mariner, and sailed in 1538 in the expedition of Hernando de Soto as captain of the "Buena Fortuna." After the landing of Soto at Tampa, Vasconcellos explored the coast as far as the bay of Appalachee, where he landed the rest of his stores, and when Soto went into winter-quarters in 1539, Vasconcellos sailed around the coast of Florida, taking astronomical' observations, and landing often to explore the country. On his return to Appalachee, he found the adelantado gone, sailed for Cuba, and thence for Europe, where he wrote an account of his voyage, with accurate details about the formation of the coast and astronomical observations on the position and distance of many points, giving also an interesting description of the fruits, birds, and quadrupeds of the
country. His work " Relacao da viagem do almirante Dom Hernando de Soto, descripcao da provincia da Florida" is preserved in the original
manuscript in the library of the Duke de Sesa. An anonymous translation was published in French under the title " Histoire de la Floride par le sieur
Andre de Vasconcellos " (Paris, 1685), and there is a Spanish translation entitled " Historia de la Florida del Hidalgo de Yelves" (Seville, 1545).
VASCONCELLOS, Simon, Portuguese historian, b. in Coimbra in 1599; d. in the province of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1670. He early became a Jesuit, was attached for about forty years to the Brazilian missions, founded several convents in the country, and became assistant visitor of the order. He wrote three valuable works, "Cronica de la Compafiio de Jesu en el Brazil" (Lisbon, 1663); "VidadeJoaoAlmeydo"(1665); and "Vida de Jose Anchieta" (1666); and left several interesting manuscripts, which are preserved in the Brazilian state archives,
VASEY, George, botanist, b. near Scarborough,
Yorkshire, England, 28 Feb., 1822. He came to
this country when a child, and was graduated at
Berkshire medical college, Pittsfield, Mass., in
1848. Settling in the practice of his profession
in Illinois, he continued it for twenty years. In
April, 1872, he was appointed botanist to the
department of agriculture in Washington. His
published works, issued under government auspices,
include “A Descriptive Catalogue of the Native
Forest Trees of the United States” (Washington,
1876); “The Grasses of the United States, a Synopsis
of the Tribes, with Descriptions of the Genera”
(1883); “The Agricultural Grasses of the United
States” (1884); “A Descriptive Catalogue of the
Grasses of the United States” (1885); “Report of
an Investigation of the Grasses of the Arid
Districts” (2 parts, 1886-'7); and “Grasses of the
South” (1887).
VASQUEZ, Francisco (vas'-kayth), Central American historian, b. in Guatemala about 1600;
