The moral character of Moliere at this time was exceedingly bad.  The times were such that a band of players found every temptation before them.  The French biographers give an account of some of his “gallantries,” but they only lead the reader to feel disgust rather than admiration.  That plays written by such a man, and during times which corrupted the whole people, should be pure, one could not expect.  Moliere’s plays, therefore, bear the same character, in this respect, as all the great performances of authors of France in those and succeeding times.  They were altogether loose in their morals.

The company of players were invited to Paynas by the prince of Conti, who was staying there at the time.  They acted before him, and Moliere wrote several little interludes for the special amusement of the prince, which were afterward the ground-work of some of his best comedies.  The prince was so pleased with the comedian, that he invited him to become his secretary.  He declined, but whether from love of comedy, or fear of the prince, we do not know.  The prince possessed an awful temper, and actually killed his former secretary by throwing the tongs at him.

Paris at length became more quiet, and Moliere turned his steps toward it.  He obtained the protection of the king’s brother, was introduced to the king, and obtained permission to establish himself in the capital.  There was a rival theater at the Hotel de Bourgogue, at which Corneille’s tragedies were played.  Moliere and his company acted before Louis XIV. and his mother, in the Louvre.  The play was that of “Nicomede,” and the success was very great.  The play was a tragedy, but Moliere knew very well that they could not rival the other tragedy-theater, in that line; and he therefore introduced the custom that night of concluding a tragedy with a farce.  The farce acted was one of his own, and was so well received that the custom was ever after kept up.  The company finally settled down in the Palais Royal, which the king had granted them.

The next poem which Moliere wrote and brought out, was aimed at a society of men, including many of the most talented in Paris, called the “Society of the Hotel de Rambouillet.”  The peculiarities of this society were too ridiculous to describe at this day, and Moliere’s comedy, which was aimed at them, was wonderfully successful.  Paris at once was in an uproar of laughter, and in the midst of the piece an old man rose in the theater, crying out, “Courage, Moliere; this is a true comedy!”

The next piece was entitled “Sganarelle,” and although it was quite successful, it was inferior to those which preceded it.  Moliere now tried tragedy, but with no success.  It was not his forte.  He returned to comedy, and brought out a piece entitled “L’Ecoledes Maris,” which achieved a brilliant success.