massive kinds present a great variety of structure. The composition varies from imperfect columnar to granular and impalpable. The individuals are sometimes strongly coherent with each other, or flat, so as to give rise to an imperfect slaty structure. The species talc has been subdivided into a great number of varieties or sub-species, the most of which depend upon colors, composition and foreign admixtures. The varieties of darkgreen (leek-green and celandine-green) colors, inclining to brown, constitute the chlorite, which has been subdivided into common, slaty, and earthy chlorite. The first of these contains the granular or crystalline varieties; the second embraces those in which the individuals can scarcely be traced, and which exhibit a slaty texture; the earthy chlorite consists of such as are but loosely coherent, or already in a state of loose, scaly particles. Immediately with those varieties of chlorite whose composition is impalpable, the green earth is connected. The species talc comprehends the varieties of pale

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green, particularly apple-green, gray, and white varieties, and is divided, in popular language, into common, earthy, and indurated talc. Simple varieties are common talc; also such compound ones in which cleavage is transformed into slaty structure, or such as consist of columnar particles of composition: earthy tale, or nacrite, consists of loose particles, or such as are but slightly cohering; and indurated talc refers to imperfect and coarse slaty varieties, in which this kind of structure is more the effect of composition than of imperfect cleavage. If this structure be sufficiently imperfect to become coarse and indistinctly granular, potstone, soapstone, lapis ollaris, or steatite, is formed, which, possessing the united properties of softness and tenacity, may be easily turned, and wrought into vessels. Four varieties of the present species, foliated talc, analyzed by Vauquelin, slaty chlorite, analyzed by Gruner, green earth, analyzed also by Vauquelin, and steatite by Klaproth, have yielded

These analyses, as well as those of several other varieties of the species, show that our information respecting its chemical constitution is still very defective. Before the blow-pipe, some of them lose their color, and are fused with difficulty; others are changed into a black scoria; still others are infusible. Common talc, indurated talc, steatite, potstone, and slaty chlorite, constitute beds of themselves in primitive mountains. The latter often contains imbedded crystals of magnetic iron. Common chlorite is found in beds in rocks consisting chiefly of ores of iron and calcareous spar with augite. Other varieties, and, among them, the small scaly crystals of chlorite and earthy chlorite, occur in veins of various descriptions, and in the crystal caves of the Alps. Green earth occurs in amygdaloidal rocks, lining vesicular cavities. Tyrol, Salzburg, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Scotland and New England abound in those varieties which by themselves form mountain masses. The soapstone of Cornwall is impalpable in its composition,

nearly white, or sometimes mottled with green and purple: when first raised, it is so soft as to allow of being kneaded like dough; but, by exposure, loses a part of its moisture, and is then translucent on the edges, yields to the nail, and possesses an unctuous feel. A similar variety is met with in Wales. It is included in serpentine, and sometimes embraces veins of amianthus. The white varieties of steatite, or those that become so by calcination, are employed in the manufactory of the finest porcelain; other varieties are said to be used in fulling. The Arabs, according to Shaw, use steatite in them baths instead of soap; and it is confidently asserted that the inhabitants of New Caledonia either eat it alone, or mingle it with their food. Humboldt says, that the Itomaques, a savage race, inhabiting the banks of the Orinoco, are almost entirely supported, during three months of the year, by eating this variety of talc, which they first slightly bake, and then moisten with water. The varieties known under the name of potstone have

been in use for the construction of a variety of utensils from time immemorial. It is particularly valuable as a fire-stone in furnaces, and is worked into plates in the fabrication of stoves. Numerous localities of it exist in the north-western part of Massachusetts, and, in Vermont, green earth is used, both raw, as a green color, and burnt, as a reddish-brown color, for painting houses, &c. Its most important deposits are the Monte Baldo, near Verona, Iceland, and the Tyrol. The Venetian talc, a variety of common talc, of a greenish-white color, formerly used as a medicine, seems to be no longer in use, except for the purpose of removing oil-spots from woollen clothes. The localities of common talc are too numerous to be mentioned; a few, however, which are somewhat remarkable, may be indicated. At Cumberland, in Rhode Island, it occurs of a delicate green color, in large columnar pieces, which are contained in a rock of steatite. At Smithfield, in the same region, a beautiful white scaly talc is found, in irregularly shaped masses, disseminated through white limestone. A delicate apple-green variety of columnar talc comes from Bridgewater, in Vermont, where it occurs in veins in a steatitic rock.

