794 
O R S 
difplayed at an early age a great aptitude for literary and 
fcientific purfuits, and particularly occupied himfelf in 
the ftudy of ancient monuments and infcriptions. In 
the latter part of his life he was appointed profeflor of 
natural philofophy in the univerfity of Padua. He died 
in 1678, at the age of fixty-one. Orfato was the author 
of a number of efteemed works, both in Latin and Italian. 
Of thefe the principal are, 1. Monumenta Patavina, folio, 
1652. 2. Commentarius de Notis Romanorum, a very 
ufeful treatife refpefting the marks and abbreviations 
ufed by the Romans in their writings and infcriptions ; it 
was publifhed in the eleventh volume of the Collection of 
Gra3vius, and more correctly, at Paris, in 1723, 121110. 
3. Praenomina, Cognomina, & Agnomina, antiquorum 
Romanorum. 4. Deoru'm Deorumque Nomina & Attri- 
buta. 5. A Hiftory of Padua, in Italian, 1678, folio. 
6. Marini eruditi, 4to. in two parts ; the firft publifhed 
by the author in 1669, the fecond by his nephew, after 
his death. 7. Cronologia di Reggiinenti di Padova, 4to. 
1666. 8. Poems and Orations, in Italian and Latin. 
He was a member of various learned focieties. Tirabofchi. 
OR'SCHA, a town of Ruflia, in the government of 
Mogilev, on the Dnieper: forty miles north of Mogilev. 
Lat. 54. 30. N. Ion. 30. 14. E. 
OR'SERA, a feaport town of Iftria, fituated on a hill, 
with a fine harbour, which affords commodious fhelterin 
tempeftuous weather. It is populous, and the refidence 
of the bifliop of Parenzo : four miles north of Rovigno. 
OR'SI (Lelio), called Lclio da Novellara, from the chief 
place of his refidence after being exiled from his native 
city, Reggio, an Italian painter, was by fome thought 
to have been a pupil of Corregio, by others of Michael 
Angelo, becaufe he was contemporary of both, and had 
fomething of either in his ftyle and colour. Little re¬ 
mains of his works, except fome frefcoes in the ducal 
palace of Modena, and a copy of the Notte by Correggio, 
which is preferved in the palace Gazzola at Verona. He 
was born in 1511, and died at the age of 76. 
OR'SI (Francis-Jofeph-Auguftine), a learned Italian 
cardinal, was born in the duchy of Tufcany, in the year 
1692. He embraced the monaftic life in the Dominican 
order; and applied with fuch fuccefs to his ftudies, that 
he was feleCted to fill the chair of theological profeflor. 
Afterwards he was appointed mailer of the facred palace ; 
and at length promoted to the dignity of cardinal by 
Clement XIII. in 1759. In this fituation he was diftin- 
guilhed by the fame modelly and fimplicity of manners 
which characterized him when an humble monk; and his 
attention was wholly occupied by his ftudies, and his 
zeal for what he coniidered to be the honour of the church. 
He died in 1761, at the age of fixty-nine. He was the 
authorof “ Infallibilitas A 61 .Romani Pontificis,” 1741, 3 
vols. 4to. but is principally known by his “ Ecclefiaftical 
Hiftory,” in 20 vols. 4to. This work is well written, in 
the Italian language; but it might have been comprefled 
with advantage into a narrower compafs. In this opi¬ 
nion we doubt not our readers will concur with us, 
when they are informed that thefe twenty volumes bring 
down the hiftory only to the clofe of the lixth century. 
ORSIER'RE, a town of the Valais: five miles fouth of 
Martigny. 
ORSI'NI (Fulvio), otherwife Fulvius Urjinus, an emi¬ 
nent fcholar and claflical antiquary, born at Rome in 1530, 
was of illegitimate birth; and, though at firft brought up 
with care, he would probably, in confequence of the dif- 
cord of his parents, have remained uneducated, had not 
a canon of the Lateran, (truck with the quicknefsof his 
parts, taken care to inftruft him in claflical literature. 
On arriving at manhood, he entered fucceflively into the 
fervice of the cardinals Rannucio, Alexander, and Ed¬ 
ward Farnefe, whofe protection gave him the opportunity 
of collecting a great number of books, efpecially of an¬ 
cient manufcripts, and employing them for the benefit of 
letters. He was in habits of correfpondence with moft 
of the eminent literary characters in Italy at that time; 
O R T 
and fcarcely was there any Latin author publifhed to 
which he did not contribute notes and various readings. 
