OLIPHANT 



Oliphant, MAROARKT OLIPHAUT 

 i7) BritUh author. Born 

 A|inl I, 1828, she made her reputa- 

 tion with her 

 firat book, 

 Passages in the 

 Life o f Mr*. 

 Margaret Mail- 

 I.IM.I. 1840, and 

 thereafter pro- 

 d u o e d more 

 than a hundred 



books, remark- 



M. 0. Oliphant. ..1,1.. f,... , i..... 

 British author 



high level of 



merit and unflagging freshness. In 

 1859 her husband, Francis Wilson 

 Oliphant, died, and her industry 

 was the sole support of her own 

 three children, and after 1864 of a 

 widowed brother and his three 

 children as well. Mrs. Oliphant 

 died at Windsor, June 25, Is'.iT 

 Among her best known novels are 

 Caleb Field, 1851 ; Lilliesleaf, 1855 ; 

 Zaidee, 1856 ; Salem Chapel, 1863 ; 

 The Rector and the Doctor's 

 Family, 1863 ; The Minister's Wife, 

 1869 ; The Wizard's Son, 1884 ; and 

 Kirsteen, 1890. She also wrote 

 historical works and popular bio- 

 graphies of Edward Irving, 1862, 

 and S. Francis of Assisi, 1871. 



Olivares, CASPAR DE GUZMAN, 

 COUNT OF (1587-1645). Spanish 

 statesman. Born at Rome, Jan. 6, 

 1587, he was 

 educated at 

 Rome and Sala- 

 manca. Secur- 

 ing a position 

 at court, he 

 became first 

 minister of the 

 crown and 

 grandchamber- 

 lain to Philip Count of Olivares, 

 IV, and for Spanish statesman 

 24 years was the real ruler of Spain. 

 While vigilant and hardworking, he 

 brought the country to the verge of 

 ruin by harsh taxation. Olivares 

 was exiled in 1642 and died 

 July 22, 1645. 



Olive (Olea europea). Small 

 evergreen tree of the natural order 

 Oleaceae (q-v.), native of the 

 Mediterranean region. It attains 

 a height of about 20 ft., has almost 

 four-sided spiny branches and 

 opposite oblong leaves. The 

 small, white, funnel-shaped, frag- 

 rant flowers are produced in pan- 

 icles, and the fruit is a small plum. 

 This is the wild form. Pickled 

 olives and olive-oil are the produce 

 of the variety saliva, which has 

 been cultivated from time im- 

 memorial. It differs from the wild 

 form in the branches being less 

 square, without spines the leaves 

 more lance-shaped, and the fruit 

 much larger and moie fleshy. The 

 oil is obtained from the fleshy part 



3*39 



of the fruit by procure, but much 

 of the " olive-oil " of commerce is 

 more or less extensively adulter- 

 ated with oils of cotton-need, 

 monkey-nut, sesame, and walnut. 

 Pickled olives have had thm 

 natural bitterness reduced by soak- 

 ing in a solution <>f lime and wood- 

 ashes, after which they are bottled 

 in salt and water, variously 

 flavoured. 



The olive is cultivated occasion 

 ally in Britain as a greenhouse 

 plant, and outdoors in a few 

 favoured S. and W. localities. 

 It is of easy culture in well- 

 drained loam, and may be propa- 

 gated by means of cuttings of firm 

 shoots or by seeds, treated as half- 

 hardy subjects. Several species 

 from the Cape of Good Hope (O. 

 capenais, O. lour i folia, 0. verrucosa) 

 are found in cultivation. 



Olive Branch Petition. Name 

 given to a petition by the American 

 colonists in 1775 pleading for the 

 recognition of their constitutional 

 claims by the British Government. 

 The petition was a last effort for a 

 peaceful settlement, though hos- 

 tilities had already begun when it 

 was sent. The deputation was not 

 allowed to present the petition. See. 

 United States : History. 



Olive Oil. Oil obtained from 

 the ripe fruit of Olea europea, the 

 olive tree of S. Europe. Extensive- 

 ly used in cookery in S. Europe, it 

 is chiefly employed in the N. for 

 preparing salad. It is a soothing 

 application for burns, and has 

 been prescribed in the treatment 

 of gall-stones. It is a useful mild 

 purgative for children. 



Oliver (hat., olive). Masculine 

 Christian name. Feminines are 

 Olive and the less familiar Olivia. 

 Oliver was the name of one of the 

 twelve peers of Charlemagne, and 

 the phrase a Roland for an Oliver 

 refers to the tremendous blows 

 struck by these heroes when fight- 

 ing in Spain. See Roland. 



Oliver, FREDERICK SCOTT (b. 

 1864). British author. Born in 

 Edinburgh, he was a son of 



OLIVES 



.lolm S. Oliver and a grandson of 

 n M'Laren, M.P. Educated 

 at Kiliiil.iirj.'h and Trinity College, 

 Cambridge, he became a barrister, 

 l ut < ntered business life and de- 

 voted some of his time to literature. 

 He wrote Alexander Hamilton, An 

 Essay on American Union, 1906, and 

 Ordeal by Battle, 1915, a scathing 

 attack on British shortcomings as 

 revealed by the Great War. 



Oliver OB OLIVIER, ISAAC (c. 

 1556-1617). Anglo-French minia- 

 ture painter. Little is known of 

 his life save that he had some con- 

 nexion with Rouen. Afterwards 

 he settled in London, where he 

 died Oct. 2, 1617, being buried in 

 8. Anne's Church, Blackfrian. 

 Among his famous miniatures were 

 those of Sir Philip Sidney and 

 Prince Henry of Wales, both at 

 Windsor Castle. He also executed 

 some minutely finished portraits 

 in oils. 



Oliver Twist. Charles Dickens's 

 first long continuous story. It 

 appeared in Bentley's Miscellany, 



Olive. Spray of foliage and fruit cf 

 the South European evergreeen 



Oliver Twist astounds the work- 

 house authorities by daring to ask 

 for more gruel for his supper. From 

 the illustration by J. Mahoney 



Feb., 1837-March, 1839, with illus- 

 trations by Cruikshank. Branding 

 the old workhouse system and 

 magisterial tyranny, it pictures 

 contemporary crime in its miser- 

 able reality. ' The more notable 

 scenes are those in the domain of 

 Bumble, and in Fagin's kitchen, 

 the burglary at Cherteey, the 

 murder of Nancy by Bill Sikes, and 

 1 1 is escape and death. Edward 

 Sterling, 1839, John Oxenford. 

 1868, and J. Comyns Carr, 1905. 

 dramatised the novel, J. L. TooleV 

 Artful Dodger, Irving's Sikes, 

 Tree's Fagin, and the Nancy of 

 Charlotte Cushman and Constance 

 Collier being memorable. ^ 



Olives, MOUNT OF, OR OLIVET. 

 Mt about 2,700ft. high, situated E. 

 of Jerusalem, from vhich it is separ- 

 ated by the valley of the Kidron. 



