Chapter XXIII: Part 23

SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES (1837-1909).--Poet, _s._ of Admiral S. and of Lady Jane Ashburnham, _dau._ of the 3rd Earl of A., _b._ in London, received his early education in France, and was at Eton and at Balliol Coll., Oxf., where he attracted the attention of Jowett, and gave himself to the study of Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, with special reference to poetic form. He left Oxf. without graduating in 1860, and in the next year _pub._ two plays, _The Queen Mother_ and _Rosamund_, which made no impression on the public, though a few good judges recognised their promise. The same year he visited Italy, and there made the acquaintance of Walter Savage Landor (_q.v._). On his return he lived for some time in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, with D.G. Rossetti (_q.v._), and G. Meredith (_q.v._). The appearance in 1865 of _Atalanta in Calydon_ led to his immediate recognition as a poet of the first order, and in the same year he _pub._ _Chastelard, a Tragedy_, the first part of a trilogy relating to Mary Queen of Scots, the other two being _Bothwell_ (1874), and _Mary Stuart_ (1881). _Poems and Ballads_, _pub._ in 1866, created a profound sensation alike among the critics and the general body of readers by its daring departure from recognised standards, alike of politics and morality, and gave rise to a prolonged and bitter controversy, S. defending himself against his assailants in _Notes on Poems and Reviews_. His next works were the _Song of Italy_ (1867) and _Songs before Sunrise_ (1871). Returning to the Greek models which he had followed with such brilliant success in _Atalanta_ he produced _Erechtheus_ (1876), the extraordinary metrical power of which won general admiration. _Poems and Ballads_, second series, came out in 1878. _Tristram of Lyonnesse_ in heroic couplets followed in 1882, _A Midsummer Holiday_ (1884), _Marino Faliero_ (1885), _Locrine_ (1887), _Poems and Ballads_, third series (1889), _The Sisters_ (1892), _Astrophel_ (1894), _The Tale of Balen_ (1896), _Rosamund, Queen of the Lombards_ (1899), _A Channel Passage_ (1904), and _The Duke of Gandia_ (1908). Among his prose works are _Love's Cross Currents_ (1905) (fiction), _William Blake, a Critical Essay_ (1867), _Under the Microscope_ (1872), in answer to R. Buchanan's _Fleshly School of Poetry_, _George Chapman, a Critical Essay_ (1875), _A Study of Shakespeare_ (1879), _A Study of Victor Hugo_ (1886), and _A Study of Ben Jonson_ (1889).

S. belongs to the class of "Poets' poets." He never became widely popular. As a master of metre he is hardly excelled by any of our poets, but it has not seldom been questioned whether his marvellous sense of the beauty of words and their arrangement did not exceed the depth and mass of his thought. _The Hymn to Artemis_ in _Atalanta_ beginning "When the hounds of Spring are on Winter's traces" is certainly one of the most splendid examples of metrical power in the language. As a prose writer he occupies a much lower place, and here the contrast between the thought and its expression becomes very marked, the latter often becoming turgid and even violent. In his earlier days in London S. was closely associated with the pre-Raphaelites, the Rossettis, Meredith, and Burne-Jones: he was thus subjected successively to the classical and romantic influence, and showed the traces of both in his work. He was never _m._, and for the last 30 years of his life lived with his friend, Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton, at the Pines, Putney Hill. For some time before his death he was almost totally deaf.

SYLVESTER, JOSHUA (1563-1618).--Poet and translator, is chiefly remembered by his translation from the French of Du Bartas' _Divine Weeks and Works_, which is said to have influenced Milton and Shakespeare. He seconded the _Counterblast against Tobacco_ of James I. with his _Tobacco Battered and the Pipes Shattered ... by a Volley of Holy Shot thundered from Mount Helicon_ (1620), and also wrote _All not Gold that Glitters_, _Panthea: Divine Wishes and Meditations_ (1630), and many religious, complimentary, and other occasional pieces. S., who was originally engaged in commerce, acted later as a sort of factor to the Earl of Essex.

SYMONDS, JOHN ADDINGTON (1840-1893).--Writer on art and literature, _s._ of a physician in Bristol, was _ed._ at Harrow and Oxf. His delicate health obliged him to live abroad. He _pub._ (1875-86) _History of the Italian Renaissance_, and translated the _Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini_. He also _pub._ some books of poetry, including _Many Moods_ (1878) and _Animi Figura_ (1882), and among his other publications were _Introduction to the Study of Dante_ (1872), _Studies of the Greek Poets_ (1873 and 1876), _Shakespeare's Predecessors in the English Drama_ (1884), and Lives of various poets, including Ben Jonson, Shelley, and Walt Whitman. He also made remarkable translations of the sonnets of Michelangelo and Campanella, and wrote upon philosophical subjects in various periodicals.

SYNGE, JOHN MILLINGTON (1871-1909).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ near Dublin, _ed._ privately and at Trinity Coll., Dublin. He wrote _Riders to the Sea_, _In the Shadow of the Glen_ (1905), _The Well of the Saints_ (1905), _The Play Boy of the Western World_ (1907), and _The Aran Islands_ (1907).

TABLEY DE, JOHN BYRON LEICESTER WARREN, 3RD LORD (1835-1895).--Poet, eldest _s._ of the 2nd Lord, _ed._ at Eton and Oxf., was for a time attached to the British Embassy at Constantinople. He wrote poems of a very high order, some of them _pub._ under the _pseudonyms_ of "George F. Preston" and "William Lancaster." They include _Ballads and Metrical Sketches_, _The Threshold of Atrides_, _Glimpses of Antiquity_, etc. These were followed by two dramas, _Philoctetes_ (1866) and _Orestes_ (1868). Later works in his own name were _Rehearsals_ (1870), _Searching the Net_ (1873), _The Soldier's Fortune_, a tragedy. _Poems, Dramatic and Lyrical_ (1893) included selections from former works. After his death appeared _Orpheus in Thrace_ (1901). He was a man of sensitive temperament, and was latterly much of a recluse. He was an accomplished botanist, and _pub._ a work on the _Flora of Cheshire_.

