Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 23.djvu/401

Rh influence. We have endeavoured not only to set forth the influence which tidal friction may have, and probably has, had in the history of the system, if sufficient time be granted, but also to point out what effects it cannot have produced. These investigations afford no grounds for the rejection of the nebular hypothesis; but, while they present evidence in favour of the main outlines of that theory, they introduce modifications of considerable importance. Tidal friction is a cause of change of which Laplace's theory took no account; and, although the activity of that cause may be regarded as mainly belonging to a later period than the events described in the nebular hypothesis, yet it seems that its influence has been of great, and in one instance of even paramount importance in determining the present condition of the planets and their satellites. Throughout the whole of this discussion it has been supposed that sufficient time is at our disposal; Sir W. Thomson and others have, however, adduced reasoning which goes to show that the history of the solar system must be comprised within a period considerably less than a hundred million years. It would perhaps be premature to accept this as the final and definite conclusion of science. If, however, it be confirmed, we shall only be permitted to accept the doctrine that tidal friction has effected considerable modification in the configuration of the moon and earth, and must reject the earlier portion of the history sketched above.  

 TIDOR, or, an island (0° 39′ N. lat. and 127° 23′ E. long.) of the East Indian Archipelago, off the west coast of (q.v.) and south of Ternate, is nearly circular in form, and has an area of about 58 square miles. A volcano (5900 feet), now quiescent, rises in the centre and occupies nearly the whole of the island; its sides are densely covered with forests. The principal productions are sago, rice, cocoa-nuts, and bananas. The capital, Tidor, on the east coast, is a walled town and the seat of a sultan tributary to the Dutch. The population is estimated at 7500. Tidor, which is included in the residency of Ternate, is administered by a "controleur."  TIECK, (1773-1853), the most conspicuous figure of the German romantic school of literature, was born at on 31st May. His father, a ropemaker, was dry, sarcastic, and matter-of-fact; his mother, gentle and pious, with a leaning to mysticism. Tieck par took of both characteristics: half his work and half his genius seem a sceptical commentary on the other half. He emancipated himself from the prosaic influence of his father's house by a passionate study of. After a brilliant career at school he repaired in to the  at, and, returning to Berlin in 1794, devoted himself to authorship, in which he had already made experiments. As is so commonly the case with young writers of genius, his first tales (Abdallah, William Lovell) partook too largely of the melodramatic, and have little permanent value. But the romantic school of Germany, a movement comparable to the Lake school of England, was already in the air, and Tieck was deeply sensitive to its influence. He was strongly fascinated by two of its aspects in particular—the reaction in favour of German mediaeval art and the revived interest in fairy tales and folk-lore in general. Inspired by his friend, a youth of pious ardour and most pious simplicity, he wrote his unfortunately unfinished romance Sternbald's Travels, a very gospel for the artist, at once the complement and the antitype of Wilhelm Meister. His studies in popular literature resulted in the entertaining adaptation of Blue Beard entitled Peter Lebrecht and several kindred works. Fair Eckbert, his masterpiece, and the masterpiece of all romantic fiction, came to him, he said, by inspiration. He may well be believed: no artifice could have created the pervading sensation of dreamy solitude or the intense thrill of the catastrophe. The happy idea of dramatizing popular legend led to the production of a greatly improved Blue Beard, and subsequently of Puss in Boots, a satire on and, such an alliance of broad humour and dainty irony as we might expect to find in the lost Middle Comedy of.

It might almost have been better if Tieck had continued to walk in his own way. His was a susceptible nature, too sensitive for perfect independence. In he made the acquaintance of the Schlegels, and was drawn into their circle. , undoubtedly the greatest genius of the romantic school, was for a time a compensation to him for the death of Wackenroder, whose essays on art he edited with additions of his own. But Novalis himself soon died, and the influence of the Schlegel circle, with its bickerings and its "chopping and changing of ribs," was not wholly salutary either in a moral or a literary point of view. inspired Tieck with a passion for the Spanish drama. He also spent much time on a translation of , certainly a masterpiece, and rendered 's Silent Woman, having previously adapted Volpone. One important production of his own nevertheless belongs to this period, the romantic drama of Genoveva, enthusiastically admired by so clear-headed and impartial a judge as. He also produced his delightful miniature drama of Little Red Hiding Hood, and was working with great spirit on The Emperor Octavian when he was suddenly attacked by rheumatic gout, which tormented him more or less for the remainder of his life. Between pain and unpleasant literary disputes his activity was long greatly impeded. The narrowness of his means also troubled him. He had married the