which he published in 1620. [Footnote:  Dieci libri di pensieri diversi (Carpi, 1620).  The first nine books had appeared in 1612.  The tenth contains the comparison.  Rigault was the first to connect this work with the history of the controversy.] He speaks of the question as a matter of current dispute, [Footnote:  It was incidental to the controversy which arose over the merits of Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered.  That the subject had been discussed long before may be inferred from a remark of Estienne in his Apology for Herodotus, that while some of his contemporaries carry their admiration of antiquity to the point of superstition, others depreciate and trample it underfoot.] on which he proposes to give an impartial decision by instituting a comprehensive comparison in all fields, theoretical, imaginative, and practical.

He begins by criticising the a priori argument that, as arts are brought to perfection by experience and long labour, the modern age must necessarily have the advantage.  This reasoning, he says, is unsound, because the same arts and studies are not always uninterruptedly pursued by the most powerful intellects, but pass into inferior hands, and so decline or are even extinguished, as was the case in Italy in the decrepitude of the Roman Empire, when for many centuries the arts fell below mediocrity.  Or, to phrase it otherwise, the argument would be admissible only if there were no breaches of continuity. [Footnote:  Tassoni argues that a decline in all pursuits is inevitable when a certain point of excellence has been reached, quoting Velleius Paterculus (i. 17):  difficilisque in perfecto mora est naturaliterque quod procedere non potest recedit.]

In drawing his comparison Tassoni seeks to make good his claim that he is not an advocate.  But while he awards superiority here and there to the ancients, the moderns on the whole have much the best of it.  He takes a wide enough survey, including the material side of civilisation, even costume, in contrast with some of the later controversialists, who narrowed the field of debate to literature and art.

Tassoni’s Thoughts were translated into French, and the book was probably known to Boisrobert, a dramatist who is chiefly remembered for the part he took in founding the Academie francaise.  He delivered a discourse before that body immediately after its institution (February 26, 1635), in which he made a violent and apparently scurrilous attack on Homer.  This discourse kindled the controversy in France, and even struck a characteristic note.  Homer--already severely handled by Tassoni—­was to be the special target for the arrows of the Moderns, who felt that, if they could succeed in discrediting him, their cause would be won.