TALFOURD, SIR THOMAS NOON (1795-1854).--Poet and biographer, _s._ of a brewer at Reading, where he was _b._, and which he represented in Parliament, 1835-41, was _ed._ at Mill Hill School. He studied law, was called to the Bar in 1821, and became a Judge in 1849. He _d._ suddenly of apoplexy while charging the Grand Jury at Stafford. He wrote much for reviews, and in 1835 produced _Ion_, a tragedy, followed by _The Athenian Captive_ (1838), and _The Massacre of Glencoe_, all of which were acted with success. T. was the friend and literary executor of Charles Lamb (_q.v._), and _pub._ in two sections his _Memoirs and Letters_. In 1837 he introduced the Copyright Bill, which was passed with modifications in 1842.

TANNAHILL, ROBERT (1774-1810).--Poet, _b._ in Paisley where he was a weaver. In 1807 he _pub._ a small vol. of poems and songs, which met with success, and carried his hitherto local fame over his native country. Always delicate and sensitive, a disappointment in regard to the publication of an enlarged ed. of his poems so wrought upon a lowness of spirits, to which he was subject, that he drowned himself in a canal. His longer pieces are now forgotten, but some of his songs have achieved a popularity only second to that of some of Burns's best. Among these are _The Braes of Balquhidder_, _Gloomy Winter's now awa'_ and _The Bonnie Wood o' Craigielea_.

TATE, NAHUM (1652-1715).--Poet, _s._ of a clergyman in Dublin, was _ed._ at Trinity Coll. there. He _pub._ _Poems on Several Occasions_ (1677), _Panacea, or a Poem on Tea_, and, in collaboration with Dryden, the second part of _Absalom and Achitophel_. He also adapted Shakespeare's _Richard II._ and _Lear_, making what he considered improvements. Thus in _Lear_ Cordelia is made to survive her _f._, and marry Edgar. This desecration, which was defended by Dr. Johnson, kept the stage till well on in the 19th century. He also wrote various miscellaneous poems, now happily forgotten. He is best remembered as the Tate of Tate and Brady's metrical version of the Psalms, _pub._ in 1696. T., who succeeded Shadwell as Poet Laureate in 1690, figures in _The Dunciad_. NICHOLAS BRADY (1659-1726).--Tate's fellow-versifier of the Psalms, _b._ at Bandon, and _ed._ at Westminster and Oxf., was incumbent of Stratford-on-Avon. He wrote a tragedy, _The Rape_, a blank verse translation of the _Æneid_, an _Ode_, and sermons, now all forgotten.

TATHAM, JOHN (_fl._ 1632-1664).--Dramatist. Little is known of him. He produced pageants for the Lord Mayor's show and some dramas, _Love Crowns the End_, _The Distracted State_, _The Scots Figgaries, or a Knot of Knaves_, _The Rump_, etc. He was a Cavalier, who hated the Puritans and the Scotch, and invented a dialect which he believed to be their vernacular tongue.

TAUTPHOEUS, BARONESS (MONTGOMERY) (1807-1893).--_Dau._ of an Irish gentleman, _m._ the Baron T., Chamberlain at the Court of Bavaria. She wrote several novels dealing with German life of which the first, _The Initials_ (1850), is perhaps the best. Others were _Cyrilla_ (1883), _Quits_ (1857), and _At Odds_ (1863).

TAYLOR, BAYARD (1825-1878).--Poet, _b._ in Pennsylvania of Quaker descent, began to write by the time he was 12. Apprenticed to a printer, he found the work uncongenial and, purchasing his indentures, went to Europe on a walking tour, and thereafter he was a constant and enterprising traveller. After his return from Europe he ed. a paper, got on the staff of the _New York Tribune_, and _pub._ several books of travel and poetry, among which are _Views Afoot_ (1846), an account of his travels in Europe, and _El Dorado_ (1850), which described the Californian gold-fields. After some experience and some disappointments in the diplomatic sphere, he settled down to novel-writing, his first venture in which, _Hannah Thurston_ (1863), was very successful, and was followed by _John Godfrey's Fortunes_ (1864), partly autobiographical, and _The Story of Kenneth_ (1866). His poetic works include _Poems of the Orient_ (1854), _Poet's Journal_ (1862), _Masque of the Gods_ (1872), _Lars_ (1873), _The Prophet_ (1874), a tragedy, _Prince Deucalion_, and _Home Pastorals_ (1875). In 1878 he was appointed to the German Embassy, and _d._ in Berlin in the following year. His translation of Goethe's _Faust_ is perhaps his best work. He was a man of untiring energy and great ability and versatility, but tried too many avenues to fame to advance very far in any of them.

TAYLOR, SIR HENRY (1800-1886).--Dramatist, _s._ of a gentleman farmer in the county of Durham. After being at sea for some months and in the Naval Stores Department, he became a clerk in the Colonial Office, and remained there for 48 years, during which he exercised considerable influence on the colonial policy of the Empire. In 1872 he was made K.C.M.G. He wrote four tragedies--_Isaac Comnenus_ (1827), _Philip van Artevelde_ (1834), _Edwin the Fair_ (1842), and _St. Clement's Eve_ (1862); also a romantic comedy, _The Virgin Widow_, which he renamed _A Sicilian Summer_, _The Eve of the Conquest and other Poems_ (1847). In prose he _pub._ _The Statesman_ (1836), _Notes from Life_ (1847), _Notes from Books_ (1849), and an _Autobiography_. Of all these _Philip van Artevelde_ was perhaps the most successful. T. was a man of great ability and distinction, but his dramas, with many of the qualities of good poetry, lack the final touch of genius.

