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 merchantman with its rich cargo by the Dutch in 1719 off the coast of Africa, and of another by the English near Madagascar.

The Ostenders, however, despite these losses, persevered in their project. The opposition of the Dutch made Charles VI. hesitate for some time to grant their requests, but on the 19th of December 1722 letters patent were granted by which the company of Ostend received for the period of thirty years the privilege of trading in the East and West Indies and along the coasts of Africa on this side and on that of the Cape of Good Hope. Six directors were nominated by the emperor, and subscriptions to the company flowed in so rapidly that the shares were at the end of August 1723 at 12 to 15% premium. Two factories were established, one at Coblom on the coast of Coromandel near Madras, the other at Bankibazar on the Ganges. At the outset the prospects of the company appeared to be most encouraging, but its promoters had not reckoned with the jealousy and hostility of the Dutch and English. The Dutch appealed to the treaty of Westphalia (1648) by which the king of Spain had prohibited the inhabitants of the southern Netherlands from trading with the Spanish colonies. The transference of the southern Netherlands to Austria by the peace of Utrecht (1713) did not, said the Dutch, remove this disability. The Spanish government, however, after some hesitation concluded a treaty of commerce with Austria and recognized the company of Ostend. The reply to this was a defensive league concluded at Herrenhausen in 1725 by England, the United Provinces and Prussia. Confronted with such formidable opposition the court of Vienna judged it best to yield. By the terms of a treaty signed at Paris on the 31st of May 1727 the emperor suspended the charter of the company for seven years, and the powers in return guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction. The company, after nominally existing for a short time in this state of suspended animation, became extinct. The Austrian Netherlands were condemned to remain excluded from maritime commerce with the Indies until their union with Holland in 1815.

 OSTEOLOGY (Gr. , bone), that part or branch of the science of anatomy which has for its subject the bony framework of the body (see, , , &c.).

 OSTERMAN, ANDREI IVANOVICH, (1686–1747), Russian statesman, was born at Bochum in Westphalia, of middle-class parents, his name being originally Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann. He became secretary to Vice-Admiral Cornelis Kruse, who had a standing commission from Peter the Great to pick up promising young men, and in 1767 entered the tsar's service. His knowledge of the principal European languages made him the right hand of Vice-Chancellor Shafirov, whom he materially assisted during the troublesome negotiations which terminated in the peace of the Pruth (1711). Osterman, together with General Bruce, represented Russia at the Åland peace congress of 1718. Shrewdly guessing that Sweden was at exhaustion point, and that Görtz, the Swedish plenipotentiary, was acting ultra vires, he advised Peter to put additional pressure on Sweden to force a peace. In 1721 Osterman concluded the peace of Nystad with Sweden, and was created a baron for his services. In 1723 he was made vice-president of the ministry of foreign affairs for bringing about a very advantageous commercial treaty with Persia. Peter also constantly consulted him in domestic affairs, and he introduced many administrative novelties, e.g. “the table of degrees,” and the reconstruction of the College of Foreign Affairs on more modern lines. During the reign of Catherine I. (1725–1727) Osterman's authority still further increased. The conduct of foreign affairs was left entirely in his hands, and he held also the posts of minister of commerce and postmaster-general. On the accession of Peter II. Osterman was appointed governor to the young emperor, and on his death (1730) he refused to participate in the attempt of Demetrius Golitsuin and the Dolgorukis to convert Russia into a limited constitutional monarchy. He held aloof till the empress Anne was firmly established on the throne as autocrat. Then he got his reward. His unique knowledge of foreign affairs made him indispensable to the empress and her counsellors, and even as to home affairs his advice was almost invariably

followed. It was at his suggestion that the cabinet system was introduced into Russia. All the useful reforms introduced between 1730 and 1740 are to be attributed to his initiative. He improved the state of trade, lowered taxation, encouraged industry and promoted education, ameliorated the judicature and materially raised the credit of Russia. As foreign minister he was cautious and circumspect, but when war was necessary he prosecuted it vigorously and left nothing to chance. The successful conclusions of the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1735) and of the war with Turkey (1736–39) were entirely due to his diplomacy. During the brief regency of Anna Leopoldovna (October 1740–December 1741) Osterman stood at the height of his power, and the French ambassador, La Chetardie, reported to his court that “it is not too much to say that he is tsar of all Russia.” Osterman's foreign policy was based upon the Austrian alliance. He had, therefore, guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction with the deliberate intention of defending it. Hence the determination of France to remove him at any cost. Russia, as the natural ally of Austria, was very obnoxious to France; indeed it was only the accident of the Russian alliance which, in 1741, seemed to stand between Maria Theresa and absolute ruin. The most obvious method of rendering the Russian alliance unserviceable to the queen of Hungary was by implicating Russia in hostilities with her ancient rival, Sweden, and this was brought about, by French influence and French money, when in August 1741 the Swedish government, on the most frivolous pretexts, declared war against Russia. The dispositions previously made by Osterman enabled him, however, to counter the blow, and all danger from Sweden was over when, early in September, Field-Marshal Lacy routed the Swedish general Wrangel under the walls of the frontier-fortress of Villmanstrand, which was carried by assault. It now became evident to La Chetardie that only a revolution would overthrow Osterman, and this he proposed to promote by elevating to the throne the tsesarevna Elizabeth, who hated the vice-chancellor because, though he owed everything to her father, he had systematically neglected her. Osterman was therefore the first and the most illustrious victim of the coup d’état of the 6th of December 1741. Accused, among other things, of contributing to the elevation of the empress Anne by his cabals and of suppressing a supposed will of Catherine I. made in favour of her daughter Elizabeth, he threw himself on the clemency of the new empress. He was condemned first to be broken on the wheel and then beheaded; but, reprieved on the scaffold, his sentence was commuted to lifelong banishment, with his whole family, to Berezov in Siberia, where he died six years later.

 OSTERODE, a town in the Prussian province of East Prussia, 75 m. by rail N.E. of Thorn, on Lake Drewenz, and at the junction of lines to Memel, Elbing and Schönsee. Pop. (1905) 13,957. It has a castle built by the Teutonic knights in 1270, to whom the town owes its birth. Its principal manufactures are railway plant, machinery, beer, spirits and bricks, while it has several saw-mills. Osterode has a lively trade in cattle, grain and timber.

 OSTERODE, a town in the Prussian province of Hanover, at the south foot of the Harz Mountains, 34 m. N.W. of Nordhausen by rail. Pop. (1905) 7467. The church of St Aegidius (Evangelical), founded in 724 and rebuilt after a fire in 1578, contains some fine tombs of the dukes of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, who made Osterode their residence from 1361 to 1452. Other buildings are the fine town-hall and the hospital. There are