TALE; a nominal or imaginary money in China, estimated by Americans as bearing the proportion of 133 dollars to 100 tales. TALENT. (See Drachm.)

TALES. This term, though used somewhat indefinitely, may, perhaps, be correctly defined as signifying those simple fictitious narratives, in prose or in verse, which hardly extend beyond a single adventure, or group of incidents, without the variety of plot and character which characterizes the novel and the romance. Thus it answers to the French conte, the German märchen, and the Italian novelle. (See Novel, and Romance.) "A work of great interest," says sir W. Scott (preface to Lady of the Lake), "might be compiled upon the origin of popular fiction, and the transmission of similar tales from age to age, and from country to country. The mythology of one period would then appear to pass into the romance of the next century, and that into the nursery tale of the subsequent ages. Such an investigation, while it went greatly to diminish our ideas of the richness of human invention, would also show, that these fictions, however wild and childish, possess such charms for the populace as enable them to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners

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and language, and having no apparent intercourse to afford the means of transmission." While, in some countries, the people have found amusement in fictions founded on their remote history, or in listening to mythological_narratives, the natives of the East have long been celebrated for their tales or stories, founded on familiar incidents and comic scenes, or on wild legends of good and bad, spirits. The Hitopadessa (see Pilpay) of India, and the Thousand and one Days, Thousand and one Nights, the Tootinameh, or Tales of a Parrot, &c., of Arabia and Persia, are specimens of the wealth of the Eastern story-tellers in these narratives. (See Arabian Nights.) From their Eastern neighbors, the Asiatic Greeks borrowed something of their love for this amusement, as appears from what we know respecting the Milesian Tales, which, however, have all perished. The Gesta Romanorum,composed towards the close of the thirteenth century, and consisting of classical stories, Arabian apologues, and monkish legends, was the great source from which the Italian novelle, the French contes and fabliaux, and the English tales, were derived. The earliest collection of Italian novelle was the Cento Novelle Antiche, made not long after the date of the Gesta Romanorum, and composed of anecdotes and stories from the romances of chivalry, the fabliaux of the French trouveurs, and chronicles, together with incidents and jests, gathered from tradition, or of contemporaneous origin. Then came Boccaccio (q. v.), who gave a more dramatic form, and more grace of style to his Decameron. He was followed by Sacchetti, Ser Giovanni, Bandello, Massuccio, &c. They were imitated in France in the Cent nouvelles Nouvelles, tales full of imagination and gayety, supposed to be related at the Burgundian court. The Cent Nouvelles of Margaret of Valois (q. v.) were of a similar character. The tales of the trouveurs (q. v.), which were recited at festal meetings among the Northern French, are of still earlier origin than the Italian novelle. Le Grand has published a collection of them under the title of Fabliaux ou Contes du XII et XIII Siècle (Paris, 1779, 5 vols.), from which a selection has been translated into English by Way (Tales of the XII and XIII Centuries, second edition, with notes, by Ellis). A more recent collection of these fabliaux was published at Paris, in 1823, in 2 vols. (Nouveau Recueil de Fabliaux et Contes, du XIII et XIV Siècle, by Meon). In England, the first important

