TAYLOR, ZACHARY, twelfth President of the United States, born in Orange County, Virginia; obtained a lieutenancy in the navy in 1808; first saw service in Indian wars on the north-west frontier; in 1836 cleared the Indians from Florida and won the brevet of brigadier-general; great victories over the Mexicans on the Texan frontier during 1845-48 raised his popularity to such a pitch that on his return he was carried triumphantly into the Presidency; the burning questions of his brief term of office were the proposed admission of California as a free State and the extension of slavery into the newly-acquired territory; was a man of strong character, a daring and skilful general, of unassuming manners, and loved by the mass of the people, to whom he was known as “Old Rough and Ready” (1784-1850).

TAYLOR INSTITUTE, a building in Oxford erected from bequests by Sir Robert Taylor and Dr. Randolph as a gallery to contain works of art left to the university, and which contains a noble collection.

TE DEUM (Thee, O God), a grand hymn in Latin, so called from the first words, sung at matins and on occasions of joy and thanksgiving; of uncertain authorship; is called also the Ambrosian Hymn, as ascribed, though without foundation, to St. Ambrose; is with more reason seemingly ascribed to Hilary, bishop of Aries.

TEAZLE, LADY, the heroine in Sheridan’s “School for Scandal,” married to a man old enough to be her father, Sir Peter Teazle.

TECK, a German principality, named after a castle which crowns an eminence called “The Teck,” in the Swabian Alb, 20 m.  SE. of Stuttgart, conferred in 1868 on Duke Albert of Wuertemberg’s son, who in 1866 married the Princess Mary of Cambridge; their daughter, Princess May, became in 1893 the Duchess of York.

TEES, English river, rises on Cross Fell, Cumberland, and flows E., forming the boundary between Durham and York; enters the North Sea 4 m. below Stockton.

TEGNER, ESAIAS, a popular Swedish poet, born at Kyrkerud, the son of a country parson; graduated with distinction at Lund University in 1802, and shortly afterwards became lecturer in Philosophy; in 1812, already a noted poet, he was called to the chair of Greek, and in later years was the devoted bishop of Vexioe; his poems, of which “Frithiof’s Saga” is reckoned the finest, have the clearness and finish of classic models, but are charged with the fire and vigour of modern romanticism (1782-1846).

TEGUCIGALPA (12), capital of Honduras, situated near the centre of the country at a height of 3400 ft., in the fertile valley of the Rio Grande, surrounded by mountains; has a cathedral and university.

TEHAMA, a low, narrow plain in Arabia, W. of the mountain range which overlooks the Red Sea.

TEHERAN (210), capital of Persia, stands on a plain near the Elburz Mountains, 70 m.  S. of the Caspian Sea; is surrounded by a bastioned rampart and ditch, 10 m. in circumference, and entered by 12 gateways; much of it is of modern construction and handsomely laid out with parks, wide streets, and imposing buildings, notable among which are the shah’s palace and the British Legation, besides many of the bazaars and wealthy merchant’s houses; heat during the summer drives the court, foreign embassies, and others to the cooler heights in the N.; staple industries are the manufactures of carpets, silks, cottons, &c.