I compare it to something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open--and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter.
Paine uses a theatrical metaphor to illustrate how monarchy, despite its pomp and ceremony, is revealed as absurd and laughable when its true nature is exposed.
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