T H O 
?n 1725 he came to London, and meeting with his college 
acquaintance, Mallet, he shewed him his poem of “ Winter,” 
.in an imperfect state ; who advised him to finish and publish 
it. Mr. Millar, a well-known London bookseller, bought it 
for a small sum, and published it in 1726. At first it at¬ 
tracted little attention; but Mr. Whately, a gentleman of 
acknowledged taste, giving a favourable account of it, 
brought the poem and its author into notice. The author 
was introduced to Pope, and recommended by bishop Run- 
dle to lord chancellor Talbot. In 1727 he published his 
“ Summer,” and in the same year “ A Poem sacred to the 
Memory of Sir Isaac Newton,” just deceased, and also his 
“ Britannia.” His “ Spring” was published in 1728; and in 
1730 the Seasons were completed by “ Autumn,” and pub¬ 
lished collectively. In 1721 Thomson, aspiring to the po¬ 
pularity and emolument of dramatic composition, succeeded 
in introducing upon the stage of Drury-lane his tragedy of 
“ Sophonisba.” Its reception, however, was not very flat¬ 
tering. Soon after he was appointed, by the recommendation 
of Dr. Rundle, travelling companion to the Hon. Mr. Tal¬ 
bot, the eldest son of the chancellor, and had an opportunity 
of visiting most of the courts and countries of the European 
continent. During this tour, the idea of his poem on “ Li¬ 
berty” was suggested to him, and he employed two years in 
completing it. In consequence of this excursion, he ob¬ 
tained, by the Interest of Mr. Talbot, the place of secretary 
of the briefs, which, being almost a sinecure, afforded him 
leisure for his private literary pursuits. His poem on “ Li¬ 
berty” was more coolly received than the nature of the sub¬ 
ject led him to expect. When lord Hardwick succeeded the 
lord chancellor Talbot, Thomson lost his place; but upon 
being questioned by the prince of Wales, to whom he was 
introduced by Mr. (afterwards lord) Lyttleton, as to his cir¬ 
cumstances, a pension of 100/. a-year was granted to him. 
Upon the introduction of his second tragedy, “ Agamem¬ 
non,” to Drury-lane, in 1738, he was so anxious concerning 
its success, that he is said to have been thrown into a copious 
perspiration. His “ Edward and Eleonora” was prevented 
from appearing by the interference of the lord chamberlain. 
The “ Masque of Alfred," performed before the prince at 
Cliefden-house, in 1740, was the joint production of him¬ 
self and Mallet; and in this piece was introduced the famous 
song of “ Rule Britannia,” the production of one or other of 
these two persons. The most successful of Thomson’s dra¬ 
matic pieces was his “ Tancred and Sigismunda,” which ap¬ 
peared at Drury-lane in 1745; but his “ crowning perform¬ 
ance,” as one of his biographers calls it, was “ The Castle of 
Indolence,” published in 1746. Our poet was now rendered 
independent by the interest of Mr. Lyttleton, who obtained 
for him the office of surveyor-general of the Leeward 
islands, which, after payment of a deputy, yielded him about 
300/. a-year. Death, however, in consequence of a fever 
occasioned by a cold, deprived him, in August, 1748, of the 
comparative affluence derived from this appointment. His 
remains were interred in Richmond church, without any me¬ 
morial ; but in 1762 a monument was erected in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey, the expense of which was defrayed out of the 
profits of an edition of his works, published by Mr. Millar. 
His “ Coriolanus" was brought on the stage by his executors, 
in 1749, for the benefit of the surviving branches of his 
family. The prologue, composed by Lyttleton, was very 
feelingly delivered by Quin, the intimate friend of Thomson. 
Thomson’s person was large and awkward, and his coun¬ 
tenance unanimated; nor did his appearance or manners 
indicate genius or refinement. He was indolent and self- 
indulgent in his habits; yet, as his biographer says, “ no 
one has deserved more praise for the moral tenor of his 
writings. Unbounded philanthropy, enlarged ideas of the 
dignity of man, and of his rights, love of virtue, public and 
private, and a devotional spirit, narrowed by no views of sect 
or party, give soul to his verse when not merely descriptive. 
