ORAL

instances of the other species of oracles, in which supernatural revelations were made by means of dreams and visions; but every rational mind, even apart from scriptural authority, can at once perceive the wide distmction between the divine revelations vouchsafed in this manner to the Jews in ancient times, and the jugglery practised on the Gentile nations by the avarice and cunning of the priests. There are two points respecting oracles which have given rise to much controversy: viz. whether oracular responses ought to be ascribed to mere human ingenuity or to diabolical agency; and at what time responses ceased altogether to be given. With regard to the first point, most of the Christian fathers were of opinion that they ought to be attributed to diabolical machinations; but those who wish to see these arguments satisfactorily disposed of may consult, among others, the treatises of Ant. Van Dale, De Oraculis Ethmcorum, 1683, and of Fontenelle, His to ire des Oracles, 1689. With regard to the other question, at what time the oracles ceased to give responses, it has been frequently a erted that they became silent ever after the birth of Christ. Eusebius was the first who maintained this opinion; and many writers of great celebrity, anxious to do homage to the great Author of Christianity, have supported his views. In the Hymn of the Nativity, the most beautiful of his minor poems, Milton, in allusion to this theory, says — The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Rings through the arched roof in words deceiving. Apollo from his shrine Can no more divine. With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving. No nightly trance or breathed spell Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell. It appears, however, from the edicts of the emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Val ent in i an, that oracles existed, and were occasionally at least consulted, down to A. D. 328. For several centuries previously they had been gradually sinking in public esteem, but at that period they entirely ceased; and there can be little doubt that this desirable consummation was mainly effected by the enlightening power of Christianity, and by the influence which even at so early a period it had acquired over a large portion of the then civilised world. ( In addition to the works already quoted, see M'Culloch's Geo. Diet., art. " Delphi;" Clavier, Mem. sur les Oracles des Anciens, 1819, .) O'RAL, Oralis. (Lat. os, a mouth.) This term is applied to the various parts which form or relate to the mouth of animals. ORA'NG, in the Malay language, signifies man; orang-utan is the man of the woods. It is by this term that we commonly designate the Indian or red orang. {Simia satt/rus, Linn.) This species inhabits the great islands of Borneo and Sumatra, and attains the height of from four to five feet, measured in a straight line from the vertex to the heel. It has neither tail, cheek-pouches, nor ischial callosites; but has an appendix to the ccecum col i, as in man. It wants the ligament of the hip joint, and acquires an enormous laryngeal pouch when full grown. See Chimpanzee. O'RANGE. The well-known fruit of the orange tree, the Citrus aurantium of botanists. India and China are the native countries of the orange; and the Portuguese are entitled to the honour of having transferred the plant to other countries. The principal varieties of the orange tree are the orange, the lime, the lemon, and the citron, fruits which have now become so common as to give a tropical character to the de ert. The orange is not considered to have been grown in Europe till the J 4th century; and in England they have been cultivated in conservatories since 1492. They are propagated either by seeds, by cuttings, by layers, by grafting, or by inoculation; but the plants grown from seeds require so long to come to perfection that they are seldom so propagated in England. Oranges are imported into this country in chests and boxes packed separately in paper. The best are brought from the Azores and Spain; but very good ones also come from Portugal, Italy, Malta, and other places. The orange trade carried on by this country is of considerable value and importance. Not only is the fruit held in high estimation, but, from the extreme productivene of the tree, it is sold at a price little more and sometimes even le expensive than our ordinary domestic fruits. The entries for home consumption at an average of the three years ending 1838 amounted to about 260.000 boxes; each box containing about 700 lemons and oranges: the duty amounted to about 60,000/. a-year The peel of the orange when preserved is a well-known article of confectionary; its flowers yield an e ential oil scarcely le esteemed as a perfume than the celebrated ottar of roses; while, as if nature had intended every part of it for the use of man, the wood of the tree is suscoptlble of the highest polish, and is extensively employed in the arts. O'KANCJKMEN. The name given to the society instituted in Ireland In 1795 to uphold the Protestant 850 ORATORY. religion and ascendency, and for the discouragement of Catholicism. It