Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/835

OAXACA. 709 OBEDIENCE. of ililla (q.v. ), some thirty miles away, and it is foiijeetured that the same people were their author-i. In the absence of suitable building stone at ilonte Allian, the builders employed cores made up of small stones and adobe faced usually with small rough l)locl<s, but sometimes with dressed masonry, and covered with cement on the exterior. There is no evidence "that the surface was finished in fresco as at Mitla. Cement lloors may also be observed in the ruins, and there are traces of stronj,' walls. Little sculpture has been found, the ])rincipal exam]des l)eing a serpent carved from (piarlzite originally on the face of a pyramid, and two colossal turbaned heads in low relief cut in limestone. The pottery scattered on the surface and in the dObris is of slate color like the ware sold in Oa.xaca market. The makers of the old ware decorated their ves- sels with raised ornaments and modeling. In- numerable small amulets of jadeite and other hard stone in form of a rudely carved human figure are found. These objects show drilling, sawing, and other methods of stone-working. A few gold and copper objects luive been taken from the ruins. I'rof. '. H. Holmes, Avho made a careful ex- amination of Monte Alban in 1890, concludes that we have there the remains of a hill-top city oc- cupied by a population which utilized for their cro[)s the rich valley in which the city of Oaxaca stands, and covered the mountain slopes with their garden plots. There are also evidences of other cities in the valley. In the State of Guerrero, directly west of Oaxaca, are many square miles of similar ruins covering the slopes of the mountains, indicating an extension of this culture. The local museum at Oaxaca contains a large and instructive collection of arehsological objects from Monte Alban and other ruins in the State. Consult: Bandelier, Report on Archaological Tour in Mexico (Boston, 1885) : Bancroft, Native Baces of the Pacific Stales, vol. iv. (New York, 1875) ; Holmes, ArclKcological Studies Amonf/ the Ancient Cities of Mexico (Chicago, 1897). OB. A river of Siberia. See Obi. OBADI'AH (Heb. 'Ohadi/Oh). The author of the fourth book of the minor ]irophets accord- ing to the arrangement in' the .Jewish canon, and the shortest book of the Old Testament. Con- cerning Obadiah nothing is known ; it may even be that the name is a mere symliol. chosen on account of its meaning — 'servant of Vahweh' fcf. Malachi, 'my messenger'). The book consists mainly of a prophecy of the destruction of Edom for abetting the destruction of .Terusalem. It must, therefore, be later than n.c. 580, and in- ternal evidence is in favor of a period much later — during the Persian rule, if not, indeed, after the Greek conquest of Palestine. A peculiar prol>Icni in the case of Obadiah is presented by the similarity of verses 1-10 to .ler. xli.x. 7-"22. It a]>|)eai's certain that one of these passages is dependent upon the other, or that both are de- pendent upon a common source. Perhaps the more probable view is that .Jeremiah is dependent tipon Obadiah. Consult the M'orks mentioned in the article JFinor Prophets; Caspari, Der Prophet Ohnrija- ausifielefit (Leipzig, 1842) ; Winckler, in Alttesfamenthehr TJntersuclningen. part iii. (Leipzig, 1802) ; Perowne, "Obadiali and .loiinh." ill the ('(niihridi/e liibtc for Scliiiot.s mid Colleges (Cambridge, 1882) ; Peters, Die Proph- etic (Jbadia-f (Paderborn, 1892). OBADIAH. (1) In Mrs. Centlivre's Hold Strobe for a Wife, one of the guardians of Anne Lovely. He is a hypocritical t,luaker. (2) In Howard's farce The Committee, and in Knight's adaptation. TIte Honest Thieves, a brainless clerk given to dunking. OBAN, O'ban. A seaport and fashicnable watering place in Argj-Ushire, Scotland, on the Bay of Oban, 20 miles northwest of Inveraray ( ilap : Scotland, C 3 ) . 'The bay, i)rotected by the island of Kerrera on the west, and by the high shores of the mainland, lias the a|q)earanee of a lake. Oban is the great rendezvous for tourists in the west Highlands. The town owns its water supplv. Population, in 1891, 4500;. iu 1901, 5374. OBANDO, ciniin'd.'., .Icsf: Maria (1797-1801). A South American general and statesman. Presi- dent of Colombia. At twenty-five he joined the Republican forces; and as leader of the Liberals opposed I'rdaneta when the latter be- came Dictator, and defeated his army at Pal- mira (1831). The Republic of New Granada, with a constitutional government, w'as formed immediately; Obando was elected Vice-President ( l?31-32) and then served for five years as Secrttary of War. He led a rebellion against Marquez (1838-41), but was defeated and exiled until his party w'as restored to power in 1849. He was elected President in 1853, proclaimed himself Dictator in 1854, and was forced out of office. Obando sided with the Federalists in the Revolution of 1800 and was killed at Cruz Verde. OBBLIGATO, 6b'ble-gii't6 (It., hound, com- pelled). A term in music signifying that the instrumental part so marked is absolutely neces- sary to the performance of the composition, and ciinnot be omitted. The word is especially ap- plied to an instrumental accompaniment to a vocal iob. 6-BECSE, o'beeh'e. A town of Hungary. See Becse. OBEDIENCE (Lat. ohn-dientia, from ohcedire, ohedire, to obey, from oh, before -+- andire, to hear). In canon law, the duty by which the various gradations in ecclesiastical organiza- tion are held subject to the several superiors placed immediately above each, respectively, in the hierarchical .scale. Thus priests and in- ferior clergy owe canonical obedience to the bishop, and priests are bound thereto by a solemn promise administered at inclination. The bishop primitively took a similar oath to the metropolitan : but by the modern law, the juris- diction of the metropolitan is confined to the occasions of his holding a visitation, or pre- siding in the provincial synod. Bishops, by the present law of the Roman Catholic Church, take an oath of obedience to the Pope. This obe- dience, however, is strictly limited by the canons, and is only held to bind in things consistent with the divine and natural law. In ecclesiastical history the word obedience has a special signi- fication, and is applied to the several parties in the Church which, during the great Western schism, adhered to the rival popes. Applied to the monastic institute, obedience means the voluntary submission which all members of re- ligious Orders vow, at the religious profession, to