hot-houses, where they may lie to couch. In this place they tread them well, and water them in case they happen to have been brought in dry. The heap is made six or seven feet thick, and covered over with old mats, or any thing else, to prevent the upper leaves from being blown away. In a few days the heap will come to a strong heat. It will be proper to let them remain five or six weeks in the heaps before they are again watered, and trodden down, in layers, till the pits are quite full. The whole is then covered with a tan bark, to the thickness of two inches, and well trodden down, till the surface becomes smooth and even. On this the pine-pots are to be placed in the manner they are to stand, beginning with the middle row first, and filling up the spaces between the pots with tan. In this manner we are to proceed to the next row, till the whole is finished; and this operation is performed in the same manner as when tan only is used. The leaves require no farther trouble through the whole season; as they will retain a constant and regular heat for twelve months without stirring or turning; and our author informs us, that, if he may judge from their appearance when taken out (being always entire and perfect), it is probable they would continue their heat through a second year; but, as an annual supply of leaves is easily obtained, the experiment is hardly worth making. OAKA, or OAKAMUNDAL, a district of Gujerat, Hindostan, situated on the south side of the Gulf of Cutch, and separated by the swamp called the Run from the mainland. This swamp, which is from five to six miles broad, is during the spring tides covered by the sea to the height of one or two feet. The bottom is a firm sand, but covered with mud. The soil here is in general very poor, and produces little else than two species of coarse grain. The few inhabitants, however, breed a number of camels, but the occupation of the greater part is piracy. They are governed by various independent chiefs. OAKA, the capital of the above district, was long celebrated as the nest of a gang of pirates, who recently received a severe chastisement from the British flag. The practice was, previous to undertaking a cruise, to visit the temple of their idol at Dwarca, and vow that, if they were successful, they would devote a certain portion of their plunder to the deity; by which means the Brahmins were so enriched that they are said to have had several ships of their own in this service. Long. 69° 36′ E., lat. 22° 14′ N. OAKHAM. See ОKEHAM. OAKHAMPTON, a borough and market town of Devonshire, situate near the source of the small river Oak, twenty-one miles west from Exeter, and 195 west from London. The church is situate on a hill, and in the market place is an ancient chantry chapel. In the suburbs are the ruins of an ancient castle, dismantled by Henry VIII. on the attainder of Henry Courtenaye, marquis of Exeter. It has a small manufactory of serges. It is a very ancient borough, and is governed by a mayor, eight aldermen, eight common-council, town-clerk, &c., and sends two members to parliament; the mayor is chosen annually by the corporation, from among the eight aldermen or principal burgesses. The market is on Saturday. OA'KUM, n.s. Formed by some corruption,' says Dr. Johnson: but there is a regular Saxon œcumbe, i. e. combings, refuse. Cords untwisted and reduced again to hemp, with which leaks are stopped. They make their oakum, wherewith they calk the seams of the ships, of old seer and weather-beaten ropes, when they are over spent and grown so rotten as they serve for no other use but to make rotten oakum, which moulders and washes away with every sea as the ships labour, and are tossed. Raleigh. Some drive old oakum through each seam and rift; The rattling mallet with the right they lift. Their left hand does the calking-iron guide, Dryden. represented as half a man and half a fish. AcOANNES, a being in Chaldean mythology, cording to Berosus and others, this monster was the civiliser of the Chaldeans; to whom he taught The instrument of Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made Shakspeare. Antony and Cleopatra. Denham's Poems. of several oars, which in the outward ends of them The swan with arched neck, Milton. In shipping such as this, the Irish kern Dryden. His hair transforms to down, his fingers meet Pope. Dr. Johnson sat high on the stern like a magnificent Triton. The boatman and Mr. M'Queen chorussed, and all went well. At length Malcolm himself took an oar, and rowed vigorously. Boswell's Tour to the Hebrides. OAR. That part of the oar which is out of the vessel and which enters the water, is called the blade; and that which is within board is termed the loom, whose extremity, being small enough to be grasped by the rowers or persons managing the oars, is called the handle. To push the boat or vessel forwards, by means of this instrument, the rowers turn their backs forward, and, dipping the blade of the oar in the water, pull