O. Oak Hill. A beautiful cemetery in Georgetown, D.C. It contains the tombs of many eminent men. Oak of Guernica. A venerable tree of Guernica, Spain, cut down by the French in 1808. According to Laborde, it was a very ancient natural monument. Under this oak Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1476, swore to maintain the municipal laws (fueros) of the Biscayans. Oak of Guernica! Tree of holier power Than that which in Dodona did enshrine (So faith too fondly deemed) a voice divine, Heard from the depths of its aërial bower, hour? Oak of Reformation. A tree in Norfolk County, England, associated with an insurrection in 1549, called Kett's Rebellion. Kett held a court, and assemblies of his adherents, around this tree; and after the rebellion was finally subdued, many of the insurgents were hung upon its branches. Oatlands. An ancient royal residence near Hampton Court, in England. It was built by Henry VIII., but is no longer standing. Obelisk of Axum. A remarkable monument at Axum in Nubia, Africa. It is the only one now standing of a group said to have consisted of 55. "The most exceptional monuments in the world, -the obelisks at Axum.. Its height [that of the one now standing] is 60 feet, its width at base nearly 10, and it is of one stone. The idea is evidently Egyptian, but the details are Indian. It is, in fact, an Indian nine-storied pagoda, translated in Egyptian in the first century of the Christian era!" Fergusson. Obelisk of Heliopolis. This obelisk-the oldest in Egypt-which with some mounds is about all that remains of Heliopolis (that great seat of learning where Plato and Eudoxus lived and studied), is between 60 and 70 feet in height. Tradition speaks of another similar obelisk which stood opposite this, according to the Egyptian custom of placing them in pairs at the entrances of their temples. 4"A class of monuments almost exclusively Egyptian, are the obelisks, which form such striking objects in front of almost all the old temples of the country. . . . The two finest known to exist are, that now in the piazza of the Lateran, originally set up by Thotmes III., 105 feet in height, and that still existing at Karnac, erected by Thotmes I., 93 feet. Those of Luxor, erected by Rhamses the Great, one of which is now in Paris, are above 77 feet in height; and there are two others in Rome, each above 80 feet. Rome, indeed, has 12 of these monuments within her walls, -a greater number than exist, erect at least, in the country whence they came. Their use seems to have been wholly that of monumental pillars recording the style and title of the king who erected them, his piety, and the proof he gave of it in dedicating these monoliths to the deity whom he especially wished to honor. With scarcely an exception all the pyramids are on the west side of the Nile, all the obelisks on the east. With regard to the former, this probably arose from a law of their existence, the western side of the Nile being in all ages preferred for sepulture; but with regard to the latter it seems to be accidental." Fergusson. Obelisk of Luxor. A magnificent monolith of red Egyptian granite in the Place de la Concorde, Paris. It was one of two obelisks of the same shape and size, erected in 1350 B.C., by Rameses the Great, at the entrance of the temple of Thebes (now Luxor). It was a gift to the French Government from Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt; was removed with much difficulty, at a great cost; and was raised in its present position in 1836, by a very skilful feat of engineering, in the presence of Louis Philippe and 150,000 persons. The removal of this obelisk, which is 74 feet high and weighs 500,000 pounds, employed 800 men, and cost, including its elevation, £80,000. It was brought to France in a vessel especially built for the purpose. Obelisk of Orsotasen. One of the earliest and finest of the Egyptian obelisks, still standing at Heliopolis. It is inscribed with the name of Orsotasen, one of the greatest rulers of the twelfth dynasty. "It is 67 feet 4 inches in height, without the pyramidion which crowns it, and is a splendid block of granite, weighing 217 tons. It must have required immense skill to quarry it, to transport it from Syene, and finally, after finishing it, to erect it where it now stands and has stood for 4,500 Fergusson. years." Obelisk of St. Peter's, or of the Vatican. A celebrated Egyptian column of red granite, brought from Heliopolis to Rome by the Emperor Caligula, and now standing in front of St. Peter's Church. It is 132 feet in height, and its weight is 360 tons. Pliny says that the ship which brought the obelisk from Heliopolis was almost as long as "the left side of the port of Ostia." It was successfully set up in its present position by Domenico Fontana, and it is about the raising of this obelisk that the following familiar story is told. The ceremony having been preceded by high mass in St. Peter's, and solemn benediction having been pronounced upon Fontana and the workmen, the Pope ordered that no one should speak, under penalty of death, while the obelisk was being raised. But, owing to the stretching of the ropes, the immense mass did not quite reach the required position, and the operation would have failed, had not a man in the crowd broken over the order of the Pope, and called to the workmen to "wet the ropes." This suggestion was immediately acted upon, and the huge column slowly rose to its destined place. This story is not found in any writer of that period; and it is, according to Platner, one of those inventions which spring from a wish to disparage the triumphs of genius, and