The Priests of the Oratory in France were established on the motlel of those in Italy, and owe their rise to Pierre, afterwards cardinal de Berulle, a native of Champagne, who resolved upon this foundation in or- der to revive the splendor of the ecclesiastical state, which was greatly sunk through the miseries of the civil wars, the increase of heresies, and a general cor- ruption of manners. To this end he assembled a com- munity of ecclesiastics in 1611, in the suburb of St. James. They obtained the king's letter patent for their establishment; and in 1613 pope Paul V ap- proved this congregation, under the title of the Oratory of Jesus (see cut). This congregation consisted of two sorts of persons : the one, as it were, incorporated ; the other only associates; the former governed the houses of the institute; the latter were only employed in con- forming themselves to the life and manners of ecclesi- astics. They also differed from the Italian in that the French Oratorians took charge of seminaries of the- ological teaching. They were decided opponents of the Jesuits; and, as many favored Jansenism, it was charged bj' Ultramontanes that the French Congrega- tion of the Oratory was founded principally to spread the Jansenistic heresy. The truth is, the congregation embraced advocates of Jansenism ; but they were only in the minority, and simply brought about an unhappy controversy in the society. The French Oratorians be- came distinguished for their many eminent scholars, as Thomassin, Malebranche, the eloquent Massillon, etc. The Revolution of 1789 put an end to this congrega- tion as to other religious bodies ; but they were reor- ganized in 1852 by six priests, under the guidance of abbe Petetot ; and in 1864, finaUy, the new congrega- tion, under the title of the Oratory of Christ our Lord and of Mary the Immaculate, was approved by the pope. It has a flourishing establishment at Paris, and has received its chief illustration from fathers Gratry and Perraud. It is known as the Oratory of the Im- maculate Conception.
In 18i7 the Oratorians were introduced on English soil by the Romish convert, Dr. John Henry Newman. This was the period of his secession from Anglicanism. To give strength to his Romanizing tendencies he look- ed about for a moderate monastic body, and consequent- ly established a house of the Oratorians (the members of which were for the most part ex- Anglicans like him- self), first near, and finally at, Birmingham ; soon after- wards a second at London, which has since been trans- ferred to Brompton. The Oratorians have also repre- sentatives in the Low Countries, whither they spread from France. In the United States they have not as yet founded a congregation. There are houses at Ma- drid, Constantinople, and in Savoy. See Zeitschrift histor, iheol. 1859, p. 142; Perraud, UOratoire de France (Paris, 1865) ; Ilistoire du clerge, iii, 144 sq. ; Meth. Qu. Rev. 1866. p. 289 ; Henrion, Monastic Orders, ii, 247-254 ; Jervis, IJist. of the Church of France, i, 250 ; Hallam, Literature, ii, 297 ; Alzog, Kirchengesch. ii, 423. (J. H. W.)
Orbison, Thomas, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Waringstown, county Down, Ireland, March 13, 1813. His parents were members of the P^stablished Church. When thirteen years of age he was converted, and united with the Wesleyans. At seventeen he was licensed as an ex- horter, and was ordained in Dublin June 22, 1844. In 1849 he removed to America. After his arrival liere he united and labored in connection with the Wesleyan Church for a year and a half. A vacancy taking i>lace about that time on the Wauwatosa Circuit of the Wis- consin Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was employed as supply, and at the close of the year joined that conference. Ilis appointments were as fol- lows: Watiwatosa, Kingston, Berlin, Plover, Brother- town, Utter's Corners, Footville, Sun Prairie, Weyau- wega, Waupaca, and Stevens' Point. In 1863 he lo- cated, and lived in Appleton one year. In 1865 he
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preached on the Hartford charge, and at the next session of conference was readmitted, and stationed at New Berlin and Oneida Indian Mission. But failing health again obliged his retirement from active duties, and he returned to Appleton. lie died in 1873, As a preacher, he was above mediocrity ; as a man, he was esteemed for the puritv of his character and his good commou- sense. See Jliiiutes of Conferences, 1874, p. 140.
Orcagna, or L'Arcagnuolo, is the name by which Andrea ni Cione, a celebrated old Florentine artist, is generally known. He was painter, sculptor, and architect ; was born at Florence in 1329, according to Vasari, or, according to other accounts, about 1315 or 13'2(}, and was probably first instructed in art by his father, Cione, who was a celebrated goldsmith ; from him he passed into the school of Andrea Pisano. He painted several works, together with his brother Ber- nardo, in the churches of Florence, and also in the Campo Santo at Pisa, where the Triumph of Death and the Last Judgment were by Andrea, and the Hell by Bernardo ; the Last Jiulcjment and the Hell are en- graved by Lasinio on a single plate in his Pitture del Campo Santo di Pisa : Orcagna repeated them in Santa Croce at Florence; he had painted previously in the Strozzi chapel, in Santa Maria Novella, a picture oi Hell from Dante's Inferno, in which he introduced the por- traits of several of his enemies. As an architect he built the elegant Loggia de' Lanzi in the Piazza Gran- duca at Florence, which is still in perfect condition — it and its sculptures are engraved by Lasinio in Miaserini's Piazza del Granduca di Firenze, coni i siioi Monumenti (Florence, 1830). He built also the church of the mon- astery of Or' San Michele, and designed the celebrated tabernacle of the Virgin of that monastery. It is a high Gothic pyramidal altar to the Virgin, free on all sides, is built of white marble, and is richly ornamented with figures and other sculptures. It is engraved in Richa's Notizie delle Chiese di Firenze, after a tlrawing by An- drea himself. Orcagna generally signed himself painter upon his sculptures, and sculptor upon his pictures. He was also a poet. He died at Florence, according to Vasari, in 1389, but according to Manni in 1375. Or- cagna had excellent architectural taste, and has the credit of having been the first in those ages to adopt the semicircular arch in preference to the pointed ; but to this merit, if cne, he is not entitled, though his ele- gant Loggia c/e' Lanzi may have contributed greatly towards the subsequent popularity of that form of the arch in Italy : Arnolfo di Lapo, however, and other ear- lier architects, used the semicircular arch. Those, says Lanzi. who are fond of minute detail in minute things, may consult Baldinucci, Bottari, and Manni concerning Andrea di Cione; Rumohr, however, was the first to show his real name, of which Orcagna is a contraction — Lo Archagnuolo, Lo hxhagnio, Vorchagno. In paint- ing, Orcagna did not go beyond Giotto; in sculpture he was a worthy follower of the Pisani. His portrait, pub- lished in Vasari's work, was taken from one of the fig- ures of the apostles in the above-mentioned tabernacle of the Virgin, which is understood to be his own. See Vasari, Vite rfe' Pittori, etc., and the Notes to Schorn's German translation of Vasari ; Rumohr, Italienische Foj-schungen. — English Cgclop, s. v.