Part 427 (2/2)
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 apprentices.h.i.+p to a stone-mason, and after a sojourn in Edinburgh found employment in London in 1782; as surveyor of public works for Shrops.h.i.+re 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 workmans.h.i.+p; ”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, courts.h.i.+p, 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 Secretarys.h.i.+p 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.
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