ticular religious bodies is a sort of prolonged usurpation, and inflicts an injury, and crosses the opinions, the prejudices, and passions of those unendowed, so as to foster discontent and division and strife. These and a number of other arguments, which we have not space to specify, are presented by voluntaries to the attention of their fellow-citizens with a great variety of illustration and with no little energy and zeal.

The voluntary principle was implied, if not distinctly asserted, in some of Wycliffe's writings; still more clearly by Leonard Busher, a London citizen and Baptist, in a tract published in 1614; but most of all, in his own day, by Roger Williams in his Bloody Tenet of Persecution (1644). Not that the voluntary support of religion was prominently maintained in these works, but phases of religious liberty were unfolded which lead to such a conclusion. The Quakers, too, were amongst the pioneers of voluntaryism, and so were all the men who during the Commonwealth asserted extreme views of individual independence of thought and action. The Puritans were not voluntaries in our sense of the word; the Presbyterians were not; many of the Independents and some of the Baptists were not, for they accepted livings and emoluments in the Establishment. The Pilgrim Fathers and the founders of Massachusetts did not avoid state complications. Such nonconformists as Watts and Doddridge based their nonconformity on other grounds than that of opposition to a legal establishment of religion.

The clear enunciation in England of the principle began about half a century ago, and has ever since been gaining ground. Pamphlets, lectures, and public meetings in favor of disestablishment have called public attention to the question, and some who do not care for it in its religious bearings have been drawn toward the cause by affinity to it on its political side. The Anti-State Church Association and the Liberation Society, conducted by earnest men, have been zealous in fighting this battle, and have appealed strongly for support to liberals throughout the kingdom. Of late the educational has become complicated with the voluntary controversy, and many oppose the combination of religious with secular instruction in schools supported by the nation on the same grounds as those adopted in opposing a national Church. Even the enforcement of observance of the Lord's Day as a day of rest has come to meet objections from the extreme wing of the army arrayed under the voluntary flag. The practice is to be distinguished from the theory. Nowhere is the practice exemplified as it is in America. Ever since the war of independence closed, and the U. S. became separated from England, religion has been left for its support to the willing offerings of Christian people. The establishments which once existed have disappeared. There is no established Congregationalism in New England, nor established Presbyterianism or Episcopalianism in New York or Virginia, or anywhere else. Magnificent churches, well-supported ministers, prosperous colleges, and religious societies of all descriptions attest the energy and power of voluntaryism. The ground was cleared for its unfettered action by the previous absence of wealthy endowments, dignified clerical positions, and any long interweaving of secular and spiritual interests, so as to create difficulties in the way of disentanglement.

The voluntary system has been at work in England by the side of the Establishment ever since nonconformity began. The practice preceded the theory. Before any definite ideas on the subject obtained, proscribed sects were, of necessity, thrown upon their internal resources. Tithes and church-rates were beyond their reach, had they wished for them. It is remarkable that practical voluntaries, in a small minority 200 years ago, have so multiplied and increased as now to vie with the endowed Church in activity and influence. The number of places of worship built, the number of ministers supported, and the number of colleges sustained by voluntary communities appear from recent statistics to be very large. Congregational churches in England alone amount to 1960, pastors to 1575, whilst there are 10 colleges for ministerial education. Methodists are far more numerous, and to these are to be added Baptists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and other large bodies. In Wales also voluntaryism is putting forth energetic efforts.

The voluntary system in Scotland has been widely extended since the disruption of 1843. The Free Church, which exists all over Scotland, as well as the United Presbyterian and other unestablished religious bodies, is entirely dependent for support on contributions from members and friends.

Now that the Episcopal Church of Ireland has been disestablished, it is placed, except so far as old associations, and distinctions linger around it, on the same footing as other communitics, save that it is endowed with revenues

arising from funds which were set apart for its support when it ceased to be, as it had been, the national Church. Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational, and Baptist communities, not to mention others, are working side by side with it in voluntary endeavors, unaided, except in the case of certain Presbyterian ministers, by any reserve made for them out of the old national endowments.

