nd works on mysticism. The most important are as
follows: _The Russian Shores of the Black Sea_ (1853), _Minnesota and the
Far West_ (1855), _The Transcaucasian Campaign_ (1856), _Patriots and
Fillibusters_ (adventures in Southern States) (1860), _Narrative of a
Mission to China and Japan_ (1857-59), _The Land of Gilead_ (1880),
_Piccadilly_ (1870), and _Altiora Peto_ (1883) (novels), and _Scientific
Religion_.

OLIPHANT, MRS. MARGARET OLIPHANT (WILSON) (1828-1897).--Novelist and
miscellaneous writer, was _b._ near Musselburgh. Her literary output
began when she was little more than a girl, and was continued almost up
to the end of her life. Her first novel, _Mrs. Margaret Maitland_,
appeared in 1849, and its humour, pathos, and insight into character gave
the author an immediate position in literature. It was followed by an
endless succession, of which the best were the series of _The Chronicles
of Carlingford_ (1861-65), including _Salem Chapel_, _The Perpetual
Curate_, and _Miss Marjoribanks_, all of which, as well as much of her
other work, appeared in _Blackwood's Magazine_, with which she had a
lifelong connection. Others of some note were _The Primrose Path_,
_Madonna Mary_ (1866), _The Wizard's Son_, and _A Beleaguered City_. She
did not, however, confine herself to fiction, but wrote many books of
history and biography, including _Sketches of the Reign of George II._
(1869), _The Makers of Florence_ (1876), _Literary History of England_
1790-1825, _Royal Edinburgh_ (1890), and Lives of _St. Francis of
Assisi_, _Edward Irving_, and _Principal Tulloch_. Her generosity in
supporting and educating the family of a brother as well as her own two
sons rendered necessary a rate of production which was fatal to the
permanence of her work. She was negligent as to style, and often wrote on
subjects to which her intellectual equipment and knowledge did not enable
her to do proper justice. She had, however, considerable power of
painting character, and a vein of humour, and showed untiring industry in
getting up her subjects.

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 affect