ciation in 1883, and has been a frequent lecturer before national and literary societies in Canada and the United States. Among other works he has published the pamphlets " Philemon Wright, ou colonisation et commerce de bois " (Montreal. 1871); " Le chemin de fer Canadien Paciflque " (1872) ; and " Le vallee de l'Outawais " (1872) ; and, in book-form, " Les Canadiens de . l'ouest " (2 vols., 1878). The purport of the last work is to demon- strate that French Canadians have been chiefly the pioneers and discoverers of the United States and also the Canadian northwest. It has been partly translated in the collections of the Histori- cal societv of Wisconsin.
TASSEMACHER, or TESSCHENMAEKER, Peter, clergyman, b. in Holland about 1650; d. in Schenectady, N. Y., 8 Feb., 1690. He was educated at the University of Utrecht, came to King-
ston, N. Y., in 1675, where he preached in both Eng-
lish and Dutch, and then spent two years in Dutch
Guiana. Gov. Edmund Andros, on 30 Sept., 1679,
authorized the Dutch clergymen to examine and
ordain him for the church at New Amstel, Del.
The assembling of this body constituted the first
American classis or ecclesiastical gathering of the
Reformed church that was held on this continent,
as well as the first ordination of a domine. He
preached on Staten island in 1679-'82, and then lived
at Schenectady, N. Y., until 1690, when he was slain
in the massacre. Orders had been given to spare his
life and obtain his papers, but these the Indians dis-
regarded. His farm of eighty acres on Staten island
was claimed, 2 Nov., 1692, for the poor fund.
TASS1N, Charles Stanislas (tas-sang), South
American artist, b. in Berbice, Guiana, in 1751 ;
d. in Paris in October, 1812. He studied with
Watteau, and became one of his best pupils. In
1773 he exhibited a " Christ in the Cradle," which
attracted much attention, and procured for the
artist a prize of $600 from Louis XV. Later he
produced " Venus and Cupid " (1777) ; several pas-
toral pictures ; " A Runaway Match " (1784) ; " Over
the Wall" (1786); "Peasants Dancing" (1788);
" Marchioness as Shepherdess " (1790), and other
pictures; and obtained the title of royal painter.
He also decorated several panels in the castles of
Trianon, Sceaux, and Luciennes, painted portraits
of Madame du Barry, Duke de la Vauguyon, Ad-
miral d'Estaing, Bailly de Suffren, and Duchess
Jules and Countess Diane de Polignac. In 1791
he went to England and executed portraits of Will-
iam Pitt, Charles James Fox, and Edmund Burke,
and, having inherited a large estate in Guiana, re-
turned to his native land in 1795, remaining there
till the peace of Amiens, when he returned to Paris
in 1802. His later works include "Sunset in
Guiana " (1799) ; " Fish- Vender at Berbice " (1802) ;
" A Creole " (1803) ; and " Love Victorious " (1805).
TASTER A, Jacques (le (tah-stay-rah), French
missionary, b. in Bayonne in 1480; d. in Mexico, 8
Aug., 1544. He served a few years in the army, but,
despite fair prospects of advancement, became a
Franciscan friar at Seville in 1508, and soon attained
to the highest ranks in the order. After preaching
with success at Seville he was appointed court chap-
lain of Ferdinand of Aragon, and later he became a
favorite with Charles V., who offered him a bishop-
ric ; but he declined, and in 1529 went to New Spain.
From Mexico he went to Champoton in Yucatan,
where he founded a convent, and for years he
travelled alone in the country, accompanied only
by one interpreter, evangelizing the Indians and
preaching the gospel with success. In 1533 he was
appointed prior of the Convent of Santo Evangelio
at Mexico, and, continuing to interest himself in
the welfare of the Indians, summoned and presided
over councils of Franciscan missionaries at Michoa-
can and Guatemala in 1535 and 1537, where means
for the protection of the conquered nation were
devised, an embassy being sent to the holy see to
obtain its ratification of the measures. In 1541 he
went to Milan and took part in the general coun-
cil of the Franciscan order in that city, and before
returning to Mexico obtained from the pontiff an
encyclical letter to the Spanish officials, advising
them to show leniency toward the Indians. In
1542 he was appointed commissary-general of the
Franciscan friars in the New World, which post he
held until his death. He is the author of " Arte
de la lengua Mexicana " (Seville, 1555), and " Lit-
ters? annuae Mexicans " (1571). The recent pub-
lication, " Cartas de Indias," prepared by the Span-
ish government from manuscripts in the state
archives, contains several letters of Tastera.
TATHAM, William, engineer, b. in Hutton,
England, in 1752 ; d. in Richmond, Va., 22 Feb..
1819. He emigrated to this country in 1769, entered
a mercantile establishment on James river, Va.,
and served as adjutant of militia against the In-
dians. He studied the character and customs of
the red men, and wrote biographical accounts of
Atakullakulla, Oconistoto, Cornstalk, and other
warriors. During the Revolutionary war he served
as a colonel in the Virginia cavalry under Gen.
Thomas Nelson, and was a volunteer in the party
that stormed the redoubt at Yorktown. In 1780.
with Col. John Todd, he compiled the first exact
and comprehensive account of the western country.
After the Revolution he studied law, was admitted
to the bar in 1784. removed to North Carolina, and
in 1786 founded the settlement of Lumberton. He
was a member of the North Carolina legislature in
1787. Tatham went back to England in 1796, and
in 1801 became superintendent of the London
docks, but returned to the United States in 1805,
and became poor in his old age. He was given the
office of military store-keeper in the Richmond
arsenal in 1817, and while there committed suicide
by throwing himself before a cannon at the moment
of discharge. His publications include " Memorial
on the Civil and Military Government of the Ten-
nessee Colony"; "An Analysis of the State of
Virginia" (Philadelphia, 1790-'l); "Two Tracts
relating to the Canal between Norfolk and North
Carolina " ; " Plan for Insulating the Metropolis
by Means of a Navigable Canal" (London, 1797):
"Remarks on Inland Canals" (1798); "Polit-
ical Economy of Inland Navigation, Irrigation,
and Drainage" (1799); "Communications on the
Agriculture and Commerce of the United States "
(1800) ; " Historical and Practical Essay on the
Culture and Commerce of Tobacco " (1800) ; "Na-
tional Irrigation" (1801); "Oxen for Tillage"
(1801) ; and two reports " On the Navigation of the
Thames " (1803).
TATNALL, Henry Lea, artist, b. in Brandywine Village, Del.. 31 Dec, 1829 ; d. in Wilmington, Del, 26 Sept., 1885. After being educated at the Friends' Westtown boarding-school, Chester co., Pa., he entered the flour-mills of Tatnall and Lea as a clerk, but afterward turned his attention to agriculture. In 1856 he removed to Wilmington and began the lumber business, and at the same
time cultivated his musical and artistic talent, which showed itself in early life. He could play on almost every instrument, and composed and set to music many popular songs. His friends
induced him to fit up a studio over his counting-house, where the intervals of business were devoted to the study and practice of marine and
