his other works are an edition of Demosthenes (1824), and a volume of artistic studies, the Réflexions et menus propos d’un peintre génevois (1848).
Lives by A. Blondel and the abbé Relave (both published at Paris, 1886), and shorter notices in E. Rambert's Écrivains nationaux (Geneva, 1874); and E. Javelle's Souvenirs d’un alpiniste (Lausanne, 1886; Eng. trans., 1899, under the title of Alpine Memories), and several chapters in Ste Beuve’s Causeries du lundi, Derniers portraits littéraires and Portraits contemporains. (W. A. B. C.)
TOPHET, or Topheth (תוֹפֶת), the name given in 2 Kings
xxiii. 10; Jer. vii. 31, to a spot in the valley of Ben Hinnom near
Jerusalem where the Hebrews in the time of Ahab and Manasseh
offered children to Molech and other heathen gods. Josiah
“defiled” it as part of his reforming activity, and it became a
place for the bestowal and destruction of refuse, and a synonym
for Gehenna (Isa. xxx. 33; Jer. vii. 32).
The uncertain etymology of the word is discussed in the Ency. Bib., s.v. “Molech,” § 3, “Topheth.”
TOPIARY, a term in gardening or horticulture for the cutting and trimming of shrubs, such as cypress, box or yew, into regular and ornamental shapes. It is usually applied to the cutting of trees into urns, vases, birds and other fantastic shapes, which were common at the end of the 17th century and through the 18th, but it also embraces the more restrained art necessary for the laying out of a formal garden. Yew and holly trees cut into fantastic objects may still be seen in old-fashioned cottage or farmhouse gardens in England. The Lat. topiarius meant an ornamental or landscape gardener, and was formed from topia (Gr. τόπος, place), a term specially employed for a formal kind of landscape painting used as a mural decoration in Roman houses.
TOPLADY, AUGUSTUS MONTAGUE (1740–1778), Anglican divine, was born at Farnham, Surrey, and educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Dublin. Although originally a follower of Wesley, he in 1758 adopted extreme Calvinist opinions. He was ordained in 1762 and became vicar of Harpford with Fenn-Ottery, Devonshire, in 1766. In 1768 he exchanged to the living of Broadhembury, Devonshire. He is chiefly known as a
writer of hymns and poems, including “Rock of Ages,” and the collections entitled Poems on Sacred Subjects (Dublin, 1759) and Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship (London, 1776). His best prose work is the Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England (London, 1774). Some comments by Wesley upon Toplady’s presentation of Calvinism led to a controversy which was carried on with much bitterness on both sides. Toplady wrote a venomous Letter to Mr Wesley (1770), and Wesley repeated his comments in The Consequence Proved (1771), whereupon Toplady replied with
increased acridity in More Work for Mr Wesley (1772). From 1775 to 1778, having obtained leave of non-residence at Broadhembury, he lived in London, and ministered at a Calvinist church in Orange Street.
TOPOGRAPHY (Gr.τόπος, place, γράφειν, to write), a description of a town, district or locality, giving details of its geographical and architectural features. The term is also applied in anatomy to the mapping out of the surface of the human body, either according to a division based on the organs or parts lying below certain regions, or on a superficial plotting out of the body by anatomical boundaries and landmarks.
TORAN, the name in Hindustani (Skr. torana, from tor, pass) of a sacred or honorific gateway in Buddhist architecture. Its
typical form is a projecting cross-piece resting on two uprights
or posts. It is made of wood or stone, and the cross-piece is
generally of three bars placed one on top of the other; both
cross-pieces and posts are usually sculptured.
