T II O 



388 



T II O 



manner 1) 

 created by the 1 

 All philosophic 

 Latin, wh. 



,'irit which hail been ' 

 ther. ; 

 vritten in | 



an ina .'i for commum- 



ircqncntly 



nl imperfect on that account, or tin- Ian: 

 barbarous. In the universities also Latin was 

 tin 1 ordinary language for communicating knowledge, 

 which thus remained in tin- exclusive possession ol 'a small 

 numlx-r, and without influence upon the nation at 

 Thomasius prepared the way tor better thinirs, first by 

 communicating knowledge in his native language, and b\ ex- 

 tending the sphere within which -peculation had until then 

 been carried on. At the >aine time he urgi-d the nc< 

 of writing in a clear and intelligible style, whrch many of 



'intiymcn in recent times have greatly neglected. 



.vn sHle. thonirh not always pure, is precise and 

 vigorous. As in places of learning Ihomasius destroyed 

 old prejudices and pedantry, he also boldly combated 

 superstition and hypocrisy in the affairs of common life, 

 such as the belief in ghosts, spectres, and witchcraft ; and 

 il most entirely owing to his exertions that trials tor 

 witchcraft and torture were abolished in -Germany. In 

 reference to this, Frederick the (treat says of Thomasius, 

 11. denounced trials for witchcraft so loudly.that persons 

 began to be ashamed of them, and from that time the 

 female sex ha.-, been permitted to crow old and die in 

 peace.' All this would alone be sufficient to immortalize 

 his name, even if he had no claim to it by what he did in 

 philosophy. Here lie indeed found things in such a state, 

 that it required all bis energy to clear the field from the 

 weeds with \\hich it was overgrown, before it was fit to 

 receive the seed, and accordingly his philosophy is more 

 of a destructive than of a constructive character. But in 

 this negative way he has done incalculable sen ice to his 

 nation, and Frederick the Great justly says, that, among all 

 the philosophers of Germany, none have contributed more 

 to render its name illustrious than Leibnitz and Thomasius. 

 The number of works of Thomasius is considerable. 

 I)c>idcs those mentioned above, the following must be 

 noticed : ' Kinleitung zu der Yernunftlehre, worinncii 

 durch eine leichte, und alien vemiinftigen Menscheii. 

 vvascrlci Standes oder Geschlechts sie seyu, verstiindliche 

 Manier. der AYcg gczeigct wird, ohne die Syllogistica, das 

 \\ahrc. 'Wahrschcinliche und Falsche von emander zu 



iciden und neue AYahrheiten zu erfinden,' i 

 1091, 8vo. The fifth and last edition of this work appeared 

 at Halle, 1~1!, Hvo. ; it was the first readable book that 

 had ever been produced iu Germany on logic. ' Von der 

 Kunst vemiinftig und lugendhnft zu lichen, als dcm cin- 

 zigen Mittel zu einem gliickscligcn. galanten, und xer- 



n Lebcn zu gelangcn, oder Einleitung der Sitten- 



li-hre. 1 Sec.. Halle, l(i!li Hvo.; an eighth edition of it 

 appeared in 172G. This work contains a system of 

 better than any that had appeared before him. ' II 

 der Wcisheit imd Thorheit,' in three parts. Halle. 

 Hvo. \Veitere Krliiutcrung durch untei-schie,!, ,ie l'.\- 

 cmpel, anderer Menscheii Gcmiithcr keniien n\ 1< 

 Halle. l(i:, Kvo., reprinted in 1711. 'Der Kern wahrcr 

 und niitziicher vYeltweishcit,' Halle. Hi!):!, Svo. : this i> a 

 translation of Xenophon's Memorabilia of S,., 

 which Thomasius strangely enough took from the I'rcnch 

 translation of Charpentier, although he himself w; 

 acquainted with the Greek. ' Versuch vom 'Wcscn lies 

 .s, oder Gnindlehren die einem Studioso Juris /u 

 wissen und auf I'liiversitiitcn zu lerneii niithig siud,' Halle. 

 Svo.. reprinted in l~lli). ' 1 aber doeh 



muntere und verniinftige Gedanken und Krinnci 

 iibcr allerhand auserlesene juristische Hiiudel,' -1 

 Halle, 172D-J1. His miscellaneous and smaller 

 appeared in a collection under the title ' Kleine 1). 

 Sciinftcn mil Kleiss niMnunengetragen, 1 Halle, 17ol. Byo. 

 A complete list of his works is given in I.uden's f'hri\linii 

 Thonuuiu* nach teinrn tv-hirkfili'ii unit St-hrijtrn ilnr- 

 >ll, with a preface by Johannes von Miiller, Berlin, 

 : and in JBlden'l I.<:i-ilu,n Drulxrlu-r Uirhti'r 

 unit i. vol. v., p. :fi.-7i'.l. 



TIloM.vsirs. .IACOH. [THOMASIUS, CHRISTIAN.] 



