Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/725

 ORPINE tions of the followers of Orpheus, transformed the Dionysiac worship, making it ascetic and mystical rather than orgiastic. This worship was further modified, and its influence on the Greek religion increased, by the union of Or- phic and Pythagorean societies and doctrines. According to the Orphic cosmogony, which has an oriental pantheistic character, Cronos (time) was the first principle, from which pro- ceeded Chaos and ^Ether. The former was an infinite and shapeless mass, which, in con- densing under the influence of the latter, as- sumed an ovoid form, containing in its centre the cosmical germ. From this germ sprang the gold- winged Eros or Phanes, the first mani- festation of intelligence or light, who in union with Nyx (night) created the heavens and earth. Ericap&os was the creative word which gave birth to the gods. The soul was brought to the surface from the depths of matter. Zeus had four predecessors, and among his progeny was Zagreus Dionysus. From the latter were expected a golden age, the liberation of souls, and a state of beatitude at the end of all things. The Orphic writings increased in honor during the declining centuries of paganism, and by both the Christian and pagan Neo-Platonists of the 3d and 4th centuries were believed to be the most ancient summary of the Greek faith. They then received a large accession of forgeries by Christian philosophers. The apoc- ryphal productions included under the title of OrpJiica are : a poem on the Argonautic expedition, in 1,384 hexameters ; a collection of hymns in hexameters, evidently of Neo-Pla- tonic origin ; Lithika, better than either of the preceding, and treating the properties of stones and their uses in divination; and fragments, chiefly of the theogony, containing the only remains of the early Orphic literature. The best edition is that of Hermann (Leipsic, 1805). ORPINE. See SEDUM. ORR, James Lawrence, an American statesman, born at Craytonville, S. C., May 12, 1822, died in St. Petersburg, May 5, 1873. He gradu- ated at the university of Virginia in 1842, was admitted to the bar and practised in Anderson, S. C., and in 1844-'5 was a member of the legis- lature. From 1848 to 1859 he was a member of congress, and was speaker of the house of representatives in the 35th congress. He was a member of the South Carolina convention which voted for secession; was one of the state commissioners to Washington in Decem- ber, 1860 ; and in 1862-'5 was a Confederate States senator. From 1865 to 1868 he was provisional governor of South Carolina under federal appointment, and afterward acted with the republican party. In 1870 he became judge of the state circuit court, and in 1873 was appointed United States minister to Rus- sia, dying soon after his arrival. ORRERY, a machine representing the motions of the planetary bodies. Distinct names have been given to various modifications of it : the planetarium, which exhibits the orbital paths ORSINI 711 of the planets and their satellites ; the telluri- um, which shows the motions of the earth causing day and night, the seasons, and the va- riable length of the former as dependent upon the latter ; the lunarium, which shows the mo- tions of the moon ; and the satellite machine, chiefly intended to represent the motions of Jupiter and his satellites. The ordinary orrery was invented by George Graham about 1715, and first patronized by the earl of Orrery. ORRIS ROOT. See IRIS. ORSAY, Alfred Gnillaume Gabriel d>, count, a man of fashion, born in Paris, Sept. 4, 1801, died there, Aug. 4, 1852. He was the son of a general, and early served in the French army. He became acquainted with the earl and coun- tess of Blessington on his first visit to London about 1822 with his sister, the duchess de Gra- mont. In 1827 he married the earl's daughter by his first wife, but separated from her some time after her father's death in 1829. Almost from the beginning of the acquaintance he was a constant companion of Lady Blessington in her travels, and at Gore house in London. In 1849 they went to Paris, where she died June 4. In London he was an oracle in fashionable life. He was singularly handsome and bril- liant, and excelled as a painter and sculptor. He was a friend of most of the eminent men of his day, including Louis Napoleon, who shortly before the count's death appointed him director of fine arts. Engravings of his " Gal- lery of Portraits" appeared in New York in 1875. The countess d'Orsay, who married soon after his death the Hon. Charles Spencer Cowper, died Dec. 17, 1869. ORSINI, an Italian family, conspicuous in the middle ages. Their ancestors were distin- guished at Rome as early as the first half of the 12th century. Giordano, for his services to the pope as a soldier, was made a cardi- nal in 1145, and in 1152, in the capacity of legate, was sent to Conrad III. of Germany ; while his nephew, Matteo, held the post of prefect of Rome. Toward the end of the 12th century Orso ruled the city as its senator, while another member of the family, Celestine III., was pope. Another Matteo, styled the Great, was elected senator, at the same time holding large fiefs in the Campagna. One of Matteo's sons, Giovanni, became pope under the name of Nicholas III. in 1277, and endeav- ored to perpetuate the dignity of senator in his family, for whom he secured princely al- liances. The Orsinis now reached the zenith of their fortune, and their quarrels with the Colonnas filled the annals of Rome. They were Guelphs, and generally found on the side of the popes, while their rivals adhered to the Ghibelline party. The castle of Bracci- ano, on the lake of that name, was the chief residence of the family, who possessed besides many strongholds in Rome and its vicinity. The Orsini, with the Colonna and Savelli fam- ilies, were the special objects of the enmity of Pope Alexander VI. The Neapolitan branch of