of which was completed in 1855. In this the elements are more kindly mixed than in any other of his fictions; there is a softening of tone, a predominance of feeling over sarcasm, an avoidance of the darker tints and baser qualities which he had previously favored as themes for smiling raillery. The characters of Clive and Ethel are less vivid than some of his others, the story lingers, but the whole is redeemed by its prevalent genial spirit, and especially by the moral beauty of the life of Colonel Newcome, and by his death in the Charterhouse, than which there is nothing more touching in romantic literature. His earlier contributions to "Fraser," "Punch," and other journals were now collected under the title of "Miscellanies," and his admirers were interested in tracing the gradual development of his genius. The same peculiar power, at once cynical and cheery, and the same clear, idiomatic, and effective style, mark the best of his earlier burlesques and his later elaborate productions. The success of his lectures on the humorists induced him to prepare another series, "The Four Georges," which were first delivered in the principal cities of the United States in 1855-'6, and afterward in London and most of the large towns in England and Scotland. The courts and characters of the Hanoverian monarchs furnished abundant occasion for satire; the third George alone, especially in the misfortunes of his last years, was discussed with forbearance and described with pathos; and the literature, society, morals, and manners of the time were briefly illustrated. Thackeray had entered himself at the Middle Temple and been called to the bar in 1848, but with no intention of following the legal profession. In 1857, one of the seats for the city of Oxford in the house of commons having been declared vacant, he offered himself as the liberal candidate for the representation, and declared himself an advocate of the ballot and of the diminution of the political influence of the hereditary aristocracy, but was defeated by Mr. Cardwell, by a majority of 67 votes. Before the close of the year he had begun another serial, "The Virginians," the scene of which is laid in the last century during the later years of George II. and the earlier years of George III., and in which Chesterfield, Garrick, and Johnson, the gaming table and coffee house, Washington, Wolfe, Braddock, and the impending American war, are introduced together with fictitious personages and events. The work holds an intervening place between "Esmond" and "Pendennis," some of its characters being descendants of those in the former, and ancestors of those in the latter. It is rather loosely constructed, but abounds in philosophic humor and racy apophthegms. In Jan. 1860, appeared the first number of the "Cornhill Magazine," under the editorial charge of Thackeray, which soon attained a circulation of some 100,000 copies. In this periodical he has published "Lovel the Widower," the least esteemed of

his later novels, and his lectures on the four Georges; and he is now (1862) producing in its pages a new romance entitled "The Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World." -The characters of Thackeray are generally described, not by their great qualities or leading habits, but by small peculiarities, affectations, or weaknesses. The literary barristers in "Pendennis," for example, do not appear as having much to do with either law or literature; Warrington, who produces the impression of being a man of powerful thought, does nothing to give it scope; we learn it only from his conduct in the commonest affairs of life. He shows no more of his personages than might be gathered from intercourse in society, paints men almost entirely in their moments of relaxation, relates their behavior, and displays so much of their feelings as their demeanor, actions, and voice can bear witness to. His aim is not to give clues to a character, but to reproduce the image which the whole phenomenon of society has impressed on his mind. To read him is therefore like meeting and mixing with the individuals in actual life. His field of survey is not very broad, his favorite position being the debatable land between the aristocracy and the middle classes. He knows mankind from dining rooms and drawing rooms, club rooms and country houses. Without any thorough acquaintance with English provincial life, or with the habits and feelings of the lower classes, he has seen a good deal of soldiers, artists, and men of letters, and has a profound knowledge of footmen and men about town. From false taste, or from some deeper infirmity, he inclines to give prominence to blots, parade defects, hold up the most petty and ignoble sides of all things, and find the comic aspect of wickedness and misery. But the unmistakable irony of his realistic descriptions necessarily implies and suggests an ideal of humanity from which his heroes are deviations; and from this moral antithesis of the actual and ideal springs the peculiar charm of his writings, the mingled gayety and earnestness, sentiment and cynicism, pathos and sarcasm, tenderness and malignity, with which he regards human life.

THAER, ALBRECHT, a German agricultural writer, born in Celle, Hanover, May 14, 1752, died at Mögelin, near Potsdam, Prussia, Oct. 26, 1828. He studied medicine at Göttingen, and after a visit to England published "Introduction to the Knowledge of English Agriculture" (3 vols. 8vo., Hanover, 1798), which has passed through several editions. In 1799 he founded an agricultural school at Celle, and in 1806 the king of Prussia granted him a large tract of land, which he exchanged for another at Mögelin, where in 1807 he founded a practical school of agriculture, which in 1810 was constituted the royal school of agriculture. At the reorganization of the Prussian government in 1807, he was appointed a councillor of state, and carefully revised the land laws of the kingdom; and in 1810 he was appointed pro

fessor of agriculture in the university of Berlin. He published agricultural periodicals under various titles from 1798 to 1824. His great work, "The Rational Principles of Agriculture" (4 vols., Berlin, 1809–'10), has been translated ⚫ into English and almost all the other languages of Europe. He received orders of knighthood from Russia, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Würtemberg; and agriculturists regard him as the first to apply the principles of natural science to the practice of agriculture.

