T O F 



nearly orbunil.ir, iioiiiilcfs. German ovate-ohlonc;, tailor- 

 ing into longidi Jlyhs, wltli i'm.ill Jlli;nu>s. The habit and 

 hue of the plant are very (Imilar to the European Ncirlhedum 

 ojfifriigum as well as to the A^. americnnum above-mentioned. 

 "] ■ T . friglila. Wintry Tolieldia. Kunth Nov. Gen. et 

 Sp. PI. V. I. 267 — duller lax, partly fcattered. Flowcr- 

 ftalks fmooth, twice the lengtli of the brafteas. Petals 

 rather acute. Stem fmooth, with three ditlant ovate leaves 

 towards the top. — Native of lofty fummits of the Andes, 

 in the kingdom of Quito, between I^oxa and the village of 

 Ona, where it was found, by the celebrated travellers Von 

 Humboldt and Bonplaiid, flowering in December. Hav- 

 ing feen no fpecimen of this, we can only extract its cha- 

 rarters from the dcfcription of our able friend Mr. Kunth, 

 who unluckily was not acquainted with the technical dif- 

 ferences of the other fpecies, fo that his fpecilic charaftcr 

 anfwers nearly equally well to any one of the gciuis. The 

 root is perennial, perpendicular, branched. Stem about a 

 foot high, round, fmooth, bearing in its upper part three 

 ovate, acute, fmooth, dillant leaves, called by Mr. Kunth 

 firnifeas. Radieeil leaves two-ranked, fword-fliiped, ribbed, 

 imooth, rigid, three or four inches long. Chijhr (errone- 

 oufly termedyj!>/Vrt ) folitary, ereft, two inches long. Flowers 

 on folitary partial (talks, which are fmooth, round, two lines 

 iu length, with an ovate acute Irailea, half as long, at the 

 bafe of each. Calyx in three deep, ovate, acute fcgments, 

 one-fourth as long as tiic obloug, iliarpifli, ftriated, whitifli 

 petals. Stamens fhorter than the corolla, fmooth, with ob- 

 long upright anthers. Germens combined. The prefent 

 fpecies may perhaps be neareil akin to our T. Jlenopetala, 

 differing eflentially in having fliorter bracleas, to fay nothing 

 of other diitinftions, which the reader will detett by the 

 above dcfcription. — The author fpeaks of ToJielJia as mouo- 

 tjynous, taking thejlyles iorjl'igmas, and not adverting, as 

 It appears, to the partial feparation of either the germens or 

 inpfnles. Hence we mud conclude that this feparation is 

 here lefs remarkable than in the other fpecies, wliich brings 

 the plant in queftion nearer to Helon'ias, the calyx being its 

 only, though all-fufficient, diftinftion. 



TOFSALA, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in the 

 government of Abo, on an ifland ; 20 miles W.N.W. of 

 Abo. 



TOFT, ToFTUM, or T'fta, in our Latv-Boohs, a parcel 

 of land, or a place where a meffuage hath flood, but is de- 

 cayed, or cafually burnt, and not re-editied. 

 Toft alfo fignifies a grove of trees. 

 TO FT A, in Geography, a fmall illand in the Baltic, E. 

 of the illand of Aland. N. lat. 60° 13'. E. long. icP 7'. 

 TOFTS, Katharine, in Biography, an Englifli faigcr 

 of great renown on our ilage at the beginning of the lall 

 century. In 1703, fhe fung at a fubfcriptlon concert in 

 Lincoln's-Inn theatre, feveral Italian and Engllfh fongs. 

 This lady was the conftant rival of M.u-garlta de I'Epine. 



In 1704, (he fung at the fubfcriptlon mufic in Drury-lane 

 playhoufe ; and foon after, fignora Margarita fung for the 

 firft time at the fame theatre. At her fecond appearance, 

 there was a dillurbance while file was fniglng, which, from 

 (he natural, and, it is to be feared, not luiconimon effefts of 

 rival malice, was fufpefted to iiave been created by the emif- 

 farles of Mrs. Tofts ; an idea the more difficult to eradicate, 

 as the principal agent had happened to live with that lady as 

 a fervant. But as the law of retaliation is frequently prac- 

 tifed oil the like occafions by the injured party, it was 

 thought neceffary, a few days after, to infert a paragraph and 

 letter in the Daily Courant, February 8, 1 704, in vindica- 

 tion of Mrs. Tofts. 