the handle forward, so that the blade at the same time may move aft in the water: but, since the blade cannot be so moved without striking the water, this impulsion is the same as if the water were to strike the blade from the stern towards the head: the vessel is therefore necessarily moved according to this direction. Hence it follows, that she will advance with the greater rapidity, by as much as the oar strikes the water more forcibly. Thus it is evident oar acts upon the side of a boat or vessel like a lever of the second class, whose fulcrum is the station upon which the oar rests on the boat's gunnel. In large vessels, this station is usually called the row-port; but in lighters and boats it is always termed the row-lock. that an OARISTUS, or ŎARISTYS, a term in the Greek poetry, signifying a dialogue between a husband and his wife; such as that in the sixth book of the Iliad, between Hector and Andromache. Scaliger observes that the oaristus is not properly any particular little poem, or entire piece of poetry, but always a part of a great one. He adds that the passage now cited in Homer is the only proper oaristus extant in the ancient poets. OASIS, the name of three districts of Egypt, so called from their fertility; the word oasis signifying a fertile spot in a sandy desert.' They produce barley, maize, dates, &c. OAST', n. s. Belg. ast. A kiln. Not in use. Empty the binn into a hog-bag, and carry them immediately to the oast or kiln to be dried. Mortimer. grain is eatable. The meal makes tolerable good bread. Miller. At breakfast this morning, among a profusion of other things, there were oat-cakes, made of what is called gradda ned meal, that is, meal made of grain separated from the husks, and toasted by the fire, instead of being threshed and kiln dried. Boswell's Tour. His diet was of wheaten bread And milk, and oats, and straw; Thistles, or lettuces instead, With sand to scour his maw. Cowper. and is thinner skinned than the above kind. The partizan, was born about 1619, and was the son OATES (Titus), a celebrated and infamous chant Tailor's school, whence he removed to Camof a Baptist preacher. He was educated at Merbridge; took orders; and, according to Hume, he was dismissed for unnatural practices. In became a chaplain on board the fleet, whence 1677 he turned Roman Catholic and Jesuit, to obtain, as he boasted, a knowledge of their secrets with a view to betraying them; but subsequently declared himself a Protestant, and, in conjunction with one Dr. Tongue, gave inforof the Protestant religion, and falsely accused the mation of a pretended plot, for the destruction of Wardour, and other persons of quality, several Catholic lords Petre, Powis, Bellasis, Arundel of whom, including lord Stafford, were executed for the alleged conspiracy. Such was the celetimes, that this unworthy character was rewarded brated popish plot, and such the credulity of the with a pension of £1200 per annum, and lodged for safety at Whitehall palace. On the accession of James II., however, he was indicted and convicted of perjury, and sentenced to stand in the pillory five times a year during his life, and to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate, and thence to Tyburn. Though the whipping was he Re volution, the tide of popular prejudice again Sax. a; Goth. aith; Belg. ced: as Mr. Thomson suggests OATH BREAKING, n.s. from Sax. de, Goth. and Swed. e, law or justice. A solemn attestation of any kind: particularly one calling the Divine Being to witness or attest its truth: oath able is capable of taking an oath (obsolete): oathbreaking, perjury. For men sweren bi a gretter than himsilf, and the ende of al her ple is an ooth to confirmacyoun. Wiclif. Ebrewis 6. Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love, For whose dear sake thou then did'st rend thy faith Into a thousand oaths; and all those oaths You're not outhable, Shakspeare. All the oath-rites said, I then ascended her adorned bed. Bacon. Chapman. Profit or pleasure there is none in swearing, nor any thing in men's natural tempers to incite them to it. For, though some men pour out oaths so freely as if they came naturally from them, yet surely no man is born of a swearing constitution. Tillotson. Those called to any office of trust are bound by an oath to the faithful discharge of it: but an oatk is an appeal to God, and therefore can have no influence, except upon those who believe that he is. Swift. Oaths terminate as Paul observes, all strife, Some men have surely then a peaceful life; Whatever subject occupy discourse, The feats of Vestris, or the naval force, Asseveration blustering in your face Makes contradiction such a hopeless case; In every tale they tell, or false or true, Well known, or such as no man ever knew, They fix attention, heedless of your pain, With oaths like rivets forced upon the brain. Cowper. An OATH is an invocation of God to witness the truth of what we say, accompanied by an implied and sometimes