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174
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1910
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Copyright, 1905, by HARPER & Brothers.
Copyright, 1901, by HARPER & Brothers.

All rights reserved.

54-56

Oak Woods, Battle of. In the Civil War the siege of Richmond had gone on quietly until near the close of June, 1862, when General Heintzelman's corps, with a part of Keyes's and Sumner's, was ordered to move forward on the Williamsburg road, through a swampy wood, for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the ground beyond, and to place Heintzelman and Sumner in a position to support a proposed attack upon the Confederates at a certain point by General Franklin. They met a Confederate force, and a fight ensued, in which the brigades of Sickles and Grover, of Hooker's division, bore the brunt. The Confederates were driven from their encampment, and the point aimed at was gained. The National loss was 516 men killed and wounded.

Oaths, solemn appeals to God for the truth of an affirmation. There are two classes of oaths; (1) assertatory, when made as to a fact, etc.; (2) promissory, oaths of allegiance, of office, etc. Taken by Abraham, 1892 B.C. (Gen. xxi. 24), and authorized 1491 B.C. (Exod. xxii. 11). The administration of an oath in judicial proceedings was introduced by the Saxons into England, 600.

Of supremacy. first administered to
British subjects, and ratified by Par-
liament, 26 Henry VIII.
Oaths were taken on the Gospels so
early as 528; and the words, "So
help me God and all saints," conclud-
ed an oath until..

Ancient oath of allegiance in England,
"to be true and faithful to the King
and his heirs, and truth and faith to

VII.-A

1535

1550

bear of life and limb and terrene honor; and not to know or hear of any ill or damage intended him without defending him therefrom," to which James I. added a declaration against the pope's authority. Affirmation of a Quaker authorized inIt was again altered...

stead of an oath, by statute, in 1696 et seq.

Of abjuration, being an obligation to maintain the government of King, lords, and Commons, the Church of England, and toleration of Protestant Dissenters, and abjuring all Roman Catholic pretenders to the crown, 13 William III..

Affirmation, instead of oath, was permitted to Quakers and other Dissenters by acts passed in 1833, 1837, 1838, and 1863.

In 1858 and 1860 Jews elected members

of Parliament were relieved from part of the oath of allegiance,

New oath of allegiance by 31 and 32

Victoria c. 72 (1868), for members of the new Parliament: "I do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Victoria, her heirs and successors, according to law, so help me God." (Bradlaugh case, Parliament, 1880.) Following is the form of the oath of allegiance Washington was directed by Congress to administer to the officers of the army before leaving Valley Forge: "I [name and office], in the armies of the United States of America, do acknowledge the United States of America to be free, independent, and sovereign States, and declare that the people thereof owe no allegiance or obedience to George III., King of Great Britain; and I renounce, refuse, and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him; and I do that

I will to the utmost of my power support, maintain, and defend the said

United States against the said King George III., his heirs and successors, and his or their abettors, assistants, and adherents, and will serve the said United States in the office of which I now hold, with fidelity according to the best of my skill and understanding "

June, 1778

[By act of Congress, Aug. 3, 1861, the oath of allegiance for the cadets at West Point was amended so as to abjure all allegiance, sovereignty, or fealty to any State, county, or country whatsoever, and to require unqualified support of the Constitution and the national government.] "Iron-clad " or "test" oath, prescribed by Congress July 2, 1862, to be taken by persons in the former Confederate States appointed to office under the national government. The text was as follows: I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought, nor accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God."

in honor of J. F. Oberlin (1740-1826), a Protestant pastor of Waldbach, Alsace. In 1903 it reported 96 professors and instructors; 1,509 students; 3,856 graduates; 68,000 volumes in the library; grounds and buildings valued at $716,000; and productive funds, $1,576,153. Henry C. King, D.D., president.

Oblong, THE. In 1731 the long-disputed boundary between New York and Connecticut seemed to be settled by mutual concessions. A tract of land lying within the claimed boundary of Connecticut, 580 rods in width, consisting of 61,440 acres, and called from its figure "The Oblong," was ceded to New York as an equivalent for lands near Long Island Sound surrendered to Connecticut. That tract is now included in the Connecticut towns of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien. This agreement was subscribed by the respective commissioners at Dover, then the only village on the west side of the Oblong. The dividing line was not run regularly, and this gave rise to a vexatious controversy, which was settled in 1880.

O'Brien, JEREMIAH, naval officer; born in Scarboro, Me., in 1740. On hearing of the affair at Lexington (April, 1775), he and four brothers, and a few volunteers, captured a British armed schooner in Machias Bay, May 11, 1775. Jeremiah was the leader. It was the first naval victory, and the first blow struck on the water, after the war began. O'Brien soon afterwards made other captures, and he was commissioned a captain in the Massachusetts navy. He commanded a privateer, but was captured, and suffered six months in the JERSEY PRISON-SHIP (q. v.). He was also confined in Mill Prison, England, a

Ober, FREDERICK ALBION, author; born in Beverly, Mass., Feb. 13, 1849; now connected as ornithologist with the Smithsonian Institution, for which he has travelled extensively. Among his works are Puerto Rico and its Resources; Brief Histories of Spain, Mexico, and the West Indies, etc.

Oberlin College, a non-sectarian, coeducational institution in Oberlin, O., founded in 1833 by the Rev. John J. Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart, and so named

At the time of his death, Oct. 5, 1818, O'Brien was collector of customs at Machias,

O'Brien, RICHARD, naval officer; born in Maine in 1758; commanded a privateer in the Revolutionary War, and was an officer on the brig Jefferson in 1781; was captured by the Dey of Algiers, and enslaved for many years, carrying a ball and chain until a service performed for his master's daughter alleviated his condition. Thomas Jefferson, while Secretary of State (1797), procured his emancipation, and appointed him an agent for the United