T A S 



predileftion ; but all the powers and affeftions of his mind 

 were devoted to poetry. Thus dillinguifhcd, he was invited 

 by tlie cdebrated Cefi to Bologna, in the fchools and aca- 

 demies of which city his talents were eminently difplayed. 

 During his refidence in Bologna, he was charged with having 

 written fome defamatory verles, and deprived of his books ; 

 and tliough he avowed his innocence, he thought proper to 

 withdraw from the city to a place called Caftlevetro, where 

 he was protefted by the count Rangoni. Some time after 

 this event he fettled at Padua, and acquired diftinftion among 

 the academicians denominated " Eterci." At the age of 

 eighteen yeai-s he liad publifhed at Venice his poem of the 

 Romanefque clafs, entitled " II Rinaldo," which he dedi- 

 cated to cardinal Luigi d'Efte, in confequcnce of which he 

 was invited, in 1566, to the court of Fei-rara, where he was 

 liberally accommodated, and where, it is faid, he profecutcd 

 the execution of his plan of the " Gerufalemme Liberata ;" 

 fix cantos of which were compofed in the 17th year of his 

 life. In IJ71 he accompanied the cardinal d'Efte into 

 France, where he was honourably received by Charles IX. 

 and his court, and alfo by all the learned men of Paris. In 

 the following year he returned to Italy, and caufed to be re- 

 prefented his dramatic paftoral of " Aminta." Several 

 cantos of his " Gerufalemme" were at this time difperfed in 

 Ms. throughout Italy, and in 1579 the fourth canto was 

 printed in a coUeftion of poems at Genoa. In the following 

 year, fragments of i6 cantos were pubhChed at Venice, and 

 we may naturally imagine that this mode of introducing to 

 public notice a work on which he had beftowed much atten- 

 tion and labour, excited his difpleafure. In 1581 three edi- 

 tions were printed, and of thefe, the third at Ferrara has been 

 confidered as that which lirft exhibited this celebrated work 

 in its genuine form. It has occafioned fome degree of fur- 

 prife, that TafTo himfelf did not guard againft thefe incoiTeft 

 publications, by committing his work to the prefs in a more 

 perfeft ftate. His negligence in this refpeft has been attri- 

 buted to fome mental malady under which he laboured. Of 

 the caufe of this malady different accounts have been given. 

 Tirabofchi has narrated a variety of circumllances, which 

 operating on a mind like that of Taflb, might have contri- 

 buted to produce, or at leaft to aggravate the mental dif- 

 order under which he laboured. His narration is recited in 

 the General Biography ; but within our limits we cannot do 

 it full juftice. His firft provocation feems to have been ex- 

 cited by a courtier, who divulged the fecret of his amours, 

 in the prefence-chamber of Alfonfo, duke of Ferrara, and 

 whom he publicly infulted, fo that he was under a necefllty 

 of defending liimfelf with his fword againft the aggreffbr and 

 his tlu-ee brothers. The brothers were banifned, and TafTo 

 was confined to his apartment. Difturbed in his mind, and 

 dreading worfe confequences, he made his efcape, wan- 

 dered to Turiji, Rome and Sorrento, and at length obtained 

 permifTion to return to Ferrara. Sufpefting fome hoftile de- 

 iign, he withdrew to the court of Urbino, and again re- 

 turned to Ferrara. Here his diforder was fo manifeft, that 

 Alfonfo ordered him to be (hut up in a hofpital appropriated 

 to lunatics. The evidence of his diforder is faid by fome to 

 have been an indecorous hberty which he took in faluting the 

 princefs Leonora, the duke's fifter ; but others have thought 

 this circumftance very improbable, and indeed it is hardly ne- 

 cefTary to make an attempt for juilifying the duke's condudt 

 in the confinement of Taifo, after he had given fo many in- 

 conteftible proofs of mental derangement. At length, how- 

 ever, TafTo was reftored to entire liberty. But his difpofition 

 to wander ftill continued ; and it is lamentable to refletl, that, 

 as one of his biograpers obferves, " the admired author of 

 ' Jerufalem delivered,' the favourite of princes and the boail 



'J' A S 



of Italy, (Iiould have harboured in his mind fomctliing which 

 defeated every plan to render his circumftances profptrous." 