Long practice had given him lingular (kill in difcovering 
the antiquity and value of manufcripts ; but of his know¬ 
ledge in this point he was fomewhat jealous. Cardinal 
Frederic Borromeo relates, that, being one day with Or- 
fini, he requefted him to point out, from a book that lay 
before him, the rules by which he diftinguifhed ancient 
from modern manufcripts ; and that Orfini immediately 
ffiut the book, and turned the difcourfe. He died at 
Rome in 1600, at the age of feventy. Orfini publifhjd 
a treatife “ De Familiis Romanorum,” and an Appendix 
to Ciaconio’s treatife <£ De Triclinio;” both of them 
proofs of his vaft erudition and induftry. He alfo caufed 
engravings to be made of his large collection of ftatues, 
buffs, and other monuments of antiquity ; and publifhed 
them with explanations, under the title of “Imagines 
& Elogia Virorum illuftrium & eruditorum ex antiquis 
lapidibus & numifmatibus exprefla, cum annotationibus 
Fulvii Urfini;” Romas, 1570. An Italian and fome Latin 
Letters of his have been publiflied in collections. In or¬ 
der to keep together the treafu.res which he had accumu¬ 
lated, he bequeathed them to the Vatican library. Various 
eulogies of him were made after his death ; among which 
is one by the iiluftrious De Thou, who calls him “ Puriaris 
antiquitatis indagator diligentiffimus.” Gen. Bing. 
OR'SIO, a town of Sweden, in the province of Smaland : 
twenty miles weft of Calmar. 
ORSKA'IA, a town of Ruflia, in the government of 
Upha, On the Ural: 132 miles eaft of Orenburg. 
OR'SKAR, a fmall ifland, on the weft fide of the Guif 
of Bothnia. Lat. 60.32. N. Ion. 18.11.E. 
ORSO'GNA, a town of Naples, in Abruzzo Citra: nine 
miles fouth-eaft of Civita di Chieta. 
ORSO'KO, or Orsaki, a town of Africa, in the diftriCl 
of Acra, on the Gold Coaft. 
ORSOMOR'SO, a town of Naples, in Calabria Citra: 
nine miles from Scalea. 
ORSON’s ISLAND, an ifland of North America, in 
the river Penobfcot. 
ORSO'VA, or Orschowa, a fortrefs of Servia, built 
on both fides of the Danube. That part on the left of the 
riveris on the bannat of Temefvar, and called Old Orfovu; 
it was ceded to Auftria by the peace of Siftova. The 
other, on the right bank of the river, is called New Or- 
J'uva, and belongs to the Turks. It was taken by the 
Auftrians under general Laudohn, fince which time the 
fortifications have been negleCied: feventy-five miles 
eaft of Belgrade, and fixty fouth-eaft of Temefvar. Lat. 
44. 55. N. Ion. 21.56. E. 
ORSOY', or Orsaw, late a town of France, in the de¬ 
partment of the Roer, belonging to the duchy of Cleves, 
on the Rhine: twenty-four miles fouth-eaft of Cleves. 
Lat. 51.38. N. Ion. 6. 35. E. 
ORT', f . [fee Orts.] A fragment.—It is fome poor 
fragment, fome (lender ori, of his remainder. ShakeJpeare's 
Timon. 
ORT' or Lee'r Ort, a town of Eaft Friefland, at the 
conflux of the Leer and the Ems, belonging to the 
kingdom of Hanover: eleven miles fouth-louth-eaft of 
Emden. Lat. 43.13. N. Ion. 7.20. E. 
OR'TA, or Orti, a town of Italy, in the Patrimonio, 
on the Tyber; once the fee of a biftiop, now united to 
Civita Caltellana : twelve miles eaft-north-eaft of Viterbo, 
and thirty north-weft of Rome. 
OR'TA, a town of Italy, on a lake to which it gives 
name : twenty-one miles north-north-weft of Novaro, 
and thirty-fix weft-north-weft of Milan. 
OR'TA, a town of Spain, in Catalonia: twelve miles 
north-weft of Tortofa. 
OR'TA, a town of Naples, in the province of Capita- 
nata : eleven miles north-north-eaft of Afcoli. 
ORTA'KI,atown of AfiaticTurkey, in Natolia: thirty 
miles fouth-eaft of Scala Nova. 
ORTCHELOSCU'VEI, a town of Ruflia, in the go¬ 
vernment 