TORBERNITE (or cupro-uranite), a mineral which is one of the
“uranium micas”; a hydrous uranium and copper phosphate,
Cu(UO2)2(PO4)2+12H2O. Crystals are tetragonal and have the
form of square plates, which are often very thin. There is a
perfect micaceous cleavage parallel to the basal plane, and on
this face the lustre is pearly. The bright grass-green colour
is a characteristic feature of the mineral. The hardness is 212
and the specific gravity 3.5. The radio-activity of the mineral
is greater than that of some specimens of pitchblende. It was
first observed in 1772 at Johanngeorgenstadt in Saxony, but the
best examples are from Gunnislake near Calstock and Redruth
in Cornwall. The name torbernite is after Torbern Bergman;
chalcolite is a synonym. (L. J. S.)
TORCELLO, an island of Venetia, Italy, in the lagoons about
6 m. to the N.W. of Venice, belonging to the commune of Burano.
It was a flourishing city in the early middle ages, but now has
only a few houses and two interesting churches. The former
cathedral of S. Maria was founded in the 7th century. The
present building, a basilica with columns, dates from 864; the
nave was restored in 1008, in which year the now ruined octagonal
baptistery was built. It contains large mosaics of the 12th
century, strongly under Byzantine influence; those on the west
wall represent the Resurrection and Last Judgment. The
seats for the priests are arranged round the semicircular apse,
rising in steps with the bishop’s throne in the centre—an arrangement
unique in Italy. Close by is S. Fosca, a church of the 12th
century, octagonal outside, with colonnades on five sides and a
rectangular interior intended for a dome which was never
executed, beyond which is a three-apsed choir. In the local
museum are four Mycenaean vases, one found in the island and
another on the adjacent island of Mazzorbo, proving direct
intercourse with the Aegean Sea in prehistoric times.
See R. M. Dawkins, in Journal of Hellenic Studies (1904), xxiv. 125.
TORCH (O. Fr. torche, from Med. Lat. tortia, derived from
tortus, twisted, torquere, to twist), a light or illuminant that can
be carried in the hand, made of twisted tow, hemp or other
inflammable substance. Torches or “links” were, till the general
introduction of street lighting, necessary adjuncts for passengers
on foot or in carriages in towns at night, and many of the older
houses in London and elsewhere still retain the iron stands
outside their doors, in which the torches might be placed.
TORCHÈRE, a candelabrum mounted upon a tall stand of
wood or metal, usually with two or three lights. When it
was first introduced in France towards the end of the 17th
century the torchère mounted one candle only, and when the
number was doubled or tripled the improvement was regarded
almost as a revolution in the lighting of large rooms.
TORDENSKJOLD, PEDER (1691–1720), eminent Danish naval hero, the tenth child of alderman Jan Wessel of Bergen, in Norway, was born at Trondhjem on the 28th of October 1691. Wessel was a wild unruly lad who gave his pious parents much trouble. Finally he ran away from them by hiding in a ship bound for Copenhagen, where the king’s chaplain Dr Peder Jespersen took pity on the friendless lad, gratified his love for the sea by sending him on a voyage to the West Indies, and finally procured him a vacant cadetship. After further voyages, this time to the East Indies, Wessel was, on the 7th of July 1711, appointed 2nd lieutenant in the royal marine and shortly afterwards became the captain of a little 4-gun sloop “Ormen” (The Serpent), in which he cruised about the Swedish coast and picked up much useful information about the enemy. In June 1712 he was promoted to a 20-gun frigate, against the advice of the Danish admiralty, which pronounced him to be too flighty and unstable for such a command. His discriminating patron was the Norwegian admiral Lovendal, who was the first to recognize the young man’s ability as a naval officer. At this period Wessel was already renowned for two things: the audacity with which he attacked any Swedish vessels he came across regardless of odds, and his unique seamanship, which always enabled him to escape capture. The Great Northern War had now entered upon its later stage, when Sweden, beset on every side by foes, employed her fleet principally to transport troops and stores to her distressed German provinces. The audacity of Wessel impeded her at every point. He was continually snapping up transports, dashing into the fjords where her vessels lay concealed, and holding up her detached frigates. In July 1714 he encountered a frigate which had been equipped in England for the Swedes and was on its way to Gothenburg under the command of an English captain. Wessel instantly
