WILLIAM,** an illustrious Swiss patriot, chief instrument of the revolution which delivered the Swiss cantons from the German yoke in 1307. Grisler, the governor of these provinces for the emperor Albert, having ordered him, under pain of death, to shoot at an apple placed on the head of one of his children; he had the dexterity, though the distance was very considerable, to strike it off without hitting the child. The tyrant, perceiving he had another arrow concealed under his cloak, asked him for what purpose? To which he boldly replied, "To have shot you through the heart, if I had had the misfortune to kill my son." The enraged governor now ordered him to be hanged; but his fellow-citizens, animated by his fortitude and patriotism, flew to arms; attacked and vanquished Grisler, who was shot to death by Tell; and the association for the independence took place that instant.

**Tell-Tale,** a name sometimes given to the *Perpetual Log.* See that article.

**TELLER,** an officer of the exchequer, in ancient records called *tallier.* There are four of these officers, whose duty is to receive all sums due to the king, and to give the clerk of the pells a bill to charge him therewith. They likewise pay all money due from the king, by warrant from the auditor of the receipt; and make weekly and yearly books both of their receipts and payments, which they deliver to the lord treasurer.

**TELLINA,** a genus of shell-fish. See Conchology Index.

**TEMISSA,** a large town in Africa, about 125 miles north-east of Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan. Here the caravan of pilgrims from Bornou and Nigeria, which takes its departure from Mourzouk, and travels by the way of Cairo to Mecca, usually provides the stores of corn and dates, and dried meat, that are requisite for its dreary passage.

**TEMPE,** in Ancient Geography, a most pleasant place or valley of Thessaly. That it was there, appears from the epithets of *Thessalica* (Livy), *Thessala* (Ovid). The doubts respecting the situation of this celebrated valley have been completely removed by Dr Clarke, who found its name in a Roman inscription on the face of the rock. It is the narrow and steep defile through which the Peneus escapes from the Thessalian plain. This defile is formed by Mount Olympus on the north, and Mount Ossa on the south. It is richly wooded, while lofty precipices present their bare fronts of various colours, amidst the trees. The village of Ampelakia, celebrated for its manufacture of Turkey red, lies within this valley on the south side. The Peneus, according to Pliny, running down between Ossa to the south and Olympus to the north for 500 stadia, is for half that space navigable; in the direction of this course lies what is called Tempe, extending in length for five miles, in breadth for about an acre and a half, with gentle convexities rising on the right and left hand. Within glides the pure stream of the Peneus, charming in the grass on its banks, and harmoniously vocal with the music of birds. In this description Strabo and Athenæus agree; the last adding, that it has an agreeable variety of places of retreat; and that it is not the work of man's hand, but the spontaneous production of nature; and Strabo says, that formerly the Peneus formed a lake in this spot, being checked in its course by the higher grounds about the sea; but that an opening being made by an earthquake, and Mount Ossa torn from Olympus, the Peneus gained a free course between them. But Livy, who calls Tempe a grove, remarks a degree of horror rather than amenity, with which the Roman army was struck on marching over the narrow pass; for, besides the defile, difficult to go over, which runs on for five miles, there are steep rocks on each hand, down which the prospect is apt to cause a dizziness, heightened by the noise and depth of the interfluent Peneus.

**TEMPER,** in a mechanical sense. See Tempering.

**TEMPER,** in a moral sense, the disposition of mind, whether natural or acquired. The word is seldom used by good writers without an epithet, as a good or bad temper, though one of the most beautiful poems in the language is entitled *The Triumphs of Temper.*

It is well observed by an elegant Essayist, that more constant uneasiness arises from ill temper than from ill fortune; as a bad temper embitters every street, and converts a paradise into a place of torment. For subduing the heart to softness, and preserving a due balance of the passions, a proper culture of the understanding and of the taste is the best method. He who employs his time in the studies of elegant literature, or the fine arts, has almost always a good temper; whilst the man who is absorbed in the pursuits of profound science is apt to acquire a severity of disposition, little less disagreeable, though generally much less pernicious, than the capriciousness of the idler. Music, painting, and poetry, teach the mind to select the agreeable parts of those objects which surround us, and by habituating it to a pure and permanent delight, gradually superinduce an habitual good humour. It is of infinite importance to happiness to accustom the mind, from infancy, to turn from deformed and painful scenes, and to contemplate whatever can be found of moral and natural beauty.

So much of the happiness of private life depends on the government of the temper, that the temper ought to be a principal object of regard in a well-conducted education. The suffering of children to tyrannize without control over servants and inferiors, is the ruin of many an amiable disposition. The virtues of humanity, benevolence, humility, cannot be too early enforced; at the same time, care should be taken that an infant of two or three years old should never be beaten or spoken to harshly for any offence which it can possibly commit.