T H I 



T II I 



ncccITsry concord in counterpoint, tlu-oughout the whole 

 fyftem of praiilical harmony. 



There are two kinds of thirds ; the major or fliarp 3d, which 

 is four femitones or half notes above the bafe ; and the mi- 

 nor or flat 3d, which is three. 



Very agreeable nuific in two parts may be compofod, and 

 often is compofed, of thirds only. The 3d is wanted with 

 every other concord, and even dilcord, except the 4th, when 

 it is ufed as fuch with the 2d inftead of the 9th. 



Dr. Pepufch, in his " Treatife on Harmony," has given 

 curious and ample inftrudyons for the ufe of thirds in com- 

 polltion. 



It would be a curious inquiry, why a 3d was regarded 

 by the ancients as a tlifcord ; aiid why it is called by the 

 moderns an imperfci} concord. We cannot afford ipace for 

 long difquifitions on every fubjecl of vain and frivolous curi- 

 ofity, among which this would probably be numbered. But it 

 feems as if the ancients ellimatcd the perfection of confo- 

 nances by the fimplicity of ratios in the divifion of the mono- 

 chord ; regarding the odave as the moft perfeft concord next 

 to the unilon, as it was produced by a fimple divilion of 

 a llring into halves, exprelTed by - - - -^ 



Tiie next in perfection was the 5th, produced by al 3 



third part of a firing - - " "j ' 



After this, the 4th, which was reckoned by the an-l 



cients not only a concord, but a perfed concord, ex- > ? 



preifed by the ratio of - - . . j 



A fourth part of a firing gives tlie 15th, or doubled , 



oftave - - - - "J 



The fifth pan of a ftring produces the major 3d to' 



the tjth, which, though in the organ the 



called the tierce, it is a major 1 7th to the diapafon 



its ratio is exprefTed by 

 The minor 3d is expreffed by - - - -'- 



The major 6th, compofed of four tones and a fenii-' 



E . . . . 5^ ^ 



tone major, as p : Us ratio is 



Tl»e minor 6th, compofed of three tones and two' 



major femitones, as p : its ratio is 



The extreme (harp, or, as the French call it, the fu- -^ 

 perfluous 6th, compofed of four tones, a femitone | 



major, and a femitone minor, as p'^L : the ratio of J 



this 6th is - - - - -"^ 



We beUeve that the triple progreffion of a feries of perfeft 

 5lhs made the major 3ds fo extremely harth, that no natural 

 good ear could admit them among the concords. And in the 

 (irft attempts at counterpoint, it was a long time before a 3d 

 was admitted in dtfcant, in which d'latejfaronare and quintonr, 

 or a diatonic feries of 4ths and Jths, now prohibited, was 

 preferred to 3ds and 6ths in fucceefTion. 



Third Borough, in our Ancient Law-Boohs, denotes a 

 conftable. 



Third Earing, in Hujhandry, the tilling or ploughing of 

 the ground a third time. 



Third RJlate. See Estate, Commons, &.c. 



Third Niglit-awn-hynd. By the laws of Edward the 

 Confeffor, a gucft, who had lain three nights in an inn, was 

 reputed a domeftic, and his hoft was anfwerable for what 

 offence he fliould commit. 



For one night he was accounted uncuth ; for two nights, 

 guej} ; and the thh'd, awji-hynd, or hogen-hyne. " Prima 

 node incognitus, fecunda hofpes, tertia domeflicus ccn- 

 fetur." 



Third Order, a fort of religious order, that obferves the 

 7 



jd toT 



ftopf , 

 ifon : f 5 



:} 



fame rule, and the fame manner of life, in proportion as 

 fome other two orders inftituted before. 



The third orders are not originally religious orders, but 

 afTociations of fccular, and even married pcrfons, who c<(n- 

 form, a» far as I'v ir condition will allow thtrn, to the dellgn, 

 intention, and rul.-s of a rehgious order, wiiich affociates and 

 direifls tliem. 



The Pi-a?mon(lrantes, Carmelites, Auguflines, and Fran- 

 cifcans, diipute among themfelves the honour of having firft 

 introduced third orders ; but the prrtenfions of the lail ap- 

 pear to be the bell founded. 



The firfl contend, that the third order of Prxmonflrantes 

 began in the life-time of their founder'St.Norbert, who died 

 in 1 134. 



F. Diego dc Coria Maldonado, a Spanifli Carmelite, who 

 has a particular treatife on the third order of Carmelites, de- 

 rives them immediately, as well as the Carmelites tlicmfelves, 

 from the prophet Elijah. 



Tlie third order of Auguflines, if we credit F. Bruno, was 

 inftituted by St. Auguftine himfelf ; but the arguments he 

 produces are fo frivolous, that F. Helyot obferves, they are 

 not worth refuting. 



The third order of Franeifeans was inftituted by St. 

 Francis in 1221, in favour of people of both fexes ; who 

 being fmitten with the preachings of that faint, demanded 

 of him an eafy manner of living a Chriftian life ; upon which 

 he gave them a rule, the conftitutions of which are not 

 now extant, as written by himfelf, but only as reduced 

 and confirmed by pope Nicholas IV. fjxty-eight years 

 afterwards. 



Thofe of the firft order of this faint are the monks called 

 Minor Friars, comprehending the Cordeliers, Capuchins, and 

 Recolleds ; the feeond comprehends the nuns of St. Clare ; 

 and the third, feveral perfons of both fexes, who live at 

 liberty : and thefe are what we call the third srder. See 

 Franciscan's, &c. 



Of this order, which was only cftabHflied for fecular per- 

 fons, feveral of both fexes, to attain the greater perfection, 

 have afterwards commenced religious, and formed various 

 congregations, under various names ; as " Religious Penitents 

 of the Third Order," &c. 



Third Point, or Tierce-point, in Archite&ure, the point of 

 feftion in the vertex of an equilateral triangle. 



Arches or vaults of the third point, called by the Italians 

 diterzo acuta, are thofe confifting of two arcs of a circle 

 meeting in an angle at top. See Arch. 



Third Point, in Per/pellive. See PoInt. 



Third Rate. See Rate. 



Third Subftdy Duty. See Duty. 



Third Sound, in Mu/ic. See Terzo Suono, Tartini, 

 and Stillingfleet. 



Third Tear, Tithe of the. See Tithe. 



THIRDENDALE, a liquid meafureufed at Saliftjury, 

 containing three pints. 



THIRDINGS, the third year of the corn or grain grow- 

 ing on the ground at the tenant's death, due to the lord for 

 an heriot, within the manor of Turfat, in Herefordfhire. 



THIRLAGE, or Thirlage to Mills, in Rural Economy, 

 a contraft or power authorized by law, to prevent the te- 

 nants of certain diflridls from carrying their corn to be 

 ground any where elfe than at a particular mill. It was a 

 praftice which formerly prevailed much ; and it was too 

 often ufed as an engine of oppreffion, that proved extremely 

 galhng to thofe who were obliged to fubmit to it, but 

 which at prefent is nearly, if not wholly done away, except 

 in certain places. 



The account of the origin and nature of this opprcflive 



practice. 



