OLDENBARNEVELDT 



OLDHAM 



593 



communion, at first disapproved of the establish- 

 ment of a new sect, but ultimately approved of 

 the action of his friends. Yet till his death he 

 never formally joined the community. 



At Cologne in 1873 Professor Reinkens of Bres- 

 lau was elected bishop of the Old Catholics in the 

 ancient fashion, by ' clergy and people ' by all tlie 

 Old Catholic priests and by representatives of the 

 Old Catholic congregations. He was consecrated at 

 Rotterdam by the bishop of Deventer, and formally 

 acknowledged by the governments of Prussia, 

 Baden, and Hesse. The Bavarian government 

 declined to forbid Bishop Keinkens holding con- 

 firmations in their kingdom. The third congress 

 at Constance in 1873 was taken up with ' synodal 

 and communal retaliations,' and with projects 

 towards union with other Christian confessions. 

 There were numerous guests present, Anglican, 

 Russian, and German Protestant clergy. On the 

 basis of the decrees of this congress the first Old 

 Catholic Synod was held at Bonn in 1874, being 

 composed of thirty priests and fifty-nine laymen. 

 They laid down principles for reforms in general, 

 abolished auricular confession and compulsory fast- 

 ing, and appointed two commissions to draw up a 

 new ritual in the vulgar tongue, and to frame a 

 Catechism and a Bible History. A formula of 

 agreement drawn up at another conference of 1875 

 failed to command the assent of Easterns or Angli- 

 cans. The third and fifth congresses (those of 1876 

 and 1878) permitted prieste to marry, and yet fulfil 

 all ministerial functions, in spite of Jansenist 

 protests. After 1875 the numliers declined. In 1878 

 there were in Germany 52,000 Old Catholics ; in 

 1890 some 30,000, in 79 congregations. In Switzer- 

 land ( where a theological faculty was established at 

 Bern in 1874 and it bishop eOBMOmted in 1876) there 

 were in 1890, 53 priests and 45,700 members ( against 

 73,000 in 1877). In Austria there were in 1891 

 about 10,000, mainly in Bohemia. In 1896 a new 

 bishop, I)r \VeW of Breslau, was consecrated in 

 place of Dr Reinkens, who died in January of 

 that year. The Janseiiist Archbishop of Utrecht 

 still co-operates with them; but the communion 

 is nowhere growing in numlx>rs or influence. The 

 movement in France headed by Pere Loyson came 

 to little ; see HYACINTHS. 



See POLLI.VOER ; Min Scarth's Story nf the Old Catholic 

 and Kindred Movement! ( 1883) ; an article in the Church 

 Quarterly, volxix. (1884-85); ' Dollinger and the Papacy,' 

 in the Quarterly ( 1891 ) ; Janut (Eng. trans. 1869); and 

 German works on Old Catholicism by Forgter (1879), 

 Biihler (1880 j, Beyachlag (1882). and Keinkens (1882). 



Oldenbarne veldt. See BARNEVELDT. 



Oldenburg, a grand-duchy of northern Ger- 

 many, consisting of three distinct and widely 

 separated territories viz. Oldenburg Proper, the 

 principality of Liibeck, and the principality of 

 liirkenfeld. Total area, 2508 sq. m. (less than 

 Devonshire); pop. (1890) 354,968. Oldenburg 

 Proper, which comprises jjths of this area, is 

 bounded by the German Ocean and Hanover. The 

 principal rivers are the Weser, the Jahde, and 

 the Haase, Vehne, and other tributaries of the 

 Ems. The country is flat, belonging to the great 

 sandy plain of northern Germany, and consists for 

 the most part of moors, heaths, marsh or fens, and 

 sandy tracts. The occupations are mainly agricul- 

 tural, with some iron-working, fisheries, and ship- 

 ping; there is also a little wool -spinning and linen- 

 weaving. The principality of Liibeck, consisting 

 of the secularised territories of the former bishopric 

 of the same name, does not contain the city ( north 

 of which it lies), and is surrounded by the duchy 

 of Holstein. Ito area is about 200 sq. m. The 

 principality of Birkenfeld (q.v. ) lies among the 

 Hundsriick Mountains, in the very south of Khenish 

 MO 



Prussia, by which it is surrounded ; its area is 192 

 square miles. 