to lower its claims. Obelisk of the Lateran. An Egyptian monument of red granite, nearly 150 feet in height, originally belonging to the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, removed thence to Alexandria by Constantine, and subsequently brought to Rome, where it now stands in the centre of the Piazza di San Giovanni. It is the oldest object in Rome, being referred by antiquaries to the year 1740 B.C., when it was erected to the memory of Thotmes IV. Obelisk of the Monte Cavallo. A famous Egyptian monument of red granite, being a plain shaft without hieroglyphics, which formerly stood in front of the Mausoleum of Augustus, and is now in the Piazza di Monte Cavallo, Rome. It was brought from Egypt by the Emperor Claudius, A.D. 57. Obelisk of the Piazza del Popolo. An ancient Egyptian column, brought from Heliopolis to Rome by the Emperor Augustus, and set up in the Piazza of the People in 1589. It is of the age of Moses. "This red granite obelisk, oldest of things even in Rome, .. with hardly a trace of decay upon it, is the first thing the traveller sees after entering the Flaminian Gate." Hawthorne. Obelisk of the Vatican. See OBELISK OF ST. PETER'S. Ocean, The. An armor-plated ship of the British navy, launched March 19, 1863. Ocean Monarch. An American emigrant ship, burned off Liverpool, Aug. 24, 1848, with a loss of nearly 200 lives. October Club. A Parliamentary club in London, first formed about 1690, in the reign of Wil liam III. and Mary. Its meetings were first held at the Bell Tavern, and afterwards at the Crown, in King Street, Westminster. The influence of Swift had much to do with the final breaking up of the October Club; the more violent Jacobites seceding, and forming the "March Club." A writer in "The National Review thus describes the October Club: "The high-flying Tory country gentleman and country member drank the health of the king, sometimes over the water-decanter, - and flustered himself with bumpers in honor of Dr. Sacheverell and the Church of England, with true-blue spirits of his own kidney, at the October Club, which, like the Beef-Steak Club, was named after the cheer for which it was famed, · Octoher ale; or rather, on account of the quantities of the ale which the members drank. The 150 squires, Tories to the backbone, who, under the above name, met at the Bell Tavern in King Street, Westminster, were of opinion that the party to which they belonged were too backward in punishing and turning out the Whigs; and they gave infinite trouble to the Tory administration which came into office under the leadership of Harley, St. John, and Harcourt, in 1710. The Administration were for proceeding moderately with their rivals, and for generally replacing opponents with partisans. The October Club were for immediately impeaching every member of the Whig party, and for turning out, without a day's grace, every placeman who did not wear their colors, and shout their cries." "We are plagued here with an October Club; that is, a set of above a hundred Parliament men of the country, who drink October beer at home, and meet every evening at a tavern near the Parliament, to consult affairs, and drive things on to extremes against the Whigs, to call the old ministry to account, and get off five or six heads." Swift (to Stella, February, 1710-11). Odeon, L'. A well-known theatre 66 in Paris, originally intended, as the name indicates, for music only, but used for regular dramatic performances. It has been several times destroyed by fire. Beaumarchais' Marriage of Figaro" (Mariage de Figaro) was first produced here in 1784. Odeum. A structure in ancient Athens, Greece, built by Pericles, and designed (as the name im plies, won) for musical performances. It was surmounted by a circular roof, constructed with the masts and yards of the Persian ships which were captured at Salamis. Nothing remains of the Odeum, but it has given its name to buildings in modern times designed for similar uses. Œil de Boeuf. A famous anteroom in the palace at Versailles, the scene of many quarrels, intrigues, bon mots. Here waited the courtiers in attendance upon Louis XIV. Versailles, the Eil de Bœuf, and all men and things, are drowned in a sea of Light; Monseigneur and that high beckoning Head are alone, with each other, in the universe. Carlyle. As experience in the river is indispens able to the ferryman, so is knowledge of his Parliament to the British Peel or Chatham; so was knowledge of the Eilde-Boeuf to the French Choiseul. Ibid. none. A life-size statue by Harriet Hosmer (b. 1831). In the Mercantile Library building, St. Louis, Mo. Olave's, St. See ST. OLAVE'S. Old Bailey, The. 1. A street in London extending from Ludgatehill to Newgate Street. It has been the scene of many memorable executions. 2. The Old Bailey Sessions Court, or Central Criminal Court, at the bar of which upwards of 2,000 persons are annually tried, is located here, immediately adjoining the prison called Newgate. "But the jail was a vile place, in which most kinds of debauchery and villany were practised, and where dire diseases were bred, that came into court with the prisoners, and sometimes rushed straight from the dock at 1 my Lord Chief Justice himself, and pulled him off the bench. . . . For the rest, the Old Bailey was famous as a kind of deadly inn-yard, from which pale travellers set out continually, in carts and coaches, on a violent passage into the other world: traversing some two miles and a half of public street and road, and shaming few good citizens, if any. . . . It was famous, too, for the pillory, a wise old institution, that inflicted a