On Mr. Warton, M.P.
When they talked of their progress, improvement, and stuff,
He blocked all their bills, snorted loud, and took snuff,
——:o:——
In that amusing book, “The Reminiscences of Henry Angelo” (published by Colburn and Bentley in 1830), some account is given of the satirical writer, Anthony Pasquin, whose real name, by the way, was Williams. This man who had been originally brought up to the profession of an Engraver, threw aside the graving tool, and adopted the less respectable calling of a satirical lampoonist. He was an unprincipled impudent sponge, who spoke ill of every one, and forced himself on the hospitality of all who knew him, so that it was said of him that “he never opened his mouth but at another man’s expence.” In 1786 he contributed to a weekly paper then appearing, entitled The Devil, from which Angelo quotes part of a long Parody upon the Deserted Village, written by Pasquin asserting the inferiority of the actors then upon the stage, to their predecessors, an assertion frequently made by elderly people even in these days.
Innovation.
Sweet Playhouse! best amusement of the town,
Where often, at half-price, for half-a-crown,
I’ve with such glee my opening visit paid,
When oysters first are sold, and farces play’d: