Van Meter, Henry L., a Bajitist minister and missionary to Burmuh, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Si'pt. 21, 1824, and was a graduate of the University of PeiHisylvania and of the Hamilton Literary and Theo- Ingical Institute. He was appointed by the American I>.iptist Missionary Union as a missionary to Bassein, Ihirmah, and was ordained Sept. 28, 1848. He proceed- ed, immediately after his ordination, to the East, where, for about twenty-two years, with l)ur little intermission, he devoted himself to his sacred work. His health failing, he returned to his native countr}'. He had been at home but a few wrecks when he died, at Mott- ville, near Skaneateles Lake, N. Y., Aug. 16, 1870. (.1. C. S.)
Van Mildert, William, D.D., a bishop in the Church of Kngland, was born in London in 17G5. He studied scmie years at the Merchant Taylors' School, and then entered Queen's College, Oxford. Having taken liis degree, been ordained in 1788, and served some time as curate, and afterwards as incumbent of the living of Bradden, Northamptonshire (1795), he was in 1796 pre- sented to the rectory of St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, London. He also, in process of time, obtained tlie vic- arage of Farmingham, Kent. In 1812 he was elected preacher of Lincoln's Iim ; in 18lo was appointed regiiis ]irofe-^sor of divinity in Oxford; in 1820 was conse- crated bishop of Llandaff; and in 1826 was transferred to Durham. He died Feb. 21, 1836. Bishop Van Mildert ■was distinguished for his theological writings, embrac- ing his Bogle Lectures ( 1802-5 j : — his Bampton Lect- ures (1814) : — his edition of the writings of Dr. Water- land : — and his Sermons preached at Lincoln's Inn. He was eminently generous. See Church of England Mag- azine, i, 21 ; Allibone, Diet, of Brit, arid Amer. A uth. s. v.
Vaunel, an old English term for a fanon or napkin, sometimes worn round the neck instead of the amice (q. V.) ; also used for the amice itself.
Vannes, Couscilof (^Concilium Veneticum). Vannes is a seaport town of France, capital of the department of M()rbihan, on the south coast of Brittany, sixty- one miles north-west of Nantes. A council was held there in 465 by St. Perpetuus, the first archbishop of Tours, wlio presided over live other bishops. Patcruus
was in this council consecrated to the see of Vannes, and sixteen canons were published (many of which are the same with those of Tours) A.D. 461, The following are peculiar to this council :
2. Excommnniciites those who mnrry again after hav- ing divorced their first wives, uidess it was on account of adiiltery.
7. Forbids monks to retire into solitary fells, except they be men of tried virtue, aiicl upon condition th:it they keep within tlie precincts of the abbey and under the ab- bot's Jurisdiction.
8. Forbids abbots to hold many monasteries or cells.
11. Proliibits priests, deacinis, and snbdeacons, who are forbidden to marry, from attending marriage festivals, feasts, and assemblies at which love sougs, etc., are sung, and inmiodest conversations held.
12. Forbids all clerks to attend Jewish festivals.
in. Excommunicates for thirty days ecclesiastics gnilty of ilie sin of drunkenness, and enjoins even corporal pun- ishment.
14. Exconimunicates for seven days clerks who, living in the city, absent themselves from inatiiis.
1^. Orders that the same manner of celebrating divine service shall be observed throughout the province of Ly- ons.
Itj. Excommunicates those of the clergy who meddle in divinations, and snperstitionsly pretend to foretell the future by chance readings of Holy Scripture.
These regidations are addressed to Victorius, bishop of Maur, and Thalassius of Angers, who were unable to at- tend the council. See Mansi, Coiicil. iv, 1054. — Landon, Manual of Councils, p. (573.
Van Nest, Abraham, an en)inent Christian mer- chant aiul philanthropist ot New York, was born near Somerville. X. .1., ]\Iay 8. 1777. At twelve years of age he left his father's house and farm to dwell with his brother in New York, where his subsequent long life was spent. Carefully nurtured by his believing par- ents, and converted at an early age, he united in tlie communion of the Collegiate Church, of which he was a member nearly si.xty years, and for about half a cen- tury an active officer. By constant re-election he was almost a permanent member of the Consistcn'v and of the General Synod and other ecclesiastical assemblies of the Keformed Church, in which his commanding in- fluence was always quietly exerted. He was greatly prospered in business, and accumulated a large prop- erty, without a stain upon his good name, an<l he used it as a faithful steward of the kingdom of God. He was noted for abotinding liberality and for efficient services in many benevolent institutions. But his chief sphere of usefulness was in the Church, as a wise counsellor and willing servant. He was president of the Board of Cor- poration for many years. As a trustee of Rutgers Col- lege, from 1823 until his decease, he did much to revive, sustain, and enlarge that institution; and his name is perpetuated in one of its edifices. Van Nest Hall, erected in 1842 by the efforts of the alumni, and devoted to the Museum of Natural History, Chemistry, Geolog}', and the Literary Societies. He did more than any other layman of that day to endow the Tlieological Seminary at New Brunswick by his personal labors with Drs. Lud- low, Schoonmaker, and .Jacob R. Hardenbergh, as well as by his gifts. For thirty years he was honoralily identified with the fiolitics and government of New York city — acting with the Democratic party, and always maintaining his Christian integrity amid thase testing scenes of public life. Mr. Van Nest was of small stat- ure, with a benevolent and thoughtful countenance and entirely unobtrusive manner. His will was strong; he possessed great executive ability, prudence, knowledge of human nature, and kindness of heart. His piety was intelligent, sori[itural, and uniformly earnest and out- spoken. He was a man of prayer, "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." His home was the abode of a prince- ly hospitality, and up to the time of his death one of the few remaining landmarks of the wealth and liberal- ity of a generation that has passed away. Afflictions and age mellowed his Christian character during the later and (juiet years of his once busy life; and he " carae to his grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn