Without force of mind enough to penetrate the deepest problems of philosophy, Tasso was quick to apprehend their bearings.

The Paduan school of scepticism, the logomachy in vogue there, unsettled his religious opinions.

He began by criticising the doubts of others in his light of Jesuit-instilled belief; next he found a satisfaction for self-esteem in doubting too; finally he called the mysteries of the Creed in question, and debated the articles of creation, incarnation, and immortality.

Yet he had not the mental vigor either to cut this Gordian knot, or to untie it by sound thinking.

His erudition confused him; and he mistook the lumber of miscellaneous reading for philosophy.