Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/873

O R A O R A 809 life was united. In accordance with this we find that almost all the great lawgivers and sages of the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. were in close relation with the Delphic oracle. All questions of colonization were referred to the oracle, and it is due a good deal to this central guiding influence that the overflow of the teeming popu lation of Greece was directed so systematically. It is instructive to compare the position of the oracles in Greece with those of the kindred races of Asia Minor. In the latter country the god is supreme over his people, the government is a pure theocracy, and the priests, as interpreters of the divine will, are absolute masters of the servants of the god. In Greece it is wholly different. In both cases the oracles are the creation of the national genius, in Asia Minor Oriental and stationary, in Greece living and progressive. In the earliest time we can trace the influence of the oracles discouraging the relentless blood-feud, distinguishing classes of murder, and allowing purification and expiation in suitable cases. They make the sanctity of oaths between man and man a special duty ;. Apollo regards even hesitation to keep a pledge as already a sin (Herod., vi. 86; cf. i. 159). They are the centre of unions or amphictyonies which bind their mem bers to observe certain duties and show mercy to their fellow-members ; ajid Delphi, as the oracle of an amphic- tyony including great part of Greece, had an important share in promoting that ideal unity of the whole country which, though never realized, yet floated always before the Greek mind. The oracles did something towards uniting the efforts of Greeks against foreigners, and towards spreading Greek influence abroad in a systematic way. As education became more general the qualification of superior knowledge necessary to the proper working of the oracles was more difficult to keep up. At the same time the growth of political life in the states intensified their mutual enmities, and made it impossible for the oracles to maintain an attitude of perfect justice, neutral ity, and superiority. Though the custom continued till a late period in Greek history that each state should consult the oracle in difficulties, yet complaints of partiality be come frequent. Concurrently with the degradation in this respect there grew a demoralization in the whole tone of the oracles : they were consulted by all in the most trivial matters. It became an object to the priests to facilitate the access of votaries who contributed to the wealth of the temple. Whereas originally the Delphic oracle spoke only once a year, the number of days on which it was open to inquirers Avas gradually increased ; and other oracles in like manner turned their attention to the wants of every applicant. In Dodona a large number of leaden tablets have been discovered containing the questions addressed to the god by inquirers; they range in date from the end of the 5th century B.C. onwards, and do not give any very high idea of the kind of difficulties in which the god was asked to advise his worshipper. See Carapanos, Dodone, also an important article in Fleckeisen s Jahrbiichcr for 1883. The most complete work on oracles is Bouchy Leclerc s Histoire de la divination dans I antiquite. (W. M. RA.) ORAN (Arabic, WaJirdn), the chief town of the depart ment and military division which form the western part of the French colony of Algeria, lies at the head of a bay on the Mediterranean, in 35 44 N". lat., and almost on the meridian of Greenwich. The population of the town in 1881 was 58,530; that of the commune, including town and suburbs, 59,377. In 1876, when the total for the town, besides 3728 in prisons, hospitals, &c. (5030 in 1881), was 45,640, 11,047 were French, 4948 Jews, 4782 natives, and 24,863 foreigners. The town is cut in two by the ravine of Oued Rekhi, now partly covered over by boule vards and buildings. West of the ravine lies the port, and above this the old Spanish town with the ancient citadel looking down on it. On the east side the modern castle and the modern town (built since the Spanish occupation) rise like an amphitheatre, and here, too, are the Moorish houses of the Jews quarter. Taken altogether, Oran has the shape of a triangle, the sea forming the base, and the angles at north-west, north-east, and south being respect ively the Fort de la Moune, the modern castle, and Fort St Andre. Ramparts and forts are mainly of Spanish con struction ; to the east they have been rebuilt since the French occupation in advance of their old position. Of the six gates, three are on the west side, two on the south, and one on the east. The modern castle was formerly the seat of the beys of Oran ; it is now occupied by the general in command of the military division, and also serves as barracks, and accommodates most of the military depart ments. The old castle was the residence of the Moham medan rulers previous to the Spanish conquest, and continued to be the residence of the governors of the town up to the earthquake of 8th and 9th October 1790. The portion of the building which still remains is used as barracks and a military prison. Immediately behind, the Mourdjadjo hill rises to a height of 1900 feet; on the way up are passed Fort St Gre"goire, the votive chapel commemorative of the cholera of 1849, and Fort Santa Cruz, crowning at a height of 1312 feet the summit of the Aidour. Lastly, Fort de la Moune (so called from the monkeys which are said to have haunted the neighbour hood) rises between the sea and the road from Oran to Mers al-Kebir. In the Spanish town the streets are steep, sometimes even becoming stairs; the "places" are mere widenings of the street. In the French town the streets are well laid out and fit for carriages, and there are various public squares, notably the Place d Armes ; the houses too, in spite of the risk from earthquakes, are built in the French style, several stories high. It is only in the Jews quarter that the houses are of a peculiar type, one-storied, with white-washed or red-washed walls, and enclosing an inner court shaded by a vine. Oran is the see of a bishopric dependent on the archbishopric of Algiers. The cathedral (St Louis) is an ancient mosque which has suc cessively been a Roman Catholic chapel, a synagogue, and again a Catholic church according as the town changed hands. The last restoration was in 1839. A fine picture representing the landing of St Louis at Tunis deserves to be mentioned. The grand mosque (in Rue Philippe) was erected at the end of last century in commemoration of the expulsion of the Spaniards, and with money paid as ransom for Christian slaves. The minaret is one of the prettiest in Algeria. Other mosques have been utilized for military purposes. Permanent quarters have not yet been assigned to the prefecture, the courts of justice, and other civil offices ; the bank alone occupies a building of an imposing character. The military hospital contains 1400 beds. Oran is well supplied with water; and a number of beautiful promenades greatly increase its at tractions. The main peculiarity of the streets is the mixture of races, each with its own type and costume. Arabs, Spaniards, and Turks, successive masters of the town, have all left descendants ; and with these are mingled black -gabardined Jews, Spanish immigrants of recent date in Andalusian garb, French soldiers of all branches of the service, Moors with nonchalant gait, and negroes, who serve as porters and day-labourers for the community. The negroes occupy a whole village on the outskirts of the town. While industrially of no import ance, Oran is admirably situated for commerce. From Cartagena to Oran is the shortest passage between Europe and Algeria, and there is regular communication with Mar seilles, Cette, and Port Vendres in France, with Barcelona, XVII. 102