Oblivion and Indemnity, Act of.
A proclamation under the Great Seal in 1603, by which James I promised a complete amnesty to all those who had taken part in the rebellions in Ireland during the reign of his predecessor.
Occasional Conformity Bill.
A bill introduced into Parliament in 1703 to render illegal the practice of nonconformists receiving the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England, in order to qualify for municipal office, and then returning to their own form of worship. The bill entailed heavy penalties on all those who held office under these conditions. The bill failed to pass, was reintroduced in the following session, and was again thrown out, while a further attempt to pass it in 1704 was defeated by the Lords. It at last became law in 1711.
O’Connell’s Tail.
The nickname given to the following of Daniel O’Connell in the House of Commons, after the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832.
October Club.
A club composed of Tories and Jacobites, formed in 1710. Among its members were Bolingbroke and his followers.
Odal.
A system of land tenure among the Norsemen, by which property in the land was absolute. It was probably land allotted to the warrior after conquest, to be held by him and his descendants, though according to the Gulathing’s law, it could not become Odal until it had been held for three generations. The udallers of Orkney hold under this tenure.