The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 427

TAYLOR, WILLIAM, literary historian and critic, born at Norwich; residence on the Continent enabled him to master French, Italian, and especially German, and confirmed him in his taste for literature, to pursue which he abandoned business; various essays and reviews formed the groundwork of his elaborate "Historic Survey of German Literature," the first systematic survey of German literature presented to English readers; taught German to George Borrow, who in "Lavengro" sketched his interesting personality, which may be further studied in his correspondence with Southey, Scott, etc. (1765-1836).

TAYLOR, ZACHARY, twelfth President of the United States, born in Orange County, Virginia; obtained a lieutenancy in the navy in 1808; first saw service in Indian wars on the north-west frontier; in 1836 cleared the Indians from Florida and won the brevet of brigadier-general; great victories over the Mexicans on the Texan frontier during 1845-48 raised his popularity to such a pitch that on his return he was carried triumphantly into the Presidency; the burning questions of his brief term of office were the proposed admission of California as a free State and the extension of slavery into the newly-acquired territory; was a man of strong character, a daring and skilful general, of una.s.suming manners, and loved by the ma.s.s of the people, to whom he was known as "Old Rough and Ready" (1784-1850).

TAYLOR INSt.i.tUTE, a building in Oxford erected from bequests by Sir Robert Taylor and Dr. Randolph as a gallery to contain works of art left to the university, and which contains a n.o.ble collection.

TE DEUM (Thee, O G.o.d), a grand hymn in Latin, so called from the first words, sung at matins and on occasions of joy and thanksgiving; of uncertain authorship; is called also the Ambrosian Hymn, as ascribed, though without foundation, to St. Ambrose; is with more reason seemingly ascribed to Hilary, bishop of Aries.

TEAZLE, LADY, the heroine in Sheridan's "School for Scandal,"

married to a man old enough to be her father, Sir Peter Teazle.

TECK, a German princ.i.p.ality, named after a castle which crowns an eminence called "The Teck," in the Swabian Alb, 20 m. SE. of Stuttgart, conferred in 1868 on Duke Albert of Wurtemberg's son, who in 1866 married the Princess Mary of Cambridge; their daughter, Princess May, became in 1893 the d.u.c.h.ess of York.

TEES, English river, rises on Cross Fell, c.u.mberland, and flows E., forming the boundary between Durham and York; enters the North Sea 4 m.

below Stockton.

TEGNER, ESAIAS, a popular Swedish poet, born at Kyrkerud, the son of a country parson; graduated with distinction at Lund University in 1802, and shortly afterwards became lecturer in Philosophy; in 1812, already a noted poet, he was called to the chair of Greek, and in later years was the devoted bishop of Vexio; his poems, of which "Frithiof's Saga" is reckoned the finest, have the clearness and finish of cla.s.sic models, but are charged with the fire and vigour of modern romanticism (1782-1846).

TEGUCIGALPA (12), capital of Honduras, situated near the centre of the country at a height of 3400 ft., in the fertile valley of the Rio Grande, surrounded by mountains; has a cathedral and university.

TEHAMA, a low, narrow plain in Arabia, W. of the mountain range which overlooks the Red Sea.

TEHERAN (210), capital of Persia, stands on a plain near the Elburz Mountains, 70 m. S. of the Caspian Sea; is surrounded by a bastioned rampart and ditch, 10 m. in circ.u.mference, and entered by 12 gateways; much of it is of modern construction and handsomely laid out with parks, wide streets, and imposing buildings, notable among which are the shah's palace and the British Legation, besides many of the bazaars and wealthy merchant's houses; heat during the summer drives the court, foreign emba.s.sies, and others to the cooler heights in the N.; staple industries are the manufactures of carpets, silks, cottons, &c.

TEHUANTEPEC, an isthmus in Mexico, 140 m. across, between a gulf of the name and the Bay of Campeachy; it contains on the Pacific coast a town (24) of the same name, with manufactures and pearl fisheries.

TEIGNMOUTH (8), a watering-place and port of Devonshire, on the estuary of the Teign (here crossed by a wooden bridge 1671 ft. long), 12 m. S. of Exeter; has a Benedictine nunnery, baths, pier, &c.; does some shipbuilding.

TEINDS, in Scotland t.i.thes derived from the produce of the land for the maintenance of the clergy.

