T A S 
T A S 
857 
v 
M.-de Lalande says, he had from his own mouth the fol¬ 
lowing singular anecdote, which shews to what degree his 
imagination was inflamed by the genius of composition. 
“ He dreamed one night, in 1713, that he had made a com¬ 
pact with the devil, who promised to be at his service on 
all occasions; and during this vision every thing succeeded 
according to his mind; his wishes were prevented, and his 
desires always surpassed by the assistance of his new servant. 
In short, he imagined he gave the devil his violin, in order 
to discover what kind of a musician he was ; when, to his 
great astonishment, he heard him play a solo so singularly 
beautiful, and executed with such superior taste and pre¬ 
cision, that it surpassed all he had ever heard or conceived 
in his life. So great was his surprise, and so exquisite his 
delight upon this occasion, that it deprived him of the power 
of breathing. He awoke with the violence of this sensation, 
and instantly seized his fiddle, in hopes of expressing what 
he had just heard, but in vain; he, however, then composed 
a piece, which is perhaps the best of all his works, ( he called 
it the Devil’s Sonata,) but it was so inferior to what his sleep 
had produced, that he declared he should have broken his 
instrument and abandoned music for ever, if he could have 
subsisted by any other means.” 
TA'RTISH, adj. Somewhat tart. Scott. 
TARTLAU, a town of Transylvania, in the province of 
the Saxons; 8 miles east-by-north of Cronstadt, with 3000 
inhabitants, partly of German descent, partly Wallachians 
and gypsies. 
TA'RTLY, adv. Sharply ; sourly; with ' acidity.— 
Sharply; with poignancy; with severity.—Seneca, an in¬ 
genious and sententious writer, was by Caligula tartly called 
arena sine cake, sand without lime. Walker. —With 
sourness of aspect. 
How tartly that gentleman looks ! 
—He is of a very melancholy disposition. Shakspeare. 
TA'RTNESS, s. Sharpness ; sourness ; acidity.—Of 
these sweets put in three gallons, more or less, into an hogs¬ 
head, as the tart ness of your cyder requires. Mortimer. — 
Sourness of temper: poignancy of language.—They cannot 
be too sweet for the king’s tart ness. Shakspeare. 
TA'IITUFISH, adj. [from tartufe, Fr., a puritan, a 
hypocrite. “ Jamais tartufe ne fut honnete homme.” 
Richelet.] Perhaps precise; formal; or morose. In some 
parts of Scotland, it is sour, sullen, stubborn. See Jamie¬ 
son.—God help her, said I; she has some mother-in-law, or 
tartnfsh aunt, or nonsensical old woman, to consult upon 
the occasion as well as myself. Sterne. 
TARUD, asmalltownof Hedsjas, in Arabia; 10 miles 
from El Katif. 
TARUD Esheriff, a village of lower Egypt, on the left 
bank of the Nile; 6 miles south of Melaui. 
TARVE, a small island in Denmark, in the Little Belt; 
9 miles from Colding in Jutland. 
TARVEN, or Tarvin, a village and parish of England, 
in the county of Chester, near a brook that comes from Tar- 
porley, and bounds Delamere forest. It had formerly a 
market, which was granted to Sir John Savage, lord of this 
manor, in the reign of queen Elizabeth. Population 2876 ■ 
6 miles east-by-north of Chester. 
TARVES, a parish of Scotland, in Aberdeenshire, about 
9 miles long, and 6 broad, watered by the Ythau. Popula- 
. tion 1804- 
TARVIS, a small town of Austrian Illyria, in Carinthia, 
on a small stream called the Gailitz ; 49 miles north-by-west 
of Trieste, and 14 south-west of Villach. 
TASAPAN, a small island in the Eastern seas, near Junk- 
seilon. Lat. 8. 20. N. long. 98.14. E. 
TASCHLIDSCHA, Taslizza, or Plevle, a smalltown 
in the north-west of European Turkey, in Bosnia. It is the 
residence of the sandgiak of Hersek, and has 4500 inhabit¬ 
ants ; 70 miles south-by-east of Zvornick. 