THONE, a river of England, in Somersetshire, which 
passes by Taunton. 
THONES, a small town of the Sardinian states, in Savoy, 
province of Genevois, on the river Fier. It has 2200 inlia- 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1620. 
T H O 949 
bitants, and some manufactures of silk and leather; 10 miles 
east of Annecy, and 22 south-south-east of Geneva. 
THONG, s. [Spang, bpong, Saxon; thweing , Icel. 
thwong, old Engl.] A strap, or string of leather. 
The tuscan king 
Laid by the lance, and took him to the sling; 
Thrice whirl’d the thong about his head, and threw 
The heated lead half melted as it flew. Dry den. 
THONG, Nether, a township of England, West Riding 
of Yorkshire; 4| miles south-by-west of Huddersfield. Po¬ 
pulation 787. 
THONG, Upper, a township of England, West Riding 
of Yorkshire; 6k miles south south-west of Huddersfield. 
Population 1015. 
THONON, a small town of Savoy, district of Chablais, 
situated on a hill on the Lake of Geneva; 20 miles east- 
north-east of Geneva. 
THOPHAIL (Abu Giafer), a celebrated Peripatetic phy- 
losopher and physician, was a native of Seville, in Spain, and 
preceptor to Maimonides and Averroes. This philosopher 
applied the Aristotelian doctrine to the purposes of enthu¬ 
siasm, in the elegant tale still extant of “ Hai Ebr Yockdan ;” 
a youth who, having been exposed when an infant on the 
sea-coast, was nourished by a hind, and grew up in the 
woods, without any intercourse with human beings; and 
and who, by the unaided exertions of his own powers, at¬ 
tained to the knowledge of things natural and supernatural, 
and arrived at the felicity of an intuitive intercourse with the 
divine mind. This piece is written with such elegance of 
language and vigour of imagination, that, notwithstanding 
the improbability of the story, it has been uuiversally ad¬ 
mired. It exhibits a favourable specimen of Peripatetic phi¬ 
losophy, as it was taught among the Saracens; and, at the 
same time, affords a memorable example of the unnatural 
alliance which was now so generally established between 
philosophy and fanaticism. This work was translated by 
Edward Pococke, jun. from the Arabic into Latin, under the 
title of “ Philosophus Autodidactus,” and printed in 4to., at 
Oxford, in 1700. It was also translated into English by S. 
Hoadley, professor of Arabic in Cambridge, ed. Lond. 1711, 
8vo., and also into Dutch. Thophail is said to have written 
several other works, and died at Seville in 1175. Brucker 
by En field. 
THOR, in Mythology, a deity worshipped by the ancient 
inhabitants of the northern nations; particularly by the 
ancient Scandinavians and Celts. The authority of this deity 
extended over the winds and seasons, and particularly over 
thunder and lightning: and in the Icelandic mythology, he 
is considered as the defender and avenger of the gods. He 
always carried a mace, or club, which as often as he dis¬ 
charged it returned to his hand of itself; he grasped it with 
gauntlets of iron, and was possessed of a girdle which had 
the virtue to renew his strength as often as was needful. With 
these formidable arms he overthrew the monsters and giants, 
when the gods sent him to oppose their enemies. 
There was a day consecrated to Thor, which still retains 
his name in the Danish, Swedish, English, and Low Dutch 
anguages, viz., Thursday. 
THOR, a small town in the south-east of France, de¬ 
partment of the Vaucluse, situated in a plain near the river 
Sorgues; 9 miles east-by south of Avignon. Population 
1800. 
THOR, das Hohe, i. e. the High Gate, a high moun¬ 
tain of Upper Austria, in the circle of Salzburg, 7720 feet 
above the level of the sea. 
THORA'CIC, adj. Belonging to the breast.—The chyle 
grows grey in the thoraciek duct. Arbuthnot. 
THO’RAL, adj. [from thorus, Lat.] Relating to the bed. 
—The punishment of adultery, according to the Roman law, 
was sometimes made by a thoral separation. Ayliffie. 
THORALBY, a township of England, North Riding of 
Yorkshire; 9 miles west-by-south of Middleham. 
THORAME, or Torame, Upper, a small town in the 
south-east of France, department of the Lower Alps, on the 
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