Part 518

VIN, Fr. Wine.

VINCIBLE. Conquerable; in a state to be defeated.

VINDAS, Fr. See WINDLASS.

VINEGAR, (Vinaigre, Fr.) Vinegar is frequently used in the artillery to cool pieces of ordnance. Two pints of vinegar to four of water is the usual mixture for this purpose.

VINTAINE, Fr. A small rope which masons use to prevent stones from hitting against a wall when they draw them up.

VIOLENCE. Force, attack, assault.

VIRAGO. A female warrior; a scold.

VIRER, Fr. To change, to turn round. This word is used figuratively by the French, viz. Tourner et virer; to beat about the bush; as Tourner et virer quel-qu’un, in an active sense, to pump another.

VIREVAU, Fr. A draw-beam, a capstan.

VIRE-VOLTE, Fr. A quick turning about. It is a term of the manege.

VIROLE, Fr. A ferrule; verrel.

VIS, Fr. Screw, vice, spindle-tree.

VISIER, VIZIER, VIZIR, (Visir, Fr.) An officer or dignity in the Ottoman Empire; whereof there are two kinds, the first called by the Turks Vizir Azem, or grand Vizir, first created in 1370 by Amurath the First, in order to ease himself of the chief and weightier affairs of the government. The grand Vizir possesses great powers, especially with regard to military affairs. The orders he issues are so thoroughly discretional, that when he quits Constantinople to join the army, he does not even communicate his intentions to the sultan. This system entirely differs from that which is followed by European generals. When the latter take the field, they proceed upon plans that have been previously digested; and although they may occasionally change their dispositions, yet they never deviate from the essential and governing principles.

The grand Vizir, on the contrary, not only makes the arrangements according to his own judgment, but he even changes an operation that has been previously ordered by the sultan, if, on his arrival at the spot, he should think it expedient to employ the troops in a different way. This absolute power is not, however, without its risk; for if the grand Vizir should fail in his enterprize, it is more than probable that the sultan will cause him to be beheaded: a punishment which has long been familiar to the Turks, from the arbitrary manner in which it is practised, and the frequency of its occurrence.

When the Turks engage an enemy, the grand Vizir generally remains with the reserve, and seldom mingles with the main body, which is soon converted into a mob of desperate combatants. The war which had been carried into Egypt, bid fair to change the whole system of Turkish tactics.

VIZIER Nawab of Oude, the prime minister of the Mogul empire; he became sovereign of Oude and Lucknow; he was deposed by the British in 1795, and the sovereignty assumed by the British government.

VISIERE, Fr. The sight, which is fixed on the barrel of a musquet or firelock.

To VISIT, (Visiter, Fr.) To go to any place, as quarters, barracks, hospital, &c. for the purpose of noticing whether the orders or regulations which have been issued respecting it, are observed.

VISITE des Postes, Fr. The act of visiting posts, &c.

Faire la VISITE, Fr. To visit, to inspect.

VISITEUR, Fr. The person who visits or goes the rounds.

VISITING Officer. He whose duty it is to visit the guards, barracks, messes, hospital, &c. See ORDERLY OFFICER.

VISOR, VIZARD, That part of the helmet which covered the face.

VITAL AIR, or azote and oxygene, now properly called nitrogene gas; the cause of the rapid ignition of gunpowder, is the expansion of the air or oxygene which it contains.

VITCHOURA, Fr. A furred coat.

VITESSE, Fr. Dispatch; promptitude of action.

VITONIERES, Fr. Limber holes.

VIVANDIERS, Fr. Victuallers, sutlers, &c.