Speaking of the stage, he wrote in a report addressed to Charles
X., June 20,1825: "I perceive that I have forgotten the most
essential side,--the moral, I will even say the religious side.
What glory it would be for a king to raise this considerable class
of society from the abject situation in which it is compelled to
live! Sacrificed to our pleasures, it has been condemned to
eternal death, and a king believes his conscience quiet! For a
long time I have cherished this thought; we must begin by
elevating these people, as regards their art, by reforming, little
by little, the swarming abuses that awaken horror, and end by
treating with Rome in order to obtain some just concessions that
would have important results."
In another report to the King, dated October 21, 1826, M. de La
Rochefoucauld wrote, apropos of the obsequies of Talma:--
"A profound regret for me is the manner of the great tragedian's
death. Sire, would it not be worthy of the reign, the breast, the
conscience of Charles X., to draw this class of artists from the
cruel position in which they are left by that excommunication that
weighs upon them without distinction? Whether they conduct
themselves well or ill, the Church repels them; this reprobation
holds them perforce in the sphere of evil and disorder, since they
have no interest in rising above it. Honor them, and they will
honor themselves.
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