And in estimating the voluntary principle in its practical working, account must be taken of what it does in established churches. In the churches of England, Wales, and Scotland there have been great voluntary exertions for church building and restorations, for the endowment of places of worship, and for the augmentation of poor livings. Whereas in London 50 new churches were built by act of Parliament after the fire of 1666, and 50 more were ordered in the reign of Queen Anne, and not more than 6 were reared under George III., the bishop of London fund in a few years has outstripped the previous operations of a whole century; and when the ecclesiastical commissioners challenged the Church, offering £150,000 to meet equal private benefactions, the result was the free subscription of £300,000 in a single year.

Turning to the colonies of Great Britain in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Cape, not to mention others, we discover a large amount of free Church activity. There are 232 ministers in one colonial church section alone-the Congregationalist-and that by no means the most numerous. Then to all the foregoing indications of free-will effort in the cause of religion must be added the sum-total revenues of Bible, missionary, and other religious societies, Roman Catholic as well as Protestant, in Europe and America-indeed, in all the world. JOHN STOUGHTON. Volunteers. See MILITIA, by COL. R. N. SCOTT.

Volute, in architectural terminology, denotes those spiral ornaments which form such a conspicuous part of the capitals of both the Ionic and the Corinthian order. The origin of the ornament is doubtful. The horns of the ram may have served as natural prototype, or the spiral marine shell, convolute or turreted.

Volu'tidæ [from Voluta, "volute," the generic name of the type], a family of gasteropod mollusks containing some of the most beautiful and esteemed of univalve shells. The animals have the normal gasteropod form; the mantle is often more than usually well developed; the siphonal extension is short and recurved (generally provided with auricle-like appendages at the base); the gills are normally developed; the head is large and proboscidiform; the tentacles mostly (in Volutinæ, etc.) far apart, and connected by a broad "veil" forming a hood over the head, sometimes (in Volutomitra) close together; the eyes sessile on the head, near the outer bases of the tentacles; the teeth of the lingual ribbon are in a single longitudinal row, but diversiform in the several groups; the foot is large or moderate; an operculum is sometimes developed, and sometimes wanting; the shell is convolute or turreted, with a linear or narrow aperture and an anterior notch, with the columella obliquely plaited anteriorly, and with an enlarged nucleus. Although the generally-recognized constituents of the family seem at first to be naturally associated in a group of the rank in question, on account of the similarity of the shell, they differ so decidedly in dentition as to render it doubtful whether the association is of the value assigned. (I.) Most of the species (Voluting) have broad teeth with three-lobed apices; of these, again, (1) some are ovoviviparous, and have a very large foot, closing over much of the shell in extension, and depositing a thin enamel-like layer over the under side of the shell, and the nucleus of the shell is large and irregular; such is the genus Yetus, or the "boat-shells" of some collectors, typifying the sub-family Yetina of Gray; (2) others are oviparous, and have a moderate foot, and the nucleus of the shell is moderate and spiral; these are the typical Volutinæ of Gray, and include the genera Voluta, Lyria, Volutella, etc. (II.) A few of the species (forming the sub-family Volutomitrinæ) have teeth with diverging bases and single acuminate apices; these differ much among themselves, (3) some (like the majority of the family) having the tentacles far apart, and connected by a veil as well as auricled siphons (genus Scaphella or Amoria), and (4) others having the tentacles close together and simple siphons (genus Volutomitra). The representatives of the family are mostly confined to the tropical seas, and there they attain the largest size and exhibit the most beautiful colors. A few, however, are found in the temperate and even cold seas; the most northern species is a small shell, the type of the genus Volutomitra, the V. grænlandica of authors. In time they have ranged from the Cretaceous period to the present. and in the Miocene epoch typical forms of the family extended much farther N. in both hemispheres than at presThe species are carnivorous. THEODORE GILL.

ent.

VOLVULUS-VOSS.

VOLUMES, MOLECULAR.

