And his faithful friend Gudin says of it: “In this piece the parterre applauded not only scenes founded upon true _comique_—that of situations, new characters, like Cherubim and Bridoison—but also the courageous man who dared undertake to combat by ridicule the libertinage of the great lords, the ignorance of magistrates, the venality of officers and the unbecoming way of pleading of lawyers. “Beaumarchais might perhaps consider himself more authorized in this than anyone else since he had been calumniated so outrageously by great lords, and injured by the insolent pleadings of lawyers, and _blâmé_ by bad judges.... Let us dare to say what is true, that since Molière no author had better understood the human heart, or better painted the manners of his time.” And his latest critic, Lintilhac, a hundred years after Gudin, corroborates his judgment. “By the creation of Figaro, Beaumarchais is the first comic French author after Molière, the incomparable painter of character.” Of the famous monologue of the piece, Gudin says, “I remember that when the author composed it in a moment of enthusiasm, he was alarmed himself at its extent. We examined it together; I regarded it with severe attention. Everything seemed to me in its place; not a word could be omitted without regretting it. Every phrase had a moral or a useful object proper to cause the spectator to reflect either on human nature or on the abuses of society.” Of its moral significance Beaumarchais has commented in his preface to the play: “An author has but one duty; to correct men in making them see themselves as they are, whether he moralizes in laughing or weeps in moralizing.” And let us now close this brief summary of the famous play by the description given by Imbert de Saint-Amand in “_La fin de l’ancien Régime_.” “Beaumarchais, that marvelous wit, was scarcely aware perhaps of the weight of his attacks and of the gravity of the piece. He did not desire the fall of the throne any more than the overturning of the altar, at heart he was monarchic.... The first representation was given April 27, 1784, by the Comédie Française.... The success went to the stars. Beaumarchais himself could not help crying out, ‘There is something more astounding than my piece, it is its success.’ ... Actors and actresses surpassed themselves. Every word told. Each bit of satire was welcomed by acclamations and bravos without end. The public recognized itself in the portrait of Figaro. ‘Never angry, always gay, giving over the present to joy and not worrying about the future any more than the past,—lively, generous, _generous_!’ “‘Like a robber,’ says Bartolo. “‘Like a lord,’ replies Marceline. “What joy for all that assembly, his definition of a courtier: “Figaro—‘I was born to be a courtier.’ “Suzanne—‘They say it is a very difficult business.’ “Figaro—‘Receive, take, ask, that is the secret in three words.’