CHAPTER XIX.
"The Marriage of Figaro"-- Previous History and Character of Beaumarchais.
-- The Performance of the Play is forbidden .-- It is said to be a little altered .-- It is licensed .-- Displeasure of the Queen .-- Visit of Gustavus III.

of Sweden .-- Fete at the Trianon .-- Balloon Ascent.
In the spring of 1784, the court and capital wore wrought up to a high pitch of excitement by an incident which was in reality of so ordinary and trivial a character, that it would be hard to find a more striking proof how thoroughly unhealthy the whole condition and feeling of the nation must have been, when such a matter could have been regarded as important.
It was simply a question whether a play, which had been recently accepted by the manager of the principal theatre in Paris, should receive the license from the theatrical censor which was necessary to its being performed.
The play was entitled "The Marriage of Figaro." The history of the author, M.Beaumarchais, is curious, as that of a rare specimen of the literary adventurer of his time.

He was born in the year 1732.

His father was a watch-maker named Caron, and he himself followed that trade till he was three or four and twenty, and attained considerable skill in it.

But he was ambitious.