| Citation |
NYC.769.117
7-11 Dec 1769:2471 (1/35)
A correspondent observes, that he remembers to have seen a
play in France, where the poet has introduced the scene of a
King sitting in council; his Majesty is seated under a
canopy, his counsellors ranged on each side, a fiddle lying
upon the council-board; when they begin to enter upon
business, one of these wise councellors takes up the
instrument, and begins to fiddle; upon which his brethren
all look wise, and beat time; but the King himself looks
sulky, and not perfectly pleased with this overture, rises
up, and, in the stile of a monarch, says, "Give us the
fiddle, we ourselves will play." Here the poet means to
shew in what a trifling manner the business of the nation is
carried on, and what a pack of fiddling fellows often
presides in the very councils of Kings.
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