358 O B A O B A 
office, truft, or employment; and may be tendered by 
two juftices of the peace to any perfon whom they (hall 
fufpe£t of difaffe£lion. And the oath of allegiance may 
be tendered to all perfons above the age of twelve years, 
whether natives, denizens, or aliens, either in the court- 
leet of the manor, or in the fheriff’s tourn, which is the 
court-leet of the county. And, by ftat. i W. & M. c. 8. 
perfons of eighteen years of age refufing to take the new 
oath of allegiance, on tender by the proper magiftrate, 
are fubjedt to the penalties of a praemunire. And, by 
Hat. 7 & 8 W. III. c. 24. fergeants, counfellors, proftors, 
attorneys, and all officers of courts, p radii ling without 
having taken the oaths of allegiance and fupremacy, are 
guilty of a praemunire, whether the oaths be tendered or 
not. 4. Comm. 116. 117. 
In almoft every feffion of parliament, adls are made for 
indemnifying perfons who have omitted to qualify them- 
lelves for offices and promotions within the time limited 
by law, and for allowing further time for that purpofe. 
But oaths mult be taken in the very words expreffed in 
the adls, and cannot be qualified. 
Coronation Oath. Seethe article King, vol. xi. p. 780. 
O'ATH-BREAKING, f. Perjury ; the violation of an 
oath : 
His oath-breaking' he mended thus, 
Ey now forfwearing that he is forfworn. Shakefpeare. 
O'ATH-RITE, f. Form ufed at the taking of an oath: 
All the oath-rites faid, 
I then afcended her adorned bed. Chapman. 
O'ATHABLE, adj. Capable of having an oath admi- 
niftered. Not vj'ed: 
You are not: oathable, 
Although I know you’ll fwear 
Into Itrong fhudders the immortal gods. ShaheJ'pearc. 
O'ATHLAW, the name of a pariffi in Angus, about 
two miles from Forfar, chiefly remarkable for the remains 
of a Roman camp called Batllc-dylies, (vulgarly Black- 
dykes.) which is about a mile weft of the church. 
O'ATLANDS. See Weybridge. 
OAXA'CA. See Guaxaca, vol. ix. 
OAX'IS, in ancient geography, a river of Afia, in Me- 
fopotamia.—Alfo, a river of Scythia. 
OAX'OS, or Oaxus, a town on the northern fide of 
the ifle of Crete. It was the capital of a kingdom, which 
had its appropriate fovereign ; laid to have been founded 
by Oaxus, the fon of Apollo. 
OAYCA'CHI, a town of South America, in the au¬ 
dience of Quito: twenty-five miles eaft-north-eaft of 
Quito. 
OB, f. See Obi. 
OB, in geography. See Oby. 
OB, in compofition, is ufed in natural hiftcry for ob- 
verfely or inverted: as, obconic, inverfely conic; ob- 
cordate, inverfely heart-fhaped, &c. 
O'BA, a town of Perfia, in the province of Adirbe- 
itzan, on the weft coaft of the Cafpian Sea: 150 miles 
north-eaft of Tauris. 
O'BACH, a town of the duchy of Wurzburg : three 
miles north-weft of Schweinfurt. 
OBADI'AH, [Heb. the fervant of the Lord.] The 
Prophecy of Obadiah is a canonical book of the Old 
Teftament, contained in a fingle chapter, and is partly an 
invedlive againft the cruelty of the Edomites, who 
mocked and derided the children of Ifrael as they palled 
into captivity ; and, with other enemies their confede¬ 
rates, invaded and oppreffed thole ftrangers, and divided 
the fpoil among themfelves : and partly a prediction of 
the deliverance of Ifrael, and of the vidtory and triumph 
of the whole church over her enemies. 
The time of this prophet is wholly uncertain. St. 
