Pasquin

“ But Pasquin was now to be brought into greater notoriety than ever. In spite of the efforts of the successors of Adrian, the Reformation had rapidly advanced, and the Reformers, scorning no weapons that might serve their cause, determined to turn the wit of Pasquin to their account. In the year 1544, a little, but thick, volume appeared, with the title, "Pasquillorum Tomi duo." It bore no name of editor or printer, and professed to be published at Eleutheropolis, the City of Freedom, or, as it might be rendered in a free translation, the City of Luther. Its 637 pages were filled with satire ”

“ When Marforio is attacked, Pasquin comes to his succour; and when Pasquin is the sufferer, he finds in Marforio a constant defender. Thus, by a thrust and a parry, the most serious matters are disclosed: and the most illustrious personages are attacked by their enemies, and defended by their friends.
Misson, in his Travels in Italy, gives the following account of the origin of the name of the statue of Pasquin: [Pg 209] —
A satirical tailor, who lived at Rome, and whose name was Pasquin, amused himself by severe raillery, liberally bestowed on those who passed by his shop ”

“ Hyd: This, Mr. Pasquin is Sir Eternal Grin. He is what is call’d a good natured Man & extremely well bred— So Polite he never frownd in his Life.
Grin. No, never in my Life I assure you Mr. Pasquin.
Hyd: He is an uncommon Favourite with the Ladies, And is never so happy as when they employ him.
Grin. No never Sir. ha, ha.
Hyd: His whole Life is spent in their Service, ev’ry Morning you may See him running from Play House to Play House, regulating the Box Book in Consequence of the Commissions he recieved over night for Places. ”

“ Pasquin is the Noted Sr. Conjecture Possitive; a Gentleman who was never in an Error in his Life,— consequently cou’d never be convinced. Sr. he understands Politics and Butterflies, Whale fishing and Cricket, Fortification and Shittle Cock; Poetry and Wolf Dogs; in short ev’ry thing, in ev’ry Art and Science, from a Pins Head, to the Longitude & Philosopher’s Stone, better than any Man in Europe.
Sr. Con: O Fye, Mr. Hydra, you are too lavish, Mr. Pasquin will think you are imposing upon him. ”

“ But Macklin’s usual good ear for dialogue is missing from this play, nor is any character except his own as Pasquin followed long enough to make his characteristic speech identifiable. Since plot is absent too, all that remains is the wealth of topical and personal satire which in itself is interesting to the historian of the mid-eighteenth-century theatre. ”

“ For Our Wit, Sir, 69 like Our Courage, knows no danger, Spares no Character.
Bob. Right, Right— Dem me, my dear give us Satyr, keen cutting Satyr, that’s what Pleases Us— And as to Your Panegeric, take that to Madrid or Paris.
Com. Mr. Pasquin, the Public know they have Follies, as well as Individuals; and, so far from being Angry with the Man, who ridicules them, they always reward him with Approbation and Esteem. ”

“ It derives its modern name, as Murray tells us, from the tailor Pasquin, who kept a shop opposite, which was the rendezvous of all the gossips in the city, and from which their satirical witticisms on the manners and follies of the day obtained a ready circulation. The fame of Pasquin is perpetuated in the term pasquinade, and has thus become European; but Rome is the only place in which he flourishes. The statue of Marforio, which stood near the arch of Septimus Severus, in the Forum, was made the vehicle for replying to the attacks of Pasquin ”

“ Pasquin for breaking in upon You.
Pas. O no Offence, Sir, the Town has always a right to interrupt, and disturb a Performance. It is their Prerogative, and shews their Taste and their good Breeding
Hyd. You are right— go on, go on,— a good Sensible Fellow, and knows the Right and Privilege of the Town, go on, go on.
Pas. You are a Being, composed of all the Virtues 71 and Vices, Wisdom and Folly of Human Nature. All Men dread you; all Men Court you; All Men love You— and yet All Men strive to be independent of You. ”

“ Pasquin, however, was not alarmed, and a few days afterward he appeared holding a wet shirt to dry in the sun. It was a Sunday morning, and Marforio, naturally surprised at such a violation of the day, asked him why he could not wait till Monday before drying it Pasquin answered, that there was no time to lose; for, if he waited till to-morrow to dry his shirt, he might have to pay for the sunshine;—hinting at the heavy taxes which Sixtus had laid upon the necessaries of life, and from which the sunshine itself might not long be exempt. ”