TAYLOR, ISAAC (1787-1865).--Philosophical and historical writer, artist, and inventor, was the most eminent member of a family known as the Taylors of Ongar, which has shown a remarkable persistence of ability in various departments, but especially in art and literature. His grandfather and _f._, who bore the same name, were both eminent engravers, and the latter was the author of various books for children. T. was brought up to the hereditary art of engraving, in which he displayed pre-eminent skill, his work gaining the admiration of D.G. Rossetti. He decided, however, to devote himself to literature, and for 40 years continued to produce works of originality and value, including _Elements of Thought_ (1823), _Natural History of Enthusiasm_ (1829), _Spiritual Despotism_ (1831), _Ancient Christianity_ (1839), _Restoration of Belief_ (1855), _The Physical Theory of Another Life_, _History of Transmission of Ancient Books_, and _Home Education_, besides numerous contributions to reviews and other periodicals. Besides his literary and artistic accomplishments T. was an important inventor, two of his inventions having done much to develop the manufacture of calico. Two of his sisters had considerable literary reputation. ANN T., afterwards MRS. GILBERT (1782-1866), and JANE (1783-1824) were, like their brother, taught the art of engraving. In 1804-5 they jointly wrote _Original Poems for Infant Minds_, followed by _Rhymes for the Nursery_ and _Hymns for Infant Minds_. Among those are the little poems, "My Mother" and "Twinkle, twinkle, little Star," known to all well-conditioned children. Jane was also the author of _Display_, a tale (1815), and other works, including several hymns, of which the best known is "Lord, I would own Thy tender Care." The hereditary talents of the family were represented in the next generation by CANON ISAAC T. (1829-1901), the _s._ of Isaac last mentioned, who, in addition to _The Liturgy and the Dissenters_, _pub._ works in philology and archæology, including _Words and Places_ and _Etruscan Researches_; and by JOSIAH GILBERT, _s._ of Ann T., an accomplished artist, and author of _The Dolomite Mountains_, _Cadore, or Titian's Country_, and ed. of the _Autobiography_ of his mother.

TAYLOR, JEREMY (1613-1667).--Divine, was _b._ at Camb. His _f._, though of gentle descent, followed the trade of a barber, and Jeremy entered Caius Coll. as a sizar. After his graduation in 1634 he was asked to preach in London, where his eloquence attracted the attention of Laud, who sent him to Oxf., caused him to be elected a Fellow of All Souls Coll., and made him his chaplain. He also became a chaplain to the King, and soon attaining a great reputation as a preacher, was presented to the living of Uppingham. In 1639 he _m._ his first wife, and in 1643 he was made Rector of Overstone. On the outbreak of the Civil War T. sided with the King, and was present, probably as a chaplain, at the battle fought in 1645 near Cardigan Castle, when he was taken prisoner. He was soon released, but the Royalist cause being practically lost, he decided to remain in Wales, and with two friends started a school at Newtonhall, Caermarthenshire, which had some success. T. also found a friend in Lord Carbery, whose chaplain he became. During the period of 13 years from 1647-60, which were passed in seeming obscurity, he laid the foundations and raised the structure of his splendid literary fame. The _Liberty of Prophesying_ (that is, of preaching), one of the greatest pleas for toleration in the language, was _pub._ in 1647, _The Life of Christ_ in 1649, _Holy Living_ in 1650, and _Holy Dying_ in 1651. These were followed by various series of sermons, and by _The Golden Grove_ (1655), a manual of devotion which received its title from the name of the seat of his friend Lord Carbery. For some remarks against the existing authorities T. suffered a short imprisonment, and some controversial tracts on _Original Sin_, _Unum Necessarium_ (the one thing needful), and _The Doctrine and Practice of Repentance_ involved him in a controversy of some warmth in which he was attacked by both High Churchmen and Calvinists. While in Wales T. had entered into a second marriage with a lady of some property which, however, was seriously encroached upon by the exactions of the Parliamentarians. In 1657 he ministered privately to an Episcopalian congregation in London, and in 1658 accompanied Lord Conway to Ireland, and served a cure at Lisburn. Two years later he _pub._ _Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience in all her General Measures_, a learned and subtle piece of casuistry which he dedicated to Charles II. The Restoration brought recognition of T.'s unswerving devotion to the Royalist cause; he was made Bishop of Down and Connor, and to this was added the administration of the see of Dromore. In his new position, though, as might have been expected, he showed zeal, diligence, and benevolence, he was not happy. He did not, probably could not, entirely practise his own views of absolute toleration, and found himself in conflict with the Presbyterians, some of whose ministers he had extruded from benefices which they had held, and he longed to escape to a more private and peaceful position. He _d._ at Lisburn of a fever caught while ministering to a parishioner. T. is one of the great classical writers of England. Learned, original, and impassioned, he had an enthusiasm for religion and charity, and his writings glow with an almost unequalled wealth of illustration and imagery, subtle argument, and fullness of thought. With a character of stainless purity and benevolence, and gracious and gentle manners, he was universally beloved by all who came under the spell of his presence.

TAYLOR, JOHN (1580-1653).--Known as the "Water Poet," _b._ at Gloucester of humble parentage, was apprenticed to a London waterman, and pressed for the navy. Thereafter he returned to London and resumed his occupation on the Thames, afterwards keeping inns first at Oxf., then in London. He had a talent for writing rollicking verses, enjoyed the acquaintance of Ben Jonson, and other famous men, superintended the water pageant at the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth 1613, and composed the "triumphs" at the Lord Mayor's shows. He made a journey on foot from London as far as to Braemar, of which he wrote an account, _The Pennyless Pilgrimage ... of John Taylor_, _the King's Majesty's Water Poet_ (1618). He visited the Queen of Bohemia at Prague in 1620, and made other journeys, each of which was commemorated in a book. His writings are of little literary value, but have considerable historical and antiquarian interest.

TAYLOR, PHILIP MEADOWS (1808-1876).--Novelist, _b._ at Liverpool, _s._ of a merchant there. When still a boy went out to a mercantile situation in Calcutta, but in 1826 got a commission in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad. From this he rose to a high civil position in the service of the Nizam, and entirely reorganised his government. He wrote several striking novels dealing with Indian life, including _Confessions of a Thug_ (1639), _Tara_, and _A Noble Queen_. He left an autobiography, _The Story of my Life_, ed. by his _dau._

TAYLOR, THOMAS (1758-1835).--Translator, _b._ in London and _ed._ at St. Paul's School, devoted himself to the study of the classics and of mathematics. After being a bank clerk he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Society for the encouragement of Arts, etc., in which capacity he made many influential friends, who furnished the means for publishing his various translations, which include works of Plato, Aristotle, Proclus, Porphyry, Apuleius, etc. His aim indeed was the translation of all the untranslated writings of the ancient Greek philosophers.

TAYLOR, TOM (1817-1880).--Dramatist, _b._ at Sunderland, _ed._ at Glasgow and Camb., and was Prof. of English Literature in London Univ. from 1845-47. In 1846 he was called to the Bar, and from 1854-71 he was Sec. to the Local Government Board. He was the author of about 100 dramatic pieces, original and adapted, including _Still Waters run Deep_, _The Overland Route_, and _Joan of Arc_. He was likewise a large contributor to _Punch_, of which he was ed. 1874-80, and he ed. the autobiographies of Haydon and Leslie, the painters, and wrote _Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds_.

TAYLOR, WILLIAM (1765-1836).--Translator, etc., _s._ of a merchant, travelled on the Continent, learned German, and became an enthusiastic student of German literature, which he was one of the first to introduce to his fellow-countrymen. His articles on the subject were _coll._ and _pub._ as _Historic Survey of German Poetry_ (1828-30). He translated Bürger's _Lenore_, Lessing's _Nathan_, and Goethe's _Iphigenia_. He also wrote _Tales of Yore_ (1810) and _English Synonyms Described_ (1813).

TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM (1628-1699).--Statesman and essayist, _s._ of Sir John T., Master of the Rolls in Ireland, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Camb. He travelled on the Continent, was for some time a member of the Irish Parliament, employed on various diplomatic missions, and negotiated the marriage of the Prince of Orange and the Princess Mary. On his return he was much consulted by Charles II., but disapproving of the courses adopted, retired to his house at Sheen, which he afterwards left and purchased Moor Park, where Swift was for a time his sec. He took no part in the Revolution, but acquiesced in the new _régime_, and was offered, but refused, the Secretaryship of State. His works consist for the most part of short essays _coll._ under the title of _Miscellanea_, but longer pieces are _Observations upon the United Provinces_, and _Essay on the Original and Nature of Government_. Apart from their immediate interest they mark a transition to the simpler, more concise, and more carefully arranged sentences of modern composition.

TENNANT, WILLIAM (1784-1848).--Poet and scholar, a cripple from his birth, was _b._ at Anstruther (commonly called Anster) in Fife. As a youth he was clerk to his brother, a corn-merchant, but devoted his leisure to the study of languages, and the literature of various countries. In 1813 he became parish schoolmaster of Lasswade, near Edinburgh, thereafter classical master at Dollar Academy, and in 1835 Prof. of Oriental Languages at St. Andrews. In 1812 he _pub._ _Anster Fair_, a mock-heroic poem, in _ottava rima_, full of fancy and humour, which at once brought him reputation. In later life he produced two tragedies, _Cardinal Beaton_ and _John Baliol_, and two poems, _The Thane of Fife_ and _Papistry Stormed_. He also issued a _Syriac and Chaldee Grammar_.

TENNYSON, ALFRED, 1ST LORD (1809-1892).--Poet, was the fourth _s._ of George T., Rector of Somersby, Lincolnshire, where he was _b._ His _f._ was himself a poet of some skill, and his two elder brothers, Frederick T. (_q.v._) and Charles T. Turner (_q.v._), were poets of a high order. His early education was received from his _f._, after which he went to the Grammar School of Louth, whence in 1828 he proceeded to Trinity Coll., Camb. In the previous year had appeared a small vol., _Poems by Two Brothers_, chiefly the work of his brother Charles and himself, with a few contributions from Frederick, but it attracted little attention. At the Univ. he was one of a group of highly gifted men, including Trench (_q.v._), Monckton Milnes, afterwards Lord Houghton (_q.v._), Alford (_q.v._), Lushington, his future brother-in-law, and above all, Arthur Hallam, whose friendship and early death were to be the inspiration of his greatest poem. In 1829 he won the Chancellor's medal by a poem on _Timbuctoo_, and in the following year he brought out his first independent work, _Poems chiefly Lyrical_. It was not in general very favourably received by the critics, though Wilson in _Blackwood's Magazine_ admitted much promise and even performance. In America it had greater popularity. Part of 1832 was spent in travel with Hallam, and the same year saw the publication of _Poems_, which had not much greater success than its predecessor. In the next year Hallam _d._, and T. began _In Memoriam_ and wrote _The Two Voices_. He also became engaged to Emily Sellwood, his future wife, but owing to various circumstances their marriage did not take place until 1850. The next few years were passed with his family at various places, and, so far as the public were concerned, he remained silent until 1842, when he _pub._ _Poems_ in two volumes, and at last achieved full recognition as a great poet. From this time the life of T. is a record of tranquil triumph in his art and of the conquest of fame; and the publication of his successive works became almost the only events which mark his history. _The Princess_ appearing in 1847 added materially to his reputation: in the lyrics with which it is interspersed, such as "The Splendour Falls" and "Tears, idle Tears" he rises to the full mastery of this branch of his art. The year 1850 was perhaps the most eventful in his life, for in it took place his marriage which, as he said, "brought the peace of God into his life," his succession to the Laureateship on the death of Wordsworth, and the publication of his greatest poem, _In Memoriam_. In 1852 appeared his noble _Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington_; and two years later _The Charge of the Light Brigade_. The publication of _Maud_ in 1855 gave his rapidly growing popularity a perceptible set-back, though it has since risen in favour. But this was far more than made up for by the enthusiasm with which the first set of _The Idylls of the King_ was received on its appearance four years later. _Enoch Arden_, with the _Northern Farmer_, came out in 1864; _The Holy Grail_ and _Gareth and Lynette_, both belonging to the _Idyll_ series, in 1869 and 1872 respectively. Three years later in 1875 T. broke new ground by beginning a series of dramas with _Queen Mary_, followed by _Harold_ (1876), _The Falcon_ (1879), _The Cup_ (1881), _The Promise of May_ (1882), _Becket_ (1884), and _Robin Hood_ (1891). His later poems were _The Lovers' Tale_ (1879) (an early work retouched), _Tiresias_ (1885), _Locksley Hall--60 Years after_ (1886), _Demeter and other Poems_ (1889), including "Crossing the Bar," and _The Death of Oenone_ (1892). T., who cared little for general society, though he had many intimate and devoted friends, lived at Farringford, Isle of Wight, from 1853-69, when he built a house at Aldworth, near Haslemere, which was his home until his death. In 1884 he was raised to the peerage. Until he had passed the threescore years and ten he had, with occasional illnesses, enjoyed good health on the whole. But in 1886 the younger of his two sons _d._, a blow which told heavily upon him; thereafter frequent attacks of illness followed, and he _d._ on October 6, 1892, in his 84th year, and received a public funeral in Westminster Abbey.

The poetry of T. is characterised by a wide outlook, by intense sympathy with the deepest feelings and aspirations of humanity, a profound realisation of the problems of life and thought, a noble patriotism finding utterance in such poems as _The Revenge_, the _Charge of the Light Brigade_, and the _Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington_, an exquisite sense of beauty, marvellous power of vivid and minute description often achieved by a single felicitous phrase, and often heightened by the perfect matching of sense and sound, and a general loftiness and purity of tone. No poet has excelled him in precision and delicacy of language and completeness of expression. As a lyrist he has, perhaps, no superiors, and only two or three equals in English poetry, and even of humour he possessed no small share, as is shown in the _Northern Farmer_ and in other pieces. When the volume, variety, finish, and duration of his work are considered, as well as the influence which he exercised on his time, a unique place must be assigned him among the poets of his country.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1809, _ed._ Camb., _Poems by Two Brothers_ 1827, _Poems chiefly Lyrical_ 1830, his chief works _Poems in two Volumes_ 1842, _Princess_ 1847, _In Memoriam_ 1850, _Maud_ 1855, _Idylls of the King_ 1869-72, Poet Laureate 1850, _d._ 1892.

_Life_ by his _s._ (2 vols., 1897). There are also numerous books, biographical and critical, by, among others, W.E. Wace (1881), A.C. Benson, A. Lang, F. Harrison, Sir A. Lyell, C.F.G. Masterman (T. as a Religious Teacher), Stopford Brooke, Waugh, etc.

TENNYSON, FREDERICK (1807-1898).--Poet, was the eldest _s._ of the Rector of Somersby, Lincolnshire, and brother of Alfred T. (_q.v._). _Ed._ at Eton and Camb., he passed most of his life in Italy and Jersey. He contributed to the _Poems by Two Brothers_, and produced _Days and Hours_ (lyrics) (1854), _The Isles of Greece_ (1890), _Daphne_ (1891), and _Poems of the Day and Night_ (1895). All his works show passages of genuine poetic power.

TENNYSON TURNER, CHARLES (1808-1879).--Poet, elder brother of Alfred T. (_q.v._), _ed._ at Camb., entered the Church, and became Vicar of Grasby, Lincolnshire. The name of Turner he assumed in conformity with the will of a relation. He contributed to _Poems by Two Brothers_, and was the author of 340 sonnets, which were greatly admired by such critics as Coleridge, Palgrave, and his brother Alfred.

THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE (1811-1863).--Novelist, _s._ of Richmond T., who held various important appointments in the service of the East India Company, and who belonged to an old and respectable Yorkshire family, was _b._ at Calcutta, and soon after the death of his _f._, which took place in 1816, sent home to England. After being at a school at Chiswick, he was sent to the Charterhouse School, where he remained from 1822-26, and where he does not appear to have been very happy. Meanwhile in 1818 his mother had _m._ Major H.W.C. Smythe, who is believed to be, in part at any rate, the original of Colonel Newcome. In 1829 he went to Trinity Coll., Camb., where he remained for a year only, and where he did not distinguish himself particularly as a student, but made many life-long friends, including Spedding (_q.v._), Tennyson, Fitzgerald (_q.v._), and Monckton Milnes (_see_ Houghton), and contributed verses and caricatures to two Univ. papers, "The Snob" and "The Gownsman." The following year, 1831, was spent chiefly in travelling on the Continent, especially Germany, when, at Weimar, he visited Goethe. Returning he entered the Middle Temple, but having no liking for legal studies, he soon abandoned them, and turning his attention to journalism, became proprietor, wholly or in part, of two papers successively, both of which failed. These enterprises, together with some unfortunate investments and also, it would seem, play, stripped him of the comfortable fortune, which he had inherited; and he now found himself dependent on his own exertions for a living. He thought at first of art as a profession, and studied for a time at Paris and Rome. In 1836, while acting as Paris correspondent for the second of his journals, he _m._ Isabella, _dau._ of Colonel Shawe, an Irish officer, and the next year he returned to England and became a contributor to _Fraser's Magazine_, in which appeared _The Yellowplush Papers_, _The Great Hoggarty Diamond_, _Catherine_, and _Barry Lyndon_, the history of an Irish sharper, which contains some of his best work. Other works of this period were _The Paris Sketch-book_ (1840) and _The Irish Sketch-book_ (1843). His work in _Fraser_, while it was appreciated at its true worth by a select circle, had not brought him any very wide recognition: it was his contributions to _Punch_--the _Book of Snobs_ and _Jeames's Diary_--which first caught the ear of the wider public. The turning point in his career, however, was the publication in monthly numbers of _Vanity Fair_ (1847-48). This extraordinary work gave him at once a place beside Fielding at the head of English novelists, and left him no living competitor except Dickens. _Pendennis_, largely autobiographical, followed in 1848-50, and fully maintained his reputation. In 1851 he broke new ground, and appeared, with great success, as a lecturer, taking for his subject _The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century_, following this up in 1855 with the _Four Georges_, first delivered in America. Meanwhile _Esmond_, perhaps his masterpiece, and probably the greatest novel of its kind in existence, had appeared in 1852, and _The Newcomes_ (1853), _The Virginians_, a sequel to _Esmond_, which, though containing much fine work, is generally considered to show a falling off as compared with its two immediate predecessors, came out in 1857-59. In 1860 the _Cornhill Magazine_ was started with T. for its ed., and to it he contributed _Lovell the Widower_ (1860), _The Adventures of Philip_ (1861-62), _The Roundabout Papers_, a series of charming essays, and _Denis Duval_, left a mere fragment by his sudden death, but which gave promise of a return to his highest level of performance. In addition to the works mentioned, T. for some years produced Christmas books and burlesques, of which the best were _The Rose and the Ring_ and _The Kickleburys on the Rhine_. He also wrote graceful verses, some of which, like _Bouillabaisse_, are in a strain of humour shot through with pathos, while others are the purest rollicking fun. For some years T. suffered from spasms of the heart, and he _d._ suddenly during the night of December 23, 1863, in his 53rd year. He was a man of the tenderest heart, and had an intense enjoyment of domestic happiness; and the interruption of this, caused by the permanent breakdown of his wife's health, was a heavy calamity. This, along with his own latterly broken health, and a sensitiveness which made him keenly alive to criticism, doubtless fostered the tendency to what was often superficially called his cynical view of life. He possessed an inimitable irony and a power of sarcasm which could scorch like lightning, but the latter is almost invariably directed against what is base and hateful. To human weakness he is lenient and often tender, and even when weakness passes into wickedness, he is just and compassionate. He saw human nature "steadily and saw it whole," and paints it with a light but sure hand. He was master of a style of great distinction and individuality, and ranks as one of the very greatest of English novelists.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1811, _ed._ at Charterhouse and Camb., after trying law turned to journalism, in which he lost his fortune, studied art at Paris and Rome, wrote for _Fraser's Magazine_ and _Punch_, _Barry Lyndon_, _Book of Snobs_, and _Jeames's Diary_, _pub._ _Vanity Fair_ 1847-8, _Pendennis_ (1848-50), lectured on _Humourists_ 1851, and on _Four Georges_ in America 1855, _pub._ _Esmond_ 1852, _Newcomes_ 1853, _Virginians_ 1857-59, ed. _Cornhill Magazine_ 1860, his last great work, _Denis Duval_, left unfinished, _d._ 1863.

_Lives_ by Merivale and Marzials (Great Writers), A. Trollope (English Men of Letters), Whibley (Modern English Writers). Article in _Dictionary of National Biography_ by Leslie Stephen.

THEOBALD, LEWIS (1688-1744).--Editor of Shakespeare, and translator, originally an attorney, betook himself to literature, translated from Plato, the Greek dramatists, and Homer, and wrote also essays, biographies, and poems. In 1715 he _pub._ _Shakespeare Restored, etc._, in which he severely criticised Pope's ed., and was in consequence rewarded with the first place in _The Dunciad_, and the adoption of most of his corrections in Pope's next ed. Though a poor poet, he was an acute and discriminating critic, made brilliant emendations on some of the classics, and produced in 1734 an ed. of Shakespeare which gave him a high place among his ed.

THIRWALL, CONNOP (1797-1875).--Historian, was _b._ at Stepney, the _s._ of a clergyman, and _ed._ at the Charterhouse and Camb. He studied law, was called to the Bar in 1825, and in the same year _pub._ a translation of Schleiermacher's _Critical Essay on the Gospel of St. Luke_. After this, having changed his mind, he took orders in 1827, and the next year translated, with Julius Hare (_q.v._), the first vol. of Niebuhr's _History of Rome_, and _pub._, also with him, _The Philological Museum_ (1831-33). He was an advocate for the admission of Dissenters to degrees, and in consequence of his action in the matter had to resign his Univ. tutorship. Thereupon Lord Brougham, then Lord Chancellor, presented him to the living of Kirkby Underdale. Between 1835 and 1847 he wrote his great _History of Greece_, which has a place among historical classics. In 1840 he was made Bishop of St. David's, in which capacity he showed unusual energy in administering his see. The eleven charges which he delivered during his tenure of the see were pronouncements of exceptional weight upon the leading questions of the time affecting the Church. As a Broad Churchman T. was regarded with suspicion by both High and Low Churchmen, and in the House of Lords generally supported liberal movements such as the admission of Jews to Parliament. He was the only Bishop who was in favour of the disestablishment of the Irish Church.

THOMS, WILLIAM JOHN (1803-1885).--Antiquary and miscellaneous writer, for many years a clerk in the secretary's office of Chelsea Hospital, was in 1845 appointed Clerk, and subsequently Deputy Librarian to the House of Lords. He was the founder in 1849 of _Notes and Queries_, which for some years he also ed. Among his publications are _Early Prose Romances_ (1827-28), _Lays and Legends_ (1834), _The Book of the Court_ (1838), _Gammer Gurton's Famous Histories_ (1846), _Gammer Gurton's Pleasant Stories_ (1848). He also _ed._ Stow's _London_, and was sec. of the Camden Society. He introduced the word "folk-lore" into the language.

THOMSON, JAMES (1700-1748).--Poet, _s._ of the minister of Ednam, Roxburghshire, spent most of his youth, however, at Southdean, a neighbouring parish, to which his _f._ was translated. He was _ed._ at the parish school there, at Jedburgh, and at Edin., whither he went with the view of studying for the ministry. The style of one of his earliest sermons having been objected to by the Prof. of Divinity as being too flowery and imaginative, he gave up his clerical views and went to London in 1725, taking with him a part of what ultimately became his poem of _Winter_. By the influence of his friend Mallet he became tutor to Lord Binning, _s._ of the Earl of Haddington, and was introduced to Pope, Arbuthnot, Gay, and others. _Winter_ was _pub._ in 1726, and was followed by _Summer_ (1727), _Spring_ (1728), and _Autumn_ (1730), when the whole were brought together as _The Seasons_. Previous to 1730 he had produced one or two minor poems and the tragedy of _Sophonisba_, which, after promising some success, was killed by the unfortunate line, "Oh! Sophonisba, Sophonisba, oh!" being parodied as "Oh! Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, oh!" In 1731 T. accompanied Charles Talbot, _s._ of the Lord Chancellor, to the Continent, as tutor, and on his return received the sinecure Secretaryship of Briefs which, however, he lost in 1737, through omitting to apply for its continuance to Talbot's successor. He then returned to the drama and produced _Agamemnon_ in 1738, and _Edward and Eleanora_ in 1739. The same year he received from the Prince of Wales a pension of £100, and was made Surveyor-General of the Leeward Islands which, after providing for a deputy to discharge the duties, left him £300 a year. He was now in comfortable circumstances and settled in a villa near Richmond, where he amused himself with gardening and seeing his friends. In conjunction with Mallet he wrote, in 1740, the masque of _Alfred_, in which appeared _Rule Britannia_, which M. afterwards claimed, or allowed to be claimed, for him, but which there is every reason to believe was contributed by T. In 1745 appeared _Tancred and Sigismunda_, the most successful of his dramas, and in 1748 _Coriolanus_. In May of the latter year he _pub._ _The Castle of Indolence_, an allegorical poem in the Spenserian stanza, generally considered to be his masterpiece. In August following he caught a chill which developed into a fever, and carried him off in his 48th year. Though T. was undoubtedly a poet by nature, his art was developed by constant and fastidious polishing. To _The Seasons_, originally containing about 4000 lines, he added about 1400 in his various revisions. He was the first to give the description of nature the leading place, and in his treatment of his theme he showed much judgment in the selection of the details to be dwelt upon. His blank verse, though not equal to that of a few other English poets, is musical and wielded in a manner suitable to his subject. In all his poems he displays the genial temper and kindly sympathies by which he was characterised as a man. He was never _m._, and lived an easy, indolent life, beloved by his many friends. (_See also_ Lyttelton, Lord)