Oldenburg is a constitutional ducal monarchy. 

 The constitution, which is based upon that of 1849, 

 revised in 1852, is common to the three pro- 

 vinces, which are represented in one joint chamber. 

 Each principality has, however, its special provin- 

 cial council. The grand-duke has a civil list of 

 12,570, besides private revenues. 



Oldenburg became an independent state in 

 1180. The family that then established its power 

 has continued to rule to the present day, giving, 

 moreover, new dynasties to the kingdom of 

 Denmark, the empire of Russia, and the king- 

 dom of Sweden. On the death, in 1667, of Count 

 Anthony Gunther, the wisest and best of the 

 Oldenburg rulers, his dominions fell to the Danish 

 reigning family, and continued for a century to 

 be ruled by viceroys nominated by the kings of 

 Denmark. This union was, however, severed 

 in 1773, when by a family compact Christian VII. 

 made over his Oldenburg territories to the Grand- 

 duke Paul of Russia, who represented the Hoi- 

 stein-Gottorp branch of the family. Paul having 

 given up Oldenburg to his cousin, Frederick- 

 Augustus, of the younger line of the House of Old- 

 enburg, the emperor raised the united Oldenburg 

 territories to the rank of a duchy. For a time the 

 duchy was a member of Napoleon's Rhenish Con- 

 federation. The Liibeck territories were added in 

 1803 ; Birkenfeld at the Congress of Vienna, when 

 Oldenburg became a grand-duchy. The grand- 

 duchy concluded in 1866 a treaty with Prussia, by 

 which the grand-duke renounced his claims to the 

 Holstein succession. See SLESWICK-HOLSTEIN. 



The capital, OLDENBURG, is pleasantly situated 

 on the banks of the Hunte, 30 miles \VN\V. of 

 Bremen by rail. It is the focus of the literary, 

 scientific, and commercial activity of the duchy, 

 and has a public library of 100,000 volumes, a 

 picture-gallery, museum, &c. The grand-ducal 

 palace is worthy of note for its fine gardens, its 

 valuable pictures and other art collections, and 

 its library. The principal church, St Lambert's 

 ( 1270), contains the burying-vaults of the reigning 

 family. Oldenburg is the seat of an active river- 

 trade, and is noted for its great cattle and horse 

 fairs. Pop. (1875) 15,701; (1890) 21,646. See 

 Runde's Oldenburgische Chronik (3d ed. 1863). 



Oldenburg, HENRY, a native of Bremen, born 

 in 1626, was consul for his native city in London 

 during the period of the Long Parliament and the 

 protectorship of Cromwell. Besides being tutor 

 to Lord Henry O'Brien and Lord William Caven- 

 dish, he was elected one of the very first members 

 of the Royal Society, and, as assistant-secretary, 

 edited its Transactions from 1664 to 1677, main- 

 taining an extensive correspondence with Spinoza, 

 Leibnitz, Bayle, and many other learned men of 

 the age. Milton also knew him, and addressed 

 him in the Epwtolce Familiares. Oldenburg died 

 at Charlton, near Greenwich, in August 1678. 



Oldlmill. a parliamentary, municipal, and 

 county iKirough of Lancashire, on the Medlock, 

 7 miles NE. of Manchester, 5 SSE. of Rochdale, 

 and 38 ENE. of Liverpool. It has grown since 

 1760 from a small village, such growth being due 

 to its proximity to the Lancashire coalfields and 

 to the marvellous extension of its cotton manufac- 

 tures. It has nearly 300 mills, with more than 

 12 million spindles, which consume one-fifth of the 

 total imports of cotton from abroad ; and the other 

 manufactures include fustians, velvets, silks, hats 

 (once a leading industry), cords, &c., besides huge 

 weaving-machine works, one employing 7000 hands. 

 The town-hall (1841) is a good Grecian edifice, 

 enlarged in 1879 at a cost of 29,000 ; and thert 



