ட் and by the worship of it in Egypt, which the Israelites imitated in making their golden calf at Mount Sinai. Yet oxen do not appear to have formed any part of the wealth of the patriarchs. The ox was probably used as a beast of burden or draught before it was valued for its milk. It is mentioned by Cesar as a principal part of the wealth of the Britons at the time of the Roman invasion. OX. The ox is more frequently employed as a beast of burden and of draught in some parts of the continent of Europe than in Britain. From the earliest historic times, the horse has been more generally thus employed in Britain, and has now almost entirely superseded the ox. The gait of the ox is slow and plodding, but its strength enables it to perform a great amount of work, and it is not easily exhausted. It needs, however, intervals of rest inconvenient for the farmer; and it is not capable of exertion at all equal to that of the horse on any occasion of emergency.-The ox is chiefly valuable for its flesh and its milk; but almost every part of the animal is useful-the fat, skin, hair, horns, intestines. The period of gestation of the ox is nine months, or 270 days. It rarely produces more than one calf at a birth. It attains maturity in two or three years, becomes evidently aged at ten, and seldom lives more than fourteen. Cows are seldom kept for the dairy after they are seven or eight years old, as after that age they yield less milk and of inferior quality. Modern husbandry has also found means to fatten cattle for the market at an earlier age than was formerly usual; and although the beef is not quite so good in quality, the profit is great, both to the farmer and to the community, through the increased productiveness of the land. The ox is gregarious, and where circumstances permit, as in the South American plains, associates in very large herds. Herds of oxen defend themselves with great vigour against the large feline animals and other assailants, the younger and weaker animals being placed in the middle, whilst the bulls in the outer rank confront the adversary with their horns. The varieties or breeds differ very much in size. Among those which occur in the British Islands, the Shetland breed is not much larger than a calf of some of the others. Some of the breeds of the torrid zone are also very small; but the fatty hump on the back may probably be regarded as indicating a connection with the Indian ox or Zebu (q. v.), which, although it has been generally regarded as a variety of the common ox, is perhaps a distinct species.-The wild ox,' now existing only in a few parks, as at Chillingham and Hamilton, seems, whatever its origin, to have been formerly an inhabitant of many forest districts in Britain, particularly in the north of England and south of Scotland. The Chillingham wild oxen are of a creamy white colour, much smaller than many of the domestic breeds, of a graceful form, with sharp horns, which are not very long, and not very much curved. The uniform white colour is to be ascribed to the care taken to destroy every calf which is not perfect in this respect. 'The habits of these wild oxen are very similar to those of the domestic racos. -The West Highland breed, or Kyloe, differs very little from the Chillingham or Hamilton wild ox, except in being generally black. It has short muscular limbs, a wide and deep chest, well-arched ribs, and a straight back; the horns are often somewhat long; the muzzle is short but not broad; the skin is closely covered with shaggy hair. The milk is very rich, but the quantity is so small, that this breed is very unsuitable for dairy farming. The beef, however, is of the finest quality; and great numbers of cattle, reared in the Highlands and Hebrides, are annually conveyed to other parts of the country, to De fattened on rich pastures. The breed is a very hardy one, and peculiarly suited to the region in which it prevails.-The Galloway breed is very lik the preceding, but larger and destitute of horns; and many cattle reared in the hilly parts of Galloway are fattened on English pastures for the London market. The Pembroke 2nd other Welsh breeds are not unlike the West Highland; but the cows yield milk more abundantly.-The diminutive Shelland breed is very hardy, and is celebrated for the fine quality of its beef. The Shetland ox is casily fattened, even on scanty pasturage. The milk which the cows yield is also remarkably abundant in proportion to their small size. The Ayrshire breed is particularly celebrated for the abundance and excellence of its milk, but the beef is of inferior quality, and the animal is not easily fattened. Great care has been bestowed on this breed in Ayrshire and neighbouring counties, where dairy farming is much practised. The horns are smaller than those of the West Highland breed, the hair much smoother, and the colour chiefly brownish-red, with large patches of white. -The Alderney breed much resembles the Ayrshire, but the milk is comparatively small in quantity, and remarkable for the richness of the cream, on which account Alderney cows are often kept for the supply of private dairies. The milk of an Alderney cow, mixed with that of a dozen other cows, will sensibly improve the quality of the butter. But this breed is worthless for the purposes of the grazier.-The Suffolk Dun is a polled or hornless breed, of clumsy form, and of little value to the grazier, but yielding a very large quantity of milk, on which account Suffolk has long been celebrated for its dairy produce.-The North Devon is a pretty large breed, with rather short horns, very muscular and powerful, and also very gentle and docile, so that it is parti cularly adapted for draught; and much agricultural labour is still performed in Devonshire by teams of oxen of this breed. The North Devon breed, however, is surpassed by others, both for the purposes of the dairy farmer and of the grazier.-The Hereford breed, of stouter form than the Ayrshire, but in England and in Scotland, in the districts of richest pasturage. The colour varies from pure white to bright red; the head is short and very broad; the chest is wide, deep, and projecting; the fore-legs are short, the back straight, and not very long, the 'barrel' full. The ease with which oxen of this breed are fattened is one of its great recommendations. The beef is also of excellent quality. For dairy purposes, the Short-horn is 8irpassed by some other breeds; but a cross between a Short-horn bull and an Ayrshire cow is found useful both for beef and milk. The Short-horn breed is now cherished in Britain with peculiar care; genealogies are registered, and prodigious prices are given for first-rate animals. It is also in great esteem in many parts of the continent of Europe, and in America. The Long-horn breed, long prevalent in the midland counties of England, and still prevalent in Ireland, was brought to great perfection by Bakewell, one of the first to shew what could be done in the improvement of cattle; but is rapidly giving place to the Short-horn, by which it is much excelled. The length of the horns in this breed is very remarkable. described under the article DAIRY. Cows, under our modern systems of agriculture, are selected either for their properties of giving large quantities of milk, or for raising stock which are well suited for grazing and fattening. For milking properties, the Ayrshire breed stands undoubtedly at the head of the list. In comparison with some of the other breeds, the Ayrshire is rather deficient in size, with the flesh spread thinly over its body. In the male animals these characteristics are all the more prominent, and for this reason the breed is not much liked by graziers. It is capable, however, of thriving on secondary or even inferior pastures. Wherever, therefore, it is found most profitable to follow dairy husbandry in Scotland, the Ayrshire cow is preferred. A considerable variety of breeds are cultivated both for milking and grazing in the western parts of England, the principal of which are the Herefords and Devons. In the eastern counties, again, where arable culture and the rearing and feeding of cattle are chiefly followed, the Ayrshire gives place to the Aberdeen, the Angus, and the Teeswater. The cow is there selected for its massive and square-built frame, soft skin, and meatOf foreign races of oxen, one of the most notable, producing qualities. For more than a century on account of its large size, is that in possession of vast care has been bestowed on the improvement of the Kalmuck Tartars; another is that prevalent in the short-horns. In this breed the pedigrees of the the Roman states, generally of a bluish-ash colour, sire and the dam are traced back for many gener with remarkably large and spreading horns. Aations, and purity of blood is quite essential in large white breed was long kept in Egypt; and a herds of any pretensions. The large sums which similar breed, without the hump characteristic of particular cows and bulls of this breed realise, attest the Indian Ox, is found in South Africa, where, the value which modern breeders set upon animals however, it has become partially intermixed with which are considered to approach perfection in their European breeds. Oxen are much employed by the form and style. In no department of British agriKaffirs as beasts of burden; they were also formerly culture are the results of care and attention more trained by the Hottentots to aid them in battle. strongly marked than in the noble figure of the Peter Kolben, in his account of the Cape of Good short-horned cow or bull. Hope, written in 1705, gives an interesting description of these trained fighting oxen, which, he says, are called Backeleyers. In the wars of the Hottentots with one another,' he says, 'these backeleyers make very terrible impressions. They gore, and kick, and trample to death with incredible fury.' He ascribes to them also great docility, and states that they know every inhabitant of the kraal, and are perfectly inoffensive towards them, but ready to run with fury at strangers. The readiness with which the draught oxen of South Africa observe the words of the driver, is said to be almost, if not quite, equal to that of the dog. In the training of them, however, severe measures are often requisite, and particularly by a hooked stick inserted through the cartilage which separates the nostrils, as bulls are ringed when sent to exhibitions of cattle in Britain. Trained oxen are also employed in the training of their younger fellows. In some parts of Africa the ox is used for riding as well as for draught. The horns, which are very long, are split into ribbons, or curved in various directions, to prevent their points from coming in contact, by any accident, with the person of the rider. The pace of the ox scarcely exceeds four or five miles an The rearing and fattening of the ox is one of the most important branches of agriculture. Since the prices of butcher-meat have become so much higher relatively to corn in this country, the breeding and feeding of cattle have received a great impetus. Fifty years ago, many of our old breeds of cattle were kept till they were four or five years old before they were sent fat to the butcher. The demand for meat was so limited then in the north, that most of the cattle were sent south lean, to be fattened on the pastures and turnips of the eastern counties of England. The introduction of steam-shipping, followed by railways, has given the Scotch breeder and feeder great facilities for disposing of fatted cattle, and now there are no lean cattle sent to the south. Indeed, the extension of green crops in Scotland has been so great, that large numbers of lean cattle are imported from England, as well as Ireland, to be fed in the stalls and courts during winter. This applies to the arable districts, where the land does not remain more than one year in grass. In Aberdeenshire, where the land rests from three to four years in grass, more cattle are bred and turned out fat, which is by far the most profitable system, seeing the breeder often gets a larger share of the profits than the feeder. The short horned blood is in great request to cross with the native breeds, rendering the progeny much easier fattened, as well as causing them to grow to a larger size. It is now the most approved method to feed the calf from the time it is dropped till it is sent to the butcher. Oil-cake is generally considered the best and most healthy auxiliary food for stock, The cow has been for ages tended by man whether old or young. In the pastoral districts of on account of the agreeable and highly nutritious England, where little of the land is cultivated, the fluid which is obtained from it. Milk is manufac- rearing of cattle to be sent into the arable districts tured into cheese and butter, which are capable is carried out. The young animals are fed with of being preserved for a considerable time. The hay in winter instead of straw and turnips. Large are obtained processes by which these are numbers of cattle are fattened on turnips and hour. A very remarkable conformation of skull occurs in some of the herds of South American oxen, the bones of the nose and the jaw-bones being very much shortened; yet there is no question that this is a mere accidental variation, which has become perpetuated as one of race. Importance has been attached to it in the discussions regarding species. 167 OXALIC ACID-OXALIDEE. mangold in winter in Norfolk and eastern counties. Large allowances of cake and corn are there given in addition to the roots. OXA'LIC ACID (C2H2O1.2H2O) was first obtained by Savary by heating salt of sorrel. It occurs in colourless, transparent, oblique, rhombic prisins, which have an intensely sour taste, and are soluble in nine parts of cold water, and much more freely in boiling water. Crystallised oxalic acid melts at about 208-4° F. in its water of crystallisation; on continued heating, part of it sublimes as dry oxalic acid, C2H2O4, hile the greater part suffers decomposition. It also gradually gives off its water over oil of vitriol at 68° F., being completely dehydrated in the course of a few When the crystallised acid is rapidly heated to about 300°, it is decomposed into a final mixture of carbonic anhydride and formic acid; the formic acid produced being again decomposed in the process into weeks. carbonic oxide and water. common mode of preparation is by the oxidation of starch or sugar by nitric acid. The organic compound and the nitric acid are heated in a flask till all effervescence has ceased, after which the solution is evaporated, and the oxalic acid separates in crystals on cooling. This acid forms three series of salts, viz., neutral, acid, and hyper-acid, which, if M represents the metal entering into the salt, may be represented by the formula: C2M204, C2HMO4, and C2HKO4.C2H2O4, or CALIзKOε, the last being a compound of the acid salt and the Oxalate of calcium (C2Ca404) and ordinary (neutral) oxalate of ammonium (C2(NH4)2O4. H2O) are