TH'IM ASTON. [MMNK. p. 



THoMuM). THOMAS, an architect who practised at 



and held the rank of a major in tl>. 

 un Krviee, wa a native of France, and bom at Nancy, 



Illillll ill till WUUUV, UI1U III ,1. M . >I 111 I IL 



w here he at tirst siippdrtert him-. 

 !' his pencil, which not only l>iun.; 

 ivourablv known to t i-burs: imlilic. 



Jl. 17-V.i. Scaicelv had 1 .1 Ins pro- 



fessional education at Paris, wh. '.\ rciuli-ii il 



.r him, he and his 

 remain in the countn,-. and ho 



. where he at first sup 

 o!' his 



favourably known to the St. lYtcr-hu: 

 he displayed in architectural .1 k-nirth t. 



beini: employed bv the government in that lua 

 which he had original i to follow, and one of the 



.'rks of any importance intnistcd t<i hii:: 

 Thiatre eieelcd by the German architect Tiscll- 

 bcin. 17^--s:r, which he'v.as c<immi>siijned to ini) 

 and partly remiK'.el. in lst)l. Although not 

 from the peculiarities of the French school, the ta.-adc and 

 octastyle Ionic portico which h. that stni 



is one of the noblest \ . . liitectnre in the northern 



capital of Ku-sia, and. of its kind .und date. inKuroj., . Had 

 he executed nothing els*', that alone would have entitled 

 him to rank higher in his j. hau many 



who owe their celebrity as much to the number as : 

 merit of their works, lint he h.. 

 displaying his taste and ability in another ve: 

 public edifice at St. I'ctersburi:. namely, the Im; 

 Birzha, or Exchange, erected by him between the 



md l^Hi. which is an insulated structure (about 

 of the Roman Doric order, peripteral and 

 dcca-t\lc at each end although without prdiin 

 lumng altogether -I I columns. Situated at the southern 

 point of the \ a-- ilievskii Island, immediately I'ai-ing the 

 N'cva. it stands in the centre of a spacious 'tilntrlind, or 

 'place,' upon a rich architectural terrace, wnii 

 out so as to form a semicircular esplanade in front, at 

 extremity of which is- a fliirht of steps leading down to the 

 river, and amasshc rostral column 1'3) feet high. Taken 

 altogether, the architectural combination thus produced is 

 exceedingly picturesque, and may be said to be unique. 



Thomond ,d tome private mansions and other 



buildings at St. 1'etersburi:. the mausoleum oft] 

 Paul at Pavlovska, the theatre at Odessa, and the Pultava 

 monument. In INSS he published some of his buildings 

 and architect in al designs in a quarto volume, very iin 

 : y executed howc\.-r: and he also wrote a ti 

 on paintiuir. an art to which he was i;rcatlj attached. He 



.-.lu'iist 2;{, 1813. 

 Kukolnik. in K/uitl'i;Jir\ti: inn/n G:izrl<i, 1S37.) 



THOMPSON. SIR )!. [Rrv 



THOMSON, JAMBS, wai born at Kdnam in Roxburgh- 

 shire on the llth Sc])tember, 17<X). His lather was c' 

 man of the place, and distinguished for his piety and 

 (oral character, .lames was fii>t sent to the grammar- 

 : ;il .ledliiiix'h. and completed his education at the 

 T'liiveisity of Edinburgh, where in 1711) he was admitted 

 as a student of divinity. In 1720 his father died. ' and 

 this,' says Dr. Murdoch, ' affected him to an i 

 decree, and his relations still remember some e\li:i!..:dinary 

 instances of his irriel and filial duty on that 



Thomson turned from divinity to poetn o\\mir to the 

 following incident: The Rev. Mr. Hamilton, who then 

 tilled the chair of divinity. 



psalm in which the majesty and power 



ed. ( it' thi ] 



and illustration as the exercise required, but in so poetical 

 and figurative a styl' 'onish the audience. Mr. 



Hamilton complimented the performance and pointed out 

 to the s'udcnls its most strikinu' point: but, tnnn 

 Thorn '1,'isti-d that it' he intenil. 



minis: ; beep a stricter rein over his imagination 



and learn to be intelliirible to an ordinary eoiiL. 



ement held out to hiiii by )..- 



Bailie following this intimation of the Professor, he detiT- 

 mined to u'ivc up divinity and try his fortune in London. 

 Slender as this pretext of encouragement ' 

 have been main poi t . who have thus sought their fortune 

 from no st i. on. The truth is. Thomson wanted 



to try his capacity in Loud. , ed on tin- U a pre- 



text. Aimed there, says Dr. Johnson, he was one day 

 loitering about 'with the irapinir curiosity of a new-comer, 

 his attention upon e\. kd,' 



when Ins handkerchief, containint: hi . om- 



mendation to scveial -tolen 



from him. And now the lonely poet in the va.st city 



