Grimm undertook to obtain Beaumarchais' consent.
"As," says Madame de Oberkirsch, who was present at the reading,--as the mangy (_chafouin_) looks of M.de la Harpe had disappointed me, so the fine face, open, clever, somewhat bold, perhaps, of M.de Beaumarchais bewitched me.

I was found fault with for it.

I was told he was a good-for-naught.

I do not deny it, it is possible; but he has prodigious wit, courage enough for anything, a strong will which nothing can stop, and these are great qualities." Beaumarchais took advantage of the success of the reading to boldly ask the keeper of the seals for permission to play the piece; he was supported by public curiosity, and by the unreflecting enthusiasm of a court anxious to amuse itself; the game appeared to have been won, the day for its representation, at the _Menus-Plaisirs Theatre,_ was fixed, an interdiction on the part of the king only excited the ill-humor and intensified the desires of the public.

"This prohibition appeared to be an attack upon liberty in general," says Madame Campan.