" Dr. Olin was a man of remarkable organization. His physical and mental proportions were alike gigan- tic. His intellect was of that imperial rank to which but few of the sons of men can lay claim. At once acute, penetrating, and profound, it lacked none of the elements of true mental greatness. We have known many men far superior to him in acquired learning; but for breadth and comprehensiveness of range, for vigor and richness of thought, for fertility and abundance of invention, we have never met his equal. . . . But grand as was Dr. Olin's intellectual being, his moral life was still grander. So overshadowing, indeed, was its maj- esty, that we can hardly contemplate any portion of his nature apart from it. . . . With such qualities of mind and heart, it is not wonderful that he was pre-eminent as a preacher. In overmastering power in the pulpit, we doubt whether living he had a rival, or dying has left his like among men" (Kev. Dr. McClintock, in Methodist Quarterly, Oct. 1851, p. 052). " He had the real celes- tial fire of sacred oratory. He had great power of in- sight and logic ; but his chief strength lay in the en- kindling and electric energy of his sympathetic and emotional nature. The great truths which his intellect issued were effective because they were borne on the glowing and irresistible stream of his sensibilities" {Neiv- Knt/lander, xii, 124-151 ). " His character — moral, social, and intellectual — was throughout of the noblest style. In the first respect he was pre-eminent for the two chief virtues of true religion — charity and humility. . . . The original powers of his mind were, however, his great distinction. These, like his person, were all colossal in grasp and strength, with the dignity which usually at- tends them ; a comprehensive faculty of generalization, which felt independent of details, but presented in over- whelming logic grand summaries of thought. Tliis com- prehensiveness, combined with energy of thought, was the chief mental characteristic of the man. Under the inspiration of the pulpit it often, and indeed usually be- came syblime Ever and anon passages of overwhelm- ing force were uttered. i)efore which the whole assembly seemed to bow, not so much in admiration of the man, as in homage to the mighty truth. Such passages were usually not poetic, for he was remarkably chary of his imagery ; but they were ponderous with thought ; they were often stupendous conceptions, such as you would imagine a Sanhedrim of archangels might listen to un- covered of their golden crowns" (Rev. Dr. Stevens, in the Methodist Quai-terh/ for July, 1852). "We do not hesitate," says the Rev. Dr. Wightman, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, '-to express our conviction that, with the pre-eminent qualifications he possessed for infiuencing young men, for wielding aright the po- tent instrumentalities belonging to the professor's chair, aided by the power which gave his sermons a baptism of fire when occasionally he was able to preach, Dr. Olin
did more for the Church than if he had even worn the mitre. We never knew a professor or ])resident half so idolized by his students, one half so fitted to impress the great lineaments of his own character on the susceptible minds of young men, or so qualified to bring the vital spirit of religion into all the agencies and appliances of education. His work was marked out bj' Providence ; he was sustained in it until the mission of his life closed." " In the intimate blending of logical argument with fiery feeling, he was more like what we know Demosthenes to have been than any speaker we have ever listened to ; and his power (as was the case with the great Athe- nian orator) did not consist in any single quality — in force of reasoning, or fire of imagination, or heat of declamation — but in all combined. . . . The printed ser- mons are vigorous, massive, and powerful to a degree unsurpassed in modern literature, unless perhaps by Chalmers and Robert Hall ; but they are yet a very in- adequate representation of the living preacher" (Rev. Dr. McClintock, in Meth. Quar. Rev, xxxvi, 9, 33). See, besides his Life and Letters mentioned above. Fish, Pulpit Eloquence, ii, 5, 27 ; BiogiYiphical Sketches of Methodists ; Gorrie, Lives of Methodist Ministers, p. 383 ; Southern Lilerari/ Messenffer, i, 15; Sherman, Sketches of New Enr/land Jfefhodis7n, p. 414 ; Meth. Qu. Rev. July, 1852, p. 430, 477 ; Jan. 1854, p. 9 ; Oct. 1853, p. 600.
Oliudo, Martino de, a Spanish architect, flour- ished in the 16th century. According to Milizia, he erected the parochial church of Liria, of which the lower story has four Doric columns on pedestals, with niches, statues, and bas-reliefs ; the second story has the same number of Corinthian columns ; the third story has two fluted twisted columns, with a statue of St. INIichael in the centre. Olindo also completed the monastery of St. Miguel at Valencia, begun by Cobarrubias. See Spooner, Biot/. Hist, of the Fine A rts, ii, 627.
Oliva, a noted Italian Jesuit, who rose to the first dignity in the brotherhood, was descended from a noble family of Genoa, where his grandfather and uncle had been respectively doge of the republic. He was born near the opening of the 17th century. After entering the Jesuitical order he taught for some time, and w^as so well appreciated that he was given the rectorate of a Jesuit college at Rome. He was an intimate friend of pope Alexander VII, and when general Nickel was de- prived of his office, pope Innocent X, also his friend, pointed to Oliva as the proper person for Nickel's place. The Jesuits made haste to secure Oliva, as they too believed him " a chief according to their hearts." In 1664 he was linally elevated to the generalship of the order, and the immense political importance which the society acquired under his government proved that they had made a wise choice (see Nicolini, p. 322). Personally Oliva was not a favorite. He kept himself at a great distance from the inferior brethren of the order, and seldom condescended to give an audience. He spent a great part of his time in the delicious villa near Albano, where he occupied himself with the cultivation of the rarest exotics. When at Rome he retired to the novitiate of St. Andrea. He never went out on foot. He lived in a most sumptuously and elegantly adorned apartment, enjoying the pleasures of a table furnished with the most select delicacies. He was only studious of enjoying the position he held, and the power he had obtained. Reserving for his particular attention mat- ters of political importance, he left the affairs of the society to the entire management of subordinate ofll- cials. But it must by no means be inferred that Oliva failed to attract notice or to strengthen his order. The political importance which the Jesuits acquired then was due almost wholly to Oliva's personal efforts. He maintained a correspondence which extended to almost all the monarchs of Europe, in which indeed he showed himself a consummate politician, and deeply engaged in most serious and important affairs. Oliva died in 1681, and was succeeded by Noyelle (q. v.). See Nicolini,