THOMSON, JAMES (1834-1882).--Poet, _b._ at Port Glasgow and brought up in the Royal Caledonian Asylum, was for some years an army teacher, but was dismissed for a breach of discipline. He became associated with Charles Bradlaugh, the free-thought protagonist, who introduced him to the conductors of various secularist publications. His best known poem is _The City of Dreadful Night_, deeply pessimistic. Others are _Vane's Story_ and _Weddah and Omel-Bonain_. His views resulted in depression, which led to dipsomania, and he _d._ in poverty and misery. His work has a certain gloomy power which renders it distinctly noteworthy.

THOREAU, HENRY DAVID (1817-1862).--Essayist, poet, and naturalist, was _b._ at Concord, Massachusetts. His _f._, of French extraction, from Jersey, was a manufacturer of lead-pencils. He was _ed._ at Harvard, where he became a good classical scholar. Subsequently he was a competent Orientalist, and was deeply versed in the history and manners of the Red Indians. No form of regular remunerative employment commending itself to him, he spent the 10 years after leaving coll. in the study of books and nature, for the latter of which he had exceptional qualifications in the acuteness of his senses and his powers of observation. Though not a misanthropist, he appears in general to have preferred solitary communion with nature to human society. "The man I meet," he said, "is seldom so instructive as the silence which he breaks;" and he described himself as "a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher." He made such money as his extremely simple mode of life called for, by building boats or fences, agricultural or garden work, and surveying, anything almost of an outdoor character which did not involve lengthened engagement. In 1837 he began his diaries, records of observation with which in ten years he filled 30 vols. In 1839 he made the excursion the record of which he in 1845 _pub._ as _A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers_. Two years later, in 1841, he began a residence in the household of Emerson, which lasted for two years, when he assisted in conducting the _Dial_, and in 1845, after some teaching in New York, he retired to a hut near the solitary Walden Pond to write his _Week on the Concord_, etc. Later works were _Walden_ (1854), and _The Maine Woods_ (1864), and _Cape Cod_ (1865), accounts of excursions and observations, both _pub._ after his death. T. was an enthusiast in the anti-slavery cause, the triumph of which, however, he did not live to see, as he _d._ on May 6, 1862, when the war was still in its earlier stages. The deliberate aim of T. was to live a life as nearly approaching naturalness as possible; and to this end he passed his time largely in solitude and in the open air. As he says, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach." To his great powers of observation he added great powers of reflection, and two of the most characteristic features of his writings are immediateness and individuality in his descriptions of nature, and a remarkable power of giving permanent and clear form to the most subtle and evanescent mental impressions.

TICKELL, THOMAS (1686-1740).--Poet, _b._ at Bridekirk Vicarage, Cumberland, and _ed._ at Oxf. became the friend of Joseph Addison (_q.v._), contributed to the _Spectator_ and _Guardian_, and accompanied him when he went to Ireland as sec. to the Lord Lieutenant. His translation of the first book of the _Iliad_ came out at the same time as Pope's, and led to a quarrel between the latter and Addison, Pope imagining that the publication was a plot to interfere with the success of his work. On Addison becoming Sec. of State in 1717 he appointed T. Under-Sec. Among the writings of T. are the well-known ballad, _Colin and Lucy_, _Kensington Gardens_, a poem, and an _Elegy_ on the death of Addison, of which Macaulay says that it "would do honour to the greatest name in our literature." In 1725 he became sec. to the Lords Justices of Ireland, and retained the post until his death.

TICKNOR, GEORGE (1791-1871).--Historian and biographer, _s._ of a rich man, was _b._ at Boston, Mass., and _ed._ for the law. He, however, gave himself to study and writing, and also travelled much. After being a Prof. at Harvard, 1819-35, he went in the latter year to Europe, where he spent some years collecting materials for his _magnum opus_, _The History of Spanish Literature_ (1849). He also wrote Lives of Lafayette and Prescott, the historian. His _Letters and Journals_ were _pub._ in 1876, and are the most interesting of his writings.

TIGHE, MARY (BLACKFORD) (1772-1810).--Poet, _dau._ of a clergyman, made an unhappy marriage, though she had beauty and amiable manners, and was highly popular in society. She wrote a good deal of verse; but her chief poem was a translation in Spenserian stanza of the tale of _Cupid and Psyche_, which won the admiration of such men as Sir J. Mackintosh, Moore, and Keats.

TILLOTSON, JOHN (1630-1694).--Divine, _s._ of a Presbyterian clothier, was _b._ near Halifax, and _ed._ at Camb., where his originally Puritan views became somewhat modified. At the Savoy Conference in 1661 he was still a Presbyterian, but submitted to the Act of Uniformity, and became next year Rector of Keddington, and in 1664 preacher at Lincoln's Inn, where he became very popular. In 1672 he was made Dean of Canterbury. He vainly endeavoured to secure the comprehension of the Nonconformists in the Church. After the Revolution he gained the favour of William III., who made him Clerk of the Closet, and Dean of St. Paul's, and in 1691 he succeeded Sancroft as Archbishop of Canterbury. His sermons, which had extraordinary popularity, give him a place in literature, and he was one of those writers who, by greater simplicity and greater attention to clearness of construction, helped to introduce the modern style of composition.

TIMROD, HENRY (1829-1867).--Poet, _b._ at Charleston, S. Carolina, of German descent, was ruined by the Civil War, and _d._ in poverty. He wrote one vol. of poems, _pub._ 1860, which attained wide popularity in the South. He had notable descriptive power.

TOBIN, JOHN (1770-1804).--Dramatist, was for long unsuccessful, but in the year of his death made a hit with _The Honey Moon_, which had great success, and maintained its place for many years. Other plays were _The Curfew_ and _The School for Authors_.

