Oliver of Malmesbury, a Benedictine monk of the 11th century, is chiefly memorable as the first Eng- lishman who attempted to travel tlirough the aerial re- gions. He is said to have been well skilled in mechan- ics; but in attempting to fly from a lofty tower, with wings of his own construction fastened to his hands and feet, he fell and broke both his legs.
Oliver, Joiix, a noted Wesleyan preacher, gener- ally spoken of as one of Wesley's '■ helpers,"' was born and bred at Stockport, Cheshire, England. His fa- ther, who was a mechanic, seriously objected to John's association wil;h the Methodists, but the boy was drawn towards them, liking their simplicity and fervor of Christian devotion, and finally became one of their con- verts (about 1750). The severity of the parental strict- ures u))on his newly avowed faith deprived the young man of his reason, and for months his recovery to sanity was regarded as doubtful. His mother, a sensible and prudent woman, thought it best for John to attend the worship of the Wesleyans, and with them he soon found tlie medicine which his disturbed mind craved. "My strength," lie says, "came again— my light, my life, my God; I was filled with all joy and peace in be- lieving." He was made a class-leader as soon as his restoration was demonstrated, and in due time Jlr. Wes- ley called him into the itinerant ranks, where he met with " fiery trials," but bore them bravely. After many years of indefatigable labor we liear him say, " I bless God tliat I never was in any circuit where I had not some seals of mj' mission." In tlie year 1783 he was discontinued as a preacher, and we hear nothing of him after tliat. He died in 1789. The fiilds in which Oli- ver's labors were most eminently successful were Bris- tol, Chester, Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool. In all of these his converts were counted bv hundreds, and
his name is revered to this day as of blessed memory. One of the severest trials he encountered while preach- ing was in 1774, when he was arrested in the midst of his sermon for vagrancy, notwithstanding his license to preach, and for some time suifered imprisonment. It was on Chester Circuit, and the excitement for a time ran high among those who believed in Oliver's labors. By his wise counsels riot aiul bloodshed were prevented. See Stevens, /list, of Methodism, ii, 139-142; Southey, Life of Weslet/, ch. xvii ; A rmiiiian Marjazine. 1779. (J. H.W.)
Olivers, Thomas, a noted English hymnologist, and one of Wesley's most eminent ministers, was born of humble parentage at Tregonan, Montgomerysliire, England, in 1725. Left an orphan at five, he was reared on a farm by a relative, who gave him some ed- ucation, and with whom he lived until eighteen years of age, when he was bound as an apprentice to a shoe- maker. Having received no religious education save a few forms, he early commenced a career of abandoned v.'ickedness, from which he was at last saved by con- version through the preaching of Mr. Whitefield. From that time forth he was a most humble, devoted, and la- borious Christian. After a while he was authorized to preach, and his ministrations were abundantly success- ful both in conversions and in persecutions. In October, 1753, he was sent by John Wesley into Cornwall to preach, whence he was removed to London. At the Conference of 1756 he was appointed to Ireland, and the next year again moved to London. During this year he married happily. After filling many of the principal stations in England, he was sent to Scotland in 1764, whence he went to Ireland, and preached at Dublin, and then again over to England. After several years spent in the ministry with ]Mr. Wesley, he was by the latter put in charge of the printing, an important part of which was the Arminian Mac/azine, which, under IMr. Wesley, he conducted with ability and success down to August, 1789, when Mr. Wesley became dissatisfied, and discharged Olivers. He afterwards resided in London, laboring as his age permitted, until his death, March, 1799. He was a man of robust mind and great ver- satility of talents; he was an able and convincing preacher, a masterly controversialist, and his writings, both in prose and verse, possess much merit. His noble hymn called Leoiii, and beginning
" The God of Abrah'm pr.iise," had reached its thirtieth edition before his death, and some others nearly as many. ]\Ir. Fletcher speaks in high terms of him "as a writer, a logician, a poet, and a composer of sacred music;" and some of his tunes, written for his own hymns, will long be cherished in " the praises of Israel." Montgomery says of Olivers's Leoni, " There is not in our language a lyric of more majestic style, more elevated thought, or more glorious imagery; its structure, indeed, is very attractive; but, like a stately pile of architecture, severe and simple in design, it strikes less on the first view than after deliberate examination, when its proportions become more graceful, its dimensions expand, and the mind it- self grows greater in contemplating it." It is said that this fine hymn had great influence on the mind of Henry Martyn when contemplating his important missionary career. Olivers was one of the most eloquent defenders of Mr. Wesley and tlie Wesleyan cause against the attacks of Toplad3% Richard and iiowland Hill, and otliers. Oli- vers's separately published hymns, tracts, etc., number sixteen, and many of them were of marked ability and usefulness. Cliristophers, in his F.picorth Singers and oth- er Poets of Methodism (N. Y. 1876, 12mo), tlius describes Olivers's personal appearance, as furnislied by an eye- witness of the great Cornwall out-door service in Sep- tember, 1773: "The other figure standing by Wesley was that of a man rather taller and less neatly made; a man in the prime of life, with a face that could not be looked at without interest, open, well-formed, and man-