She was the principal finger in Clayton's Arfiuoe, in 



'I' C) V 



I -Of, the firfl opera attempted in our country and language 

 on the Italian model. See Ci.avton. 



Mrs. Tofts was likewife the heroine of the famous opera 

 of Camilla, of Addifon's Rofamond, fet by Clayton, and 

 Thoniyrls, adjuded to Italian mufic, and wholly to Englifli 

 words, till the arrival of Valcntini, in 1707, the firil male 

 foprano finger that ever appeared on our Ilage ; when Ca- 

 milla and Thoniyrls were performed, half in Euglidi and 

 half in Italian. And even after the arrival of the celebrated 

 Nicolini, when a new opera, entitled Pyrrhus and Deme- 

 trius, was brought on the Ilage in 1708, in which almoll all 

 the characters were filled up by Italians, Mrs. Tofts conti- 

 nued to perform her part in Euglidi, as did Ramondon and 

 Cook ; but the public fcenied perfeftly fatisfied with the 

 motley performance, which had a run of eighteen nights ; 

 and the confufion of tongues, concerning wlilch Mr. Ad- 

 dlfon is fo pleafant iu the Speftator, fecms to have been to- 

 lerated with perfed good humour by the public, which, in 

 mufic as well as words, feemed to care much lefs about what 

 was fung, than hoiv It was fung. 



After the year 1709, when the whole opera, poetry, mu- 

 fical compofitlon and performers were Italian, Mrs. Tofts, 

 who feenis to have endeared herfelf to an Englifli audience 

 by her voice, figure, and performance, more than any pre- 

 ceding finger of our country, retired. 



Colley Clbbcr, though he does not fpeak of mufic en 

 connoijfeur, and, as an Englifli aftor and patentee of a 

 theatre, was an enemy to Italian operas and Italian fingers 

 upon a principle of felf-defence, probably gives us the gene- 

 ral and genuine opinion of his acquaintance concerning 

 Mrs. Tofts, who, he fays, had her firfl mufical inflruaions 

 in her own country, " before the Italian tafte had fo highly 

 prevailed, and was then not an adept : whatever defedl; tiic 

 faflilonably fkllful might find in her manner, flie had, in the 

 general fenfe of her hearers, charms that few of tlie mofl 

 learned fingers ever arrive at. The beauty of her fine pro- 

 portioned figure, and exqulfitely fvveet filver-tone of voice, 

 with peculiar rapid fwiftnefs of her throat, were perfedlons 

 not to be imitated by art or labour." 



This performer had fongs given to her in all (Ivies ; 

 her compafs, however, did not lurpafs the common limits of 

 a foprano, or treble voice. With refped to her execution, 

 of which we are ftlll enabled to judge by the printed copies 

 of her fongs, it chiefly confifted in fuch paflTages as are com- 

 prifed in tlie lliake, as indeed did that of moll other fingers 

 at this time. 



Mrs. Tofts quitted the flage in 1709. The talents of 

 this finger and of Margarita de I'Epine gave rife to the firll 

 mufical faftlons wiiich we liear of in this country. Ac- 

 cording to Hughes, author of the Siege of Damafcus, their 

 abilities were dlfputed by the firft people in the kingdom. 



" Mufic has learn'd the difcords of the ftate. 

 And concerts jar with AVhig and Tory hate. 

 Here Sonierfet and Devonflilre attend 

 The Britlfli Tofts, and ev'ry note commend ; 

 To native merit juil, and pleas'd to fee 

 We've Roman arts, from Roman bondage free. 

 There fam'd I'Epine does equal tkill employ. 

 While lifl'ning peers crowd to th' ecflatic joy : 

 Bedford to hear her fong his dice forfakes. 

 And Nottingham is raptur'd when flie fliakes ; 

 LuU'd flatefmen melt away their drowfy cares 

 Of England's fafety, in Italian airs." 



Although it is publicly infinuated in the Tatler, for Thurf- 

 day, May 26, 1 709, that Mrs. Tofts was infane, it feems 

 doubtful whether we are to take this account literally, or 



whether 