 His laft retreat was with cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, at 

 Rome, wlio obtained for him a pcnfion from pope Cle- 

 ment VIII., and had intended, as a compcnfation for his 

 fufferings, to procure for him the honour of a folemn poeti- 

 cal coronation in the Capitol ; but the ceremony was delayed 

 on account of the cardinal's illnrfs, and TafTo manifefled 

 fymptoms of approaching diffolution. As foon as he was 

 apprized of his danger, he was removed to tlie convent of 

 St. Onofrio, where, deriving every pofTible confolation from 

 the kindnefs of the cardinal, and exliibiting every evidence 

 of fmcere piety, he clofed his days in April 1595, at the 

 age of 51. His remains were honourably interred, and 

 after fome time a monument was eredted to his memory by 

 cardinal Bonifacio Bevilacque, in the church of St. Onofrio. 

 TafTo, " in perfon, was tall, aftive, and well-proportioned, 

 naturally of a firm temperament, and fit for all bodily ex- 

 ercifes. He was fparing of words, fedate and grave in 

 manner, and in converfation difplayed little of the fire tiiat 

 animates his works. He was kind and affeftionate in all his 

 focial relations, and condufted himfelf with great propriety 

 in company." 



His works are very numerous. Thofe in profe confift of 

 a great number of treatifes, dialogues, and letters, on mo- 

 ral, literary, and familiar topics. In poetry, his " Geru- 

 falemme Liberata" is pre-eminent. " Its fubjeft is fmgu- 

 larly happy, its charafters well-drawn and fupported, its 

 fiiftions ftrongly imagined, its ftyle dignified, and its verfifi- 

 cation harmonious." His " Gerufalemme Conquifata," pub- 

 hfhed in 1593, was a kind of rccompofition of the former 

 work, but lefs fatisfadlory to its readers. His " Aminta" 

 has been already mentioned ; his " Rime" confifted of occa- 

 fional and mifceUaneous pieces ; his " Sella Giornata," or 

 Works of the Seven Days, pieces on facred topics, bear the 

 imprefTion of the gloomy flate of his mind. Tirabofchi. 

 Gen. Biog. 



Tasso, in Geography, a fmall idand on the W. coaft of 

 Afi-ica, at the mouth of the river Sierra Leona. 



Tasso, or Thafo, an ifland of the Grecian Archipelago, 

 "fituatcd in the gulf of Contefa, tov.ards the W. extreinity 

 of Macedonia, and two leagues from the continent. The 

 channel which feparates that ifland from the main land is 

 alfo divided by a fterile inlet called " Little TafTo," and in 

 Greek " Tafl'o-poulo," the veftige of an ancient continuity 

 of lands, at prefent feparatcd. A fpacious road, where the 

 ground is good for holding, hes between the two iflands. 

 TalTo is the moft northern of the iflands of the Archipelago, 

 and its high mountains, covered with forefts, are feen at a 

 diftance. This ifland was formerly one of the moft famous 

 for its rich gold mines. Herodotus fpeaks of them, and 

 they were under the dircftion of Thucydides. Theic mines 

 led the Greeks to denominate it Chryie, fignifying gold or 

 gilt ; its riches had become proverbial, and tlic expreflioii 

 was a " Thafos of wealth." Its natural troafuies alfo were 

 opals, amethyfts, and other precious ftones ; but though 

 thefe are loft, TafTo ftill furniflies the beautiful marble, that 

 forms the greater part of the mountains, which was anciently- 

 held in fuch eflimation by the Romans ; the whitenefj of 

 which vies with fuow, and the fiuencfs of its grain with that 

 of Parian marble. TJie inhabitants of Pai'os ai-e faid to 

 have peopled tUe ifland of TafTo, and to have there built the 

 town of Thafos, which was its capital, and the vefliges of 

 which are ftill to be feen. The ifland is ueai- 30 leagues 

 in circumference ; it produces abundance of corn, oil, 

 wax, &c.; but the fertility, extolled by the ancients, is 

 turned to no account for want of encouragement and cul- 

 S 2 ture. 



