TARTUFFE.*—

The females are not without grace and beauty.About one-fifth of these Tartars have embraced theChristian religion ; the rest are Mohammedans. Someof them still live in tents, and lead a wandering life.The Siberian Tartars have intermixed with otherraces, and lost much of their national peculiarity:some of them are stationary, and cultivate the ground;but the most of them are still wandering herdsmen :they are either heathens or Mohammedans. The No-gav Tartars, who dwell on the Cuban and the Volga,an'din some other districts, are Mohammedans, andchieflylead a wandering life : they are much inferior tothe Tartars proper in civilisation and personal appear-ance. The Bashkirs are in a still lower condition:they wander in summer, and dwell in villages andwooden huts in winter. The Kirghises, who inhabitthe great steppe of Orenburg, breed cattle, live intents, are Mohammedans, and resemble the trueTartars more nearly than the last mentioned tribes.The Yakoutes and Teleutes are few in number, leada wandering life, worship idols, and are altogether ina low state of civilisation. The Bucharians, who arefound in Russia, live in cities and villages, and areindustrious workmen.

Tartuffe. The chief character in Moliere’s bestcomedy, first played in 1664, before Louis XIV.Tartuffe is a hypocrite; and the word is at presentused to designate such, not only in French, but alsoin other languages. Some say that the character ofTartuffe depicts the confessor of Louis XIV., fatherLachaise, whom Moliere once saw eating trufiles (inFrench, tartuffes) with great relish. Others say thatthe poet, being at the house of the nuncio, saw twomonks praying, apparently very devoutly, when aSavoyard entering with truffles to sell, the two monksexclaimed with great enthusiasm, “ O signore, tar-tuffi! tartuffi!” The latter version does not seemprobable. Moliere had already many enemies amongthe clergy, lawyers, and physicians. Two yearsMoliere applied in vain for permission to bringhis drama on the stage. At length permissionobtained ; but just as the curtain was about torise, it was prohibited again, of which Molierepointedly informed the public himself with thesewords, referring to the president of the parliament:“Monsieur le president ne veut pas qu’on lejoue!”At length, in 1669, Moliere succeeded in bring-ing the play on the stage ; and for three monthsTartuffe was performed uninterruptedly—a sufficientroof of the justice of its satire.

Tasch. Turkish for stone ; this word is frequentlyemployed in geographical names.

Tattooing. A name borrowed from the SouthSea Islands, where it denotes the practice of stainingthe skin by puncturing it with a sharp instrumentcovered with colouring matter, or inserting the colourw incisions made in the skin, and thus forming avariety of figures. We find similar practices amongother barbarous tribes, and, to a certain extent, amongsoldiers, sailors, &c. Degre es of rank among savagesMe olten designated by the greater or less surface oftattooed skin : sometimes the whole body, the facenot excepted, are found tattooed. This is the caseamong the people of New Zealand.

Taunton. A market town and borough in thecounty of Somerset. It is situated on the river Tone,is one of the principal towns in the county, and, inpoint of size, buildings, and the respectability of itsinhabitants, may- vie with many cities. It extends inLiterature. —Vol. III.

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length nearly a mile from east to west, and consistsof four principal streets, with various minor onesbranching off. The streets are wide and airy ; thehouses are remarkably well built, and most of themhave gardens behind, which add greatly to theirhealthiness, as well as to the convenience of theinhabitants. Within the last twenty years the townhas undergone many alterations and improvements,in most of which, views of utility have been judi-ciously combined with the spirit of embellishment.The country in the vicinity is the most delightfulimaginable; and the Vale of Taunton, or TauntonDean, is proverbial for its fertile soil and temperateclimate. The public buildings, besides the churches,are the market-house, the town-hall, and the freegrammar-school. The parish churches of St. MaryMagdalen and St. James are interesting edifices.The former is built in the Gothic style of architecture,and is supposed to have been founded by HenryVII., as were several other churches in Somerset-shire, in token of his gratitude to the inhabitants ofthe county for their steady adherence to the house ofLancaster. The church contains thirteen windowsadorned with a variety of curious ornaments, is sur-rounded by a number of canopies, and surmountedby four stately pinnacles, also beautifully ornamented.The height of the whole is 153 feet; and from thebalustrades at the bottom of the pinnacles there is anextensive view of the adjacent country.

Besides the parish churches, there are several dis-senting meeting-houses in the town. The largest, aswell as the oldest, is called Paul’s meeting-house.The baptist chapel is a large and handsome building.The market-house stands in the centre of the town,and is a handsome and commodious building, withseveral apartments for different purposes. On eachside of this building is a large wing or arcade for theaccommodation of those who attend the markets withpoultry, butter, and other articles of provisions.

The free grammar-school of Taunton was foundedin the reign of Henry VII. by Richard Fox, bishopof Winchester. It was liberally endowed, about theyear 1553, by William Walbec. The Taunton hos-pital is an oblong building, situate in East Reach, andwas erected by subscription in 1811, to commemoratethe jubilee kept in honour of George III. havingattained the fiftieth year of his reign. Part of the castleof Taunton still remains. It was originally built byIna, king of the West Saxons, in the year 700. Thiscastle was destroyed in 772, and was rebuilt by oneof the bishops of Winchester in the reign of Henry I.It afterwards underwent many alterations and repairsby the succeeding bishops. It is now appropriatedto various uses. The old building was 195 feet infront, and had a circular tower at each end, only oneof which now remains. In the place of that demo-lished, a large house was erected many years ago.The west wing is tolerably entire. The principalpart of the castle, as formerly laid out, was the greathall, which is 119 feet and a half long, by thirty anda half feet broad, and twenty feet five inches high. Itis now the place in which the Lent assizes, the countysessions, and the courts of the bishops of Winchester,are held. The assize-hall, and some other parts ofthis building were repaired and elegantly fitted up inthe end of the last century by sir Benjamin Hammet,member for the borough. On the north side of thetown stands a farm-house, called the Priory, near towhich there was once a priorv of black cauons, whichK K K