He had an uncommon mastership of the German language and a fine sense for the formal correctness of verses. His translation of Homer (4 vols., 1793) is fluent and elegant, and exercised considerable influence. His translation of Virgil's Ecloga and Georgica, of Ovid's Metamorphoses, of Hesiod, Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, etc., were also much appreciated. But his power of imagination and emotion was not great. His translation of Shakspeare, finished by his son (9 vols., 1818-29), is unimpressive, and so are his own poems, collected in 4 vols. (1825), though one of them, the idyl Luise, became very popular. His critical works show the same character-his attack on Heyne, his polemics against Creuzer, Mythologische Briefe (2 vols., 1794), Antisymbolik (2 vols., 1824-26), etc. They are clear, and rest on solid knowledge, but they lack elevation and are singularly unsuggestive. A striking picture of the man's noble and open but somewhat circumscribed character is given in his Wie ward Fritz Stolberg ein Unfreier (1819), which he wrote when his friend Friedrich Stolberg was converted to Roman Catholicism. His letters were published by his son in 3 vols. (1829-33).

In one or two States, however, the law has permitted the vote to be enclosed in an envelope. Another common and important species of vote is that used for the determination of questions-and especially for the passage of billsin legislative assemblies. In the British House of Commons, in the U. S. Congress, and in all the State legislatures the votes must be given by the members personally while present at a session, but in the British House of Lords votes by proxy are permitted. There are three forms of the legislative vote-by a rising and count, by a collective and simultaneous utterance of the ay or no, and by a call of the roll, each member responding "ay" or "no" when called, so that his name and response may be entered on the records. The American constitutions, statutes, and parliamentary rules contain special provisions by which the latter form may or must be resorted to in the decision of certain classes of questions, and especially in the final passage of bills. Stockholders of corporations are generally permitted to vote by proxy in the election of trustees or directors and in the determination of other matters left to them by the charters. (See also PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.) JOHN NORTON POMEROY.

Vouch'er [Law Fr. vocher; Lat. vocatio, "calling"]. (1) In the ancient common law the term denoted a peculiar proceeding in an action brought to recover land, whereby the defendant "vouched" or summoned his own grantor or lessor, who had warranted the title, to appear and defend his title against the attacks of the plaintiff. The defendant thus calling in his predecessor to defend the suit was also named the " voucher," while the party summoned was styled the "vouchee." This special process and the names belonging to it have been abrogated by the modern amendments made in the system of legal procedure. (2) The term also denotes-and this is now its

Vos'sius (GERARD JOHANNES), b. near Heidelberg in 1577 of Dutch descent; studied classical languages and literatures at Leyden and Dort, and was appointed in 1600 rector of the school at Dordrecht, and in 1615 director of the theological school at Leyden, later also professor of eloquence in the university, but became entangled in the controversies between the Arminians and Gomarists. Through Archbishop Laud he received a prebend in the cathedral of Canterbury, and in 1629 went to England to be installed, but soon returned to Holland, and was made professor of history at the newly-founded College of Amsterdam, in which city he d. Mar. 17, 1649. The most remarkable of his works are Aristarchus sive de Arte Grammatica (1635), Etymologicum Linguæ Latina (1662), ordinary signification-any written memorandum, receipt,

Commentariorum Rhetoricorum sive Oratoriarum Institutionum Libri VI. (1606), Ars Rhetorica (1623), De Historicis Græcis Libri IV. (1624), De Historicis Latinis Libri III. (1627), etc. His complete works appeared at Amsterdam in 6 vols. (1695-1701). His letters were published in two collections (London, 1690, and Augsburg, 1691).-His six sons were all prominent men, but only the youngest, ISAAC Vossius, survived him. He was born at Leyden in 1618, and received the instruction of his father. In 1648 he went to Stockholm on the invitation of Queen Christina, but fell out with Salmasius, and returned to Holland in 1658. In 1670 he removed to England, was made canon of Windsor in 1673 by Charles II., and d. there Feb. 21, 1689. His principal works, besides editions of classic authors, are De vere ætate Mundi, De Septuaginta Interpretibus, De Sybillinis aliisque Oraculis, De Poematum Cantu et Viribus Rhythmi, Variarum Observationum Liber.

discharge, or evidence of the payment of money, and also the books of account in which are entered such payments and receipts, used in actions or other proceedings for the judicial settlement of accounts. Every writing showing the payment of money by the person whose accounts are investigated, and which thereby strengthens or even supplies the place of the oral testimony, is a voucher.

