Acton in Gloucestershire, and employed himself in studying Latin; for Archbishop Abbot, the instructor appointed by the king, had been more successful in teaching the youth protestant principles than the classical tongues. In 1631, being in Ireland, he purchased a troop of horse, and in 1632 succeeded his grandfather as the twelfth earl of Ormond. Two years later his high spirit had nearly brought him into collision with Wentworth, the lord-deputy, a man of resolution equal to his own. To prevent bloody quarrels in the parliament-house at Dublin, a proclamation had been issued that no member should enter with his sword. All obeyed but young Ormond, who told the usher in reply to his demand, that he should have no sword of his "except in his guts." On being called to account by the lord-deputy, Ormond produced the king's writ, calling him to parliament cinctum cum gladio. The stern Wentworth hesitated for a moment whether to crush or encourage so daring a young man. Fortunately for the king's interest, the gentler course was adopted, and before the close of the year Ormond was called into the privy council. He remained in Ireland exercising unimportant military commands until (1641) he was appointed by the English parliament, with the consent of the king, lieutenant-general of the forces in Ireland. He showed great vigour and ability in the use of the means at his disposal, routed the rebels in various engagements, and triumphing at Lyons, at Kilsaghlan, at Naas, at Tipper, and at Kilrush. From the parliament he received thanks, and a jewel worth £620, while the king created him Marquis of Ormond. In 1642 he took several castles, and gained a complete victory over General Preston at Ross. In the following year he concluded a truce with the Irish recusants, and sent all the succours he could command to the king in England, where the civil war had begun. In November, 1643, the king made him lord-lieutenant of Ireland, an office which he held until 1647, when, with his majesty's approbation, he gave up his authority to the parliament's commissioners. Finding the king a prisoner at Hampton court, he went to France and waited on the queen and prince of Wales, who consulted him continually. In September, 1648, he returned secretly to Ireland, and after the execution of Charles I. he caused Charles II. to be proclaimed king there. His efforts for the recovery of the kingdom proving ineffectual, he returned to Paris in 1650, having earned the distinction of being specially excepted in Cromwell's act for the settlement of Ireland from pardon of life or estate. He gave faithful attendance and counsel to the royal fugitives during their exile, and at the Restoration was reinstated in his honours, created a peer of England as Baron Butler and Earl of Brecknock, and Duke of Ormond in Ireland. At the coronation he was lord high steward. In November, 1661, he was declared lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and retained the government until February, 1668. The Irish parliament presented him with £30,000 as a testimony of gratitude and affection; but his removal, brought about by the duke of Buckingham and other enemies, prevented his receipt of £98,256 due to him, and kept his affairs in embarrassment to the end of his life. It has been computed that he lost altogether by his loyalty nearly £900,000. In 1669 he was chosen to succeed Archbishop Sheldon as chancellor of the university of Oxford. For a third time he was sworn lord-lieutenant of Ireland in August, 1667; and continuing in the office till 1682, he with difficulty obtained leave to go to England where he was created an English duke in consideration of his faithful services, and particularly for his keeping Ireland quiet all the time of the popish plot. At the coronation of James II. he again bore the crown as lord high steward, after which he returned to Ireland. He was recalled, however, and showed plainly to the displeased king his disapproval of the policy then pursued. He died at Kingston hall in Dorsetshire on the 21st of July, 1688, and was buried by his own desire in Westminster abbey, next to his wife and two sons. He was one of the noblest supporters of the Stewarts' cause, and passed through a long life with honour and the esteem of men of all parties. The history of his life by Thomas Carte, 3 vols., folio, 1735, is an important part of the history of his country.—R. H.
ORONTIUS. See Finæus.