“ James, to be performed by Certain Persons, for Example: and the part of Pasquin Drawcansir, to be performed by his Censorial Highness, for his Interest.6 The Satire to be introduced by an Oration and to conclude by a Peroration. Both to be spoken from the Rostrum in the manner of certain Orators by Signior Pasquin.
No cast remains, but presumably from references in the play itself, Macklin took the role of Pasquin who with the aid of Marforio calls iv in review characters representing all the foibles of the age. There is no plot. ”

“ WILLIAMS, JOHN (1761–1818) , satirist and miscellaneous writer, best known by the pseudonym of ‘Anthony Pasquin,’ born in London on 28 April 1761, was sent in 1771 to Merchant Taylors' school, where he suffered chastisement for an epigram upon Mr. Knox, the third master (Robinson, Register of Merchant Taylors' School, ii. 134) . At the age of seventeen he was placed with a painter, but he soon abandoned the pursuit of art in order to become an author and translator. ”

“ Some of his sayings are extremely broad for the atmosphere of Rome, but many of them are very witty, and fully maintain the character of his fellow-citizens for satirical epigrams and repartee. When Mezzofanti, the great linguist, was made a cardinal, Pasquin declared that it was a very proper appointment, for there could be no doubt that the “Tower of Babel,” “Il torre di Babel” required an interpreter. At the time of the first French occupation of Italy, Pasquin gave out the following satirical dialogue:—
I Francesi son tutti ladri. ”

“ Hydra, I should laugh if the Audience shou’d take me for one of the Actresses— but if they do I don’t care; for I am resolved I’ll See this Farce if I never See another.
Hyd: This Mr. Pasquin is the Sprightly Miss Brilliant, a Lady who pants to be acquainted with you; She is intimate with Mr. Garrick— is known to the Fool, corresponds with Sir Alexander Drawcansir, and has writ several Admired Inspectors. ”

“ Pasquin, is a plain honest Citizen. He is called honest Solomon Common Sense; If you can please him, and make him Your friend, he can influence a large Number in your Favour; which will be of more Service to you than the Approbation of all the Pitt— Maitres, Critics, and Wou’d-be Witts, from St. ”

“ O not at all, It is in the Bills that the Town are to Sit upon the Stage, & sure Sir Conjecture the World must Allow you to be a Principall Character amongst Us.
Sr. Con: The World is very kind Madam. I’ll do my Self the Honour to attend you.
Bash. Pray Miss Brilliant do you know who this Pasquin is?
Brill. Yes Child; he is one of the Heathen Gods; Iupiter’s Grandfather. You may read a particular Account of him my dear, in Homer, or Milton, or 11 any of the Greek Poets (pulls out a Bill of the Farce) well I vow its a Whimsicall Bill this; a charming Puff. ”

“ DAY FOURTH-NOVEL VII
-- Simona loves Pasquino; they are together in a garden; Pasquino rubs a leaf of sage against his teeth, and dies; Simona is arrested, and, with intent to shew the judge how Pasquino died, rubs one of the leaves of the same plant against her teeth, and likewise dies. ”

“ Pas. Thus, instead of Virtue, Honour and Noble Sentiments being Sown in the Minds of Youth they are tainted 58 with Fraud and Treachery; and those, who should be the Support and Ornament of their Country, are the Confederates of Men, who would be a disgrace to the worst of Countries, in its worst of Times.
Omn. Bravo, bravo, Pasquin, go on, go on [they Applaud him]
Smart. Does he not speak very well Hydra! I think he would make a good Figure at the Robin Hood Society. ”

“ As the curtain rises, PASQUINOT is sitting on the bench to the left, reading a paper. BLAISE is at the back, busy with his rake.
BLAISE. So the notary comes to-night, Monsieur Pasquinot? It is pleasant, now that the wall is down, and you living together this past month. It was high time, I'm thinking. The little lovers must be happy!
PASQUINOT. [Raising his head and looking about] So you like it without the wall, Blaise?
BLAISE. The garden is superb!
PASQUINOT. Yes, my property has increased a hundred per cent! [Poking a tuft of grass with his foot] Have you watered the grass? ”

