Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/790

Rh 732 E S O G D with them the new religion of Zeus, but who kept up the old worship of Ares in the country where they settled. OESEL, one of the largest islands in the Baltic, form ing with Abro, Mohn, Runo, &c., a district of the Russian government of Livonia, lies across the mouth of the Gulf of Riga, between 57 55 and 58 40 N. lat., has a length from south by west to north by east of about 45 miles, and according to Strelbitsky contains an area of 1010 square miles. It is separated from Courlancl to the south by the Strait of Dosmesnes, from the island of Dago to the north by the Sola Sound, and from the smaller island of Mohn on the north-east by the Little Sound. Its undulat ing surface, well watered by numerous streams, and con sisting mainly of clay and disintegrated limestone, is largely occupied by woodland and pasture, but also allows the cul tivation of considerable quantities of grain, flax, hemp, and potatoes. The coasts are bold and steep, and, especially towards the north and west, form precipitous limestone cliffs. Like those of Shetland, the Oesel ponies are prized for their smallness. The population, numbering 50,566 in 1870, is mainly Protestant in creed, and, with the exception of the nobility, the clergy, and some of the townsfolk, Esthonian by race. The chief town, Arensburg (Esthonian, Kurre Saare), on the south coast at the mouth of the Peddus, is a place of from 3000 to 4000 inhabitants, with two churches (a Greek and a Lutheran), two hospitals, an orphanage, and a trade in grain, potatoes, whisky, and fish. Oesel at an early period belonged to the Teutonic knights, and was governed by its bishops till 1561, when it passed into the hands of the Danes. By them it was surrendered to the Swedes by the peace of Bromsebro (1645), and, along with Livonia, it was united to Russia in 1721. Arensburg, dating as a castle from the 14th century, became a town in 1563. (ETA. See THESSALY. OFEN. See BUDA, vol. iv. p. 423. OFFENBACH, the principal manufacturing town in the grand duchy of Hesse -Darmstadt, lies on the left bank of the Main, 5 miles above Frankfort. The most inter esting building in the town is the old Renaissance chateau of the counts of Isenburg, while the most conspicuous modern edifices are the five churches, the synagogue, the new residence of the Isenburg family, and the town-hall. The manufactures of Offenbach are of the most varied description, including carriages, machinery, hardwares, chemicals, aniline dyes, soap, perfumery, candles, chicory, gingerbread, tobacco and cigars, shoes, hats, felt goods, Avax-cloth, paper, varnish, white lead, types, canvas, and woollen cloth. Its characteristic industry, however, is the manufacture of portfolios, pocket-books, albums, and other fancy goods in leather, which are largely exported to England, the United States, and other countries. The population in 1880 was 28,449, including 17,566 Pro testants and 8782 Roman Catholics. The earliest mention of Offenbach is in a document of 9/0. In 1486 it came into the possession of the imperial counts of Isenburg, and in 1816, on their mediatization, was assigned to Hesse. It owes its prosperity partly to the fact that it became the residence of the Isenburg family in 1685, but mainly to the industry of the French Protestant refugees who settled here at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century. OFFENBACH, JACQUES (1819-1880), the inventor of the latest form of the modern opera boufe, was born at Cologne, of Jewish parents, 21st June 1819. His talent for music was developed at a very early age; and in 1833 he was sent to Paris to study the violoncello at the conservatoire, where, under the care of Professor Vaslin, he became a fairly good performer, notwithstand ing his utter want of that earnestness which alone can make a true artist. In 1834 he was admitted into the orchestra of the Opera Comique as a &quot; ripieno &quot; violon cellist ; and here his unrivalled tact and natural quickness of perception enabled him to acquire an amount of experi ence which he was not slow to turn to profitable account. His next appointment was that of conductor at the Theatre Francais, where, in 1848, he made his first success as a com poser in the &quot; Chanson de Fortunio,&quot; in Alfred de Musset s play Le Chandelier, From this time forward his life be came a ceaseless struggle for the attainment of popularity. His power of production was inexhaustible ; and, since he was ready to repeat himself without scruple whenever it answered his purpose to do so, the demand upon his ideas was invariably met with a rapidity which fairly astonished both theatrical managers and the general public. His first complete work, Pepito, was produced at the Opera Comique in 1853. This was soon followed by a crowd of dramatic trifles, which daily gained in favour with Parisian audiences, and eventually effected a complete revolution in the popular taste of the period. Encouraged by these early successes, Offenbach now boldly undertook the deli cate task of entirely remodelling both the form and the style of the light musical pieces which have so long been welcomed with acclamation by the frequenters of the smaller theatres in Paris. With this purpose in view he obtained a lease of the Theatre Comte in the Passage Choiseul, re -opened it under the title of the Bouffes Parisiens, and night after night attracted crowded audiences by a succession of brilliant trifles which never failed to make their mark, though not one of them pos sessed substance enough to enable it to retain its vitality after the appearance of its successor upon the stage. Be ginning with Les Deux Aveugles and Le Vidomux, tho series was continued with almost unexampled rapidity, until, in 1867 twelve years after the opening of the theatre its triumph culminated in La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, perhaps the most popular opera bouffe that ever was written, not excepting even his Orphee aux Unfers, produced in 1858. From this time forward the success of Offenbach s pieces became an absolute certainty. He never failed. Without a trace of true genius or a thought of re verence for art, he possessed a talent so brilliant and a facility of invention so prolific that, in place of following the public taste, as he had so cleverly clone at the outset of his career, he was able to lead it whither he would ; and the new form of opera bouffe, which he had gradually endowed with as much consistency as it was capable of assuming, was accepted as the only one worth cultivating. That it should live is simply impossible. It has, indeed, found imitators in Lecocq and other aspirants of a younger generation ; and some of these have attained successes not much less brilliant than those of Offenbach himself. But to be really enduring an art -form must be based upon some stronger principle than a mere desire for the attainment of popular favour; and so far is this from being the case with what is now universally accepted as the genuine opera bouffe that it would be impossible to strain the point so far as to admit its connexion with any form of art whatever. But no artistic consideration dimmed the brilliancy of Offenbach s success. His theatre continued to flourish, and his works found their way to every town in Europe in which a theatre existed. Their want of refinement formed no obstacle to their popularity, and perhaps even contributed to it. In twenty-five years he produced no less than sixty-nine complete dramatic works, some of which were in three or even in four acts. Among the latest of these were Le Docteur Ox, founded on a story by Jules Verne, and La Boite au Lait, both produced in 1877, and, though not among his brightest triumphs, sufficiently successful to show that the reign of his popularity has not yet come to an end. Offenbach died in 1880. OGAM. See CELTIC LITERATURE, vol. v. p. 306. OGDEN, a flourishing city of the United States, in