work which marks the complete transition from Anglo-Norman to English literature, is that of Chaucer (q. v.), whose Canterbury Tales were borrowed from the same sources as the narratives of the Italian novellists and the French fabliers,or immediately from these latter productions themselves. (On the sources of Chaucer, see Ritson's edition of Warton's History of English Poetry.) —Of a different character from the foregoing, are the fairy tales and popular stories of the nursery. Of the former, we have given an account in the article Fairies. Our common nursery tales are found to exist in the popular traditions of all the Teutonic nations, and seem to be of much higher antiquity than romances and poems of much greater pretensions. "Jack the Giant-Killer and Tom Thumb,” observes an English writer, “landed in England with Hengist and Horsa;" and the brothers Grimm (q.v.), who have recently thrown much light on nursery literature in their Kinder-und Haus-Märchen (second edition, 3 vols., 1820), do not hesitate to refer the origin of these stories to the Scandinavian sagas. See, on this subject, the article Antiquities of Nursery Literature, in the Quarterly Review, volume twenty-first. TALESMEN. (See Jury.) TALIACOTIUS, or TAGLIACOZZI. (See Rhinoplastic.)

TALIESIN; the most celebrated of the ancient British poets, and therefore termed Pen Beirdd, or the chief of the bards. He flourished between 520 and 570; and many of his compositions are extant, and have been printed in the Welsh Archæ ology. He was ranked with the two Merlins, under the appellation of the three principal Christian bards. Tradition represents him as an orphan exposed by the side of a river, where he was found by Elfin, the son of Gwyddno, by whom he was educated and patronised. He studied in the school of the famous Cadog at Llanveithin, in Glamorganshire, and, in the mature part of his life, was the bard of Urien Rheged, a Welsh prince, as appears by many of his poems addressed to that chieftain. (See Bard.)

TALISMAN (Arabic, figure) is a figure cast or cut in metal or stone, and made, with certain superstitious ceremonies, at some particular moment of time, as when a certain star is at its culminating point, or when certain planets are in conjunction. The talisman thus prepared is supposed to exercise extraordinary influences over the bearer, particularly in averting

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disease. In a more extensive sense, the word is used to denote any object of nature or art, the presence of which checks the power of spirits or demons, and defends the wearer from their malice. The amulet (q. v.) is much the same as the talisman, though, according to some, it is more limited in its virtues. As they were both used most frequently, and, perhaps, originally, to avert disease, we find them playing a conspicuous part in the history of medicine, among all nations, from the earliest to the most recent periods. The nature of the talisman has been very differ ́ent among different nations. The Egyptians made use of images of their gods and of sacred animals, such as the ibis and the scarabæus; the Greeks used little tablets, inscribed with the Ephesian words, &c. the Romans employed various idols, which they suspended upon the body by chains; the Arabians and Turks make use of sentences from the Koran; and we also find, in the East, medals of particular metals, struck under a particular constellation, and marked with magical signs; in the middle ages, relics, consecrated candles, and rods, rosaries, images of saints, &c., were employed, and still are, in some parts of Christendom; among some savage nations, the fetich (q. v.), and, among the American Indians (see Indians), the medicine, are of a similar character. In the middle ages, astrology, and the knowledge of the virtues of talismans and amulets, formed an important part of medical science; and the quacks of modern times sometimes have recourse to similar means. (See Magic.)

TALLAHASSEE, the seat of government of Florida Territory, is situated in Middle Florida, about twenty-five miles north of Apalachee bay (lat. 30° 28′ N.; lon. 84° 36′ W.), and is 870 miles from Washington. The position of this town was fixed upon as the seat of government in 1824. It was divided into lots in 1825, and immediately incorporated as a city. In two years after the erection of the first building, its population was 800. In 1830, it contained about 1200; and the county of Lean, in which it is situated, contained 6493. The situation of Tallahassee is remarkably pleasant, and is supposed to be healthy. The ground is considerably elevated, and the country around is high and rolling. St. Marks, situated near the head of the bay, is the nearest seaport. An elevated chain of rolling hills bounds the shores of the Mexi can gulf; and Tallahassee is three miles north of this ridge. The country around

it is generally fertile, and is suited to the cultivation of sugar. At present, it is mostly covered with oak, hickory, pine, wild cherry, gum, ash, dogwood, mahogany, and magnolia. The mahogany is nearly equal to that from Honduras. Fish abound in the neighboring lakes, and game is abundant in the forests.

