574 



TEVIOT THALES. 



marks. But it afterwards gradually declined, in 

 consequence of its luxury and dissensions In the 

 year 1229, the Teutonic knights were called in by 

 the Poles to aid them against the Prussians, who, 

 also, after a war of fifty-three years, were forced to 

 acknowledge the supremacy of the order, and to 

 embrace the Christian religion. They also reduced 

 the Sclavonian countries along the Baltic, particu- 

 larly after their union (1237) with the Brethren of 

 the Sword in Livonia. In 1309, the grand master 

 fixed his seat at Marienburg, in Prussia. But the 

 government of the order became so oppressive, that 

 West Prussia submitted, in the fifteenth century, 

 to Poland ; and the order was obliged to hold East 

 Prussia under the supremacy of Poland. The en- 

 deavour to acquire independence brought on a war 

 with Poland, the result of which was, that the order 

 lost also East Prussia, which, in 1525, was granted 

 to the grand master, the margrave Albert of Bran- 

 denburg, as an hereditary duchy, under the sove- 

 reignty of Poland. Afterwards the head of the or- 

 der, from 1527, had his seat at Mergentheim, in 

 Suabia, at present part of the kingdom of Wiirtem- 

 berg, and became a spiritual prince of the empire. 

 The eleven bailiwicks (provinces) were divided into 

 commanderies, comprising together 850 square 

 miles, containing 88,000 inhabitants. By the peace 

 of Presburg, 1805, the emperor of Austria obtained 

 the dignity, rights, and revenue of grand master 

 of the Teutonic order. In the war with Austria, 

 1809, Napoleon abolished this order, at Ratisbon, 

 April 24. Its lands fell to the princes in whose 

 territory they were situated. The archduke An- 

 thony calls himself at present, grand master of the 

 Teutonic order in the empire of Austria. 



TEVIOT, a river of Scotland, which rises in 

 Mosspaul, on the borders of Dumfries-shire, passes 

 by Hawick, and joins the Tweed at Kelso. The 

 valley which it waters, comprising the most of Rox- 

 burghshire, is called Teviotdale. 



TEWKSBURY ; a town in England, in Glou- 

 cestershire, 103 miles west of London ; Ion. 2 9' 

 W. It is situated at the conflux of the Severn and 

 Avon, in a beautiful vale, and is a handsome town, 

 consisting mostly of three principal streets. The 

 bouses are chiefly built of brick. The church called 

 Albey church is a noble pile of building, and one of 

 the largest in England which is not collegiate or 

 cathedral. It contains many interesting monu- 

 ments, and is the only remains of the celebrated mo- 

 nastery of Tewksbury, founded by the Saxons, in 

 715. Tewksbury has been long noted for its mus- 

 tard ; but it is at present cbiefly distinguished for 

 its manufacture of stockings. It sends two mem- 

 bers to parliament. Near this town was fought a 

 bloody battle, between the parties of York and Lan- 

 caster, which put a final period to the power of the 

 latter. The field on which it was fought, about 

 half a mile from the town, is called bloody meadow. 

 (See the articles Edward IV. and Margaret ofAn- 

 jo.) Population of burgh and parish in 1831, 

 5780. 



TEXAS ; formerly a province attached to the 

 viceroyalty of Mexico ; afterwards with Cohahuila, 

 forming a state in the Mexican confederacy ; and 

 now claiming independence under the protection of 

 the North American Union. Its contiguity to the 

 States, and its rapidly increasing population, con- 

 tisting chiefly of Anglo-American emigrants, ren- 

 ders it, although thinly peopled, and possessing 

 little wealth, ot great interest. Texas is,, indeed, 

 likely, at some future period, to become opulent, 



powerful and civilized, from the advantages of a 

 soil of surprising fertility, a great facility of inter- 

 nal communication by means of numerous rivers 

 intersecting it, and a geographical position highly 

 favouring its intercourse both with the new and tin- 

 old world. It has a seacoast 350 miles long, afford- 

 ing, by means of its numerous rivers, intercourse at 

 a great number of points with the gulf of Mexico. 

 Although the mouths of these rivers seldom admit 

 vessels drawing more than ten feet of water, the 

 Red river has depth sufficient for ships of 400 

 tons. (See Red River, and Mexico, Gulf o/.} 

 It is separated from Louisiana by the Sabine river, 

 on the east, and from Arkansas, on the north, by 

 Red river: the extent and population we cannot 

 give with precision. Most of the productions of 

 tropical climates grow here in great perfection, and 

 the cotton is equal to the finest produced within 

 the United States. The face of the country is 

 generally level, and a great portion of it consists 

 of immense prairies. The principal rivers are the 

 Trinity, the Brasses (600 miles in length), and the 

 Colorado (450 miles). The chief towns are Nacog- 

 doches, with about 300 inhabitants, St Antonio, on 

 the Guadaloupe, with 1200 inhabitants, and Coha- 

 huila. An attempt was made, in 1827, to erect 

 Texas into an independent republic, by the name 

 of Fredonia ; but it was easily put down by a small 

 Mexican force, and the Fredonians were driven out 

 of the country. In 1835, the inhabitants of Texas, 

 aided by adventurers from New Orleans, declared 

 themselves independent of the government of 

 Mexico, and proclaimed war against that republic 

 The contest has since terminated in the annexa- 

 tion of Texas to the United States. 



TEXEL, OR TESSEL ; an island of the pro- 

 vince of North Holland, about eleven miles in 

 length, and six in its greatest breadth ; Ion. 4 40' 

 E. ; lat. 53 5' N. ; population, 5000. It is situated 

 at the entrance of the Zuyder Zee, and separated 

 from North Holland by the narrow channel of Mars- 

 Diep. The soil is well fitted for sheep pasture, 

 and it is noted for cheese. It has a capacious and 

 good harbour, and a fort, which commands the en- 

 trance. Besides the petty town of the same name, 

 it contains six villages. The land is fertile in pas- 

 ture, and the whole well secured with dikes of 

 prodigious strength and height. Near this island 

 was the celebrated sea-fight between the fleet of 

 Holland, under admiral Tromp, and that of England, 

 under admiral Blake, in 1653, in which Tromp was 

 killed. In 1673, a battle was fought between the 

 fleet of Holland and the united fleets of England 

 and France. 



TH. See T. 



THAARUP, THOMAS, one of the most esteemed 

 lyrical and dramatic poets of Denmark, was born 

 at Copenhagen, in 1749, and died in 1821. Several 

 of his productions have been translated into German. 



THADDEUS, OR JUDE. See Judas. 



THAIS, the mistress of Alexander the Great, 

 was a native of Athens. She is said to have insti- 

 gated Alexander to set fire to Persepolis, the resi- 

 dence of the Persian kings, in revenge for the in- 

 iuries done to her native city by Xerxes, and to 

 bave prompted him, when inflamed with drinking, 

 to throw the first torch himself. She was after- 

 wards the mistress, and finally became the wife, of 

 Ptolemy, king of Egypt. 



THAL; German for valley or dale ; found in 

 many geographical names, as Schonthal (Fair valley) 



THALES, a native of Miletus, in Ionia, or, ac- 