THAIS, an Athenian hetaira or courtesan, who accompanied Alexander the Great on his expedition to Asia. The celebrity connected with her name is chiefly due to the fact that she is said to have instigated Alexander to set fire to the citadel of Persepolis, the residence of the Persian kings, in revenge for the injuries done to her native city by Xerxes; but this anecdote, though immortalized by Dryden, is probably untrue, as we know on the authority of Arrian that it was his intention to sack the place and burn the citadel on grounds of state policy. After the death of Alexander, Thais became the mistress of Ptolemy Soter, and, according to Athenæus, was afterward married to him. She was celebrated for wit and repartee, and many anecdotes are recorded of her talent in those respects.

THALBERG, SIGISMOND, a Swiss pianist, born in Geneva, Jan. 7, 1812. He is the natural son of Count Dietrichstein, and while a boy was placed under the instruction of Hummel, whom he subsequently surpassed in firmness of touch and grace of expression. At 15 he began to be known in the concert rooms, and soon afterward published his first compositions. Since 1830 he has been constantly employed in giving concerts in the chief cities of Europe and America, and he divides with Liszt the honor of standing at the head of living performers on the pianoforte. His playing is distinguished by precision, delicacy, and finish, rather than by the production of surprising effects; but his chief merit, both as a performer and a composer, consists in his successful attempts to combine the elements of song and harmony and of brilliant execution, as exemplified respectively in the schools of Mozart and Beethoven and of Clementi. In connection with this movement he has discovered many ingenious combinations for the fingers, whereby the song or melody can always be heard strongly accented in the midst of rapid passages and complicated forms of accompaniment. Among the productions by which Thalberg and his method have acquired their celebrity are a series of fantasias of great beauty and brilliancy, including those on themes from Don Giovanni, Robert le Diable, L'elisir d'amore, Les Huguenots, La donna del lago, and Mose en Egitto, the performance of any one of which by the composer may be said almost to realize the perfection of pianoforte playing. His "Studies" for the pianoforte are also highly esteemed by instructors. In 1851 he produced

at London an opera entitled Florinde, founded on a libretto by Scribe, and which failed to attract much attention. In 1845 he married a daughter of Lablache.

THALER (Dutch, dahler; Dan. and Swed. daler), a coin and money of account of Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Silver coins of an ounce weight were struck in the early part of the 16th century at Joachimsthal, a valley in Bohemia, whence the name. (See DOLLAR.) Other countries after a time began to coin thalers, but not always of the same value, and hence originated the Laubthaler or leaf dollar, the Philippsthaler, the Swedish copper dollar, &c. In most of the countries of Europe the royal or imperial mints coined thalers, hence called rigsdaler, riksdaler, or rigsthaler, that is, dollar of the realm. These varied in value ac cording to the amount of alloy. In Austria the specie rigsthaler is worth $1.01; in Prussia and Brunswick, 72 cts.; in Hanover, 72.2 cts.; in Hesse-Darmstadt, 72.3 cts.; in Saxony, 72.2, and those coined from 1829 to 1836, $1.00.8; in Denmark and Norway, $1.09; in Sweden, coinage of 1830-'38, $1.10.4. As money of account there is still greater diversity of values, owing to the depreciation of the issues of the national banks or treasuries. In Sweden the rigsdaler banco is 39 cts., and the rigsdaler riksmynt, now the authorized money of account, is 26 cts. In Denmark the rigsbank daler is 54.7 cts. In Germany generally the thaler of account is reckoned at 69 to 72 cents American currency.

THALES, a Greek philosopher, and one of the 7 wise men, born in Miletus, Ionia, about 636 B. C., died probably about 546. He took an active part in the political affairs of his native country, and before Ionia fell under the Persian yoke he advised a federation of all the Ionian states. He visited Crete and Egypt, and acquired in the latter country an acquaintance with mathematics and geometry. Various physical discoveries are attributed to him. He measured the height of the Egpytian pyramids by observation of the time at which a shadow equalled in length the height of the object; and he is said to have computed the sun's orbit, to have fixed the length of the year at 365 days, and to have been the first among the Greeks to predict eclipses, though very vaguely. In philosophy he is generally considered the founder of the Ionian school. His speculations were principally upon the nature of the universe. He taught that all things are instinct with life, and that the origin of all things is water. He left no written works, but many of his sayings are recorded by Diogenes Laertius.

THALIA, in Greek mythology, the muse of comedy and idyllic poetry. She is generally represented with the comic mask, a shepherd's staff, or a wreath of ivy.

THAMES, a river of Connecticut, formed by the junction of the Quinebaug, Shetucket, and Yantic rivers at the city of Norwich, and

flowing thence S. about 14 m. to Long Island sound, which it enters below New London. It is a wide and beautiful river, navigable for large vessels to Norwich, and has an excellent harbor at its mouth. The streams which form it possess numerous valuable mill sites, and the large amount of manufactured goods from the factories on their banks make the Thames an important avenue of commerce.