JOHN NORTON POMEROY.

Vouet' (SIMON), b. in Paris Jan. 9, 1590; studied painting under his father, and afterward in Italy, where he formed his style principally after Paul Veronese and Caravaggio; acquired a great reputation, and was made president of the Academy of St. Luke at Rome in 1624: returned to Paris in 1627; received a pension from Louis XIII. and rooms in the Louvre, and d. there June 30, 1649. He is largely represented in the gallery of the Louvre, where, among others of his works, the celebrated Presentation in the Temple is found. Among his pupils were Eustache le Sueur, Pierre Mignard, and Charles Lebrun.

Vourla, or Urghula, town of Asia Minor, on the of which one is inhabited by the Turks, the other by the southern shore of the Gulf of Smyrna, occupies two hills, in front of it, and is generally the station of the European Greeks. The excellent harbor is formed by a row of islands men-of-war which visit Smyrna. The site of the city was in ancient times occupied by Clazomena, and the causeway

when, on the approach of Alexander the Great, the city was removed to this island, is still extant. Between Vourla and Smyrna are numerous warm springs which are much used for bathing.

Vote [Lat. votum]. This term, both in the private and in the public law, denotes a suffrage a statement of a choice by each individual among many having a like power, given and counted in order to express and obtain an opinion and decision upon some pending question in which all are interested, or to make a selection of a person for some representative or official position. Although "voting" and "votes" are frequently used in matters conneeted with the private law-as, for example, by the stock-which was built from the mainland to one of the islands holders and directors of corporations-the terms are most frequently and significantly employed to describe the means and instruments by which many officials are chosen at public elections and measures are passed in legislative bodies. In England the voting for members of the House of Commons was for a long time rirâ voce. Each voter came up to the polling-place or booth, and cast his vote by naming aloud the candidate or candidates of his choice; and the names thus announced were immediately registered in the polling-book. This method was long upheld as being peculiarly in harmony with the English character, but it plainly subjected the lower classes, and especially the tenantry, to an enormous political pressure from their superiors and landlords. Parliament finally abolished the whole system, and introduced the ballot by the recent statute of 35 and 36 Vict. ch. 33. 2 (1872), which goes to the very opposite extreme, and prescribes very minute and careful provisions for rendering the votes absolutely secret. At an early day after the adoption of the U. S. Constitution the rira-rore vote existed in a few of the States, but the ballot has long been established as a part of the American system, and now prevails in all elections, national, State, and municipal. While the statutes always require that the ballots shall be deposited unopened in the box by an inspector of the election, and often that they shall be printed upon plain white paper without any external marks except the name or title of the offices, no further safeguards are generally furnished for preserving the absolute secrecy which is obtained by the English statute.

Vow'el, a vocal element composed of uninterrupted voice, varied by modifications chiefly of the mouth and pharynx. The ordinary pure vowels may be made nasal, of which examples exist in French, Portuguese, and Polish; they may be whispered, as in some of the North American languages; they occur independent (of expiration, inspiration, and voice), being vowel-effects succeeding a clack; and they are glottal when a vowel is accompanied by a scraping effect at the glottis, as in the Hebrew and Arabic ain. (See Haldeman, Analytic Orthography, 1860, p. 38.) The final element of diphthongs is usually accounted a vowel, but improperly, because two vowels must form two syllables. The final of a diphthong is a way-sound (as in now, round), or a yay-sound (as as boy, aisle), with less closure of the organs than these liquid consonants require, but more than the vowels of ooze and cel, forming intermediate coalescents, while they remain true consonants. In a succession like by-you or bayou, the coalescent of bg glides into the consonant of you. S. S. HALDEMAN.

Voy'sey (CHARLES), b. in London, England, Mar. 18, 1828; educated at Stockwell Grammar School; graduated at St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford, 1851; took orders in the Church of England; was curate of Hessle, near Hull, 1852– 59, of Craigton, Jamaica, 1860-61; became incumbent of