These papers are delivered to a set of artists, very dexterous in finding out the mysterious meanings of words, syllables, and letters: for instance, they can discover a close stool, to signify a privy council; a flock of geese, a senate; a lame dog, an invader; the plague, a standing army; a buzzard, a prime minister; the gout, a high priest; a gibbet, a secretary of state; a chamber pot, a committee of grandees; a sieve, a court lady; a broom, a revolution; a mouse-trap, an employment; a bottomless pit, a treasury; a sink, a court; a
cap and bells, a favourite; a broken reed, a court of justice; an empty tun, a general; a running sore, the administration.
And with pardonable pride he fitted on the
cap and bells, and the rest of the Fool's dress, and winked at her, and put his tongue in his cheek.
