[Thierry, Jacques Nicolas Augustin], French historian, born at Blois; came early under the influence of Saint-Simon, and during 1814-17 lived with him as secretary, assimilating his socialistic ideas and ventilating them in various compositions; Comte became his master next, and history his chief study, an outlet for his views on which he found in the Censeur Européen, and the Courrier Français, to which he contributed his "Letters on French History" (1820); five years later appeared his masterpiece, the "Conquest of England," to be followed by "Letters on History" and "Dix Ans d'Études" (1835), in which same year he was appointed librarian at the Palais Royal; in 1853 appeared his "Tiers État," the last of his works; has been called the "father of romantic history," and was above all a historical artist, giving life and colour to his pictures of bygone ages, but not infrequently at the cost of historic accuracy (1795-1856).
[Thiers, Louis Adolphe], French statesman and historian, born at Marseilles, of parents in poor circumstances; studied law at Aix, became acquainted with Mignet the historian; went with him to Paris, and took to journalism; published in 1827 his "History of the French Revolution," which established his rank as a writer; contributed to the July revolution; supported Louis Philippe, and was in 1832 elected a deputy for Aix; obtained a post in the ministry, and eventually head; was swept out of office at the revolution of 1848; voted for the presidency of Louis Napoleon, but opposed the coup d'état; withdrew from public life for a time; published in 1860 the "History of the Consulate and the Empire" a labour of years; entered public life again, but soon retired; at the close of the Franco-German War raised the war indemnity, and saw the Germans off the soil; became head of the Provisional Government, and President of the Republic from 1871 to 1873; his histories are very one-sided, and often inaccurate besides; Carlyle's criticism of his "French Revolution" is well known, "Dig where you will, you come to water" (1795-1877).
[Thing], name for a legislative or judicial assembly among the Scandinavians.
[Thinker, The], defined to be "one who, with fresh and powerful glance, reads a new lesson in the universe, sees deeper into the secret of things, and carries up the interpretation of nature to higher levels; one who, unperturbed by passions and undistracted by petty detail, can see deeper than others behind the veil of circumstance, and catch glimpses into the permanent reality."
[Thirlmere], one of the lakes in the English Lake District, in Cumberland, 5 m. SE. of Keswick; since 1885 its waters have been impounded for the use of Manchester, the surface raised 50 ft. by embankments, and the area more than doubled.
[Thirlwall, Conop], historian, born at Shepney; was a precocious child, was educated at the Charterhouse, had Grote for a school-fellow, and was a student of Trinity College, Cambridge; called to the bar, but took orders in 1827, having two years previously translated Schleiermacher's "Essay on St. Luke," and was thus the first to introduce German theology into England; wrote a "History of Greece," which, though superior in some important respects, was superseded by Grote's as wanting in realistic power, a fatal blemish in a history; was a liberal man, and bishop of St. David's for half a lifetime (1797-1875).
[Thirty Years' War], the name given to a series of wars arising out of one another in Germany during 1618-48; was first a war of Catholics against Protestants, but in its later stages developed into a struggle for supremacy in Europe. On the Catholic side were Austria, various German Catholic princes, and Spain, to whom were opposed successively Bohemia, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, and France; originated in Bohemia, where the Protestants were goaded to revolt against the intolerance of the empire, Moravians and Hungarians came to their assistance, but the imperial forces were too powerful and the rising was suppressed, only to be renewed in 1624, when Denmark espoused the Protestant cause, but struggled vainly against Catholic armies under Wallenstein and Tilly. The tactless oppression of the Emperor Ferdinand again fanned into flame the fires of rebellion; Swedish armies now came to the assistance of the Protestants, and under Gustavus Adolphus waged successful war against the emperor, but the death of Gustavus at Lützen (1632) turned the tide in favour of the imperial forces; the German Protestant prince made a disadvantageous peace in 1635, but Sweden, now joined by France, continued the struggle against the Austrian empire. Turenne and Condé became the heroes of the war, and a series of decisive victories rolled back the imperial armies, and by 1848 were converging upon Austria, when diplomacy brought the war to an end by the Peace of Westphalia, the chief gains of which were the securing of religious tolerance and the recognition of the independence of Switzerland and the United Provinces.
[Thistle, Order of the], an order of Scottish knighthood, sometimes called the Order of St. Andrew, instituted in 1687 by James VII. of Scotland (James II. of England); fell into abeyance during the reign of William and Mary, but was revived by Queen Anne in 1703; includes the sovereign, 16 knights, and various officials. The principal article in the insignia is a gold collar composed of thistles intertwined with sprigs of rue.
[Tholuck, Friedrich August], theologian, born at Breslau; came under the influence of [Neander] (q. v.) and became professor of Theology at Halle, where he exercised a considerable influence over the many students who were attracted from far and near by his learning and fervour (1799-1877).