examples of the first; binoxalate of potassium or salt of sorrel (C2HKO4) is an example of the sec ond; while the salt usually termed quadroxalate of potassium (CH3KO8.2H2O) is an example of the Oxalic Acid. Carbonic Anhydride. Formic Acid. Carb. Oxide. Water. third class. Of the numerous oxalates, the most C2H2O4 = CO2 + CH2O2 C2H2O4 = CO2 + CO + H2 important are the oxalate of calcium (in consequence of its physiological and pathological relations); the neutral oxalate of ammonium, which is the best test The formic acid, when heated, yielding carbonic acid for the detection of lime in solution (in conse and water. When warmed with strong sulphuric acid, oxalate of calcium); and the acid oxalate of potasquence of the extreme insolubility of the resulting it is decomposed into equal volumes of carbonic anhy-sium, which is contained in the juices of oxalis and dride and carbonic oxide, and into water; according rumer, and is employed in various manufacturing to the equation: C2H2O4 CO2+ CO + H2O This reaction affords one of the best means of obtaining carbonic oxide for use in the laboratory. Oxidising agents, such as peroxide of manganese, peroxide of lead, nitric acid, &c., convert oxalic into carbonic anhydride, and on this property is based a good method of determining the commercial value of the black oxide of manganese. Oxalic acid is one of the most powerful of the organic acids, and expeis carbonic acid and many other acids from their salts. The acid itself, and its soluble salts, are poisonous. This acid is very widely diffused throughout the vegetable kingdom. Sometimes it occurs in a free state (as in Boletus sulphureus), but much more frequently as a salt, either of potash, as in the different species of Oxalis (from which genus the acid was originally obtained and derives its name), and of Rumex; or of soda, as in various species of Salicornia and Salsola; or of lime, as in Rhubarb and many Lichens. In the animal kingdom, it never occurs except in minute quantity and in combination with lime. Oxalate of lime is found in a crystalline shape, both in healthy and morbid urine. In the latter, it constitutes the leading symptom of the affection termed OXALURIA (q. v.), while in the former it occurs after the use of wines and beer containing much carbonic acid, of sorrel, rhubarb-stalks, &c., and after the administration of the alkaline bicarbonates. It is the constituent of the urinary calculus, known from its rough exterior as the mulberry calculus. Crystals of oxalate of lime have also been found in the mucus of the gall-bladder, on the mucous membrane of the impregnated uterus. and in morbid blood. They have likewise been detected in the biliary vessels and excrements of caterpillars. In the mineral kingdom these crystals have been detected in association with crystals of calcareous spar. Oxalic acid is produced by the action of either hydrate of potash or of nitric acid upon most organic compounds of natural occurrence. Its most processes. The best test for this acid is the production of a white precipitate (of oxalate of calcium), on the addition of any soluble salt of calcium. The pre cipitate is insoluble in water, in solution of potash, and in acetic acid, but dissolves in the mineral acids. A solution of nitrate of silver also gives a white precipitate of oxalate of silver, which explodes when heated. In consequence of its employment in cotton printing, bleaching straw, &c., oxalic acid is more accessible to the general public than many other from the swallowing of this acid are by no means and on this account instances of suicide poisons; uncommon. Cases of accidental poisoning, moreover, sometimes occur by its being sold by mistake for Epsom salts. Large doses destroy life very rapidly. Dr A. Taylor mentions a case in which a man died in 20 minutes after taking two ounces of the acid. killed a girl in 30 minutes, and another case in which the same quantity destroyed life in ten minutes; and, as a general rule (liable to exceptions), when the dose is half an ounce or upwards, death commonly takes place within the hour. symptoms are a hot or burning acid taste, with a sense of constriction or suffocation; vomiting, great pain in the region of the stomach, convulsions, cold perspirations and general collapse speedily follow; and spasmodic. With the view of converting the and respiration shortly before death becomes slow free acid in the stomach into an insoluble and inert salt, chalk, whiting, or lime-water, with full draughts of milk, should be administered with the least possible delay. Salt of sorrel is almost as poisonous as the pure acid. Dr Christison records a case in which an ounce The OXALI'DEE, or OXALIDA'CEE, a natural order of exogenous plants, allied to Geraniacea; including herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees; with generally compound alternate leaves; calyx of five equal persistent sepals; corolla of five equal unguiculate petals, spirally twisted in bud; ten stameus, usually more or less united by the filaments, in two rows; the ovary usually 5-celled, with five styles; the fruit a capsule opening by as many or twice as many valves as it has cells, or OXALIDEE-OXENSTIERNA. more rarely a berry; the seeds few, attached to the axis. There are upwards of 300 known species, natives of warm and temperate climates. They are particularly abundant in North America and at the Cape of Good Hope. The flora of Britain includes only two small species of Oxalis. An acid juice is very characteristic of this order. Some of the tropical species produce agreeable acid fruits, as the Carambola (q. v.).