Oude Proclamation.
A proclamation issued by Lord Canning after the fall of Lucknow in 1858, confiscating all proprietary rights to land in Oude, with the exception of the estates of seven unimportant proprietors. All others must throw themselves on the mercy of the British Government, and clemency would be extended to them, if they had not been concerned in the murder of Englishmen. This proclamation was considered by Lord Ellenborough unduly severe, and a controversy arose which nearly led to Lord Canning’s resignation.
Our Lady of Mercy, Order of.
A Spanish Order of Knighthood, instituted in 1218 by James I of Aragon. Its special mission was to work for the deliverance of captives in the hands of the Moors.
Outlawry.
Among the Norsemen certain crimes, such as the violation of a temple, or secret or unprovoked murder, could not be atoned for by “weregild,” and were punished by confiscation of all property and loss of all rights, the criminal becoming an outlaw. A man was also outlawed if he or his family were unable to pay “weregild.”
Overton’s Plot.
An abortive conspiracy to overthrow the Commonwealth and murder Cromwell, Lambert and other leading men, in 1655. It was headed by Major-General Overton, one of the most successful of the Parliamentary generals.
Oxford Movement.
A movement, designed to bring the Church of England nearer to the Church of Rome, which took its rise at Oxford in 1841. Its leaders were Keble, Pusey and Newman, and their views were in the first instance published to the world in a series of papers called “Tracts for the Times,” whence it is also known as the Tractarian Movement. Its followers were generally called Puseyites by their opponents.