[Owen, Sir Richard], celebrated English naturalist and comparative anatomist, born in Lancaster; wrote extensively, especially on comparative anatomy and physiology, in which, as in everything that occupied him, he was an enthusiastic worker, being a disciple of Cuvier; did not oppose, but was careful not to commit himself to, Darwin's evolutionary theories; Carlyle, who had two hours' talk with him once, found him "a man of real ability who could tell him innumerable things" (1804-1892).
[Owen, Robert], a Socialist reformer, born in Montgomeryshire; became manager of a cotton mill at New Lanark, which he managed on Socialist principles, according to which all the profits in the business above five per cent, went to the workpeople; in furtherance of his principles he published his "New Views of Society," the "New Moral World," as well as pamphlets, lecturing upon them, moreover, both in England and America, but his schemes issued in practical failures, especially as proving too exclusively secular, and he in his old age turned his mind to spiritualism (1771-1858).
[Owens College], Manchester, a non-sectarian university, founded by John Owens, a liberal Churchman, in 1846, and supported as well as extended by subsequent bequests, the medical school of which is one of the finest in the kingdom; of the students attending it in 1897-98, 639 were arts students, 99 women, and 418 medicals.
[Oxenford, John], English man of letters and critic; translated Goethe's "Dichtung und Wahrheit," and "Echermann's Conversations with Goethe"; was dramatic critic for the Times, and wrote plays, as well as an "Illustrated Book of French Songs" (1812-1877).
[Oxenstiern, Axel, Count], Swedish statesman, favourite minister of Gustavus Adolphus; supported him through the Thirty Years' War, though he disapproved of his engaging in it, and managed the affairs of the State with great ability after his death (1583-1654).
[Oxford] (46), the county town of Oxfordshire, seat of one of the great English universities and of a bishopric; is on the left bank of the Thames, 52 m. W. of London; it is a city of great beauty, its many collegiate buildings and chapels and other institutions making it the richest of English cities in architectural interest; naturally historical associations abound; here the Mad Parliament met and adopted the Provisions of Oxford in 1258; Latimer and Ridley in 1555, and Cranmer in 1556, were burned in Broad Street; Charles I. made it his head-quarters after the first year of the Civil War; it was the refuge of Parliament during the plague of 1665.
[Oxford School], the name given to the leaders of the Tractarian Movement, which originated at Oxford in 1833.
[Oxford University], Oxford is spoken of as a seat of learning as early as the 11th century. Cloistral schools existed before that. Schools of divinity, law, and topography were founded in the 12th century. In the 13th Dominican and Franciscan scholars raised it to a level only second to Paris, and by the end of the 14th century there were thousands of students in attendance. Oxford responded quickly to the Renaissance, and by the time of the Reformation 13 colleges were founded. Her Protestantism stood firm through Mary's reaction, sank into passive obedience under the Stuarts, but woke up to resist James II.'s Catholic propaganda. Thereafter followed a serious lapse in efficiency, but this century has seen a complete revival. Oxford has now 21 colleges, among which are Balliol, Christ Church, Magdalen, Oriel, Trinity, and University College; 64 professors and teachers, and 3000 students. It is rich in museums and libraries; the Bodleian Library is of great value, the Taylor Library is devoted to modern literature. The Oxford or Tractarian Movement, one of the most remarkable religious impulses of modern times, had its centre in the University between 1834 and 1845. Among distinguished Oxford alumni were Hooker, Jeremy Taylor, Wesley, Newman; Hobbes, Locke, Adam Smith; Johnson, Gibbon, Freeman, Green; Chatham, Gladstone; Ruskin; Shelley, Keble, Arnold, and Clough. Of the colleges of which the University consists, the University was founded in 1249, Balliol in 1269, Merton in 1264, Exeter in 1314, Oriel in 1326, Queen's in 1340, New in 1379, Lincoln in 1427, All Souls' in 1437, Magdalen in 1468, Brasenose in 1509, Corpus in 1516, Christ Church in 1546, Trinity in 1554, St. John's in 1555, Jesus in 1571, Wadham in 1612, Pembroke in 1624, Worcester in 1714, Keble in 1870, and Hertford in 1874.
[Oxfordshire] (186), a S. midland county of England, stretching on the N. bank of the Thames between Gloucester and Buckingham; is an agricultural district; bleak in the N. and W., it is hilly, well wooded and picturesque in the S., where are the Chiltern Hills; iron-stone is mined near Banbury, blankets made at Witney, and paper at Shiplake and Henley; natives of the county were Edward the Confessor, Leland, Warren Hastings, Maria Edgeworth, and J. R. Green.
[Oxus] or Amu-daria, a great river of Central Asia, rises in the Pamirs, and flows W. between Turkestan and Afghanistan, then N. through Turkestan to the Sea of Aral; it is believed at one time to have flowed into the Caspian, and there is record of two changes of course; half its waters are absorbed in irrigating the plains of Khiva.