[Tel-el-Kebir] (the "Great Mound"), on the edge of the Egyptian desert, midway between Ismaila and Cairo, the scene of a memorable victory by the British forces under Sir Garnet Wolseley over the Egyptian forces of Arabi Pasha (September 13, 1882), which brought the war to a close.
[Telemachus], the son of [Ulysses] and [Penelope] (q. v.), who an infant when his father left for Troy was a grown-up man on his return; having gone in quest of his father after his long absence found him on his return in the guise of a beggar, and whom he assisted in slaying his mother's suitors.
[Teleology], the doctrine of final causes, particularly the argument for the being and character of God from the being and character of His works, that the end reveals His purpose from the beginning, the end being regarded as the thought of God at the beginning, or the universe viewed as the realisation of Him and His eternal purpose.
[Telepathy], name given to the supposed power of communication between mind and mind otherwise than by the ordinary sense vehicles.
[Telford, Thomas], a celebrated engineer, born, the son of a shepherd, in Westerkirk parish, Eskdale; served an apprenticeship to a stone-mason, and after a sojourn in Edinburgh found employment in London in 1782; as surveyor of public works for Shropshire in 1787 constructed bridges over the Severn, and planned and superintended the Ellesmere Canal connecting the Dee, Mersey, and Severn; his reputation now made, he was in constant demand by Government, and was entrusted with the construction of the Caledonian Canal, the great road between London and Holyhead (including the Menai Suspension Bridge), and St. Katherine Docks, London; but his bridges, canals, harbours, and roads are to be found in all parts of the kingdom, and bear the stamp of his thorough and enduring workmanship; "the Colossus of Roads," Southey called him (1757-1834).
[Tell], a fertile strip of land of 47 m. of average breadth in North-West Africa, between the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea; produces cereals, wine, &c.
[Tell, William], Swiss hero and patriot, a peasant, native of the canton of Uri, who flourished in the beginning of the 14th century; resisted the oppression of the Austrian governor Gessler, and was taken prisoner, but was promised his liberty if with his bow and arrow he could hit an apple on the head of his son, a feat he accomplished with one arrow, with the second arrow in his belt, which he told Gessler he had kept to shoot him with if he had failed. This so incensed the governor that he bound him to carry off to his castle; but as they crossed the lake a storm arose, and Tell had to be unbound to save them, when he leapt upon a rock and made off, to lie in ambush, whence he shot the oppressor through the heart as he passed him; a rising followed, which ended only with the emancipation of Switzerland from the yoke of Austria.
[Tellez, Gabriel], the assumed name of Tirso de Molina, Spanish dramatist, born in Madrid; became a monk; wrote 58 comedies, some of which keep their place on the Spanish stage; as a dramatist ranks next to Lope de Vega, whose pupil he was (1583-1648).
[Tellicherri] (27), a seaport on the Malabar coast, Madras Presidency, India; is fortified and garrisoned; surrounding country is pretty, as well as productive of coffee, cardamoms, and sandal-wood.
[Tellurium], a rare metal usually found in combination with other metals.