Jerome, with the Hebrews, believes that he was the fame 
with the governor of Ahab’s houfe, mentioned 1 Kings, 
xviii. 3. who hid and fed the 100 prophets, whom Jezebel 
would have deftroyed. Some lay he was that Obadiah 
whom Jofiah made overfeer of the works of the temple, 
mentioned 2 Chron. xxxiv. 12. But rnoft authors make 
him cbntemporary with Hofea, Amos, and Joel. Laftly, 
fome believe him to be contemporary with Jeremiah, af¬ 
ter the taking of Jerufalem. It is more probable, fays 
Du Pin, that he lived in the time of Ahaz, when the 
Edomites, in conjunction with the Ifraelites, made war 
againft the tribe of Judah, becaufe his prophecy is wholly 
againft the Edomites, or Idumasans. The greater part' 
of his book is included in one of the prophecies of 
Jeremiah. Compare Ob. 1—9. with Jer. xlix. 7, 9, 10, 
14, 15, 16. 
OBA'I, or Robai , f. in botany. See Calycanthus 
traecox. 
O'BAL, [Heb. the infirmity of old age.] A man’s name. 
OBA'MA, a town of Japan, in the illand of Ximo : 
twenty-rive miles eaft of Nangafaki. 
To OBAM'BULATE, v. n. [obambulo, Lat.] To walk 
about. Not in nfe. 
OB AMBULA'TION, f. The aft of walking about.— 
Impute all thefe obambulations a.nd nightwalks to the quick 
and fiery atoms which did abound in our don. Gayton 
on D. Quix. 1654. 
OBAME'NE, a harbour on the eaft coaft of the illand 
of Otaha. 
O'BAN, a fea-portin the pariffi of Kilmore, and coun¬ 
ty of Argyle, Scotland, is fituated on the ffiore of a fine 
bay in the found of Mull, and fecured from the weftern 
ocean by the fmall illand of Kerrara. This bay is of a 
lemicircular form, and has two openings; one on the 
north, and another on the louth. It is fufficiently ex- 
tenlive to afford anchorage for 500 fail of velfels, and is 
well defended from the weftern winds. To thefe favour¬ 
able circumftances the town owes both its exiftence, and 
its rapid rife from a fmall beginning. The firft houfe of 
any confequence was built about fifty years ago, by a 
trading company belonging to Renfrew, who ufed it for 
a ftore-room. The example being followed by other mer¬ 
cantile adventurers, Oban foon became a conliderable 
place ; and, about ten years fubfequent to its foundation, 
was made one of the ports belonging to the cuftom-houfe. 
Tl’e duke of Argyle, Mr. Campbell of Dunftaffnage, and 
other perfons who poffeffed property around the newefta- 
blilhment, rightly judging,that its profperity would 
much enhance the value of their eftates, gave every en¬ 
couragement in their power to promote its increafe, ef- 
pecially by granting building-leafes upon the moll liberal . 
terms. It was particularly indebted to two brothers of 
the name ofStevenfon, who fettled in it in 1778 ; and, by 
their indullry and fpirited exertions, not only accumu¬ 
lated handforne fortunes for themfelves, but highly pro¬ 
moted the good of the neighbouring country. Oban is 
admirably adapted for trade, and is peculiarly well fitua¬ 
ted for a filhing-llation. Thefe, however, are but inferior 
confiderations to the great national benefits which might 
be derived from its excellent harbour and roadftead. It 
feenis formed by nature, and a combination of many im¬ 
portant advantages, to become the principal place of 
trade for the Highlands of Scotland, and the middle dif- 
tridl of the weftern ifles. Knox recommends this place 
to be made a royal dock and arfenal. There is a regular 
ferry from Oban to Kerrara-ifland, and thence to Achna- 
craig, in the illand of Mull ; and, by the formation of the 
canal between Loch-Gilp and Loch-Crinan, the naviga¬ 
tion from this town to the Clyde has been rendered both 
diredl, and free from the danger of the more circuitous 
paffage round the Mull of Cantire. According to the 
parliamentary returns of 1811, the parifli of Kilmore, 
which is of fmall extent, contains 175 houfes, and 821 
inhabitants, who are chiefly relident in Oban. Beauties 
of Scotland, vol. v. Pennant's Tour in Scotland, 1790. 
OBA'NA, in ancient geography, a town of Alia, in 
Affyria. 
OBARE'NI. 