expressed imprecation of his vengeance, or a renunciation of his favor, if what we affirm be false, or what we promise be not performed. The laws of all civilised states have required the security of an oath for evidence given in a court of justice; and the Christian religion, while it utterly prohibits profane and needless swearing, does not seem to forbid oaths duly required, or taken on necessary occasions. The Quakers and Moravians, swayed by the sense which they put upon that text of Scripture (Matth. v. 34), swear not at all;' and St. James's words, chap. v. 12, refuse to swear upon any occasion, even at the requisition of a magistrate, and in a court of justice. These scruples appear to proceed from not distinguishing between the proper use and abuse of swearing. It is doubtless impious to call upon God to witness trifles, or to use his tremendous name as a mere expletive in conversation; but it does not follow that we may not solemnly call upon him to witness truths of importance. If it be lawful to ask of God our daily bread, and other earthly blessings, it cannot surely be unlawful, where the lives or properties of our neighbours, or the security of government is concerned, to invoke him with reverence to witness the truth of our assertions, or the sincerity of our intentions; because of our truth and sincerity, in doubtful cases, none but he can be the witness. In the Old Testament we find frequent mention made of oaths taken and imposed:-Gen. xxiv. Abraham made Eliezer, his steward, swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Gen. xxvi. Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Isaac, took an oath of each other.-Gen. 1. Joseph made his brethren swear.-Exod. xxii. An oath was ordered by God to be imposed on one who 6 should lose cattle committed to his care.-1 Sam. xiv. Saul imposed an oath on his subjects. In the New Testament we are told that an oath for confirmation is an end of all strife.'Heb. vi. 16. Our blessed Saviour himself, who came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it, submitted to be put on his oath by Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, before which adjuration he held his peace.'-Matt. xxvi. 63. St. Paul uses language which, without controversy, must be held to be equivalent with the most solemn oath. I call God for a record upon my soul.' - 2 Cor. i. 23. The swearing which we think lawful is-1. When the occasion is important; 2. When the necessity is urgent; 3. When the truth is not attainable without it, the matter being involved in obscurity; 4. When the evidence is contradictory; or, 5. When any evil would arise from the neglect, or good from the use, of it—as the escape of the guilty and the punishment of the innocent; or the punishment of the bad, and the acquittal of the innocent. The oaths which we consider to be prohibited are-1 Vain or useless; 2. Frequent or customary; 3. Profane or idolatrous; 4. Rash or heedless; 5. False or deceitful; nor do we allow it to be proper to swear at all, by any other person, place, thing, time, or object than God only. And hence we understand our Saviour and his apostle James not as absolutely forbidding all swearing, but all swearing by heaven or earth, sun or moon, life or limb, man or angel, or other animate or inanimate thing, in those often quoted, but often misunderstood passages, Matt. v. 34; James v. 12. As the original Greek was without stops, the above passages might with equal, if not greater propriety, have been rendered, 'Swear not at all by heaven,' &c.; or Swear not at all, either by heaven,' &c.; or, perhaps, still better, Neither swear not at all by heaven,' &c. That this was the sense of the reformers, and the compilers of our Common Prayer Book, may be seen in The Fathers of the English Church,' passim; and in the thirty-ninth article of our church: As we confess that vain and rash swearing is forbidden Christian men, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and James his apostle, so we judge that (the) Christian religion doth not prohibit, but a man may swear when the magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the prophet's (Jeremiah iv. 2) teaching, in justice, judgment, and truth.' They who defend the lawfulness of oaths say, 1. Oaths were permitted under the law, which Christ came not to destroy but to fulfil. The Friends reply, so were arbitrary divorce, hatred of enemies, retaliation, &c.; the same discourse which forbad these forbad swearing also, and in terms at least equally explicit. Swear not at all (òλwç, omnino, altogether). In this first gospel sermon, the axe (as had been predicted) was laid at the root of the tree of evil; anger was forbidden, as the root of murder; unlawful desire, as that of adultery; and so swearing, as the root of perjury. Christ,' says Basil, cuts off the opportunity of perjury.' 2. Our Lord and the apostle Paul swore.