forming a national university. He was one of a staff of writers employed in the production of "An Outline History of Japanese Education " for the United States centennial exhibition in 1876, and was engaged in the production of other important publications in Japan. Dr. Verbeck was one of a select committee that brought out the translation of the Bible into the Japanese language in 1887, after many missionaries had labored upon difficult parts of the work for fifteen years. He is presi- dent of the University of Tokio, and received the Japanese order of the " Rising Sun " in 1877, and the degree of D. D. from Rutgers in 1875.
VER BRYCK, Cornelius, artist, b. in Yaugh
Paugh, N. J., 1 Jan., 1813 ; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y..
31 May, 1844. He studied in 1835 under Samuel
P. B. Morse, and in 1837 went to Mobile. In 1839
he visited London, England, whence he soon re-
turned. He was elected an associate of the Nation-
al academy in 1838, and an academician in 1841.
He exhibited at the academy during 1837-'42 va-
rious landscapes, figure-pieces, and portraits, and
in 1839 " Charles I. in the Studio of Vandyck."
His health gave way soon after his art studies be-
gan, and in 1843 he went again to Europe, with
the hope that a voyage might restore him, but
soon returned, and his early death terminated a
promising career. The New York historical so-
ciety owns his " The Old Dutch Bible." Among his
portraits is v one of William Cullen Bryant (1842).
VERCHERES, Mary Madeleine de, b. in
Canada in 1678; d. after 1700. She was born in
the fort on her father's seigniory on the St. Law-
rence, about twenty miles below Montreal. In the
autumn of 1692 she was on the river-bank, some
distance from the fort, when suddenly she heard
several shots fired, and discovered that the Indians
were killing and carrying off the settlers who were
working in the fields. She describes the scene in
the narrative afterward written at the request of
the governor of Canada. A servant shouted to her
to run, and, on turning round, she saw about fifty
Iroquois rushing at her. Pursued by the savages,
and crying " To arms ! " she entered the fort just in
time to shut the gate in their faces. Besides women
and children, there were only two soldiers, an old
man, and her two little brothers in the fort. Seeing
that the soldiers were demoralized, she seized a
rifle, put on a military cap. and ordered all to take
their places and by heavy firing alarm the country.
She placed her two brothers — the one twelve years
old, the other fourteen — on the bastions, saying :
" Let us fight till death ; we fight for our country
and religion." The third bastion was defended by
the old man, while she took charge of the fourth,
after placing the women and children in charge of
the two soldiers in a redoubt. The Iroquois made
several attacks, but were repelled, and eventually
retreated with loss. The siege lasted two days,
during which she neither ate nor slept. After
another eight days the fort was relieved by an
officer and forty men from Montreal. She after-
ward married De Lanaudiere, Sieur de la Perade.
VERDEN, Karl von (vair'-den), German missionary, b. in Schweidnitz, Silesia, about 1620; d. in Buenos Ayres in 1697. He became a Jesuit, was attached to the South American missions, and labored for about twenty years among the Indians of Tucuman. Afterward he was librarian of the convent of Buenos Ayres. His works include "Geografia y Misiones del Rio de la Plata" (Madrid, 1710); "Informe de las Misiones del Tucumán" (1711); and "Información sobre las Misiones y Establecimientos de la Compañia de Jesús en la America meridional" (2 vols., 1715).
VERDI, Tullio Suzzara, physician, b. in Man-
tua, Italy, 10 Feb., 1829. He is of a noble family,
was educated in the College of art, literature, and
sciences of Mantua, and in 1847 entered the Sar-
dinian army. After its defeat at Novara in 1849
he was exiled from Italy by the Austrians, came
to the United States, and in 1852 became profes-
sor of modern languages in Brown university.
He was graduated at Hahnemann medical col-
lege at Philadelphia in 1856, and in 1857 re-
moved to Washington, D. C. In 1871 he was ap-
Eointed a member of the board of health of the
District of Columbia, of which in 1876 he was
elected president, and he was appointed in 1879 a
member of the national board of health. Dr. Verdi
became president of the medical staff of the Na-
tional homoeopathic hospital in June, 1887. He was
appointed in 1873 special sanitary commissioner to
the principal cities of Europe from the District of
Columbia. He was physician to William H. Sew-
ard while the latter was secretary of state, and the
assassin that nearly killed Seward gained admission
to the secretary by the pretence that he was the
bearer of a professional message from Dr. Verdi.
He has published " Maternity, a Popular Treatise
for Young Wives and Mothers " (New York, 1869) ;
" Mothers and Daughters : Practical Studies for
the Conservation of the Health of Girls " (1877) ;
and " The Infant Philosopher " (1886).
VERDUGO, Vicente (vair-doo'-go), Peruvian
historian, b. in Cuzco about 1690; d. in Rome,
Italy, in 1775. He became a Jesuit, and was su-
perior of their houses at Cuzco and Lima, canon
of Cuzco, and professor of history at Quito. After
mastering the Quichua language and several other
Indian dialects, he collected an important library
of ancient documents concerning the early history
of South America and its conquest. Toward 1750
he was sent to Rome and became librarian of the
Roman college. His works include " Historia de
las guerras civiles en Peru en el tiempo del Inca
Atahualpa " (Rome, 1754) ; " Cronica veridica de
la conquista de la provincia de Cuzco" (2 vols.,
1756) ; and " Informacion de lo obrado en la pro-
vincia del Cuzco," a manuscript which is preserved
in the Roman college.
YERE, Maximilian, Freiherr von Schele de, scholar, b. near Wexio, Sweden, 1 Nov., 1820. He was educated in Germany, and entered the military and afterward the diplomatic service of Prussia. He came to the United States in 1842, and in 1844 accepted the chair of modern languages in the University of Virginia. At the beginning of the civil war he entered the Confederate service as a captain, and was afterward appointed commissioner to Germany, to explain and further there the cause of the Confederacy. He lived for some time in Europe, mainly in Italy, devoting himself to literary and social studies, but returned to this country after the war and resumed his professorship. Prof. De Vere is a member of various histoneal and scientific societies, and was one of the founders of the American philological society. Besides contributions on historical, literary, and scientific subjects, to English, American, and German periodicals, he has published " Outlines of Comparative Philology " (New York, 1853); " Grammar of the Spanish Language " (1854) ; " Strav Leaves from the Book of Nature " (1856) ; " Studies in English," " First French Reader," and " Grammar in French " (1867) ; " The Great Empress," a novel (Philadelphia, 1869) ; " Wonders of the Deep " (New York, 1869) ; " Introduction to the Study of French " (1870) ; " Romance of American History " (1872) ; " Americanisms, or the English of the New World " (1873) ; and " Mod-
