Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/1058

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THOMAS.

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d'Elvine/* 1860 ; " Mignon/' 1866 ; "Hamlet," a grand opera, repre- sented for the first time on the stage March 9, 1868, and the hun- dredth repetition of which was pre- vented by the burning of the old Opera House in the Rue Lepeletier, Oct. 23, 1873; "Mignon," altered into a grand opera for the Baden Theatre, 1869; " Gilles et Gilletin," a comic opera in one act, produced successfully at the Op4ra Comique in April, 1874, in spite of the oppo- sition of the composer ; and " Pran- 9oise de Eimini," another grand opera, 1877. M. Ambroise Thomas has also composed a Requiem Mass, fantasias, nocturnes, rondos, &c. He was elected a member of the Aca- d^mie des fieauz Arts in succession to Spontini, in 1851 ; was appointed "Officier d'Instruction Publique" in Dec., 1869 ; and rephbced Auber as Director of the Conservatoire de Musique in 1871. He has been a Commander of the Legion of Honour since 1868.

THOMAS, The Rev. David, D.D., is a native of Tenby, South Wales, bom Feb. 1, 1813, and was educated at Newport Pagnel. He entered upon his work as an Independent minister in 1841. Having accepted a charge at Stockwell, he started The HomUist, a monthly periodical, of which fifty volumes have been issued. On the motion of Dr. Baird, the College of Waynesburgh, in the United States, conferred upon him the degree of D.D., honoris causA. Dr. Thomas is the author of " The Philosophy of Happiness ; " ** A Biblical Liturgy j " *' Resurrections : Thoughts on Duty and Destiny," 1862; "The Genius of the Gospel, a HomUetic Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew," 1864 ; " A Homiletic Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles," 1870; "The Practical Philosopher: a Daily Monitor for the Business Men of England," 1878 ; and " Problemata Mundi : an Exegetical and Homi- letical Commentary on the Book of Job," 1878. He is also author and

founder of the "Homilistic Library," of which the first volume, "The Book of Psalms exegeticaUy and practically considered," was issued in 1882. He is the editor of " The Augustine Hymn Book . " He origi- nated the University for Wales, also the Working Man's Club and Institute Union, of which the late Lord Brougham was the President. Dr. Thomas took a prominent part in the movement for the cheapen- ing and improvement of the daily press.

THOMAS, Edwabd, F.R.S., born in London, Dec. 31, 1813, is son of the eminent surgeon of his day, H. Leigh Thomas, F.R.S., and. grandson of the distinguished Scotehman, William Cruikshank, F.R.S., the associate in science of the great John Hunter. The tradi- tions of the family pointed prefer- entially to a medical career, but an offer of a civil appointment in the East India Company's Service, in those days, charmed many a youth to seek the fabled attractions of the East. In the ordinary course Mr. Thomas went through his studies at that excellent institution, the College of Haileybury, and passed on to his higher duties in India in 1832. By the appreciative consideration of Lord William Ben- tinck, he was sent to learn his early lessons in administration under one of the most experienced officers and warmest friends of the natives of India, Mr. G. W. Trail, Commissioner in Eumaon, a section of the Himalaya still retaining so many of ite aboriginal traditions. Mr. Thomas's service in India was interrupted by frequent failures of health, which involved temporary returns to England. He had, how- ever, an opportunity of serving in the Punjaub, under Lord Dalhousie, to whom he so commended himself that on the departure of Sir Henry Elliot to the Cape of Good Hope, in 1852, Mr. Thomas was invited to accept the high duties of the Foreign Office — "the then Blue 3 X