Forth came the notorious Dr. Oates, rustling in the full silken canonicals of priesthood, for ... he affected no small dignity of exterior decoration and deportment.... His exterior was portentous. A fleece of white periwig showed a most uncouth visage, of great length, having the mouth ... placed in the very centre of the countenance, and exhibiting to the astonished spectator as much chin below as there was nose and brow above it. His pronunciation was after a conceited fashion of his own, in which he accented the vowels in a manner altogether peculiar to himself.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.). =Oaths.= JOHN PERROT, a natural son of Henry VIII., was the first to employ the profane oath of _God’s Wounds_, which Queen ELIZABETH adopted, but the ladies of her court minced and softened it into _zounds_ and _zouterkins_. WILLIAM the CONQUEROR swore by _the Splendor of God_. WILLIAM RUFUS, by _St. Luke’s face_. King JOHN, by _God’s Tooth_. HENRY VIII., by _God’s Wounds_. CHARLES II., by _Ods fish_ [God’s Flesh]. LOUIS XI. of France, by _God’s Easter_. CHARLES VIII. of France, by _God’s Light_. LOUIS XII., by _The Devil take me (Diable m’emporte)_. The Chevalier BAYARD by _God’s Holyday_. FRANCOIS I. used for asseveration, _On the word of a gentleman_. HENRY III. of England, when he confirmed “Magna Charta,” used the expression, _On the word of a gentleman, a king and a knight_. Earl of ANGUS (reign of Queen Mary), when incensed, used to say, _By the might of God_, but at other times his oath was _By St. Bride of Douglas_.--Godscroft, 275. ST. WINFRED or BONI´FACE used to swear by _St. Peter’s tomb_. In the reign of Charles II. fancy oaths were the fashion. (For specimens, see FOPPINGTON.) The most common oath of the ancient Romans was _By Herculês_! for men; and _By Castor_! for women; _By Pollux_! for both. Viri per _Herculem_, mulieres per _Castorem_, utrique per _Pollucem_ jurare soliti.--Gellius, _Noctes Atticœ_,[TN-44] ii. 6. =Obad´don=, the angel of death. This is not the same angel as Abbad´ona, one of the fallen angels, and once the friend of Ab´diel (bk. vi.). My name is Ephod Obaddon or Sevenfold Revenge. I am an angel of destruction. It was I who destroyed the first-born of Egypt. It was I who slew the army of Sennacherib.--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, xiii. (1771). =Obadi´ah=, “the foolish fat scullion” in Sterne’s novel of _Tristram Shandy_ (1759). _Obadiah_, clerk to Justice Day. A nincompoop, fond of drinking, but with just a shade more brains than Abel Day, who is “a thorough ass” (act i. 1).--T. Knight, _The Honest Thieves_ (died 1820). This farce is a mere _réchauffé_ of _The Committee_ (1670), a comedy by the Hon. Sir R. Howard, the names and much of the conversation being identical. Colonel Blunt is called in the farce “Captain Manly.”