Tabs, titular sec in Caria, suffragan of Stauropolis; according to Strabo {XII, 570, 576) it was located in a plain in Phrygia on the boundaries of Caria. Stephanas Byzantius (s. v.) mentions two cities of this name, one in Lydia, the other in Caria. Livy (XXXVIII, 13) says that it was on the frontier of Pisidia towards the coast of the Gulf of Pamphylia. The town in question, however, some coins of which are extant, was one which claimed to have been founded by one Tabus. Others derive its name from tabi, which in Semitic languages means "good", and others from a native word laba, meaning "rock", which seems a probable derivation. In 189 b. c. the consul Gneius iMalius Vulso, having defeated the natives who blocked his passage, exacted from Tabae a fine of 25 talents and 10,000 medimni of wheat. Three bishops of Taba; are known : Rufinus, present at the Council of Ephesus (431); Severus, at Constantinople (553); Basilius, at Nicaea (787) (Le Quien, "Oriens christ.", I, 905). The "Notitia; Episcopatuum" continue to mention the see among the suffragans of Stauropohs until the thirteenth century. Tabae is now the village of Davas which gives its name to a caza of the vilayet of SmjTna; some inscriptions and numerous ancient remains are found.
Smith. Did. of Greek atid Roman Geogr.,3.v.; Pape-Benseler, Wdrterbwh der griechischen Eigcnnamen, s. v.; Texier, Asie mineure (Paris, 1S62), 466.
S. Pf TBIDfcs.
Tabasco, Diocese of (Tabasqitensis), in the Re- public of Mexico, suffragan of the Archbishopric of Yucatdn. It comprises the States of Tabasco, having an area of 10,872 sq. miles and a population (in 1910) of 183,805. The bishop and the governor reside at San Juan Bautista, founded in 1.598 under the name of Villa de Felipe II, known as Villa Hermosa till 1826, when it got its present name. The city has at pres- ent (1910) a population of 12,084 inhabitants. In the decree of Charles V, 19 September, 1525, we read: — "At the request and with the express assent of the said Bishop Don Fray Julian Garccs, we declare, make known, and appoint as the boundaries of the said Bishopric of Yucatan and Santa Maria de los Reme- dios the following provinces and territories: First, the entire Pro\ince of Tlaxcaltechle, and San Juan de UUua, . . . . ; the Villa de Medellin and the territory of Tabasco", etc. The Gospel was preached here in the early period of the Spanish conquest. In 1545 the Dominican Fathers going to Chiapas passed through Tabasco and in 1578 organized the house of Oxolotl.'ln, the first vicar of which was Padre Tomjis Aguilar. Christianity in T.-diasco must already have made consirlcmlilc pnij^icss, for Philip II during the time of the \'iccroy \'clasro planned the erection of a see there. Philip III al.so intended to do so, in 1609, but was unsuccessful, .\nother fvitile attempt was made in 1680. Finally, in 1S64, Mgr. Rodriguez de la Gala, Apostolic administrator, later Bishop, of Yuca- tdn, promot<'d the establishment of a sec which was created by Loo XIII on the petition of Mgr. Labas- tida, Archbisho]) of Mexico. The new diocese was established in ISSO from parishes taken from the Sees of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Yucatan. It was suffragan to the .•\rchdiocese of Mexico until 1891; to the See of Oaxaca from 1891 till 1906; and finally in 1906 to the See of Yucatdn. The dioce.se contains: an ecclesiasti- cal seminary with 6 students; 7 parochial schools; 4
Catholic colleges, and about 600 alumni; a Protestant
college with 2.5 pupils; and 3 churches.
Vera, Catecismo geogrdfico-historico-estadhtico dela Iglcsm mexi- cnna (Amecameca, 1881); Carillo. El Obispado de Yukatdn CM^rida, 1895).
Camillus Crivelli.
Tabb, John Bannister, an American poet and ed- ucator, b. at "The Forest" near Richmond, 1845; d. at Ellicott City, Md., 1909. Descended from one of the oldest and wealthiest Virginian families, he was carefully trained by private tutors. At the age of fourteen his sight was so poor that he had to give up his books, and for three years spent much time at the piano, becoming proficient in music. On the break- ing out of the Civil War he enlisted under the Con- federacy and served in the navy till taken captive, 4 June, 1864. He was sent to the "Bull-Pen" at Point Lookout, where he formed an enduring friend- ship with Sidney Lanier. Released from prison the following February, he was penniless. He undertook to fit himself for a musical career and to that end practised seven hours a day. His patron failing, he was obliged to maintain himself as a teacher, securing a position at St. Paul's School, Baltimore. While there he fell under the influence of the Rev. Alfred Curtis, who later on was converted from Episcopalian- ism to the Catholic Church. Tabb followed his mas- ter into the fold in 1872. A few years later he entered St. Charles's College to prepare for the priesthood. On completing his classical studies he was retained by the faculty as teacher of English. Thus interrupted, his theological studies were not completed till the Christmas of 1884, when he was ordained. He con- tinued to teach English Grammar at St. Charles's till a short time before his death and till he had become totally blind. His "Bone Rules" is counted a valu- able contribution to his art. It is his only prose work. Father Tabb consecrated all his energies to the voca- tion of teacher. His poems were written here, there, and everywhere; but every one of them bears the stamp of a highly cultivated and gifted mind. They were contributed to the foremost, magazines and were read with avidity. Concise and suggestive, these lit- erary gems cling to the fancy and thus realize the modest ambition of their author as expressed in the opening poem of his "Later Lyrics":
"O little bird, I'd be A poet like to thee Singing my native song. Brief to the ear, but long To love and memorj'."
In the lyric field he was greatly admired. Under his muse inanimate things took on life and beauty and the abstract became concrete and personal. His poems are collected in five volumes which were pub- lished in the following order: "Poems"; "Lyrics"; "Child Verse"; "Later Lyrics"; "Sonnets".
Meynei.l, Father Tabb in T'he Catholic World (Feb., 1910); Ddgoan, Father Tabb in America (,'5, 12. 19 Feb., 1910).
T. S. Dugoan.
Tabbora, a titular sec in Africa Proconsularis, suf- fragan of Carthage. Tabbora or Talbora has been identified with two groups of ruins rather close to each other, now called Tcmbra, west of Bijga (ancient Bisica) in the valley of Wady Sihana, Tunis. Two
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