Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/828

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798 TOOKE TOPEKA i; was to prove that all parts of speech could be resolved into nouns and verbs, and that all words were at first applied to sensible objects. The second part appeared in 1805 (new ed. by Richard Taylor, with additions from the copy repared by the author for republication, and is letter to John Dunning, 2 vols. 8vo, 1829 ; with additional notes by Richard Taylor, 8vo, 1860). In 1787 he published " A Letter to the Prince of Wales" in regard to his supposed marriage with a Roman Catholic. In 1788 ap- Eeared^his pamphlet "Two Pair of Portraits," i which he drew a contrast between the two Pitts and the two Foxes. In 1794 he was tried for high treason, with Hardy, Thelwall, and others, mainly on the ground of his par- ticipation in the action of the " Constitutional Society," and was acquitted, being eloquently defended by Erskine. In 1801 he was re- turned to the house of commons by Lord Cam- elford for the borough of Old Sarum, and he retained his seat till the dissolution in 1802 ; but the decision of that parliament that no one in priest's orders could be a member dis- qualified him from sitting again. The latter years of his life were spent at Wimbledon. He was never married, but left several illegiti- mate children. See " Memoirs of John Home Tooke, interspersed with Original Documents," by A. Stephens (2 vols. 8vo, 1813), and "Me- moirs of John Home Tooke, Esq., together with his Valuable Speeches and Writings," fec., by John A. Graham (New York, 1828). TOORE. I. William, an English clergyman, born Jan. 18, 1744, died in London, Nov. 17, 1820. In 1771 he became minister of the English church at Cronstadt, and in 1774 chaplain to the factory of the Russian com- pany at St. Petersburg, where he remained till 1792. His most important works are : " Russia, or a Complete Historical Account of all the Nations which compose the Russian Empire " (4 vols. 8vo, 1780-'83 ; French translation, Paris, 1801) ; "Life of Catharine II., Empress of Russia," an enlarged translation from the French (3 vols., 1797-1800; new ed., 1810); "A View of the Russian Empire during the Reign of Catharine II. and to the Close of the Eighteenth Century" (3 vols., 1799); and "History of Russia, A. D. 862-1762" (2 vols., 1800-'6). II. Thomas, an English political economist, son of the preceding, born in St. Petersburg in 1774, died in London, Feb. 26, 1858. In 1838 he published "A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation from 1793 to 1837, preceded by a brief Sketch of the State of the Corn Trade in the last two Centuries" (2 vols. 8vo). Four additional volumes bring the work down to 1856. TOOMBS, Robert, an American politician, born in Washington, Wilkes co., Ga., July 2, 1810. He graduated at Union college, Schenectady, in 1828, studied law at the university of Virginia, and commenced practice in his native place. In 1836 he served under Gen. Scott as captain of volunteers in the Creek war. In 1837 he was elected to the state legislature, and with the exception of 1841 continued a member till 1845. He was a member of congress from 1845 to 1853, when he was elected a member of the United States senate, and was reflected for the term ending March 4, 1865. He was a prominent member of the extreme southern party, and after the election of President Lin- coln was one of the most active in persuading Georgia to secede. The state of Georgia hav- ing passed its secession ordinance on Jan. 19, 1861, Mr. Toombs withdrew from the senate on the 23d, and on March 14 he was expelled. He was a member of the confederate congress which met at Montgomery, Ala., was subse- quently for a short time secretary of state of the Confederate States, and also served as a brigadier general in the confederate army. TOORRISTAN. See TUEKISTAN. TOPAZ, a precious stone, a silico-fluoride of alumina, consisting, in 100 parts, of alumina 48 to 58, silica 34 to 39, and fluorine 15 to 18-5. Its specific gravity is 3'4 to 3'65 ; its hardness is 8, or between that of quartz and sapphire. It is usually colorless, but is some- times blue, green, or red. The yellow Brazil- ian topaz when heated becomes reddish, while the Saxon wine-colored topaz loses its color entirely. Topaz is pyro-electric ; it crystallizes in the trimetric or rhombic system, the prism generally having dissimilar extremities. When heated in the blowpipe flame it becomes cov- ered with small blisters, while a coarse variety called physalite (Gr. <j>vaeiv, to blow) swells up when heated. Its principal localities are : the Ural and Altai mountains, Kamtchatka, Villa Rica in Brazil (of a deep yellow color), Alten- berg in Saxony, and the Mourne mountains in Ireland ; in the United States, at Trumbull and Middletown, Conn M and at Crowder's moun- tain, N. C. Physalite is found in Norway and Sweden in very large crystals ; one weighed 80 Ibs. The topaz is not very highly valued as a gem, though fine specimens sometimes bring very good prices. Tavernier speaks of one belonging to the Great Mogul weighing 157 carats, which was valued at 181,000 rupees. The principal supply is from Brazil, which fur- nishes about 40 Ibs. annually. The white and rose-red are the most valuable. The former are called by the Portuguese pingas cVagoa, (drops of water), and when cut resemble the diamond in brilliancy. The oriental topaz is the yellow variety of transparent corundum, and belongs to the family of sapphires. (See SAPPHIRE.) A yellow variety of quartz is sometimes called false topaz. TOPERA, a city and the capital of Kansas, county seat of Shawnee t;o., situated on both banks of the Kansas river, here spanned by a fine iron bridge, 45 m. S. W. of Leavenworth and 300 m. W. of St. Louis; pop. in 1860, 759; in 1870, 5,790; in 1875, 7,272. The streets are wide and regularly laid out. The city is remarkably well built. The state house is a magnificent building. A site has been