TELAMONES, figures, generally colossal, of men supporting entablatures, as Caryatides of women.

TEL-EL-KEBIR (the "Great Mound"), on the edge of the Egyptian desert, midway between Ismaila and Cairo, the scene of a memorable victory by the British forces under Sir Garnet Wolseley over the Egyptian forces of Arabi Pasha (September 13, 1882), which brought the war to a close.

TELEMACHUS, the son of Ulysses and Penelope (q. v.), who an infant when his father left for Troy was a grown-up man on his return; having gone in quest of his father after his long absence found him on his return in the guise of a beggar, and whom he a.s.sisted in slaying his mother's suitors.

TELEOLOGY, the doctrine of final causes, particularly the argument for the being and character of G.o.d from the being and character of His works, that the end reveals His purpose from the beginning, the end being regarded as the thought of G.o.d at the beginning, or the universe viewed as the realisation of Him and His eternal purpose.

TELEPATHY, name given to the supposed power of communication between mind and mind otherwise than by the ordinary sense vehicles.

TELFORD, THOMAS, a celebrated engineer, born, the son of a shepherd, in Westerkirk parish, Eskdale; served an apprenticeship to a stone-mason, and after a sojourn in Edinburgh found employment in London in 1782; as surveyor of public works for Shropshire in 1787 constructed bridges over the Severn, and planned and superintended the Ellesmere Ca.n.a.l connecting the Dee, Mersey, and Severn; his reputation now made, he was in constant demand by Government, and was entrusted with the construction of the Caledonian Ca.n.a.l, the great road between London and Holyhead (including the Menai Suspension Bridge), and St. Katherine Docks, London; but his bridges, ca.n.a.ls, harbours, and roads are to be found in all parts of the kingdom, and bear the stamp of his thorough and enduring workmanship; "the Colossus of Roads," Southey called him (1757-1834).

TELL, a fertile strip of land of 47 m. of average breadth in North-West Africa, between the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea; produces cereals, wine, &c.

TELL, WILLIAM, Swiss hero and patriot, a peasant, native of the canton of Uri, who flourished in the beginning of the 14th century; resisted the oppression of the Austrian governor Gessler, and was taken prisoner, but was promised his liberty if with his bow and arrow he could hit an apple on the head of his son, a feat he accomplished with one arrow, with the second arrow in his belt, which he told Gessler he had kept to shoot him with if he had failed. This so incensed the governor that he bound him to carry off to his castle; but as they crossed the lake a storm arose, and Tell had to be unbound to save them, when he leapt upon a rock and made off, to lie in ambush, whence he shot the oppressor through the heart as he pa.s.sed him; a rising followed, which ended only with the emanc.i.p.ation of Switzerland from the yoke of Austria.

TELLEZ, GABRIEL, the a.s.sumed name of Tirso de Molina, Spanish dramatist, born in Madrid; became a monk; wrote 58 comedies, some of which keep their place on the Spanish stage; as a dramatist ranks next to Lope de Vega, whose pupil he was (1583-1648).

TELLICHERRI (27), a seaport on the Malabar coast, Madras Presidency, India; is fortified and garrisoned; surrounding country is pretty, as well as productive of coffee, cardamoms, and sandal-wood.

TELLURIUM, a rare metal usually found in combination with other metals.

TEMESVAR (40), a royal free city of Hungary, on the Bega Ca.n.a.l, 75 m. NE. of Belgrade; is a strongly-fortified, well-built city, equipped with theatre, schools, colleges, hospitals, &c., and possesses a handsome Gothic cathedral and ancient castle; manufactures flour, woollens, silks, paper, &c.

TEMPE, VALE OF, a valley in the NE. of Thessaly, lying between Olympus on the N. and Ossa on the S., traversed by the river Peneus, and for the beauty of its scenery celebrated by the Greek poets as a favourite haunt of Apollo and the Muses; it is rather less than 5 m. in length, and opens eastward into a s.p.a.cious plain.

TEMPLARS, a famous order of knights which flourished during the Middle Ages, and originated in connection with the Crusades. Its founders were Hugues de Payen and Geoffroi de St. Omer, who, along with 17 other French knights, in 1119 formed themselves into a brotherhood, taking vows of chast.i.ty and poverty, for the purpose of convoying, in safety from attacks of Saracens and infidels, pilgrims to the Holy Land. King Baldwin II. of Jerusalem granted them a residence in a portion of his palace, built on the site of the Temple of Solomon, and close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which became the special object of their protection.