OROSIUS, Paulus, a Spanish ecclesiastic and historian, was a native of Tarragona, where he was born in the fourth century. Of his early life little or nothing is known; but in 414 he was sent into Africa to Augustine respecting some heretics who there troubled the church. He continued with Augustine for a year, and profited by his instructions, after which he went on to Palestine to consult Jerome as to the origin of the soul—a question then much disputed. He subsequently returned home, and wrote the history which bears his name, consisting of seven books, which extend from the creation to 416. This work was meant as a reply to the Gentiles, who ascribed all public calamities to the prevalence of the christian religion. Orosius showed that all the history of the world was full of the records of calamities, and that they were therefore not fairly charged upon christianity. He has accumulated many terrible stories from different sources, some of which are not now accessible; but the most valuable portion of the work refers to events in the author's lifetime, and especially the capture of Rome by the Goths. The work was translated or paraphrased in Anglo-Saxon by Alfred, the best edition of which is by Bosworth, 1855. An English version appeared in Bohn's series, 1847. The latest Latin edition is that printed at Thorn, 1857. Orosius also wrote on free-will, and a letter to Augustine.—B. H. C
ORSINI, a puissant and illustrious house of Southern Italy, of which the Roman branch is best known, though now the stock survives only in Naples as princes of Orsini-Gravina. In the sanguinary struggle of Guelphs against Ghibellines, the Orsini, who rivalled the great Colonna family in wealth and influence, cast in their lot with the former party in support of the pope and Italian independence. The Orsini have given senators to Rome, cardinals to the sacred college, and Popes Nicholas III. and Benedict XIII. to the holy see.—C. G. R.
ORSINI, Felice, revolutionist, born at Meldola in the Roman states in 1819; guillotined in Paris for an attempt to assassinate Napoleon III., 13th March, 1858. Early in life Felice attached himself to the anti-government party; joined secret societies; was arrested, imprisoned, and received a life-long sentence to the galleys, which, however, was not carried out, as the accession of Pius IX. was followed in July, 1846, by a general amnesty. Once more free, Orsini resumed his interrupted career, sometimes with success, sometimes with failure; was expelled from Tuscany, and led in chains to the Roman frontier. He took part in the Abruzzese disturbances; received from Colonel Zambeccari an honourable certificate of military service, dated Malghera, 5th November, 1848; sat as deputy in the Roman constituent assembly of 1849; and by the triumvir Mazzini was despatched to Ancona, invested with extraordinary powers, which he employed for the suppression of brigandage; he also aided in the defence of Rome and of Venice. In 1853 Orsini was embarked by order of the Sardinian government for England, where he resided for six months on terms of intimacy with Mazzini. In 1854, under the name first of Tito Celsi, next of George Hernagh, he carried on secret machinations; of which the failure consigned him as a prisoner to the fortress of Mantua, there to acquire the experience which he gave to the world in his "Austrian Dungeons of Italy." His escape in 1856 from captivity, with all its details of anxiety and peril, was followed by a return to England, where he was welcomed by Kossuth, and found the homes of many English families thrown open to him. He delivered lectures in Brighton, Kent, and the north; met with an enthusiastic reception alike from ladies and from workmen; and in different parts of the country made many friends, amongst whom he reckoned Walter Savage Landor. But unscrupulous, persevering, courageous, and with all his sins a lover of his country even to death, Orsini was not one to rest content with the bloodless triumphs of a popular lecturer. On the 14th January, 1858, at Paris he played and lost his last desperate stake. Napoleon III. and his empress passed on into the opera house, scarcely scathed by the bombs thrown by a desperate band of conspirators; and Felice Orsini received the just doom of an assassin. From his prison of Mazas he addressed a letter to the emperor, invoking not pardon for himself but aid for Italy; and died, without flinching, in company with his accomplice Pierri.—C. G. R.
ORSINO, Fulvio (Fulvius Ursinus), a learned classical antiquary, born, illegitimate, in Rome, 11th December, 1529; died in the same city 18th May, 1600. Though in holy orders Fulvio proceeded no further than the sub-diaconate, but held benefices, was pensioned by Pope Gregory XIII., and expended his fortune on works of art. He studied with indefatigable zeal, and made use of an undivulged system by which to determine the dates of ancient MSS. He has left a large number of editions and some original matter, including a treatise, "De Familiis Romanorum," and an appendix to Ciaconio's De Triclinio, both witnessing to the vast industry and erudition of their author. He also ren-
