=Vath´ek=, the ninth caliph of the race of the Abassides, son of Motassem, and grandson of Haroun-al-Raschid. When angry, “one of his eyes became so terrible that whoever looked at it either swooned or died.” Vathek was induced by a malignant genius to commit all sorts of crimes. He abjured his faith, and bound himself to Eblis, under the hope of obtaining the throne of the pre-Adamite sultans. This throne eventually turned out to be a vast chamber in the abyss of Eblis, where Vathek found himself a prisoner without hope. His wife was Nouron´ihar, daughter of the Emir Fakreddin, and his mother’s name was Catharis.--W. Beckford, _Vathek_ (1784). =Vathek’s Draught=, a red-and-yellow mixture given him by an emissary of Eblis, which instantaneously restored the exhausted body, and filled it with unspeakable delight.--W. Beckford, _Vathek_ (1784). =Vato=, the wind-spirit. Even Zoroaster imagined there was an evil spirit called Vato, that could excite violent storms of wind.--T. Rowe [_i.e._, Dr. Pegge], _Gentleman’s Magazine_, January, 1763. =Vaudeville= (_Father of The_), Oliver Basselin (fifteenth century). =Vaughan=, the bogie of Bromyard exorcised by nine priests. Nine candles were lighted in the ceremony, and all but one burnt out. The priests consigned Nicholas Vaughan to the Red Sea; and casting the remaining candle into the river Frome, threw a huge stone over it, and forbade the bogie to leave the Red Sea till that candle re-appeared to human sight. The stone is still called “Vaughan’s Stone.” =Vaugirard= (_The deputies of_). The usher announced to Charles VIII. of France, “The deputies of Vaugirard.” “How many?” asked the king. “Only one, may it please your highness.” =V. D. M. I. Æ.=, _Verbum Dei manet in æternum_ (“the Word of God endureth for ever”). This was the inscription of the Lutheran bishops, in the diet of Spires. Philip of Hessen said the initials stood for _Verbum diaboli manet in episcopis_ (“the word of the devil abideth in the [_Lutheran_] bishops”). =Veal= (_Mrs._), an imaginary person, whom Defoe feigned to have appeared, the day after her death, to Mrs. Bargrave, of Canterbury, on September 8, 1705. Defoe’s conduct in regard to the well-known imposture, Mrs. Veal’s ghost, would justify us in believing him to be, like Gil Bias, “tant soi peu fripon.”--_Encyc. Brit._, Art. “Romance.” =Veal’s Apparition= (_Mrs._). It is said that Mrs. Veal, the day after her death, appeared to Mrs. Bargrave, at Canterbury, September 8, 1705. This cock-and-bull story was affixed by Daniel Defoe to Drelincourt’s book of _Consolations against the Fears of Death_, and such is the matter-of-fact style of the narrative that most readers thought the fiction was a fact. =Vec´chio= (_Peter_), a teacher of music and Latin; reputed to be a wizard.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Chances_ (1620).