Page:Amyntas, a tale of the woods; from the Italien of Torquato Tasso (IA amyntastaleofwoo00tass).pdf/19

 spoken. Tasso's, far surpassing all three, was the next, and has stood without a rival of Italian growth ever since, though it has had crowds of followers. In 1614, a collection had been made of them amounting to eighty; and in 1700, more than two hundred were to be seen in a person's possession at Rome. We speak rather from our own feelings, than from universal consent, when we say that the Aminta had no rival; for it soon met with one in the Pastor Fido of Battista Guarini, Tasso's contemporary and fellow-courtier. Without entering, however, into a critical examination of works not before the reader, the great majority of suffrages, both Italian and foreign, has always been in favour of Tasso's play; and for our parts, we really can see no comparison between the brief and touching simplicity of the Aminta, and the elaborate perplexity of it's osten-