Viibius, in IJoman mythology, is the name under whhdi llippolijtiis lived after Diana had raised him from the dead. She married him to tlie nymph Egeria m the sacred forest at Aricia, and he had a son. whom he also called Yirbius; tliis son fought in tlie army of rurnus against .Eneas.
Viret, Peteij, a Swiss reformer, was born at Orbe, ni the canton of Yaud, in 1511, and was educated an.l converted from Ilomanism at Paris. In 1531 Farel vis- ited Orbe and ordained Yiret, despite his unwillingness, to the ministry. In 1534 he became Farel's assistant at (ieneva. Thence he went to Nenfchatel and Lausanne. In October, 1536, he defended certain theses promul- gated by Farel in a public disputation, and thereby contributed to the improvement of the Church of Lau- sanne. In the following May he responded with a de- finitive confession of faith to his colleague Dr. Caroli's. charge of Arianism, and with such success that Can.li was dismissed from the pastorate and returned to Ko- manism. Tiie activity of Yiret was now a]iplied in many different directions. He labored in Geneva after the overthrow of the Anti-Reform party until Calvin returned, improved the discipline of the Church at Lausanne, wrote a number of theological and catecheti- cal works, and journeyed to distant points in the in- terests of the Reformation. In 1549 Beza was appoint- ed professor at Lausanne, and became the friend of Yi- ret. DifTerenccs began to make tliemselves felt, how- ever. Yiret was accused, in I54(^i, of iiolding to Bucer's view of the sacrament of the Lord's supi)er, and was not conlirmed in Ids office until 1549. The Bernese government was dissatisfied with the predominance of Calvin's influence at Lausanne, and raised difficulties about the tpiestion of excommunication and then alwnt predestination. In the end Yiret was disniisscd. He went to Geneva and became pastor. In 15G1 he was
VIRGILIUS
'99
VIRGIN
called to Nismes. In the followinij year he counselled the preachers assembled at MdiUpellier to subuiir wlieii the Protestants were obliged to restore their cluirciics to the Romanists, and subsecitiently visited that town for his health. He next accepted a call to Lyons, and lived there when the Huguenots seized the city after the massacre of Vassy. After the peace of Amboise the mass was again established, hut tlie Huguenots were allowed to continue their worship for a time. On Aug. 10, 1563, lie presided over tiie fourtii French Na- tional Synod. He developed an extraordinary degree of literary fertility. He was drawn into a dispute with Italian antitrinitarians and monks. In the period be- tween i5()3 and 1565 he published nine works, among them his chief production, Instruction Chrestienne en la Doctrine de la f,oi/ et de C Evan (/He, etc. (Geneva, 1564, 3 vols. fol.). The book is a noteworthy specimen of the literature of the Keforniation, containing a complete system of morals and politics, and suggestive apologetics aimed against atheists and deists. It was written in dialogue form, like most of the works of Viret, and shows great classical and theological learning, a rich imagination, earnest piety, and keen wit; but it suffers from diffuseness and incorrectness, the results of the rapidity with which the author worked. In 1565 he was obliged to leave Lyons. He went to Orange, and thence to Jeamie d'Albret's newly erccieil Academy of Orthez. In 156'J he was made prisoner by the Cath- olics, but was soon liberated. He died at Orthez in 1571. He was brave and true in his adliesion to the evangelical Church, but nevertheless of a mild and peaceful temper. He did not develop the prevalent theology, but merely maile it accessible to laymen and defended it against opponents. His works rank among the greatest rarities in literature. Viret's life is con- tained in Leben d. I'dter it. Ii('(jriinder d. rt-f. Kirche (Klberfeld, 1860), vol. ix. See Wbvzug, Rtal-Eucyklop. s. V.
Virgilius, St., was an Irisli priest of the 8th centu- ry. He went to France in the rt ign of I'epin, and found his way to Bavaria, where he had tioidile with Boni- face (q. V.) on several accounts. lie seems to have been of good education and talents, but made a blunder in repeating the Latin Ibrmula in administering bap- tism in one instance, which caused Boniface to declare it null and void, and to insist upon rebaptism. Virgil- ius resisted the claim, and upon an appeal to the pope was sustained. He also held thiit tlic earth was globu- lar, for wliich he was accused by Ikinil'ace of heresy, and the pope riL lirst excommunicated Virgilius, but upon a more careful hearing restoretl liim. In the year 766, through the inliuence of Pepin, and by the favor of the duke Odilio of Bavaria, he was appointed bishop of Salz- burg, which olHce he held until his death, in 780. While at Salzburg he did much to extend Christianity to the eastward of him, among the Slavonians and ILms. See Mosheim, tlist. of the Church, bk. iii, cent, viii, pt. i, ch. i; Neander, Hist. of the Church, iii, 63.
Virgin is the rendering, in the A. V., of two Ileb. terms, c<incerning the distinctive use of which some ex- egetical and theological controversy has arisen. The word r.bira, bethuldh (from tir3, to separate), occurs forty-nine times in the Old Test., and is translated by nap^'ivoQ in the Sept., except in two instances. It is rendered once by vEai-tf (I Kings i, 2), and once by inifKpr] (Joel i, 8). See Exod. xxii, 15, 16, 17; Lev. xxi; Deut, xxii, xxxii ; Judg. xxi, etc. It properly denotes a virgin, maiden (Gen. xxiv, 16; Lev. xxi, 13; Deut. xxii, 14, 23, 28 ; Judg. xi, 37 ; 1 Kings i, 2) ; the passage in Joel i,8 is not an exception, as it refers to the loss of one betrothed, not married, n-zbv, 'almdh (from uh", to conceal), also properly signifies a virtjin, a maiden, a young woman unmarried, but of marriageable age. It occurs seven times, in four of which it is rendered ptci- vic, puella (Exod. ii, 8; Psa. Ixviii, 25; Cant, i, 3; vi.