THAMES, a river of Canada West, flowing through a fertile_country in the peninsula formed by Lakes Huron and Erie, and after a S. W. course of about 160 m. discharging its waters into Lake St. Clair. It is navigable for boats from its mouth to Chatham, and has several considerable towns on its banks. At the Moravian settlement on this river, Oct. 5, 1813, the battle of the Thames was fought between the British under Gen. Proctor, with an auxiliary force of 2,000 Indians led by the famous Indian chief Tecumseh, and the American forces under Gen. W. H. Harrison. The American cavalry, commanded by Col. Richard M. Johnson, opened the battle, and defeated the enemy. Tecumseh was killed, and 600 prisoners, 6 pieces of cannon, and large quantities of stores were taken by the Americans.

THAMES, or Isis, the largest and most important river of England. Its source, called Thames Head, is in the Cotswold hills, about 3 m. S. W. from Cirencester. In the first 30 m. of its course it receives 3 small streams, the Churnet, the Coln, and the Lech, and below Lechlade becomes navigable for barges; from Lechlade its course is first E. and then N. N. E. and S. S. E. to Oxford, through a level country, receiving on its way the Windrush and the Cher well. From Oxford to Reading it flows first S. S. E. and then S. E., receiving the waters of the Thame and the Kennet; thence making a considerable circuit to the N. by Henley, Great Marlowe, and Maidenhead, it turns eastward to Windsor, then makes a detour southward by Staines and Chertsey to Kingston, where it turns N., and, passing Richmond, reaches Brentford, whence its course is nearly due E. to its mouth. From Brentford it passes by Putney, Hammersmith, and Chelsea to London, receiving in its course the Loddon, Colne, Mole, Cran, Brent, and Wandle, all small streams. From London to its mouth, a distance of 54 m., the Thames is a large stream navigable for vessels of 700 or 800 tons, and for vessels of 1,400 tons to Blackwall, 6 m. below. It is 290 yards wide at London bridge; at Woolwich, 9 m. below, 490 yards; at Coalhouse point, 20 m. further down, 1,290 yards; at the Nore, 6 m.; and at its mouth, 18 m. Below London it receives the Ravensbourne, Roding, Darent, and Medway. Its tide is perceptible as far as Teddington, 72 m. above its mouth. Its commercial importance is increased by the canals which connect it with other navigable waters of England, viz.: the Thames and Severn canal, connecting it with the Severn, which discharges into Bristol chan

nel; the Oxford canal, which connects it with the grand canal system of the central counties; the Wilts and Berks and the Kennet and Avon canals, which connect it with the Avon and the Severn; the Wey and Arun and the Basingstoke canals, connecting it with the Sussex coast; the grand junction, the Regent's, and the Paddington canals, the first of which connects the Brent with the Oxford canal, and the other two encircle the N. and E. sides of the metropolis and greatly facilitate the transportation of goods. The whole course of the Thames is 220 m. It forms the boundary between Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, between Berkshire and Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, between Middlesex and Surrey, and between Essex and Kent. The commerce of the Thames is surpassed probably by that of no river in the world. Its waters at and below London are crowded with vessels of all sizes and freighted with the products of all climes. Its vast and commodious docks for the discharge of goods from shipboard are described in the article Dock. It is crossed at and above London by numerous bridges, while the tunnel which passes beneath its waters from the Middlesex side to Rotherhithe on the Surrey side, completed in 1840, is one of the most remarkable triumphs of Sir M. I. Brunel's engineering ability. (See LONDON, vol. x. p. 655.)

THANE, the name of an ancient rank among the Anglo-Saxons, derived from thegnian, to serve, and originally applied to the followers of kings and chieftains. In the later age of Anglo-Saxon rule there were two classes of thanes, those of the inferior sort being simply called thanes, those of the superior king's thanes. The former were exceedingly numerous. In rank the thane was below the ealdorman or earl, but the possession of landed property was essential to his dignity. The rank was attainable by all, even the servile; and the laws state the requisites to be the possession of 5 hides of land, a church, a kitchen, a bell house, a judicial seat at the burgh gate, and a distinct station in the king's hall. Sharon Turner ("History of the Anglo-Saxons") thinks that the superior thanes were those subsequently called barons, as the terms are synonymous in the laws of Henry I., and that the inferior thanes were those who after the conqueror's time were termed knights.

THANET, ISLE OF, an island of England, on the N. coast of Kent, separated from the mainland by branches of the river Stour called the Stour-wantsome, the Mele-stream, and the Nethergong-wantsome; extreme length 10 m., breadth 5 m.; area, 26,500 acres; pop. in 1851, 31,798. The island contains several towns, the most important of which are Ramsgate, Margate, and Broadstairs. The N. E. point of the island is called the North Foreland, and has a lighthouse on its extremity, the light of which is visible at the distance of 22 m. The surface, elevated and nearly level, is generally rich and fertile, and cultivated with great care.