Chapter Thelusson Act to Thirteen Unlucky of T by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Thelusson Act to Thirteen Unlucky

Thelusson Act The 39th and 40th George III., cap. 98. An Act to prevent testators from leaving their property to accumulate for more than twenty-one years. So called because it was passed in reference to the last will and testament of the late Mr. Thelusson, in which he desired his property to be invested till it had accumulated to some nineteen millions sterling.

Thenot An old shepherd who relates to Cuddy the fable of The Oak and the Briar, with the view of curing him of his vanity. (Spenser: Shepherd's Calendar.)

Theocritus The Scottish Theocritus. Allan Ramsay, author of The Gentle Shepherd. (1685-1758.)

Theodomas A famous trumpeter at the siege of Thebes.

“At every court ther cam loud menstralcye
That never trompëd Joab for to heere,
Ne he Theodomas yit half so cleere
At Thebës, when the citë was in doute.”
Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 9,592.

Theodora (in Orlando Furioso), sister of Constantine, the Greek Emperor. Greatly enraged against Rogero, who slew her son, she vowed vengeance. Rogero, captured during sleep, being committed to her hands, she cast him into a foul dungeon, and fed him on the bread of affliction till Prince Leon released him.

Theodorick One of the heroes of the Nibelung, a legend of the Sagas. This king of the Goths was also selected as the centre of a set of champions by the German minnesängers (minstrels), but he is called by these romancers Diderick of Bern (Verona).

Theon's Tooth The bite of an illnatured or carping critic. “Dente Theonino circumrodi, ” to be nastily aspersed. (Horace: Epistles, i. 18, 82.) Theon was a carping grammarian of Rome.

Theosophy (the society was founded in November, 1875). It means divine wisdom, the “wisdom religion,” the “hidden wisdom.” It is borrowed from Ammonius Saccas of the third century A.D. Theosophists tell us there has ever been a body of knowledge, touching the universe, known to certain sages, and communicated by them in doles, as the world was able to bear the secrets. Certainly Esdras supports this hypothesis. Of the two hundred books Jehovah said:-

“The first that thou hast written publish openly, that the worthy [esoterics] and the unworthy [exoterics] may read it; but keep the seventy last that thou mayst deliver them only to such as be wise among the people, for in them is wisdom and the stream of knowledge.”- 2 Esdras xiv. 45-47.

“At my first approach to the `Wisdom Religion.' I rather resented the necessity of having to master the profusion of technical terms which Madame Blavatsky very freely sprinkles about her Key to Theosophy, such as DAVACHAN, BUDDI, ATMA, MANAS, SAMADHI, etc.”- F. J. Gould.

Therapeu'tæ The Therapeutæ of Philo were a branch of the Essenes. The word Essenes is Greek, and means “doctors” (essaioi), and Therapeutæ is merely a synonym of the same word.

Theresa Daughter of the Count Palatine of Padolia, beloved by Mazeppa. The count, her father, was very indignant that a mere page should presume to fall in love with his daughter, and had Mazeppa bound to a wild horse and set adrift. As for Theresa, Mazeppa never knew her future history. Theresa was historically not the daughter, but the young wife, of the fiery count. (Byron: Mazeppa.)

Thermidorians Those who took part in the coup d'état which effected the fall of Robespierre, with the desire of restoring the legitimate monarchy. So called because the Reign of Terror was brought to an end on the ninth Thermidor of the second Republican year (July 27th, 1794). Thermidor or “Hot Month” was from July 19th to August 18th. (Duval: Souvenirs Thermidoriens.)