-The genus Oxalis has a capsular fruit, and the seeds have an elastic integument, which at last bursts open and projects the seed to a distance. The species are mostly herbaceous plants with ternate or digitate-rarely simple or pinnate leaves; a few are shrubs. The stems and leaves generally contain a notable quantity of Binoxalate of Potash, and have therefore a sour taste. The COMMON WOOD-SORREL (O. acetosella), very abundant in shady woods and groves in Britain and most part of Europe, and introduced into North America, is a beautiful little plant, often covering the ground with its green leaves, amidst which the white or slightly roseate flowers appear. Its leaves all grow from the root, a long leaf-stalk bearing three obovate leaflets; the scape bears a single flower. There is a subterranean scaly root-stock. On account of their grateful acid taste, the leaves are used in salads and sauces. The plant is extremely abundant in Lapland, and is much used by the Laplanders. It is antiscorbutic and refrigerant, and an infusion of it is a grateful drink in fevers. Binoxalate of potash is obtained from the leaves by expressing the juice, and crystallising; and is sold not only under the name of Salt of Sorrel, but also of Essential Salt of Lemons, and is used for extracting spots, and particularly iron-marks, from linen, and for other purposes. Much of it is now, however, obtained from a very different source. See OXALIC ACID.-O. corniculata, rare in Britain, and almost confined to the south of England, but a plant of very extensive distribution, being found in Europe, North America, India, Japan, and some of the African islands, has a branched stem, with decum bent branches, leaves very similar to those of the common wood-sorrel, and yellow flowers. Its properties agree with those of the common woodBorrel. Many other species much resemble these in their general appearance and properties. Some of the species exhibit an irritability like that of the Sensitive Plant; generally, as in the two British species, in a slight degree, and notably only in hot sunshine, but O. sensitiva, an East Indian species, with pinnate leaves, possesses this property in a high degree. Some species of Oxalis, as O. cernua, a native of South Africa, are remarkable for producing large bulbils in the axils of the lower leaves. Several species have tuberous roots, and are cultivated on account of their tubers; as O. crenata and O. tuberosa, natives of Peru and Bolivia, where they are much esteemed, and both receive the name OCA. The tubers, when cooked, become mealy like potatoes. They have a slightly acid taste. 0. crenata has been cultivated in gardens in Britain for about thirty years, but continues to be almost exclusively an object of curiosity, being too tender for the climate, and its produce very inconsiderable in quantity. Its tubers are yellow, in size and shape like small potatoes. The succulent stalks of the leaves abound in a pleasant acid juice, and make excellent tarts and preserves. O. tuberosa produces numerous small tubers. The Bolivians often expose them for a long time to the sun, by which they lose their acidity, become saccharine, and acquire a taste and consistence like dried figs. O. Deppei is a Mexican species, with a root somewhat like a small parsnip, quite free of acidity. It is much cultivated in its native country, and succeeds well in the southern parts of England. O. tetraphylla and O. crassicaulis, natives of Mexico, and O. enneaphylla, a native of the Falkland Islands, also have eatable roots. Many species of Oxalis are much esteemed as ornaments of gardens and green-houses. OXALU'RIA, or THE OXALIC ACID DIA'. THESIS, is a morbid condition of the system, in which one of the most prominent symptoms is the persistent occurrence of crystals of oxalate of lime in the urine. These crystals most commonly occur times in the form of dumb-bells; in order to detect as very minute transparent octahedra, but somethem, the urine, which usually in these cases presents a mucous cloud, should be allowed to stand for some hours in a conical glass, and after the crystals have gradually subsided, the greater part of the fluid should be poured away, and the drops remaining at the bottom examined with a power of not less than 200 diameters. These crystals, which are insoluble in acetic acid, may occur either in acid of urine are usually dyspeptic, hypochondriacal, and