TOLAND, JOHN (1670?-1722).--Deistical writer, _b._ in Ireland of Roman Catholic parentage, completed his education at Glasgow, Edin., and Leyden. Very early in life he had become a Protestant, and at Leyden he studied theology with the view of becoming a Nonconformist minister, but imbibed Rationalistic views. He then resided for some time at Oxf., and in 1696 _pub._ his first work, _Christianity not Mysterious_, which was censured by Convocation and gave rise to much controversy. Next year he returned to Ireland, where, however, he was not more popular than in England, and where his book was burned by the common hangman. Returning to England he took to writing political pamphlets, including one, _Anglia Libera_, in support of the Brunswick succession, which gained him some favour at Hanover, and he was sent on some political business to the German Courts. He then served Harley in Holland and Germany practically as a political spy. His later years were passed in literary drudgery and poverty. Among his numerous writings may be mentioned _Account of Prussia and Hanover_, _Origines Judaicæ_, _History of the Druids_, and a Life of Milton prefixed to an ed. of his prose works.

TOOKE, JOHN HORNE (1736-1812).--Philologist, _s._ of a poulterer called Horne, added the name of Tooke in 1782 in anticipation of inheriting from his friend W. Tooke, of Purley. He was at Camb. and took orders, but disliking the clerical profession, travelled abroad. Returning he became prominent as a radical politician, and espoused the cause of Wilkes, with whom, however, he afterwards quarrelled. He also supported the revolted American colonists, and was fined and imprisoned for endeavouring to raise a subscription for them. An effort to be admitted to the Bar was unsuccessful; and in 1786 he published his _Diversions of Purley_, a work on philology which brought him great reputation, and which, containing muck that has been proved to be erroneous, showed great learning and acuteness. T. twice endeavoured unsuccessfully to enter Parliament for Westminster, but ultimately sat for the rotten burgh of Old Sarum, making, however, no mark in the House. He was the author of numerous effective political pamphlets.

TOPLADY, AUGUSTUS MONTAGUE (1740-1778).--Hymn-writer, _s._ of an officer in the army, was _b._ at Farnham, _ed._ at Westminster and Trinity Coll., Dublin, after which he took orders and became incumbent of Broad Hembury. He was a strong Calvinist and entered into a bitter controversy with Wesley. His controversial works are forgotten; but he will always be remembered as the author of "Rock of Ages," perhaps the most widely known of English hymns.

TOURNEUR, or TURNER, CYRIL (1575?-1626).--Dramatist, perhaps _s._ of Richard T., Lieutenant of the Brill, served in the Low Countries, and was sec. to Sir Edward Cecil in his unsuccessful expedition to Cadiz, returning from which he was disembarked with the sick at Kinsale, where he _d._ He wrote two dramas, _The Revenger's Tragedy_ (_pr._ 1607), and _The Atheist's Tragedy_ (_pr._ 1611), in both of which, especially the former, every kind of guilt and horror is piled up, the author displaying, however, great intensity of tragic power. Of _The Revenger_ Lamb said that it made his ears tingle. Another play of his, _Transformed Metamorphosis_, was discovered in 1872.

TRAHERNE, THOMAS (1636?-1674).--Poet and theological writer, _s._ of a shoemaker at Hereford where, or at Ledbury, he was probably _b._ Very few facts concerning him have been preserved, and indeed his very existence had been forgotten until some of his MS. were discovered on a bookstall in 1896, without, however, anything to identify the author. Their discoverer, Mr. W.T. Brooke, was inclined to attribute them to Henry Vaughan (_q.v._), in which he was supported by Dr. Grosart (_q.v._), and the latter was about to bring out a new ed. of Vaughan's poems in which they were to be included. This was, however, prevented by his death. The credit of identification is due to Mr. Bertram Dobell, who had become the possessor of another vol. of MS., and who rejecting, after due consideration, the claims of Vaughan, followed up the very slender clues available until he had established the authorship of Traherne. All the facts that his diligent investigations were successful in collecting were that T. was "entered as a commoner at Brasenose Coll., Oxf., in 1652, took one degree in arts, left the house for a time, entered into the sacred function, and in 1661 was actually created M.A. About that time he became Rector of Crednell, near Hereford ... and in 1669 Bachelor of Divinity;" and that after remaining there for over 9 years he was appointed private chaplain to the Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, who on his retirement from office retained him as a member of his household at Teddington until his death in 1674, T. himself dying three months later. T. also appears to have been incumbent of Teddington, or perhaps more probably, curate to a pluralist incumbent. The complete oblivion into which T. had fallen is the more remarkable when the quality of his poetry, which places him on a level with Herbert, Vaughan, and Crashaw, is considered; and that he appears in his own day to have had some reputation as a scholar and controversialist. His _Roman Forgeries_ (1673) achieved some note. His next work, _Christian Ethics_, which was not _pub._ until after his death, appears to have fallen dead, and is extremely rare: it is described by Mr. Dobell as "full of eloquence, persuasiveness, sagacity, and piety." _Centuries of Meditations_ consists of short reflections on religious and moral subjects, etc. The _Poems_ constitute his main claim to remembrance and, as already stated, are of a high order. With occasional roughness of metre they display powerful imagination, a deep and rich vein of original thought, and true poetic force and fire. It has been pointed out that in some of them the author anticipates the essential doctrines of the Berkeleian philosophy, and in them is also revealed a personality of rare purity and fascination.

TRELAWNY, EDWARD JOHN (1792-1881).--Biographer, entered the navy, from which, however, he deserted, after which he wandered about in the East and on the Continent. In Switzerland he met Byron and Shelley, and was living in close friendship with the latter when he was drowned, and was one of the witnesses at the cremation of his remains. He took part in the Greek war of independence, and _m._ the sister of one of the insurgent chiefs. After various adventures in America he settled in London, where he was a distinguished figure in society, and enjoyed the reputation of a picturesque, but somewhat imaginative, conversationalist. He wrote _The Adventures of a Younger Son_ (1831), a work of striking distinction, and the intensely interesting _Records of Shelley, Byron, and the Author_ (1858). The last survivor of that brilliant group, he was buried by the side of Shelley.