OPIE, MRS. AMELIA (ALDERSON) (1769-1853).—­Novelist, dau. of a medical man, was b. at Norwich.  In 1798 she m. John Opie, the painter.  Her first acknowledged work was Father and Daughter (1801), which had a favourable reception, and was followed by Adeline Mowbray (1804), Temper (1812), Tales from Real Life (1813), and others, all having the same aim of developing the virtuous affections, the same merit of natural and vivid painting of character and passions, and the same fault of a too great preponderance of the pathetic.  They were soon superseded by the more powerful genius of Scott and Miss Edgeworth.  In 1825 she became a Quaker.  After this she wrote Illustrations of Lying (1825), and Detraction Displayed (1828).  Her later years, which were singularly cheerful, were largely devoted to philanthropic interests.

ORDERICUS VITALIS (1075-1143?).—­Chronicler, b. near Shrewsbury, was in childhood put into the monastery of St. Evroult, in Normandy, where the rest of his life was passed.  He is the author of a chronicle, Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy (c. 1142) in 13 books.  Those from the seventh to the thirteenth are invaluable as giving a trustworthy, though not very clear, record of contemporary events in England and Normandy.  It was translated into English in 1853-55.

ORM, or ORMIN (fl. 1200).—­Was an Augustinian canon of Mercia, who wrote the Ormulum in transition English.  It is a kind of mediaeval Christian Year, containing a metrical portion of the Gospel for each day, followed by a metrical homily, largely borrowed from AElfric and Bede.  Its title is thus accounted for, “This boc iss nemmed the Ormulum, forthi that Orm it wrohhte.”

ORME, ROBERT (1728-1801).—­Historian, s. of an Indian army doctor, b. at Travancore, and after being at Harrow, entered the service of the East India Company.  Owing to failure of health he had to return home in 1760, and then wrote his History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from 1745 (1763-78), a well-written and accurate work, showing great research.  He also pub. Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, the Morattoes and English Concerns in Indostan from 1659 (1782).  His collections relating to India are preserved at the India Office.

ORRERY, ROGER BOYLE, 1ST EARL of (1621-1679).—­Statesman and dramatist, third s. of the Earl of Cork, was ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin.  After having fought on the Royalist side he was, on the death of the King, induced by Cromwell to support him in his Irish wars and otherwise.  After the death of the Protector he secured Ireland for Charles II., and at the Restoration was raised to the peerage.  He wrote a romance in 6 vols., entitled Parthenissa, some plays, and a treatise on the Art of War.  He has the distinction of being the first to introduce rhymed tragedies.