or in alkaline urine. Persons who secrete this form liable to attacks of boils, cutaneous eruptions, and neuralgia. The oxalic acid, in these cases, is not introduced into the system with the food, but is a due to the imperfect oxidation of compounds, which product of the disintegration of the tissues, and is should normally have been converted into carbonic equivalent of oxygen to convert it into carbonic an(Anhydrous oxalic acid, C2H2O4, requires 1 hydride and water, 2(CO2) + H2O. Hence, if these two equivalents of oxygen are wanting in the system, blood, oxalic acid, in combination with lime, appears in consequence of imperfect oxygenation of the as a final excretion in place of carbonic acid.) The occurrence of oxalic acid as a persistent sediment morbid condition of the system, but may give rise in the urine, is not only an indication of an existing to two perfectly distinct dangerous complications; acid. a concretion of oxalate of lime (mulberry calculus) may be formed either in the kidney or the bladder; and (2) bad consequences may arise from the poisonous action of the oxalic acid on the digestive organs, on the heart, and on the nervous system. The treatment is simple. Care must be taken that the patient should avoid articles of diet containing oxalic acid (such as sorrel, rhubarb, tomatoes, &c.), or readily converted into it (such as sugar), and should take plenty of exercise in the open air, withall drinks containing much carbonic acid; while he out fatiguing himself; should use the shower-bath, unless he feels chilled and depressed after its application, in which case he should rub the body all over daily with a horse-hair glove; and should employ as a tonic medicine either a little nitroacid in an ounce and a half of Infusion of Chyretta), muriatic acid in a bitter infusion (20 minims of the or five grains of citrate of iron and quinine three times daily. Under this treatment, the oxalates usually almost entirely disappear from the urine in two or three weeks. OXENSTIERNA, AXEL, COUNT, an illustriona Swedish statesman, was born at Fånö, in Upland, 16th June 1583. He was originally educated for the church, and studied theology as well as jurisprudence at Rostock, Jena, and Wittenberg, in the last of which universities he took his degrees. Although he afterwards devoted himself to public affairs, he continued all his life to take a deep personal interest in religious questions, and laboured zealously for the extension of the Protestant doctrines. After leaving the university, he visited most of the German courts, but returned to Sweden in 1603, and soon afterwards eutered the service OXENSTIERNA-OXFORD. 6 OX-EYE. See CHRYSANTHEMUM. O'XFORD, an ancient and famous city and seat of learning in England, the chief town of the county of Oxford, is situated on the north-east bank of the Isis, a tributary of the Thames, a little above the point where it is met by the Cherwell. Both streams are crossed by numerous bridges, of which the finest are Folly Bridge over the Isis, and Magdalen Bridge over the Cherwell. Lat. of the city, 51° 45′ 55" N., long. 1° 15' 29' W. Distance from London, 55 miles west-north-west. Pop. (1871) 34,482. O. occupies an undulating site, is surrounded by rich and wooded meadows, and presents to the eye of the approaching visitor a scene of unequalled architectural magnificence-spires, and towers and domes rising as thickly as chimneystalks in the manufacturing towns of Lancashire or Yorkshire. The four main streets of O. meet at right angles near the centre of the town, at a place still called Carfax, a corruption of Quatre voies, and which appears in Agas's map (temp. Elizabeth). as Cater voys. These are-Cornmarket Street, leading into St Giles's, and running due north; Queen Street, leading to the railway-stations, and running west; St Aldate's Street, leading to the Isis, and running due south; and High Street, which is the chief street of the city, gracefully curving in an easterly direction, and conducting to the river Cherwell, a smaller river joining the Isis soon after it has passed Oxford. of Charles IX., who, in 1606, despatched him as had been declared of age in 1644, did not shew arubassador to the court of Mecklenburg. He a proper respect for the advice of O.; and after she became a senator in 1608-a dignity which had had-through mere feminine wilfulness-abdicated been enjoyed by thirteen of his predecessors in in spite of all his protestations, he withdrew from uninterrupted succession. Having displayed great public life, and died 28th August 1654, shortly after prudence and wisdom in the settlement of certain she had left Sweden. He entertained a genuine disputes between the Livonian nobles and the town affection for the daughter of his noble master, and of Reval, he was appointed by Charles-now infirm in his last moments her name was upon his lips. from age-guardian of the royal family, and head of Some treatises and historical fragments are attributed the regency. On the accession of Gustavus Adolphus to him, and his 'Journal' has been published in the (q. v.), in 1611, O. was made chancellor; and in Stockholm Magazine.' See Lundblad's Svensk 1613, acted as minister-plenipotentiary in the Plutarch (2 vols. Stock. 