Hence their a.s.sumption of the name "Templars." The order rapidly increased in numbers, and drew members from all cla.s.ses. "The Templar was the embodiment of the two strongest pa.s.sions of the Middle Ages--the desire for military renown and for a monk's life." A const.i.tution was drawn up by Bernard of Clairvaux (1128), and later three ranks were recognised--the knights, who alone wore the mantle of white linen and red cross, men-at-arms, and lower retainers, while a grand-master, seneschal, and other officers were created. During the first 150 years of their existence the Templars increased enormously in power; under papal authority they enjoyed many privileges, such as exemption from taxes, t.i.thes, and interdict. After the capture of Jerusalem by the infidels Cyprus became in 1291 their head-quarters, and subsequently France. But their usefulness was at an end, and their arrogance, luxury, and quarrels with the Hospitallers had alienated the sympathies of Christendom.

Measures of the cruellest and most barbarous kind were taken for their suppression by Philip the Fair of France, supported by Pope Clement IV.

Between 1306 and 1314 hundreds were burned at the stake, the order scattered, and their possessions confiscated.

TEMPLE, FREDERICK, archbishop of Canterbury, born at Santa Maura, in Leukas, one of the Ionian Islands; was highly distinguished at Balliol College, Oxford, as graduate, fellow, and tutor; in 1846 became Princ.i.p.al of Kneller Hall Training College, was one of H.M. Inspectors of Schools, and during 1858 and 1869 was head-master of Rugby; a Liberal in politics, he supported the disestablishment of the Irish Church, and as a Broad-Churchman was elected to the bishopric of Exeter (1869), of London (1885), and in 1896 was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury; contributed to the celebrated "Essays and Reviews"; published "Sermons Preached in Rugby Chapel," and in 1884 was Bampton Lecturer; _b_. 1821.

TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM, diplomatist and essayist, born in London, and educated at Cambridge; travel on the Continent, courtship, and marriage, and some years of quiet and studious retirement in Ireland, occupied him during the Protectorate; in 1660 was returned to the Convention Parliament at Dublin, and five years later, having resettled in England, began his diplomatic career, the most notable success in which was his arrangement in 1668 of the Triple Alliance between England, Holland, and Sweden to hold in check the growing power of France; as amba.s.sador at The Hague became friendly with the Prince of Orange, whose marriage with the Princess Mary (daughter of James II.) he negotiated; was recalled in 1671, but after the Dutch War returned to his labours at The Hague, and in 1679 carried through the Peace of Nimeguen; although offered a State Secretaryship more than once, shrank from the responsibilities of office under Charles II., a diffidence he again showed in the reign of William III.; the later years of his life were spent in Epicurean ease, in the enjoyment of his garden, and in the pursuit of letters at his villa at Sheen, and, after 1686, at Moor Park, in Surrey, where he had Swift for secretary; is remembered in const.i.tutional history for his scheme (a failure ultimately) to put the king more completely under the check of the Privy Council by remodelling its const.i.tution; was a writer of considerable distinction, his miscellaneous essays and memoirs being notable for grace and perspicuity of style (1628-1699).

TEMPLE, THE, of Jerusalem, a building constructed on the same plan and for the same purpose as the TABERNACLE (q. v.), only of larger dimensions, more substantial and costly materials, and a more ornate style; it was a magnificent structure, contained treasures of wealth, and was the pride of the Hebrew people. There were three successive structures that bore the name--Solomon's, built by Solomon in 1004 B.C., and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 588 B.C.; Zerubbabel's, built in 515, and pillaged and desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C.; and Herod's, on the ruins of the former, begun in 16 B.C., finished in 29 A.D., and destroyed by t.i.tus in 70 A.D. All three were built on Mount Moriah, on the spot where Abraham offered up Isaac, and where David afterwards raised an altar to the Lord; and of the number the palm must be given to the Temple of Solomon, it was the Temple _par excellence_.

TEMPLE BAR, a famous London gateway, which formerly divided Fleet Street from the Strand; pressure of traffic caused its removal in 1879; now stands in Theobald's Park, Cheshunt.