TASCHUCANGO, a small river of Quito, in the pro¬ 
vince of Mainas, which runs nearly due north, and enters the 
Amazons. 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1613. 
TASCO, or Tlachco, a town of Mexico, in the inten¬ 
dancy of Mexico; 90 miles south-east of Valladolid. The 
elevation of the place above the level of the sea is something 
more than 2569 feet; 60 miles south-by-west of Mexico, on 
the north shore of the river Zacatula. Lat. 18. 33. N. long. 
99. 31. W. 
TASCO, a settlement of New Granada, in the province of 
Tunja, which contains 100 housekeepers, and 80 Indians. 
TASEBURGH, or Tasborough, a parish of England, 
in Norfolk; 2 miles north of St. Mary Stratton. Popula¬ 
tion 453. 
TASHAM Dagh, the name of a mountain on the north 
coast of Asia Minor, between Amasieh and Samsoun. 
TASHKUND, or Tashkent, a considerable city of In¬ 
dependent Tartary, situated on the Sihon of Jaxatres ; 210 
miles north of Samarcand. Lat. 42. 40. N. long. 64. 
48. E. 
TASIEVA, a river of Asiatic Russia, which falls into the 
Tchulim, about 20 miles north-west of Tasieuskoi. 
TASIEUSKOI, a town of Tobolsk, in Asiatic Russia, on 
theTasieva; 820 miles east of Tobolsk, and 448 east-north 
east of Kolivan 
TASK, s. [ tassa , Italian.] Something to be done im¬ 
posed by another. 
Relieves me from my task of servile toil 
Daily in the common prison else enjoin’d me. Milton. 
Employment; business.—His mental powers were equal 
to greater tasks. Atterbury. 
To take to Task. To reprove; to reprimand.—A holy 
man took a soldier to task upon the subject of his profession. 
L' Estrange. 
To TASK, v. a. To burthen with something to be 
done. 
Forth he goes, 
Like to a harvestman, that task'd to mow, 
Or all, or lose his hire. Shakspeare. 
TA'SKER, s. One who imposes tasks. 
All is, if I have grace to use it so, 
A ever in my great taskmaster's eye. Milton. 
One who undertakes a task, as a day-labourer: this is a 
colloquial use of tasker. 
TASLEY, a parish of England, in Salop, situated on the 
river Severn; 2 miles west-north-west of Bridgenorth. 
TASMAN’S HEAD, the most southern point of Brany’s 
island, on the south-east coast of Van Diemen’s Land, appa¬ 
rently the same which the French call North Cape of that 
isle. 
TASMAN’S ISLAND, a great peninsula connected with 
Van Diemen’s Land, by an isthmus 600 feet broad by about 
1800 feet long. At the southern extremity is an islet, now 
called Tasman’s island, visible at 12 leagues distance. 
TASNAD, a small but populous town of Transylvania, in 
the north-west of the palatinate of Syolnok, inhabited by 
Magyars. 
TASSACORTA, or Tassa Croda, a small sea-port on 
the western coast of the island of Palma, one of the Canaries, 
where a few vessels are annually laden. 
TA'SSEL, s. [ tasse , French; tasselus, low Latin.] 
An ornamental bunch of silk, or glittering substances. 
Then took the squire an horn of bugle small, 
Which hung adown his side in twisted gold. 
And tassels gay. Spenser. 
TA'SSEL, s. [properly tercel or tiercel; Ttal. terzuolo ; 
which name it is said to have obtained, because it is a tierce 
or third less than the female. See Steven’s Note on Shak- 
speare’s Rom. and Jul.] The male of the gosshawk. 
O for a falconer’s voice, 
To lure this tassel- gentle back again ! Shakspeare. 
TA'SSEL, or Ta'zel, s. [carduus fulloninius. ] An 
herb. See Teazle. Ainsworth. 
101 TA'SSELLED, 