1824); Fryxell's History negotiations for peace between Sweden and Den- of Gustavus Adolphus; and Geijer's History of mark. In the following year he accompanied his Sweden. Sovereign to Poland, and by the peace of Stolbova, in 1617, terminated hostilities between Sweden and Russia. His political sagacity was not less conspicuously shewn in his successful efforts to prevent Gustavus from marrying Ebba Brahe, a Swedish beauty, and in bringing about a match between his master and the Princess Maria-Eleonora of Brandenburg. In 1621, on the departure of the king for the Polish war, he was charged with the administration of affairs at home, which he conducted with his invariable felicity; subsequently, he was appointed governor-general of the conquered districts; and in 1629, concluded peace with the Poles on highly favourable conditions. For a while 0. strongly opposed the desire of Gustavus to take part in the Thirty Years' War;' his hope being to see the latter arbiter of the north of Europe; but when he found that the Protestant sympathies of the king were irrepressible, he set about collecting money and troops for the perilous enterprise, with all the quiet but wonderful activity and persistency that so remarkably characterised him. After Gustavus had fairly entered on the bloody struggle, O. joined him, and conducted most of the extensive and complicated diplomacy which the course of events entailed on Sweden. The death of Gustavus for a moment paralysed him, but he instantly recovered, and heroically resolved to continue the contest with the imperialists, in spite of the visible disaffection of many of the German Protestant princes, among others, of the Elector of Saxony. The will of the dead monarch was sent to Stockholm; according to The western half of the town is the most uninterits conditions, the government-during the minority esting; and it is a misfortune that the railwayof Christina (q. v.)-was intrusted to five nobles, stations are placed here, as travellers, on arriving, who empowered the chancellor to prosecute the are introduced to the meanest parts of the city war. His difficulties were enormous, yet by inde- first. The county courts and jail, and the remains fatigable efforts he managed partly to allay the of the castle, from which the Empress Maud escaped discontents, jealousies, and rivalries of the Protest- while it was hesieged by King Stephen, will be ant leaders. The disastrous defeat of the Swedes observed in passing. There is one good street at Nordlingen in 1634, and the perplexities which in this part-viz, Beaumont Street, built on the followed it, would have stupified most men in the site of the ancient Beaumont Palace, in which position of O., but it only called out more energetic- Richard I. was born. At the end of this street ally his splendid diplomatic genius. Transferring stands Worcester College. Passing to the north the leadership of the Protestant forces to Duke from Carfax, along the Cornmarket, the old tower Bernhard (q. v.) of Weimar, he proceeded, in 1635, of St Michael's Church is seen, against which stood to France and Holland, and formed alliances with formerly the north gate of the city; next St Mary these countries. Returning to Germany, he assisted Magdalen Church; then the Martyr's Memorial, in quelling a mutiny among the Swedish troops at with the Taylor and Randolph Buildings on the Magdeburg; put Pomerania in a state of defence, to left, and part of Balliol College and St John's resist the meditated attack of the Elector of Bran- College on the right. St Giles's Church is at the denburg; renewed the treaty with Poland; and north end of this street, which is very wide, and has leaving Baner in command of the Swedes, returned a row of elm-trees on each side, forming a picturto Stockholm in 1636, where he was received with esque avenue like a foreign boulevard. Beyond the liveliest enthusiasm. He still continued, how- this, to the north, is the Radcliffe Observatory and ever, to direct ably the policy of the Protestants in Infirmary. The High Street is about 1000 yards Germany, till the peace of Westphalia, in 1618, put in length; it is reckoned one of the noblest streets an end to the war. O.'s son was one of the Swedish-architecturally considered-in Europe, and conenvoys who signed the treaty, and it is in a letter to him that the famous sentence of the statesman occurs, Nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia homines regantur-(You do not yet know, my son, with how little wisdom men are governed'). Christina, who tains, among other edifices, part of the buildings of Magdalen College, Queen's College, All-Souls' College, University College, and St Mary's and AllSaints' Churches. Parallel to it is Broad Street, in which are situated Balliol, Trinity, and Exeter |