At the end of the five years, Jean Baptiste was forced to resume his old occupation, on account of his father’s increasing infirmities. But it was not for long. Richelieu’s love of letters, and of the drama especially, brought him knowledge of young Poquelin’s talent, and made the difficult way of literature easier for him; for the theatre was beginning to flourish. There was no regular company of actors in Paris until the coming of Corneille. Only a few of the “rogue and vagabond” wearers of the sock and buskin came and went, selling their plays, when they could find buyers, for some ten crowns apiece. The comedies of Corneille caused the establishment of a dramatic troupe in the city, and then it was that young Poquelin, leaving the upholstery to the dogs, established a small company of young men—“stage-struck” as the mockers were pleased to say, in this instance guided however by the sterling judgment of Jean Baptiste, truly dramatically gifted, in the Faubourg St Germain. They called it the Illustrious Theatre—(l’Illustre Théâtre). So through the years of the ignoble strife of the Fronde, when times were arid for real literary talent, Poquelin acted and composed little comedies, mainly for the provinces. Travelling with his company to Languedoc, where the Prince de Conti happened to be staying on his estates, Poquelin produced before him several of his pieces, afterwards finding their world-wide renown, _l’Étourdi_, _le Dépit Amoureux_, and others. The Prince de Conti introduced him to Monsieur, the only brother of Louis XIV.; and in a short time there came a day of days when the command of their Majesties reached the actor-manager, to give a representation in the chamber of the Guards in the old Louvre. After the performance of this long five-act piece, Poquelin—who had followed the custom of the actors of his time, had taken another name, and selected Molière—stepped to the front, and begged His Majesty’s permission to play a short one-act piece. It was _le Docteur Amoureux_. This is possibly the origin of the custom, still so frequently observed, of the “Curtain-raiser.” [Illustration: POQUELIN DE MOLIERE _Coypel pinc._ _Ficquet Sculp._ _To face page 100._] Now established at Paris, Molière’s company, which he styled the _Troupe de Monsieur_, his patron, was accorded the Salle of the Palais Royal, for the representation of his piece. It had been originally constructed for the cardinal’s tragedy of _Mirame_, and “The chamber,” says Voltaire, “for dramatic purposes, is as bad as the piece for which it was built.”