TALLART, Camille d'Hostun, duke de, marshal of France, descended of an ancient family of Dauphiny, was born in 1652, entered young into the army, and, after serving under the great Condé in Holland, and under Turenne in Alsace, was engaged in the brilliant campaigns of 1674 and 1675. He distinguished himself subsequently on various occasions, and, in 1693, was made a lieutenant-general. In 1697, he was sent ambassador to England, to negotiate concerning the succession to the crown of Spain on the death of Charles II. In 1702, Tallart was appointed to the command of the French troops on the Rhine, and, soon after, was honored with a marshal's staff. He subsequently defeated the imperialists before Landau, and, having taken that place after a short siege, announced his success to Louis XIV in the following terms: "I have taken more standards than your majesty has lost soldiers." In 1704, he was opposed to Marlborough; and, being taken prisoner at the battle of Blenheim, was carried to England, where he remained seven years. On his return to France, in 1712, he was created a duke; and, in 1726, was appointed secretary of state. His death took place in 1728.

TALLEYRAND, Charles Maurice de Périgord, prince de, a distinguished French statesman, and one of the founders of French liberty, is descended from an ancient family, to which, in the middle ages, belonged the sovereign counts of Perigord. The celebrated princess des Ursins, who played so conspicuous a part at the court of Philip V of Spain, during the war of the Spanish succession, was his maternal grandmother. Previously to the fall of Napoleon, he was known as the prince of Beneventum, but since that event, has been styled prince Talleyrand. He was born at Paris, in 1754, and, being designed for the church, was placed at the seminary of Saint Sulpice. The young abbé de Périgord was distinguished for his wit, his insinuating manners, his talent for business, and his insight into character, and, in 1780, was appointed agent-general of the clergy. At the breaking out of the revolution, he was

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bishop of Autun, and had already dis played so much acuteness and dexterity in seizing the hidden clew of affairs, that Mirabeau, in his secret correspondence with Berlin, pronounced him one of the most ingenious and powerful minds of the age. This judgment, has proved prophetical. Elected deputy of the clergy of his diocese to the states-general, in 1789, he early foresaw, or rather contributed to guide and hasten, the change of public opinion, and, on the 19th of June, voted in favor of the union of the clergy with the deputies of the third estate. He was soon after named one of the committee on the constitution, and proposed the abolition of tithes. In the second committee on the constitution, he likewise brought forward a plan for applying the church domains to the public use. In the beginning of 1790, the bishop of Autun was chosen president of the assembly; and the proposition for establishing a uniform system of weights and measures emanated from him. At the celebration of the anniversary of the 14th of July, he officiated at the altar of the country; and he was one of the first to take the constitutional oath imposed on the clergy. With the bishops of Lydda and Babylon, the bishop of Autun consecrated the first constitutional bishops, and was excommunicated by the pope, Piu VI. VI. Talleyrand immediately resigned his bishopric, and was chosen member of the directory of the department of Paris. In 1792, he was sent on a secret mission to England; and, while the Jacobins at home were denouncing him as the agent of the court, the emigrants in England accused him of being the emissary of the Jacobins; and the English minister ordered him to quit the country within twentyfour hours. M. de Talleyrand therefore retired to the U. States, where he occupied himself in commercial business. In 1795, the convention repealed the decree against him, and, in 1797, we find him among the founders of the constitutional society established at the Hôtel de Salın, where he read a memoir on the advantages of colonizing the coasts of Barbary, and another on the commerce of the U. States. His influence soon began to appear in public affairs; and, in July of that year, he was appointed minister of foreign affairs to the directory. It was at this time that the commissioners of the IJ. States (Gerry, Marshall and Pinckney) to France were treated with so much indignity, and made the subject of a singular intrigue, in which the name of Tal

