THISTLE, a name, as generally employed, of vague application, being given to almost any herbaceous plant that is of a spiny character. More strictly, it is applied to the species of Carduus. These are Composite herbs with very spiny leaves, and similar bracts surrounding a head of purplish-white, tubular, five-parted flowers seated on a pitted and hairy receptacle. The anthers have appendages both at the apex and at the base, and the style has a ring of hairs at the point of bifurcation of the two stigmas. The fruit is surmounted by a tuft of silky-white hairs. The species, chiefly natives of Europe and Western Asia, are numerous, and some are of great beauty, though, not unnaturally, looked on with disfavour by the farmer. The blessed thistle is Carduus benedictus; Lady's thistle, the leaves of which are spotted with white, is C. marianus. The common C. lanceolatus seems to be the most suitable prototype for the Scots thistle, though that honour is also conferred on an allied plant Onopordon acanthium, the cotton thistle, remarkable for its covering of white down, a doubtful native, and on other species. The carline thistle is Carlina vulgaris, a member of the same family, as is also the sow-thistle, Sonchus oleraceus. The great objection to thistles from an agricultural point of view resides in the freedom with which they produce seed, and in the vigour of their underground growth, which makes their uprooting a matter of difficulty. Partial uprooting may, indeed, in the case of the perennial species, increase the mischief, for each fragment left behind may grow into a distinct plant. Annual species might be kept in check were they cut down before the flowers appear, but unless all the cultivators in a particular district co-operate the efforts of individuals are of little avail. The Artichoke (q.v.), Cynara scolymus, and Cardoon (q.v.) are very near allies of the thistles. The Safflower, Carthamus, another thistle, yields a serviceable dye; the Burdock, Arctium lappa, a member of the same family, has an edible root; and numerous allied species have medicinal properties.
THISTLEWOOD, ARTHUR (1770-1820), the principal instigator
of the Cato Street conspiracy, a plot formed to murder
many British ministers in 1820. A son of William Thistlewood,
and born at Tupholme in Lincolnshire, young Thistlewood passed
his early years in a desultory fashion; he became a soldier and
visited France and America, imbibing republican opinions
abroad and running into debt at home. Then taking up his
residence in London he joined the Spencean Society, a revolutionary
body; associated himself with James Watson (d. 1838)
and other agitators; and in December 1816 helped to arrange
a meeting in Spa Fields, London, which was to be followed by the
seizure of the Tower of London and the Bank of England, and
by a general revolution. The proposed rising was a dismal
failure, but the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended and Thistlewood
and Watson were seized, although upon being tried they
were acquitted. Becoming more violent Thistlewood formed
other plots, talked of murdering the prince of Wales, and was
sentenced to a year's imprisonment for challenging the home
secretary, Lord Sidmouth, to a duel. After his release in May
1819, having broken away from Henry Hunt and the more
moderate reformers, he prepared a new and comprehensive
plot. On the 23rd of February 1820, at a time of great distress
and during the unrest caused by the death of George III., the
cabinet ministers had arranged to dine at the earl of Harrowby's
house in Grosvenor Square. Thistlewood knew of the dinner.
With some associates he hired a room in the neighbouring Cato
Street, collected arms and made ready to fall upon Harrowby's
guests. However the authorities had been informed of the plot,
probably by one of the conspirators named George Edwards;
officers appeared upon the scene and arrested some of the
conspirators; and although Thistlewood escaped in the
confusion he was seized on the following day. Tried for high
treason, Thistlewood and four others were sentenced to death,
and were hanged on the 1st of May 1820.
See Sir S. Walpole, History of England (1890), vol. i.
