March
"Should you, or should you not hide your abilities? A fool might be underestimated – but you should not play the fool. No, such a tactic is overused. Play the fool's fool. Or perhaps not a fool at all. But play. Or fool. Victory is thus inevitable."[1]
March is a member of the Calendar Council, a prominent group of revolutionaries. The title has been held by two known individuals: John Cassell and an unnamed successor who was appointed after Cassell's assassination.
To Fool or Not To Fool[edit | edit source]
"March needs assistance containing an escape of secrets (it is perhaps not entirely his fault; he inherited a compromised network)."[2]
March's name and appearance are never specified. His entry in the Agendums of Ascent is a steganographic book of nonsensical rhymes, in which he contemplates the strategy of downplaying his true capabilities.[3] He never explicitly commits to playing the fool,[4] but his agents can still be identified by their deliberate sloppiness.[5] He is also known to drink wine,[6] distinguishing him from the teetotaler Cassell.[7] It is stated that March inherited a "compromised network" from his predecessor and struggles with information leaks,[8] but it is not clear whether this is just another part of his facade. Nonetheless, he is considered by the Jovial Contrarian to be less competent than April or September,[9] and some of his colleagues have suggested replacing him.[10]
March has tried for years to purloin the "Singer of Roses" from the Clathermonts' parlor, a complex and esoteric tattoo design[11] that was never written down by Millicent Clathermont.[12] A notable member of March's cell is the Affluent Photographer,[13] who contests the Masters' rule over London[14] and advances March's goals through bizarre jobs.[15] Despite being a revolutionary himself, the Jovial Contrarian,[16] true to his name, ridicules the Photographer's zeal.[17][18]
In the timeline of the Upstairs, the March Bureau maintains public safety in London[19] and stages parades to honor the revolution's heroes.[20] The Marchists are another known group whose activities are not specified,[21] though they may simply be members of the March Bureau. As for March himself, his status in the Upstairs is unknown.
The Working Man's Friend[edit | edit source]
"March is a merry-eyed man of mature years in a battered fustian waistcoat and threadbare nankeen trousers. He claps you on the shoulder as he hands you a packet of beans, crying: "Thus we end the Bazaar!""[22]
"I offered my medical skills to the Liberation. I healed society – by killing, permanently, those I tended. One day, they ordered me to treat a member of the Council. His religion conflicted with his politics, and since I was already seeing him for headaches, they— He offered me his shilling coffee every time I visited. Maybe his politics were unwise, but – I owed him better."[23]
The previous individual to bear the title of March was John Cassell. Also referred to as "the working man's friend,"[24][25] Cassell was a coffee enthusiast and self-proclaimed enemy of Mr Wines,[26] who distributed Wines' Darkdrop beans in a public rebellion against the Echo Bazaar.[27] He took great risks by acting openly as a member of the Council,[26] but it is not known whether he was truly committed to the Liberation of Night, the shared goal of many of his comrades.[28] Cassell had a jovial personality and wore fustian in solidarity with workers.[29] He was a close friend of the Dauntless Temperance Campaigner, who addressed him as "John" and was the one to find his body after his passing.[30][31]
Though the Campaigner suspected that Wines was responsible for the assassination,[30] Cassell was in fact betrayed and killed permanently by the Haunted Doctor,[Note 1] who had been treating him for headaches. The Doctor acted on behalf of the other members of the Calendar Council, who believed Cassell's religion "conflicted with his politics."[24][32]
Historical Inspirations[edit | edit source]
John Cassell was a social reformer, publisher, and temperance advocate who worked to improve the lives of the working class through education. He published a variety of serials over the course of his career, including The Working Man's Friend and Family Instructor, which aimed to educate its readers without judgement or assumption as to who they were; the Illustrated Family Paper, providing reading material for families; and The Illustrated History of England. He was also a tea and coffee merchant, and an ardent Christian.
The previous March is not named as John Cassell in-game, but his first name was John,[30] and his piousness, love for coffee,[32] and friendship with a temperance campaigner are all consistent with his counterpart's career and personality. The real John Cassell died in 1865, only three years after the Fall of London in the FL timeline, but he wouldn't be the only historical figure to live until the 1890s in this timeline despite all real-life reasoning. The Doctor recalls Cassell offering him "shilling coffee," which is a reference to a slogan Cassell used in his advertisements.[33]
In his role as March, Cassell is described as wearing a fustian waistcoat. Fustian is a group of heavy fabrics that includes corduroy, velveteen, and moleskin. These fabrics are durable and were presumably inexpensive at the time, so they were often worn by 19th-century laborers. Fustian jackets became a symbol of class solidarity during the Chartist movement (1838-1857),[34] in which the working class campaigned for a more democratic political system that would grant them representation and allow the majority of men to vote. British democratic procedures were originally structured around property ownership, resulting in a system that excluded leaseholders and rental tenants; working-class men by and large were not legally enfranchised until 1867.
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ It is never explicitly stated which member of the Council the Haunted Doctor killed, but it is safe to assume he killed the previous March, as the Temperance Campaigner suspects Mr Wines to be his murderer, and both old March and the Doctor's target were fond of coffee.
References[edit | edit source]
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