[Digalog-admin] Nt to produce effects which melody and grace and be

Mon Dec 28 17:34:56 CET 2009

 consisted chiefly in this, that men ought to bring their minds to a
state of inward quietness. The Pasquinade upon all this was, "_Si
parliamo, in galere; si scrivemmo, impiccati; si stiamo in quiete, all'
Sant Uffizio. Eh! che bisogna fare?_" "If we speak, the galleys; if we
write, the gallows; if we stay quiet, the Inquisition. Eh! what must we
do, then?" With the changes of times and the succession of Popes, new
material was constantly afforded to Pasquin for the exercise of his
peculiar talent. Each generation gave him fresh subject for laughter or
for rebuke. Men quickly passed away, but folly and vice remained. "Do
you wonder," said Pasquin, once, in his early days, referring to his
changes of character, "do you wonder why Rome yearly changes me to a new
figure? It is because of the shifting manners of the city, and the
falling back of men. He who would be pious must depart from Rome."
"Praeteriens, forsan miraris, turba, quotannis Cur me Roma novam mutet
in effigiem. Hoc urbis mores varios, hominumque recessus Indicat: ergo
abeat qui cupit esse pius." During the eighteenth century Italy did not
abound in poets or wits, and Master Pasquin seems to have shared in the
dulness of the times. Toward its end, however, when Pius VI. was
building the palace under the corner of which the statue was to find
shelter, the marble representative of the tailor watched his proceedings
with sharp observation. Long ago he had rebuked the nepotism of the
Popes, but Pius had forgotten his epigrams. "Cerberus," he had said,
"had three mouths with which he barked; but you have three, or even
four, which bark not, but devour." "Tres habuit fauces, et terno
Cerberus ore Latratus intra Tartara nigra dabat. Et tibi plena fame tria
sunt vel quatuor ora Quae nulli latrant, quemque sed illa vorant." Every
one who has been in Rome remembers how often, on the repairs of ancient
monuments, and on the pedestals of statues or busts, are to be seen the
words, "_Munificentia Pii Sexti_" thrusting themselves into notice, and
occupying the place which should b
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