THÖKÖLY, IMRE (Emerich), Prince (1657-1705), Hungarian
statesman, was born at Késmark on the 25th of September
1657. He lost both parents while still a child. In 1670,
fleeing from the dangers of Upper Hungary, where the Protestants
and Imperialists were constantly in arms against each
other, he took refuge with his kinsman Michael Teleki, the chief
minister of Michael Apafy, prince of Transylvania. Here he
came into contact with the Magyar refugees, who had great
hopes of the high-born, high-gifted youth who was also a
fellow sufferer, a large portion of his immense estates having
been confiscated by the emperor. The discontent reached its
height when Leopold (Feb. 27, 1673) suspended the
Hungarian constitution, appointed Johan Caspar Ampringen
dictator, deprived 450 Protestant clergy of their livings and
condemned 67 more to the galleys. Encouraged by promises
of help from Louis XIV., the Magyars now rose pro libertate
et justitia, and chose the youthful Thököly as their leader.
The war began in 1679. Upper Hungary and the mining towns
were soon in Thököly's possession. In 1681, reinforced by
10,000 Transylvanians and a Turkish army under the pasha of
Nagyvárad, he compelled the emperor to grant an armistice.
On the 15th of June 1682 he married Helen Zrinyi, the widow
of Prince Francis Rákóczy I. Thököly's distrust of the emperor
now induced him to turn for help to the sultan, who recognized
him as prince of Upper Hungary on condition that he paid an
annual tribute of 40,000 florins. In the course of the same year
Thököly captured fortress after fortress from the emperor and
extended his dominions to the Waag. He refused, however, the
title of king offered to him by the Turks. At the two Diets
held by him, at Kassa and Tálya, in 1683, the estates, though
not uninfluenced by his personal charm, showed some want of
confidence in him, fearing lest he might sacrifice the national
independence to the Turkish alliance. They refused therefore
to grant him either subsidies or a levée en masse, and he had to
take what he wanted by force. Thököly materially assisted
the Turks in the Vienna campaign of 1683, and shared the fate
of the gigantic Turkish army. The grand vizier nevertheless
laid the blame of the failure on Thököly, who thereupon hastened
to Adrianople to defend himself before the sultan. Shortly
afterwards, perceiving that the Turkish cause was now lost,
he sought the mediation of Sobieski to reconcile him with the
emperor, offering to lay down his arms if Leopold would confirm
the religious rights of the Magyar Protestants and grant him,
Thököly, the thirteen north-eastern counties of Hungary with
the title of prince. Leopold refused these terms and demanded
an unconditional surrender. Thököly then renewed the war.
But the campaign of 1685 was a series of disasters, and when
he sought help from the Turks at Nagyvarad they seized and
sent him in chains to Belgrade, possibly because of his previous
negotiations with Leopold, whereupon most of his followers
made their peace with the emperor. In 1686 Thököly was
released from his dungeon and sent with a small army into
Transylvania, but both this expedition and a similar one in
1688 ended in failure. The Turks then again grew suspicious
of him and imprisoned him a second time. In 1690, however,
the Turks despatched him into Transylvania a third time with
16,000 men, and in September he routed the united forces of
General Heister and Michael Teleki at Zernest. After this
great victory Thököly was elected prince of Transylvania by the
Kereszténymez Diet, but could only maintain his position
against the imperial armies with the utmost difficulty. In
1691 he quitted Transylvania altogether. He led the Turkish
cavalry at the battle of Slankamen, and in fact served valiantly
but vainly against Austria during the remainder of the war,
especially distinguishing himself at Zenta. He was excluded
by name from the amnesty promised to the Hungarian rebels
by the peace of Karlowitz (Jan. 26, 1699). After one more
unsuccessful attempt, in 1700, to recover his principality, he
settled down at Galata with his wife. From the sultan he
received large estates and the title of count of Widdin. He was
buried in the great Armenian cemetery at Nicomedia, but in
the course of 1906 his relics were transferred to Hungary.
See Correspondence of Thököly (Hung.), ed. by Kálmán Thaly (Budapest, 1896); V. Fraknói, Papst Innocent XI. und Ungarn's Befreiung von de Turkenherrschaft (Freiburg, 1902); Memoirs of