had office-bearers, a secret organization, distinctive or orange colours, and occasional proce ions. It was at length suppre ed by act of parliament in 1836. ORANGERY. A kind of gallery, in a garden or parterre, to preserve orange trees in ciuring the winter season. For trees in large boxes a proportionably large and lofty house is requisite; it may be opaque on the north side, with a gla roof, front, and ends, of any convenient or desired length, width, and height. For one of moderate size, the height at the back wall may be fifteen feet, at front ten feet, and the width of the house fifteen feet. The floor may be either perfectly level, and the boxes placed on it, the largest behind, so as their tops may form a slope to the front gla , as in the conservatory of Prince Borghese at Rome; or if the trees are young, a stage may be erected for a few years, in order to raise the plants to the light: but if the trees are of a considerable size, the best way is to have square pits in the floor at regular distances, somewhat larger than each box, and in these to sink the boxes, covering them with mould, sand, or mo , nearly to the level of the pavement, so that each tree so placed and dre ed will appear as if planted in a small compartment of earth. Such is the plan of the large conservatory in the royal gardens at IVionza. The walk, unle where a stage is adopted, should be in the middle of the house, with corresponding doors in each end; but where the trees are young, and placed on a stage like greenhouse plants, the walk should be in front, as in no other situation could the eye of the spectator meet the foliage of the plants. Where the walk is in the middle, and a double row of trees on each side, as at Monza, the effect in winter is truly magnificent and gratifying. Where the trees are to be planted as standards in the borders or floor of the house, it is e entially requisite to the health and beauty of the plants that the building he glazed on all sides. Showers might be supplied in Loddiges's manner; heat by steam, hot water, or flues; and in winter the beds might be covered with turf, strewed with daisies, violets, and primroses: these would come early into flower; and if the turf were kept very short about the roots of the flowering plants, and the trees in excellent condition, only those who have seen the first rate regularly planted standard orange groves of Nervi could form an idea of the effect, which, by contrast with the external winter, would be felt as luxurious, and as anticipating real spring. An orangery is distinguished from a conservatory by its having an opaque roof, while that of the latter is glazed. The orangery at Versailles is the most magnificent that ever was built. ORATO'RIO. (Ital., from Lat. oratorium, a small chapel; which again is derived from orare, to pray.) A sacred musical composition, consisting of airs, recitatives, duets, trios, choruses, ., the subject of which is generally taken from scripture. The text is usually in a dramatic form, as in Handel's Samson; but it sometimes takes the form of a narrative, as in Israel in Egypt; occasionally it is of a mixed character, as in Haydn's Creation; and sometimes it consists merely of detached pa ages from scripture, as in the Me iah. The origin of oratorios has been variously ascribed; but the most prevalent opinion regards them as originally founded upon the spiritual songs and dialogues which were sung or recited by the priests of the oratory. (Sec Oratory.) The more recent introduction of this species of musical drama is on all sides attributed to St. Philippo Neri, about the middle of the 16th century; but oratorios, properly so called, were not produced till about a century afterwards. At first the persons introduced were sometimes ideal, sometimes parabolical, and sometimes, as in the later oratorios, taken from sacred history; but this species of drama soon a umed a more regular form, and oratorios became great favourites in Italy, where they were constantly performed during the Carnival; and they have since given birth to some of the noblest and most elaborate compositions of the great masters both of that and other countries. Oratorios were first introduced into England by the great Handel in 1720, though they were not publicly performed till 1732; and such was their succe that in 17.S7 they began to be performed twice a week during the season of Lent: a custom which, under the able management of T. C. Smith, Linley, and Arnold, ., succe ively, was regularly continued down to a very recent period, when, in consequence of the introduction of profane music and other irregularities during the management of Mr. Ashley, they began to degenerate, and were at length discontinued. Within the last two or three years similar performances, though not entitled oratorios, have been again revived at Exeter Hall by the Sacred Harmonic Society, on a scale of magnificence previously unknown. O'RATORY, signifies, commonly, a room in a private house set apart for prayer. It differs from a chapel, inasmuch as it does not contain an altar, nor may ma b« celebrated in it. O'RAToiiY. See Eloquence, Rhetoric. Page 864