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OBLATES O'BRIEN 565 OBLATES (Lat. oblatus, offered), two congre- gations of priests and one of nuns in the Ro- man Catholic church. I. Oblates of St. Charles, founded in Milan by St. Charles Borromeo, archbishop of that city, in 1570, to form a body of missionaries for home work among the neglected classes. They were their found- er's idea of the perfection of secular priests, working round the bishop as their head, and differing in this from the religious orders and congregations, which are independent of the bishop. They were called by St. Charles " Ob- lates of St. Ambrose," the name by which they continued to be known during his lifetime. He drew up their constitutions, which were revised by St. Philip N~eri and St. Felix Canta- lici, and approved repeatedly by the holy see. They had many establishments in Milan, Ve- rona, and other parts of northern Italy. Dio- cesan congregations were formed on this model in various parts of Europe, especially the missionaries or Oblates of St. Irenseus at Lyons. In London, under the direction of Cardinal Wiseman, Dr. (afterward Archbish- op) Manning and the Rev. Herbert Yaughan (afterward bishop of Salford), with five other priests, founded an establishment of Oblates of St. Charles, in St. Charles's college at Bays- water. They at present possess five houses in London, and serve four city missions. They make an " oblation " or vow of obedience to the bishop, the vow of poverty being voluntary. Attached to the London Oblates, but distinct from them in idea and institution, is " St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart for Foreign Missions," with a central house at Mill Hill, near London, and intrusted by Pius IX. with the spiritual care of the American freedmen. All missionaries educated by St. Joseph's society leave Europe for life, devoting themselves to extra-European races. They make vows of obedience, and bind themselves to practise evangelical poverty, and to go wherever sent. This society counts at present (March, 1875) 12 priests and 30 students in divinity, from men of all nations. They have three missions to blacks exclusively, in Balti- more, Charleston, and Louisville. Bishop Vaughan of Salford is the superior general. II. Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a society of reg- ular clerks, founded at Aix, France, in 1815, by Charles J. E. de Mazenod, afterward bishop of Marseilles. At first they were auxiliaries to the diocesan clergy ; but as their numbers increased they assumed the direction of eccle- siastical seminaries, penitentiaries, and chari- table establishments, and undertook foreign missions. They were approved by Pope Leo XII., Feb. 17, 1826. They spread throughout France, Great Britain, Ireland, the British colonies, the islands of the Pacific, and the United States. Called to Canada in 1841, they immediately occupied in the extreme north and west of British America the old Jesuit missionary posts, and extended their labors to the remotest tribes. In Canada they have several colleges, seminaries, and academies, with a constantly increasing body of priests. They also have numerous establishments in northern New York, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington territory. III. Oblates Sisters of Providence, a sisterhood of colored women, founded at Baltimore in 1825, by the Rev. H. Joubert, for educating colored girls, taking charge of colored orphans, and attending to the general needs of the colored population. They were approved by Gregory XVI. in 1831. Their mother house is in Baltimore. OBLIGATION. See BOND, CHAETEE, and CONTEACT. OBOE. See HAUTBOY. ^ OBOLUS, a small coin of ancient Greece, one sixth of a drachm, equal in value to about 2*6 cents. In the best times of Athens it was made of silver only, but later of bronze. OBRENOVITCH. See SEEVIA. O'BRIEN, a 1ST. W. county of Iowa, watered by the Little Sioux river and Willow creek ; area, 576 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 715. The sur- face consists of rolling prairies ; the soil is fer- tile. The Sioux City and St. Paul railroad crosses the IS". W. corner. The chief produc- tions in 1870 were 4,648 bushels of wheat, 500 of Indian corn, 8,909 of oats, and 404 of barley. The value of live stock was $41,490. Capital, O'Brien. O'BRIEN, William Smith, an Irish patriot, born in county Clare, Oct. 17, 1803, died in Bangor, North Wales, June 17, 1864. He was educated at Harrow and Cambridge, in 1827 entered parliament for the borough of Ennis, and in 1832 was returned for county Limerick, a con- stituency which he continued to represent for many years. He strenuously opposed the pas- sage of the Irish arms act, August, 1843, and became an active member of the repeal asso- ciation. In May, 1846, for refusing to" serve on committees of the house, he was confined for several days. On the introduction of John O'Connell's peace resolutions into the repeal association, in July, 1846, he left that body, with the " Young Ireland " party. The French revolution of 1848 gave an ultra tone to his views, and shortly after that event he made a violent speech in the house of commons, threat- ening to establish a republic in Ireland. In April he accompanied a deputation sent by the "Irish Confederation" to Paris, to request aid on behalf of the " oppressed nationality of Ire- land," and received abundant expressions of sympathy from Lamartine and his coadjutors, but no direct offers of assistance. Returning home in May, he aided in organizing a national convention of the Irish people, which was not permitted to assemble. In the same month he was brought to trial, together with Thomas Francis Meagher, on a charge of sedition, but escaped conviction. His zeal soon hurried him into overt acts, and in July he attempted a rising among the peasantry of Ballingarry, which was promptly suppressed. On Aug. 5 he was arrested near Thurles and convey e_d to