The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-12-04
Prom Chamber Journal.
Pasquin.

What Is pasquinade "A squib, a sa
tire, a lampOon, a scunility. Why is it s.
called Because such naauraises plaisan
teTies were affixed, BY their anonymous au
thors, to the statue of Pasquin at Rome
For what reaSonf For this reason
There was once a tailor in the eternal
city, whose heart was filed with bitterness
as he reflected on the unmented jibes to
which ms profession was exposed as If by a
general conspiracy Of mankind. Maestro
PasquinO, for so was he called, could not,
for the life Of him, imagine what people could
find ridiculous in calling which concerned
itself with the grand distinction between the
human race and the inferior animals. sThe
world Is mad, cried he al last; Stark, star
Ing mad. and as BE csne % 7sfix irs=are.i
conclusion, he set himself to trace the sTmp-
toms Of folly around him with an enthusiasm
which soon amounted TO passion. 1t was
meat and drink to him TO see fool and
soon the echoes Of the jests with which he
seasoned this repast extended beyond the
shopboard, and were heard in the neighbor-
ing piazza Navona. All Rome at last
crowded to the tsilor's studio, which took
the place Of the apothecaries' shops in the
provincial towns of Italy, and became kind
Of public exchange for those who would hear
or communicate the news Of the day.
But this news, it will be felt, took its
coloring from the mind of Maestro Paquino.
Everything was converted into materials for
mirth Of malice Great lords were DO more
spared than if they had been so many talors
prelstes and cardinals were unGocked with
out ceremony; and even the pope himself
set up as a target for the shafts OF ridicule.
And what recourse could be had, since all
was traced to the shopboard OF Pasquin 1t
mattered not who the speakers really were,
since Psquin and his decimal fractions of
humanity we're the ostensible authors. 1t
was part Of the Jest to clothe il in vulgar
language, and no one, however much ag-
grieved, could think Of condescending to
take vengeance for anything so low. The
tongue, at length, was recognised in Rome
as at once a safer and sharper weapon than
the dagger; and everything, from personal
lampoon to political Libel, was given out
as one Of the pdsQEinGte, or sayings Of Mae
stTo Pasquino.
AT length the thread Of Pasquin's life was
severed by the shears Of destiny and then
the ponti6cal government, rejoicing in the
fall Of its great enemy, crief havoc, and let
slip the dogs OF the police. Jibing was no
joke now. Every man was held response
bic for his own Jest, and made to laugh for
il on the wrong side Of his mouth. Humor
was buried in the grave Of Pasquin-but not
for long; Tor it arose again as we shall pre-
sently see, with his monument. Opposite
the tsilor's shop-door the kennel was hardly
fordable in wet weather, and large, irregu-
lar, oblong block Of stone had been laid
down across IL TO serve as a permanent
bridge. This block, as happens frequently
in Italy, was Of marble; and as it lay prone
upon the street, half imbedded in the earth,
II bore kind of uncoUth resemblance to a
human back. The analogy was first de- |
tected by the urchf1s Of the neighborhood, |
who took fierce pride in trampling upon
the efigy of one Of the giants of their race;
but after the death Of Pasqoin, a supersti-
tious awe mingled with their triumph, and
when the shades Of evening had fallen, they
were observed to look upon il with suspicion,
and occasionally even to cross over and,
like the Levite, pass on the other side.
At length, in the progress Of some i'm
provements that were making in the street,
this block Of marble was raised out Of the
kennel, and to the surprise and Joy Of the
Roman antiqua6es, discovered to be splen-
did torso. Its place Of sepulture was near
the piazza Navons, the site Of the ancient
amPhithestre, where the Emperor AleIan-
der Severus celebrated the Agonalia; and
the grand puzzlement was to decide wheth-
er ii was the remains of statue Of a fight
ing gladisior-ofa Hercules-of an Ajax
or finally, even of Patroclus carrying a
Menelaus. since another torso was found at
no great distance, which might originally
have been IN union with it. Whatever it,