—The Friends reply, When our blessed Redeemer was brought before the sanhedrim, the high priest said, 'I adjure thee by the living God,' &c.; to which Jesus replied, "Thou hast said.' If this was an oath, it was evidently all on the part of Caiaphas, our Lord had no agency in it. But for three reasons we do not consider it one. 1st, Ezopriw, though translated adjure,' means rather to solemnly exhort and enjoin, as Schleusner himself allows. 2nd, If the high priest had wished to put our Saviour on his oath, it would doubtless have been done in the ordinary form. But, 3rd, It is not likely that he was sworn at all. He was not attending the court as a witness, neither was there any fact to which he was called upon to depose. He was accused of having assumed the divine character; the evidence was suspicious and unsatisfactory, and it was evidently for the purpose of entrapping him into the repetition of his supposed crime, that the high priest solemnly enjoined him to declare whether he was or was not the Son of God. With respect to the apostle Paul, no expression, they continue, can be extracted from his writings which would be admitted for an oath in any court of judicature. Similar protestations were frequently made by primitive Friends, but unavailingly, and the affirmation granted them by law used to contain the words in the presence of Almighty God.' Besides, this argument would prove, if it proved any thing, too much, for the advocates of oaths generally, allow that only juridical swearing is admitted by the law of Christ, which Paul must have transgressed in his oaths, as they were made in epistles to his friends. 3. The third argument in defence of oaths is that Matthew v. 33-37, and James v. 1.2, may be translated Swear not at all, either by heaven,' &c., not including by Jehovah. This interpretation, reply the Friends, though philologically almost groundless, we will grant; but while these words remain, or by any other oath,' of what service can it be? It is very strange that any one should fali to per ceive that these oaths (by heaven, by earth, &c., and specified because most common) were forbidden for this very reason, that even they, virtually and in fact, were oaths by Jehovah himself. This reason is most explicitly given by our Lord, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King,' &c. "Whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it and by Him that dwelleth therein; and he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God and by Him that sitteth thereon;' so that swearing by heaven and by God is the same thing. If then one is unlawful, the other must be so also. And, if swearing by any thing created was forbidden simply because of its virtual connexion with swearing by the Creator, how much more offensive to that Great Being must be the oath by his own awful name! The Friends observe further, and in conclusion, that for nearly 300 years after Christ, oaths were considered contrary to his command. They also quote from Tertullian, 'swearing itself is unlawful to Christians,' and from Chrysostom, 'Let the Christian entirely avoid oaths, "in obedience to our Lord's prohibition.' Vide Gurney on the Peculiarities of Friends.' OATS, in botany. See AVENA. OAXACA, or GUAXACA, a fertile and beautiful intendancy of Mexico, bounded on the north by Vera Cruz, on the east by Guatimala, on the west by the province of Puebla, and on the south, for eleven leagues, by the Pacific Ocean. The air is fine, and the vegetation so beautiful and vigorous that it produces more mulberry trees and more silk than any province in America; together with wheat, cattle, sugar, cotton, honey, cocoa, and plantains. In the temperate region the rivers are very copious from the month of May to the month of October. Yet, except the valley of Guaxaca, the greatest part of the country is mountainous. It has rich mines of gold, silver, and lead; and all its rivers have gold in their sands. Cassava, cochineal, crystal, and copperas, abound in this province; as also vanilla, a drug used to give chocolate a flavor. In 1803 the inhabitants amounted to 534,000; the extent of surface in the province is 4447 square leagues.⚫ OAXACA, the capital of the last mentioned province, and a bishop's see, lies 230 miles south of the city of Mexico, in a delightful valley of this name. It is watered by a beautiful river, and on the north several aqueducts bring pure and abundant waters from the mountains. The climate presents a perpetual spring. The town is an oblong square, nearly two miles by one and a quarter, including the suburbs, which are full of gardens and plantations of cochineal. The streets are wide and well paved; and the houses, generally but of two floors, are of freestone. The modern town-house in the great square is built with a sea-green stone. The bishop's house and the cathedral form two sides of the same square, which is surrounded with arcades. The churches and monasteries, which are numerous, are all solidly built, and handsomely decorated. From the enumeration made in 1792, it appears that the inhabitants amount to 24,000. Oaxaca is greatly subject to earthquakes. OBADIAH, Heb. and , i. e. the servant of the Lord, a valiant man of David's army, who came to join him in the wilderness, with several others of the tribe of Gad, 1 Chron. xii. 9. OBADIAH, the prophet, is believed to have been the same with the governor of Ahab's house, mentioned in the first book of Kings (xviii. 