yrand was compromised.* The influence of Mad. de Staël, which had been employed in restoring him to France, had also been the principal instrument in procuring his nomination to the ministry; but the new minister, assailed on all sides by denunciations, threats and complaints, resigned his portfolio in July, 1799, after having published a defence of his conduct, entitled Éclaircissements donnés par le Citoyen Talleyrand à ses Concitoyens. Lucien Bonaparte was one of his most bitter assailants at this time; and a mutual hatred has ever since prevailed between them. The return of general Bonaparte from Egypt again restored the ex-minister to activity. He was one of the chief agents in the revolution of the 18th of Brumaire (q. v.), and was, immediately after, recalled to the ministry of foreign affairs. Here begins the most important period of his distinguished political career, a second period of which is formed by the events of 1814-15, and a third dates from the last French revolution, in 1830. The negotiations of Luneville (q. v.) and Amiens (q. v.) were conducted under his direction. From this period dates his great fortune, which has, however, suffered repeated shocks. Availing himself of his official information on secrets of state, he speculated largely in the funds. Having procured a brief from the pope, releasing him from his clerical vows, he immediately married Mrs. Grant, his mistress. The refusal of the first consul to admit her to court had nearly produced a rupture between Bonaparte and Talleyrand, which was avoided only by the former yielding to the wishes of the latter on that point. When Napoleon assumed the imperial title, M. de Talleyrand was appointed grand chamberlain of the empire, and, June 5, 1805, was raised to the dignity of sovereign prince of Beneventum. His credit with the emperor began, however, to suffer; and, in 1807, he was removed from the ministry of foreign affairs, but, at the same time, was promoted to the post of vice-grand-elector, which

* See, on the subject of this singular affair, Lyman's Diplomacy of the United States, vol. i, ch. 8 (2d edition, Boston, 1828).

+ de Talleyrand, having one day invited M. Denon, the celebrated traveller, to dine with him, the celebrated traveller, to dine with him, told his wife to read the work of their guest, indicating its place in his library. Madame de Talleyrand unluckily got hold, by mistake, of the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, which she ran over in great haste, and, at dinner, began to question Denon about his shipwreck, his island, &c., and finally about his man Friday.

The following story is told of this lady :-M.

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gave him a seat in the public councils. His opposition to the invasion of Spain completed his disgrace, and a war of epigrams and raillery was carried on in the saloons between the conqueror of Europe and his disgraced minister. The latter was threatened with arrest; and, in 1814, when Napoleon left Paris to defend the French soil, he made an attempt to conciliate the prince, by pretending a confidence in him which he did not feel, and appointed him one of the council of regency. The republican and imperial exminister was placed at the head of the provisional government, April 1st, 1814, and governed France until the arrival of the comte d'Artois. (See France.) The influence of the prince of Beneventum with the foreign powers is known to have been very great; but the secret history of his connexion with the Bourbons remains yet to be explained. The emperor Alexander lodged at his hôtel; and, on the 12th of May, Talleyrand was once more named minister of foreign affairs, and in June was raised to the peerage under the title of prince de Talleyrand. Towards the close of the year, he was sent as plenipotentiary of France to the congress of Vienna. Napoleon made some unsuccessful attempts to attach him to his cause in the hundred days. The prince, too sagacious to trust to promises dictated by necessity, or faithful to the new cause which he had espoused, was one of the most zealous promoters of the deciarations of March 13 and 25 against the emperor, and, joining Louis XVIII at Ghent, he returned to Paris with the king. Louis again conferred on him the portfolio of foreign affairs, with the title of president of the council (prime minister); but Talleyrand refused to sign the treaty so humiliating to France, and resigned his post in three months from his appointment. Pursued by the hatred of the émigrés, stigmatized as a traitor by the liberal party, and accused of being the cause of the death of the prince d'Enghien (q. v.), he now lost all influence in public affairs, though he still retained the post of grand chamberlain to the king. In 1818, he once more appeared upon the scene of politics, but n the new character of leader of the opposition in the chamber of peers. Here he distinguished himself in defence of the constitution against the gradual encroachments of the royal power. 1827, he was assaulted by the marquis de Maubreuil, who struck him a blow on the face, which knocked him down. The reason assigned by Maubreuil for this

In