“ Pasquino is like Love, he is not Time’s fool. Never having been born, he can never die, and never to die is to be immortal. Accordingly, whenever a comic servant is wanted, whether as a messenger from a castle which is being stormed by Samson, or to assist a Grand Turk or a drunkard of no definite period, or to accompany a paladin on a journey, be put into prison with him and help him to escape, or merely on behalf of the proprietor of the show to invite the people to to-morrow’s performance, Pasquino is always there, with his dialect and his comic relief, to undertake the job. ”

“ I had observed that Pasquini fretted at my delay of speechmaking, and I resolved to fret him further.
"You, Pasquini," I announced, "I shall settle with in short account. I would not that you tarried while Fortini waits your companionship. —You, Raoul de Goncourt, I shall punish as you deserve for being in such bad company. You are getting fat and wheezy. I shall take my time with you until your fat melts and your lungs pant and wheeze like leaky bellows. —You, de Villehardouin, I have not decided in what manner I shall kill." ”

“ The vogue of these lampoons now became general, and rose to its height during the pontificate of Sixtus V. (1585–1590) . These utterances were not only called pasquinades (pasquinate) but simply pasquils (pasquillus, pasquillo, pasquille) , and this form was sometimes used for the mythical personage himself. ”

“ Simona, seeing this, fell to weeping and crying out and called Stramba and Lagina, who ran thither in haste and seeing Pasquino not only dead, but already grown all swollen and full of dark spots about his face and body, Stramba cried out of a sudden, 'Ah, wicked woman! Thou hast poisoned him.' Making a great outcry, he was heard of many who dwelt near the garden and who, running to the clamour, found Pasquino dead and swollen. ”

“ It kept his mind fixed not so much on the philosophical as on the sentimental and physical side of death: on the churchyard [233] with its cypresses, its driving showers and gleams of golden sunshine, its rainbow, its groups of merry children playing “Touch” round the great cross—but, also, with its dead lying through the long nights of rain and wind. Even here, however, where triteness would seem inevitable, Pascoli is individual. He never contemplates physical decay: worms and skulls are not so much as hinted at. ”

“ M. Pascal did not care to talk; he shrugged his shoulders again, and continued his march toward the staircase without a word.
The porter, exasperated by this silence and this obstinacy, seized M. Pascal by the arm, and, speaking louder still, said:
"Must I tell you again, sir, that you cannot pass that way?"
"What do you mean, scoundrel?" cried M. Pascal, in a tone of contempt and anger, as if this outrage on the part of the porter was as insolent as inconceivable, "do you know to whom you are talking?" ”

“ The German-American shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, perhaps. That is likely, anyhow. It is my experience that, sooner or later, one has to pay for one's little amusements, as, Mr. Paxton, you are now to find."
Paxton's lips curled. There was something about the speaker's manner--in his voice, with its continual suggestion of a sneer, about his whole appearance--which filled him with a sense of loathing to which he would have found it impossible to give utterance in words. He felt as one might feel who is brought into involuntary contact with an unclean animal. ”

“ When Pasco seated himself in the chaise beside the solicitor, an expression of satisfaction came over his face. He was returning to Coombe as a man of consequence, and in good society. How the villagers would stare to see him in a carriage drawn by post-horses. An April weather reigned in his heart, now darkening with apprehension, then brightening with pride and self-satisfaction. ”

“ The statement of Pasquier that his genius and his physical powers were in a profound decline is a manifest exaggeration, uttered by a man who did not once see him before Waterloo, who was driven from Paris by him, and strove to discourage his supporters. ”

“ Paxton looked over his shoulder and beckoned to us to come nearer to him, and began speaking in a low voice: we listened most intently, of course, and compared notes afterwards, and I wrote down our version, so I am confident I have what he told us almost word for word. He said: ‘It began when I was first prospecting, and put me off again and again. There was always somebody—a man—standing by one of the firs. This was in daylight, you know. He was never in front of me. ”

“ I must give one or two other pictures of the Reign of Terror before I go on to another section of Pasquier's Memoirs. The very acidity and almost brutal terseness of the style help to increase one's sense of the horrors of the time. After the escape to which I have already alluded, Pasquier once more buried himself in the provinces. Here came the dreadful news that his father had been guillotined, and many others who had been friends and colleagues:
"I spent two months of mental suffering in the locality where I had received the awful news. ”