3, &c.), who hid and fed the hundred prophets whom Jezebel would have destroyed; and some say that he was that Obadiah whom Josiah made overseer of the works of the temple (2 Chron. xxxiv, 12.) The truth is, that when he lived or prophesied is very uncertain: though most writers make him contemporary with Hosea, Amos, and Joel. OBADIAH, THE PROPHECY OF, a canonical book of the Old Testament, which is contained in one single chapter; and is partly an invective against the cruelty of the Edomites, who mocked and derided the children of Israel as they passed into captivity; and with other enemies, their confederates, invaded and oppressed those strangers, and divided the spoil among themselves; and partly a prediction of the deliverance of Israel, and of the victory and triumph of the whole church over her enemies. OBDORSK, a name formerly given to that part of Asiatic Russia which extends along the mountainous northern part of the course of the Obi, to the Frozen Ocean. The soil is here destitute of wood, and covered only here and there with a few shrubs. Every attempt to introduce plants, vegetables, or domestic animals, has failed: a horse seldom lives more than one year, and a cow not more than five; here rein deer form, therefore, the only resource of the country. The summer, however, is agreeable.-This is also the name of a small palisadoed fort, the most northerly of any maintained by Russia, garrisoned by twenty-five cossacks and an officer, who forms a species of sovereign to the tribes of Ostiaks and Samoyedes. The town consists only of a church and five houses, with a number of huts, which serve as magazines for furs collected as a tribute. Lat. 67° N. OB’DURATE, adj. Lat. obduratus. Hard OB'DURACY, n. s. in heart; obstinate; OB'DURATELY, adv. impenitent; stubOB'DURATENESS, n. s. born; firm: obduracy OBDURATION, is inflexibility; impeOB'DURATED, adj. nitence; state of being firm in evil. All the other derivatives follow these senses. Sometimes the very custom of evil makes the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary. Hooker. What occasion it had given them to think, to their greater obduration in evil, that, through a froward and wanton desire of innovation, we did constrainedly those things for which conscience was pretended? Id. No such thought ever strikes his marble, obdurate heart, but it presently flies off and and rebounds from it. It is impossible for a man to be thorough paced in ingratitude, till he has shook off all fetters of pity South. and compassion. Obdurate as you are, oh! hear at least Dryden. They joined the most obdurate consonants without one intervening vowel. Swift. And if he doom that people with a frown. And mark them with a seal of wrath pressed down, Obduracy takes place; callous and tough, The reprobated race grows judgment-proof. Cowper. OBEDIENCE, n. s. Fr. obedience; Lat. OBEDIENT, adj. obedientia. ConformOBEDIENTIAL, ity to command; subOBEDIENTLY, adv. mission to authority; OBEY, V. 4. hence obsequiousness: obedient and obediential mean, compliance with command or authority; submissive; obsequious to obey is, actively or passively to comply with commands; conform to the requirements of authority. It formerly took to before the person obeyed, which Addison has mentioned as one of Milton's Latinisms; but it is frequent, as Dr. Johnson observes, in old writers: when we borrowed the French word we borrowed the syntax, obeir au roi.' His servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. Rom. iv. 16. To this end did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 2 Cor. ii. 9. He commanded the trumpets to sound, to which the two brave knights obeying, they performed their Sidney. courses, breaking their staves. The flit bark, obeying to her mind, Forth launched quickly, as she did desire. Spenser. shake in pieces the heart of his obedience. If you violently proceed against him, it would The will of Heaven Shakspeare. Be done in this and all things! I obey. Id. She, seemingly obedient, likewise hath Made promise. Id. Merry Wives of Windsor. It was both a strange commission, and a strange obedience to a commission, for men so furiously assailed to hold their hands. Bacon. The ancient Britons yet a sceptred king obeyed. Drayton. We must beg the grace and assistance of God's spirit to enable us to forsake our sins; and to walk in obedience to him. Duty of Man. Never any man lost by his obedience to the HighBp. Hall. affords fiducial reliance on the promises, and obediFaith is such as God will accept of, when it est. ential submission to the command. Hammond. |