Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/235

 O'CONOR

203

OCTAVARIUM

ander, "A Political History of the State of New York", New York, 1906, II, 112). His views, however, were not those of the majority. First of a minority of only six members he voted against approving a new State Constitution of which after it had been in force many years, he stated that it "gave life, vigor and perma- nency to the trade of politics, with all its attendant malpractice" (see Address, supra).

Notable among cases previous to 1843 in which he was counsel was Jack t).Martin,12Wendell311,andl4 Wendell 507; and during the twenty years following 1843 the Mason %vill case as well as the Parish will case (see Delafield v. Parish, 2.5 New York Court of Appeals Reports, 9) . Probably, the most sensational of his cases during the latter period was the action for divorce brought against the celebrated actor, Edwin Forrest, O'Conor's vindication of the character of his client, Mrs. Forrest, eliciting great professional and popular applause (see Clinton, op. cit., 71, 73, U. S. Catholic Historical Magazine, supra, 428). When in 1865 after the overthrow of the Southern Confederacy, Jef- ferson Davis was indicted for treason, O'Conor be- came his counsel. Among O'Conor's later cases, the trials concerning property formerly of Stephen Jumel (see, for narrative of one of these, Clinton, op. cit., c. XXIX) displayed, as had the Forrest divorce case, his ability in the capacity of trial lawyer and cross- examiner, while one of the cases in which his learning concerning the law of trusts appeared was the case of Manice against Manioe, 43 New York Court of Appeals Reports, 303. In 1871, he commenced with enthusiasm as coun.sel for the State of New York pro- ceedings against William M. Tweed and others, ac- cused of frauds upon the City of New York, declaring that for his professional services he would accept no compensation. In the autumn of 1875 and while these proceedings were uncompleted, he was pros- trated by an illness which seemed mortal, and the cardinal archbishop administered the sacraments. Slowly, however, he regained some measure of strength, and, on 7 February, 1876, roused by a news- paper report, he left his bedroom to appear in court, "unexpected and ghost-hke" (according to an eye- witness), that he might save from disaster the prosecu- tion of the cause of the State against Tweed (see Breen, "Thirty Years of New York Politics", New York, 1S99, 54.5-52). In 1877 he appeared as coun.sel be- fore the Electoral Commission at the City of Washing- ton. His last years were passed on the Island of Nan- tucket, where, in 1880, he took up his abode, seeking "quiet and a more genial climate". But even here he was occasionally induced to participate in the labours of his beloved profession.

When ho ])assed away, many seemed to concur in opinion with Tildcn that O'Conor "was the greatest jurist among all the English-speaking race" (Bigelow, " Letters and literary memorials of Samuel J. Tilden", II, 643).

United States Catholic Historical Magazine, IV (New York, 1891-2), 22.5, 396; Finotti, Bibliographia Calholica Americana {New York, 1872), 209, 216; Lewis, Great American Lawyers, V (Philadelphia, 1908), 83; Coudert, Addresses, etc. (New York and London, 1905), 198; Veedeh, Legal Masterpieces (St. Paul, 1903), 11, 820; Hill, Decisive Battles of the Law (New York and London), 212, 221, 226-7; Johnson, Reports of cases decided by Chief Justice Chase (New York, 1876), 1, 106.

Charles W. Sloane.

O'Conor, Charles, often called "the Venerable", b. at Belanagare, Co. Roscommon, 1710; d. 1791, was descended from an ancient and princely Catholic family. Cultured, educated, an Irish scholar, O'Conor was almost the only Irishman of his time who studied the records of his country, and who did what he could to preserve the Irish manuscripts. He scanned these with a calculating and mathematical mind, contin- ually figuring up and noting upon the margins the dates of kings, princes, prelates, foundations etc., and pointing out conflicting dates. He was the only Irish-

man with whom Samuel Johnson corresponded with reference to Irish hterature. Irish was his native language, so that he was one of the last great Irishmen who continued the unbroken traditions of their race. His private diaries and note-books in which he jotted down household affairs, expenses etc. (now preserved by his direct descendant the O'Conor Don H. M. L. at Clonalis) were written largely in classic Irish. His best known work is his "Dissertations on the History of Ireland" published in 17.53 which led to his corre- spondence with Dr. Johnson, who urged him to write an account of pre-Norman Ireland. His collection of Irish manuscripts passed to his grandson, the younger Charles, and later formed the renowned Stowe Col- lection in the possession of the Duke of Buckingham, whose librarian the younger Charles became. This collection, including the famous Stowe Missal and the original of the first part of the "Annals of the Four Masters," was for years inaccessible to Irish scholars, but has now been deposited in the Royal Irish Acad- emy. A man of affairs, he was one of the founders of the Roman Catholic Committee in 1757, and with Dr. Curry, may be looked upon as the real lay leaders and representatives of the Irish Catholics during the middle of the eighteenth century. Charles O'Conor (grandson of the above), wrote the "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late Charles O'Conor of Bel- anagare ". This is a very rare book, the author having suppressed it, and destroyed the manuscript of the sec- ond volume when ready for press. Its destruction was a great loss to the Irish history of the period. The present O'Conor Don possesses many of his letters; others are in the Gilbert Library now acquired by the Corporation of Dublin.

O'CuRRY, Manuscript Materials (Dublin, 1878), p. 115; O'Conor Don, The O'Conors of Connaught (Dublin, 1891) ; Webb, Compendium of Irish Biography (Dublin, 1870).

Douglas Hyde.

Octavaxium Romanum, a Uturgical book, which may be considered as an appendix to the Roman Breviary, but which has not the official position of the other Roman liturgical books. The first mention of this book dates from Sixtus V. In order to intro- duce a greater variety in the selection of lessons, he ordered the compilation of an Octavarium to com- prise the lessons proper to each day of the octaves. The plan was not executed during his pontificate (158,5-90), When the question of correcting the Breviary was raised anew under Clement VIII (1,592-1605), the projected Octavarium was again spoken of. The consultors, the most distinguished of whom was Baronius, were in favour of the sug- gested compilation. Gavanti, who was also a con- suitor, undertook the work, but his book did not appear till 1628. Its title, which is descriptive, is "Octavarium Romanum, Lectiones II et III Noc- turni complectens, recitandas infra octavas Fes- torum, prajsertim patronorum locorum et titularium Ecclcsiarum qua- cum octavis celebrari debent, juxta rubricas Breviarii Romani, a Sacra Rituum Congrega- tione ad usum totius orbis ecclesiarum approbatum" (Antwerp, 1628). In addition to the letter of appro- bation, the Brief of Urban VIII, and the dedication, the book includes a few pages on the origin, cause, and rites of octaves. The body of the work consists of a collection of readings, or lessons, for the feasts of the Holy Trinity, the Transfiguration, the Holy Cross, several feasts of Our Lady (Conception, Purification, Visitation, Our Lady of the Snows), the feasts of St. Michael, the Apostles, Saints Mary Magdalene, Mar- tha, John, Athanasius, Monica, Nereus and Achilleus, the Seven Brothers, Apolhnarius, the feast of the Be- heading of St. John the Baptist, of Sts. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Basil, Francis, Clement etc. Then follow the lessons for the commons. They are drawn from the writings of the Fathers, and are varied and well-selected. Numerous editions have appeared