punishment of which no one could foresee the extent; also, for the whipping-post, another dear old institution, very humanizing and softening to behold in action; also, for extensive transactions in blood-money, another fragment of ancestral wisdom, systematically leading to the most frightful mercenary crimes that could be committed under Heaven. For, people then paid to see the play at the Old Bailey, just as they paid to see the play in Bedlam-only the former entertainment was much the dearer. Therefore, all the Old Bailey doors were well guarded-except, indeed, the social doors by which the criminals got there, and they were always left wide open." Dickens. In short, Jane Rouse was accused of witchcraft; and though she made the best defence she could, it was all to no purpose: she was taken from her own bar to the bar of the Old Bailey, condemned and executed accordingly. These were times, indeed, when even women could not scold in safety. Goldsmith. Old Dutch Church. An ancient church-edifice in New York City, built in 1723. It served as a prison for Americans during the British occupation of the city in the Revolution, and was used by the British cavalry as a ridingschool. Old Elm, The. A venerable tree which stood on the Common in Boston, Mass., until Feb. 15, 1876, when it was overthrown by a high wind. It is believed to have been standing before the settlement of the town. It is supposed to have been the oldest tree in New England. It was laid down upon a map engraved in 1722, and a computation of the rings of the branch broken off in 1860 Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. See BANK OF ENGLAND. Old Man of Hoy. A natural curiosity in the Orkney Islands, in the shape of a solitary pillar, rising perpendicularly to the height of 300 feet, and bearing the likeness of the human form. "See Hoy's Old Man whose summit bare Pierces the dark blue fields of air; Based in the sea, his fearful form Glows like the spirit of the storm." Old Man of Storr. A natural curiosity in the North of Scotland, near the town of Portree. It consists of a solitary black pillar of trap rock, 160 feet in height. Old Man of the Mountain. See PROFILE, THE. Old Manse. An ancient house in Concord, Mass., built before the Revolution, which derives its present name from the celebrity given to it by Hawthorne's tales, the "Mosses from an Old Manse." Here he lived and wrote, and in this house also Emerson was born and lived. Old Protestant Cemetery. See PROTESTANT CEMETERY. Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner. A picture by Sir Edwin Landseer (1804-1873). "One of the most perfect poems or pictures (I use the words as synonymous) which modern times have seen. The close pressure of the dog's breast against the wood, the convulsive clinging of the paws, which has dragged the blanket off the trestle, the total powerlessness of the head, laid close and motionless upon its folds, the fixed and tearful fall of the eye in its utter hopelessness; . . . these are all thoughts by which the picture is sepa rated at once from hundreds of equal merit, so far as mere painting goes, by which it ranks as a work of high art, | Old Stone Face. See PROFILE. and stamps its author not as the neat imitator of the texture of a skin, or the fold of a drapery, but as the Man of Mind." Ruskin. Old South. An historic church in So long as Boston shall Boston be, And plead for the rights of all. Whittier. On the cross-beam under the Old South The nest of a pigeon is builded well. N. P. Willis. I stood in the Old South, Old State House. An ancient edi- Old Stone Mill. A circular stone tower at Newport, R.I., supported on round arches and overgrown with ivy. There has been much dispute among antiquarians with regard to the origin and purpose of this ancient tower. Some think it was built in the eleventh century by the Norsemen; others, that it was erected for a windmill, in the seventeenth century, by some colonial governor. It is not mentioned by Verrazzani, who, in 1524, spent 15 days in the harbor, and explored the land. It is, on the other hand, different in architecture and construction from other works of the early colonists. Gov. Benedict Arnold (d. 1678) bequeathed the structure in his will, calling it "my stone-built windmill." Cooper has laid the opening scenes of "The Spy" in this vicinity, and Longfellow has connected with it his poem of The Skeleton in Armor." "On the ancient structure in Newport there are no ornaments remaining, which might possibly have served to guide us in assigning the probable date of its erection. . . . From such characteristics as remain, however, we can scarcely form any other inference than one in which I am persuaded that all who are familiar with old Northern architecture will concur, that this building was erected at a period decidedly not later than the twelfth century. . . . That this building could not have been erected for a windmill, is what an architect will easily discern." Professor Rafn. "Some thirty-five years ago, Professor Rafn, of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries at Copenha gen, published a book showing that the Northmen, or Scandinavians, undoubtedly visited the shores of North America about A.D. 1000, and that they probably entered Narragansett Bay. It then occurred to some American antiquaries that this old building at Newport might have been erected by those early voyagers. As for the Old Stone Mill, it is found to be very much like some still standing in that very county of England from which Gov. Arnold came. So it is not at all likely that any of these memorials could date back as far as |