TASMANIA. 53 TASSO. a settlement was founded in the northern part of the island by colonists from Sj'dney. In 180li thi^ colony was transferred to Launceston. From these two centres the colonization of the island proceeded steadilj'. Till 1823 the island was un- der the authority of the New South Wales Gov- ernment. In that year it received a separate Lieutenant-Governor and in 1825 a separate Gov- ernor. The opposition to convict labor, always deep-seated, notwithstandiuf,' the scarcity of la- borers, led, in 1835, to the first petition to the Home Government for its abolition. This, how- ever, did not take place until 1853. In that year, too, the colony received its ])resent name of Tas- mania. In 1854 a constitution providing for re- sponsible government by a colonial parliament was framed by the Legislative Council of the colony, in accordance with the terms of the Australian Government Act of 1850, and this bill received the royal assent in 1855. On Janu- ary 1, 1901, Tasmania became a member of the Commonwealth of Australia. BlBLiOGEAPiiY. Just, The. Ofjicinl Handbook of Tasmania (Melbourne. 1802) ; .Johnston, Sys- tematic Account of the Geology of Tasmania (Hobart, 1888) ; Murray, Tasmanian Rivers, Lakes, and Flowers (London, 1900) : Roth and Butler, The Aborigines of Tasmania. (2d ed., Halifax, 1000) ; for the flora and fauna, Mere- dith, My Ihish Friends in Tasmania (London, 1859) ; id., Tasmanian Friends and Foes (ib., 1880) ; id.. My Hush Friends in Tasmania. Last Series (ib., 1891): Fenton, A History of Tas- mania (Hobart, 1884). TASMANIAN WOLF, Tiger-Wolf, Zebra- Wolf, or Thylacine. A wolf-like, carnivorous and savage marsupial of Australia. >See Das- TURE; Colored Plate of Maksupials; Plate of PnALANGERS. TAS'MAN SEA. That portion of the South Pacific Ocean which is included between Australia and Tasmania on the west and New Zealand on the east (^lap: Australasia, .T 0). It is more than 15,000 feet deep, and contains but few islands. TASSAERT, ta'sart, Antoine (1720-88). A Flemisli sculptor, born and trained in Antwerp. After working in London and Paris, he was called to Berlin in 1774 by Frederick the Great, who made him Court sculptor and rector of the Acad- emy. He was especially esteemed by Prince Henry, the King's lirother, for whose palace he fashioned many statues and groups. His other principal works include the busts of the Great Elector, of Frederick II.. and of Moses Men- delssohn, and of later date the statues of gen- erals Seydlitz and Keith, now in the Cadet School at Gross-Lichterfelde. TASSAERT, Nicolas Francois Octa-e (1800-74). A French historical and genre painter. He was born in Paris, and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and in the ateliers of Oirard and Guillon Lethi6re. In modeling his art upon Chardin and Greuze, he portrayed, with powerful realism and able technique, the suflfer- ings of the poor and the unfortunate. His exag- gerated pathos does not appeal to present taste, but he was highly regarded by Delacroix. Rous- seau, and other Barbizon masters. After a large historical picture, the "Funeral of Dago- bert" (Versailles), came such subjects as the "Death of IlOloise," the "Slave Merchant," "Two Miithers," the "Unhappy Family" (Luxem- bourg) , and the "Old JIusieian." He asphyxiated himself with the fumes of charcoal. TAS'SIE, James (1735-99). An Engli.sh modehr. Ho was born at Pollokshaws, near Glasgow, and became a stonemason. While working at his trade he studied modeling in Glasgow, and in 1703 went to Dulilin, where he entered the laboratory of Henry Quin, a physician who spent his leisure in making imitation gems. Together they invented a kind of vitreous paste, in which they cast wax models of gems and medallions. In 17GG Tassie settled in London, where he continued his work with gems, and also made many casts. The former became very popu- lar, being made with great skill, color, and trans- parency, and approaching the originals in beauty. His personal collection became famous. At the command of Empress Catharine of Russia he fur- nished her copies of all his pastes and employed Rudolph Raspe, the creator of Baron ilunchauscn, to catalogue them. He was associated with Wedg- wood in some of his work. He has also consid- erable claim to remembrance as an original artist, as he made from life many portrait medallions of eminent contemporaries. These works, cast in white enamel, have both charm and verisimili- tude. A collection of them is in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. TASSO, tlis'so, BERNABno (1493-1509). An Italian poet, born in Venice and educated at Padua. The most part of his life was spent in the service of various ducal and princely rulers, from 1563 in that of Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of IMantua, who made him Governor of Ostiglia in 1507. His reputation as a poet rests on the ro- mantic epos L'Amadigi di Gaula (1500), based on the Spanish prose version of Aniadis of Gaul. An episode of it he treated afterwards separately in II floridan.te, completed by his son Torquato in 1587. His lyrics .4 »iori (1555) and Rime, odi c salmi (1560) are now forgotten, but his volumi- nous correspondence, Lcftcre (Padua, 1733-51), is a valuable contribution to the political and literary history of his time. TASSO, ToRQUATO (1544-95). A famous Ital- ian poet, son of the preceding, born at Sorrento, March 11, 1544. Accompanying his father on his various military and diplomatic missions, he received his early training in Naples, Rome, LTrbino, and Venice. Fired by the re- ports of the inroads made by the Turks in Hun- gary and by the accounts of their piratical land- ings on the coast of Italy, the Christian popu- lation began to think of a new crusade against the Moslems, and the young Tasso now conceived the idea of writing a poem on the Crusades. He actually did compose on the subject some verses which he revised and incorporated in the first cantos of his Gerusalcmme libera la. In 1560 he was sent to the University of Padua to study law, but he soon gave up l.aw for philosophy and letters. He was in the meantime at work upon a poem of chivalrous import, the Rinaldo (published at Venice in 1562). From Bologna, where he had been engaged in study for two years, Torquato had to flee in 1564 in order to escape a prosecution for certain satires that he had aimed at professors and fellow students. Induced by the willingness of Cardinal Luigi d'Este to take him into his service, he went to
