| Citation |
VGW(RI.774.001
13 Jan 1774:22 (401)
Anecdote of Sir Robert Walpole. During the run of the
Beggar's Opera, soon after its first representation, Sir
Robert sat in the stage box; and when Lockit came to the
masterly song,
(When you censure the age
Be cautious and sage,
Lest the courtiers offended should be;
If you mention vice or bribe,
'Tis so pat to all the tribe,
That each cries that was levell'd at me)
An universal encore attended the performance, and the eyes
of the audience were immediately fixed upon Sir Robert,
against whose conduct Gay is said to have taken up his pen.
The courtier, however, with great presence of mind, joined
heartily in the plaudit, and encored it a second time, with
his single voice; which not only blunted the poet's shaft,
but gained a general huzza from the audience.
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