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Le Chapelier's report, Paris (1791)
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Le Chapelier's report, Paris (1791), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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23 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
REPORT
MADE
BY M. LE CHAPELIER,
On behalf of the Constitutional Committee, on
the Petition of the Dramatic Authors, in
the Session of Thursday 13 January 1791, with
the Decree rendered in this Session.
Printed by order of the National Assembly
____________________________
IN PARIS,
BY THE NATIONAL PRINTING PRESS
1791.
Chapter 1 Page 2
REPORT
MADE
BY M. LE CHAPELIER
On behalf of the Constitutional Committee, on
the request of the Dramatic Authors, in
the Session of Thursday 13 January 1791, with
the Decree rendered in this Session.
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
________________
SIRS,
YOU have charged your Constitutional Committee with the task of assessing
the petition by the dramatic authors; and by this assignment, you
have seemed to prejudge the question which was submitted to you.
It really does relate to the principles of liberty & public property; and
it must be settled on the basis of these principles.
Chapter 1 Page 3
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The Dramatic Authors ask for the destruction of the exclusive privilege which
places in the Capital one sole Theatre where they are forced to address themselves to
those who have composed Tragedies or Comedies of a high standard; they demand
that the Comedians linked to this Theatre would no longer be, neither by right, nor by
fact, the exclusive owners of the masterpieces which have enlightened the French
Scene; & soliciting for the Authors & their heirs or cessionaries the entire property of
their Works during their life & five years after their death, they recognise & even
invoke the rights of the public, & they do not hesitate to confess that after the delay of
five years, the Works of the Authors are a public property.
The Comedians commonly known under the name of French Comedians,
allow themselves to agree that there cannot exist any longer an exclusive privilege, &
they go as far as confessing that another Theatre could be established in the Capital
where it will be possible, like in theirs, for pieces to be represented which they have to
this date regarded as their particular domain.
But they maintain to be the sole owners of masterpieces such as Corneille,
Racine, Molière, Crébillon & others, & of all the Authors who, through regulatory
disposition, have, according to the Comedians, lost their property, or who under the
law of an exclusive privilege, have dealt with them.
Such is the debate which you have to terminate by a
Chapter 1 Page 4
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general law on Performances [Spectacles], on the property of Authors, & on the duration which it
must have: finally it is necessary, since the matter presents itself, that you make some
legislative dispositions on the Performance police.
The Authors of dramatic works had to, as much & more than all writers, be
free in their choice of who represent their works & in the expression of their thoughts.
The public had to have the property of these masterpieces, which, more &
better than the conquests of Louis XIV, have illuminated his reign; & each have to be
master to seize the immortal works of Molière & of Racine, to try to bring out its
beauty & to have them acknowledged.
But the despotism which tarnishes [flétrissoit] everything, which casts its eyes
on all institutions in order to control them, has invaded this communal property, & has
made it into an exclusive privilege.
That was not surprising, since a vicious administration had transformed
everything into privileges, & that its unique system seemed to be to damage the rights
of all in order to serve the interests of some individuals, since the inquisition of the
tyranny was placed right alongside talent & thinking in order to choke the one &
hamper the other.
But what must be surprising is that there was a small aggregation of men
which still considered themselves to be owners of a privilege which gave them the
exclusive property of the works of all dramatic authors
Chapter 1 Page 5
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& in presenting themselves as the private heirs of all the geniuses which have made
France famous, they wish that they would not be shown in public but through them, &
that all citizens would not have the possibility, like them, to play the dramatic works
with whom the seventeenth & eighteenth century are honoured.
The French Comedians maintain that the plays of Corneille, of Racine, of
Molière, of Voltaire & others are their property.
If one would read this sentence to a man who is elaborately educated on the
principles of government, but who knows nothing of the history of those whom we
got rid off, nor of the superb revolution which has brought us to the pure extremes of
the social order, he would regard this seemingly pretension as a delirium, & he would
not believe that it was born among men whose nature is dedicated to the study of the
masterpieces of the human spirit, but he would have made religious apostles [auroit
dû rendre apôtres religieux] of the maxim which makes of these masterpieces, a
public property, & who does not accept any exception to this general rule, & except
for the interest of the authors & and the safeguarding of the right which they have to
earn an honourable salary from their glorious work.
The French Comedians, after having had for a long time, with the help of an
exclusive privilege, subjugated the Authors of dramatic works, & through a strange
reversal in the order of things, having made them their tributaries, have become their
adversaries, when they have reclaimed the rights which a free constitution had given
them: to take this role, they have had nothing
Chapter 1 Page 6
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but a change of words, they have called their privilege a property.
In the memorial they have submitted to try to operate this useful metamorphosis,
they have fixed the discussion on four principal points, which indeed can cause to
pass [faire passer] under your eyes all the objects of the Petition of the dramatic
Authors.
The latter, after having exposed the tyrannical regime under which they have
lived, have demanded that they would be permitted to establish for all citizens a
public theatre under supervision of the municipality of the places.
That the arbitrary regulations would no longer clandestinely be made by
commissionaires unknown to the law; that these regulations would be the work of the
municipalities... That all plays of authors, deceased since five or ten years & more,
could be played in all theatres which will be established or which are established...
That the same possibility will be given to living authors to have their works played
everywhere, & that they will only be able to be played with their consent, except the
scenes which they will have managed to pass with troupes of comedians.
Hence, as the comedians established near the Luxembourg have said, it results
that the following have to be examined:
Our exclusive privilege,
The demand for the establishment of a second theatre,
The property of the works of deceased authors,
The property of the works of living authors.
One has to observe, regarding the wording of the second question, that it is
contrary to the Petition of the citizens
Chapter 1 Page 7
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who occupy themselves with the dramatic art; they do not request the establishment of
a second theatre; that would, as they have well observed, divide the privilege & not
abolish it; they demand the free option for all citizens to establish a public theatre.
Once the Authors of dramatic works would have limited themselves to demanding a
second theatre; that would have been obliged to agree with an administration which
only knew the privileges; if they had been able to talk today, they would have talked
about nothing but liberty.
The comedians did not dare to maintain the most salient part of their privilege.
They denounced being the only ones in Paris who could perform the tragedies; they
consented to the establishment of a second theatre, it is their language, & as a
consequence to the establishment of several theatres.
It is necessary to examine whether this liberty has to be accorded, whether the
principles claim it, whether the interest of the art solicits it, whether the good order
will not suffer from it.
We believe, Sirs, that this question is of the kind that, in order to receive a
solution, needs nothing more than to be exposed.
The art of comedy has to be free like all other genres in the industry; this
talent, long since withered due to prejudice, has finally taken, in the name of raison &
law, the place which it has to occupy in the society: that it would be permitted to
everyone to pursue it, & that only supervision by the municipal police would prevent
the abuses which are subject, not to the pursuit of art, but to the faults of comedians.
Chapter 1 Page 8
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It is henceforth very much recognised that everyone must at one’s own discretion
pursue his industry; it is only under the reign of privileges that one puts barriers to this
possibility for men, & one looks for frivolous pretexts for this abuse of authority in
the perfection of art, in the conservation of morals [moeurs].
The perfection of art depends on competition; it incites emulation, it develops
talent, it maintains ideas of glory, it unites the interest towards the true-love, & returns
to the benefit of the public these two sentiments, which, when they are separate, are
not always strong enough with the men in order to incite them to heavy works.
The conservation of custom is guaranteed by the inspection of the municipal
police; it is necessary that the performances purify the customs, give them lessons in
civics that they are a school for patriotism, for virtue, & that all these affective
sentiments which are the link & the charm of families, & which, in order not to
compose only private virtues, are no less than the guarantee & the precursor of public
virtues.
It is to competition, to freedom that we owe this perfection of theatre, while
we would forever lose the hope to find in our amusement a great national school, if
the performance would be a privileged thing, & if the imagination of the authors
would be subjected to the despotism of privileged men; because by the force of things
they are despots.
The friends of the public order & custom, which
Chapter 1 Page 9
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is always made from principles & freedom, the amateurs of the arts only have to make
a wish; that ridiculous & unseemly farces would not dishonour our theatres & weaken
our spirits; that everywhere performances would offer something to learn, & that all
the pieces henceforth would save the fatherland, by making better citizens. Let us
hope that a wise regulation would direct this part of public education; for hence it will
be one [an education], & let us consecrate the principle; that it is open to every citizen
to establish a theatre.
You would not without any doubt let yourselves be stopped by these futile
objections which surround us.
There will be too many performances; the citizens will be turned away from
their useful occupations; the provinces will be overburdened by troupes of comedians,
if they are allowed to perform in all places having made their declaration in the
municipality.
Leave to the interest the care to only make establishments which will be
advantageous; also leave it to this very confident guide to temper the taste for
performances, & to prefer lucrative jobs above expensive amusement. For better or
for worse, when the performances will have acquired an air of freedom, when they
will be purified by its severe regime, one will frequent instructive performances.
And in Paris will there never be more than there can be? Frivolous
performances will be substituted by performances that the patriotic spirit can admit, &
Chapter 1 Page 10
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you will see fun fair farces, which equally insult the taste & the virtue, disappear.
Regarding the provinces, we who live there, we know that, less than in Paris,
the performances are dangerous, because, less than in Paris, gross or unseemly scenes
had the gift to seduce us.
We knows that a troupe established in a small town, has difficulties to find
spectators during a month; that the municipalities often looked for comedians & did
not find them; & that the ability to uplift the theatres can only be exercised in the
very-large cities, where theatres are indispensable, & where the competition had to be
encouraged by the government, if it was not authorized by the first law, that of raison.
There will no longer be any great comedians...
Eh why then! Because they will be free to go from one theatre to the other,
when they are displeased with the one they will have chosen first; because they will
better be able to make their talents known having more places where they can exercise
them; because they will finally be released from all these impediments to which the
current regime subjects them?
It is even notable that by a happy sympathy, the great talents search for each
other & rely on each other. It is above all in the art of theatre that this truth is more
practical. All these times that a performance will fire two or three celebrated
comedians, those that are just as good in other roles, will try to
Chapter 1 Page 11
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unite with them, & this theatre will hence acquire the only supremacy which would be
useful, that of talents.
There used to be two troupes of comedians in Paris: it was subject to quarrels
& rivalries; Louis XIV united them.
You talk of establishments, which, during the birth of literature, formed parties
between these persons, who, according to the fashion of the day, put themselves up as
protectors of the arts, & of whom some were dignified to improve themselves by
cultivating them. It is entirely simple that having two theatres produced the effect that
you call for; when it is despotism that, to reimburse humanity a little bit [pour
dédommager un peu l'humanité] & to occupy the spirits, takes on itself to make the
arts flourish, the competition in the performances could be a subject of quarrels rather
than a means to perfection: there is no more than protectors & protégés; & the
protégés have only talent by virtue of their protectors. Under freedom, it is merit
which prevails, the competition does nothing but stimulate it.
And see how like the things which seem the most simple, despotism always
has the same working & the same influence.
One has first given twelve million francs as bonus; the comedians who have
received it, have taken the title of comedians of the King, to prepare or consolidate
their exclusive privilege. The officers of the house of the king were in charge of the
distribution of this twelve thousand livres; they usurped the police, the legislation
regulating
Chapter 1 Page 12
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the performances; they became the sovereign arbiters of authors & actors.
What has resulted therefrom? That the actors have been no more than
subordinate courtesans, & they are more concerned with obtaining the favour of the
men in place than the applause of the public; that the authors, perpetual playthings of
the intrigues in the coulisses, annoyed with the arrogance & and the smug air around
those who employed the organ, without however having been exposed to it; that their
talents has suffered from it, that they have been discouraged by the authors, impeded
by this inquisitorial censorship which spied in every verse an axiom of freedom &
raison to erase, & often to denounce it to those who lived in slavery.
Astonishing masterpieces have been formed; some pieces escaped which
presented all raison embellishing the charms of our poetry, & proud discourse of free
men. That is true, but it is because sometimes the genius breaks the dams which the
most barbaric institutions oppose to him [lui opposent]; certainly Racine, Moliere,
Corneille, Voltaire, Crébillon & many others should have existed in a free country;
but, if there had been neither privileges, nor despotism, they would have had more
disciples, & perhaps followers.
It took all the influence which Voltaire has exerted on the nation, to achieve
that one played some of these plays, where his genius traversed a century, achieved
the actual revolution, & seemed to
Chapter 1 Page 13
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foretell & accelerate it: even then he was not able to maintain in the theatre some of
his masterpieces which we now replay, & often the comic arrogance has required
sacrifices form him, to which an exclusive privilege has forced him to demean
himself.
Would one want that there would subsist a place where the authors are forced
to bring [porter] & subject their productions? Would one want that he who talks with
the energy of liberty & the hatred of tyrants, would be forced to wipe out these sacred
maxims, if a privileged troupe would not say them? Would one want that the police,
the regulations of the performances would be made by the privileged men, by the
illegal commissionaires, which have no public character?
No, because for the good of the art & the conservation of our principles, there
exist no more privileges; that no one would enjoy the right to elevate the theatres, &
to take this legitimate means to exercise his industry; that the authors would be able to
address themselves to other comedians, when those to whom they have proposed their
pieces, make them experience injustices or insulting difficulties.
I want to say a word about the inclination of comedians to assume an
exclusive privilege. Totally seemingly to renounce it, they name themselves THEATRE
OF THE NATION; this title would only be ridiculous if it did not present the sign of an
exclusive privilege, even more condemnable because the nation seems to take part in
it.
Without doubt, it suffices for us to remark this impropriety, to warn the
comedians that their
Chapter 1 Page 14
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theatre is not that any more of the nation, that it is not & it will not be all those in
which one will give plays which the taste, the customs & patriotism will be able to
applaud.
From all this, it results that we think that every citizen must be able to
establish a theatre; that it will not suffice to allow for two, because that will only
divide the privilege & not destroy it; that the right to form establishments of this sort
is a consequence of the natural right which belongs to every man to exercise his
industry, & as a consequence to act against all the principles on which you work since
you were assembled; finally, it is necessary that the municipality would provide the
police at the performances.
It now remains to examine the property of the plays of dead authors, &
those who are alive.
Although there would be some distinction to be made between the ones & the
others, nonetheless the two questions are linked to too many general reports in order
for us to separate them.
We have read, Sirs, the phrase which establishes the arrogance of the
comedians, to appropriate all pieces of dead authors; & to withdraw the era of their
property at their discretion, they believe that hundred years of enjoyment have not
reimbursed them, nor their predecessors, of the light honorarium which they have
offered for the masterpieces of which they wish to be exclusively the declamators.
Chapter 1 Page 15
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Perhaps we should not treat this pretension seriously; it is to the gravity of the
Assembly that we pay homage by stating some principles in this regard.
The most sacred, the most legitimate, the most unassailable, & if I may say so,
the most personal of all properties, is the work, the fruit of the mind of a writer; yet it
is a property of a totally different kind than other properties.
When an author has delivered his work to the public, when this work is in the
hands of everyone, that all educated men know it, that they have seized all beauties it
contains, that they have entrusted the happiest lines to their memory; it seems that
from this moment, the writer has associated the public with his property, or rather he
has transferred it entirely to it; however, as it is highly fair that the men who cultivate
the domain of the mind, retrieve some fruits from their work, it is necessary that
during their lives & some years after their deaths, no one can, without their consent,
use the product of their genius. But also, after the fixed delay, the property of the
public commences, & everyone has to be able to print, publish the works which have
contributed to enlighten the human spirit.
Hence how it is done in England for the authors & the public, by acts which
one calls protective [tutélaires], which used to be done in France by the privileges
which the King granted, & which will be henceforth fixed by a law; a much more sage
means, & the only one which is suitable to be employed.
Chapter 1 Page 16
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The dramatic Authors of dramatic works demand to be, the first, the object if
this law.
It seems to us that this demand is founded on the clearest maxims of justice;
the comedians are for the Authors of dramatic works, what the printers & book sellers
are for the writers; the ones & the others transmit to the public the thoughts of the men
of the mind, with this difference that the comedians are confined within the walls of
the theatre in which they perform, & that the others have no limits except the earth [ils
ont que le monde pour limites].
Regarding the living authors, their property has to be considered in different
aspects; the ones have been able to pass acts encompassing their entire property, in a
way that their works have become those of the comedians to whom they have been
ceded.
The others have only sold the possibility to perform their plays, & are free to
deal with the same ability with all other troupes of comedians which will establish
themselves are which will be established.
It is for the tribunals to judge the value of the acts which have been passed.
But there is another class of authors: that is those who under the empire due to
an exclusive privilege, & an unjust regulation, have seen the French comedians
conquer their property, & become anticipated heirs thereof.
You know, Sirs, that four officers of the King had assumed possession over
theatre legislation, & had subjected the Authors of dramatic works to a regulation
Chapter 1 Page 17
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to which the latter had been forced to consent, because they did not have a single way
to pursue a better fate.
This regulation grafted upon another regulation, stipulated that every piece
which did not produce 1500 livres in takings in winter, & 1000 livres in summer,
belonged to the comedians.
Some authors of dramatic works have not been the victim of such a bizarre
law; & when the exclusive privilege will have perished like all other abuses, they will
be able to freely bring the fruit of their sleepless nights [leurs veilles] to all theatres.
But others, in great numbers, have seen their property leave their hands, & due
to a piece of right of conquest pass into those of comedians: the law granted them
what one was not able to abduct, which is a true robbery which nothing can
legitimize.
Certainly, there is no justice in this regulatory disposition: because it is to
make dependent a sacred thing, the property, of the fantasy, of the negligence, of the
maneuvers of those who have an interest in overpowering it. One knows very well
that there are multiple ways to arouse, to save the curiosity of the public, & to
maintain or to make tumble a piece which the comedians, always enjoying palliative
expressions, invoke in the rules.
It would already be a lot if this regulation would determine the quota which an
author would have in the takings produced by his play; because it would make for him
a contract
Chapter 1 Page 18
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under which only he has the right to deal with the comedians, & his miserable part
would be the seventh.
But it is the climax of injustice to tell him; if the comedians loosely play your
piece; if they place it on a day at which the public is occupied with other amusements;
it they attach it to a piece which alienates the spectators; finally, all these “ifs” which
the ill will or the interest rends not only very probable, but very frequent, mean the
end of your property [c'en est fait de votre propriété]. There has never existed a
similar law, it can not be recognised, it can not have any effects; it is way too much
what the comedians have enjoyed thereof, it can no longer serve them as title. The
author has not lost his property due to such an unjust regulation. He has the right to
reclaim his play, & to impede that one performs it without his consent.
There is more; however favourable this regulation was for them, the
comedians have violated it. They have deviated from it in the most blatant manner, &
by that they have rendered the effects of the best established law void.
The receipts had to be less than 1500 livres in winter, 1 of 1000 livres in
summer; it was necessary, in order to calculate the receipts, to add the loges of the
year to the products of the distribution of the tickets: one has put these apart in order
to only count the receipts of the others; thus one has breached the regulation in order
to strip the authors more certainly.
These are, Sirs, the raisons which we conclude regarding the Petition of the
Authors of dramatic works.
The interest of the comedians should have been to consent herein,
Chapter 1 Page 19
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& to join the authors of this Petition in order to solicit your Decree. Their existence,
their talents, the habit of the public answer them with some effort, they will have a
decided advantage over their competitors. They will be at the place where they have
to be, encouraging the literary productions with the charms by which they foster them,
playing out their talents which the inferiority of their competitors [émulés] will bring
out more, forming free contracts with the authors, & stopping to start by being the
lucky usurpators in order to become the legitimate owners, at last released from this
degrading serfdom for the arts, & only being under the wise inspection of the
magistrates of the people.
I do not know, Sirs, whether I have to entertain you with an accessory claim
made to maintain the pretensions of the comedians, & which seems to me nothing but
offensive for them; that is the claim by persons who call themselves creditors of the
French theatre.
One barely comprehends what one can do with a question of this nature, the
intervention of the creditors. If the destruction of the privileges, if the overthrow of all
the abuses would have lead to the unrest of the creditors of those who lived of the
privileges & the abuses, few reforms would have been carried out.
The comedians have commitments, they will satisfy them; their state, far from
diminished by the competition & freedom, has to augment by the emulation & the
perfection of talents; why do their creditors have doubts – efforts which they will
make &
Chapter 1 Page 20
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means which they will have to lure the public to their beautiful performance?
For a very long time though, or to say it better, always, comedians which have
an entirely formed establishment, which have distinguished talents, which have
shown their zeal to which we enjoyed to do justice, will have large advantages
over their competitors; & if the creditors were not able to reasonably count
on the fidelity & the talents of their debtors, ten they have lost nothing of
the securities on which have speculated.
I have nothing more to say to you but for a disposition of the police
which you will find in the draft Decree which I am presenting.
Without doubt you have often been scandalized by these armed vassals
[satellites] that are inside the performance rooms, & which put signs of
enslavement & pressure next to the peaceful pleasures of citizens.
It is definitely necessary that good order & tranquility rule in these
places where many men assemble; it may be sometimes necessary to employ public
force to calm the people who are looking to cause trouble & to make them
observe the regulations; but, for that, it is not necessary that bayonets
surround the spectators, & that all eyes meet the signs of the suspicion of
the armed authority. Civil officers inside the room, & a guard outside which
can be called by them when needed, these are all the precautions which the
public order requires, that reason authorizes, & that the regime of freedom
can permit.
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DECREE SUBMITTED
On the Petition of the dramatic Authors,
13 January 1791.
__________________________
FIRST ARTICLE.
Every citizen will be able to establish a public theatre & to have
performed there pieces of all genres, while making, prior to the establishment,
his declaration to the Municipality.
II.
The Works of Authors deceased since five years & more, are public property,
& can, in spite of all ancient privileges, which are abolished, be performed
in all theatres indistinctly.
III.
The works of living authors cannot be performed in any public theatre, in
all of the entire territory [l'étendue] of France, without the formal consent &
in writing by the authors, on the penalty of the confiscation of the total product
of the performance to profit the author.
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IV.
The disposition of article III applies to works already performed, be it under
the old regulations; nevertheless the acts which will have been agreed upon between
the comedians & living authors or the Authors deceased since less than five years,
will be executed.
V.
The heirs or cessionaries of the authors, will be owners of their works during
five years after the death of the Authors.
VI.
The entrepreneurs or the members of the different theatres will be, for reason
of their status, under the inspection of the municipalities; they will only receive orders
form municipal officers, which will not be able to stop not to defend the performance
of a piece, solely the responsibility of the authors & the comedians, & which will not
be able to order anything except according to the law & to the police regulations,
regulations for which the Constitutional Committee will shortly draft a project of
instruction; provisionally the ancient police regulations will be executed.
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VII.
There will only be one external guard at the performance, of which the troops
will not be called upon [ne seront point chargées], if it is not a case in which the
municipal officers have formally demanded them to do so.
There will always be one or more civil officers inside the rooms, & the guard
will only enter those if the public safety would be compromised, & on the formal
demand of the officer of police, which will be according to the laws & the regulations
of the police.
Every citizen will be held to provisionally obey the civil officer.
_________________
Translation by: Freya Baetens
Source: N/A
Citation:
Le Chapelier's report, Paris (1791), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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23 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
MADE
BY M. LE CHAPELIER,
On behalf of the Constitutional Committee, on
the Petition of the Dramatic Authors, in
the Session of Thursday 13 January 1791, with
the Decree rendered in this Session.
Printed by order of the National Assembly
____________________________
BY THE NATIONAL PRINTING PRESS
1791.
Chapter 1 Page 2
MADE
BY M. LE CHAPELIER
On behalf of the Constitutional Committee, on
the request of the Dramatic Authors, in
the Session of Thursday 13 January 1791, with
the Decree rendered in this Session.
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
________________
SIRS,
YOU have charged your Constitutional Committee with the task of assessing
the petition by the dramatic authors; and by this assignment, you
have seemed to prejudge the question which was submitted to you.
It really does relate to the principles of liberty & public property; and
it must be settled on the basis of these principles.
Chapter 1 Page 3
The Dramatic Authors ask for the destruction of the exclusive privilege which
places in the Capital one sole Theatre where they are forced to address themselves to
those who have composed Tragedies or Comedies of a high standard; they demand
that the Comedians linked to this Theatre would no longer be, neither by right, nor by
fact, the exclusive owners of the masterpieces which have enlightened the French
Scene; & soliciting for the Authors & their heirs or cessionaries the entire property of
their Works during their life & five years after their death, they recognise & even
invoke the rights of the public, & they do not hesitate to confess that after the delay of
five years, the Works of the Authors are a public property.
The Comedians commonly known under the name of French Comedians,
allow themselves to agree that there cannot exist any longer an exclusive privilege, &
they go as far as confessing that another Theatre could be established in the Capital
where it will be possible, like in theirs, for pieces to be represented which they have to
this date regarded as their particular domain.
But they maintain to be the sole owners of masterpieces such as Corneille,
Racine, Molière, Crébillon & others, & of all the Authors who, through regulatory
disposition, have, according to the Comedians, lost their property, or who under the
law of an exclusive privilege, have dealt with them.
Such is the debate which you have to terminate by a
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general law on Performances [Spectacles], on the property of Authors, & on the duration which it
must have: finally it is necessary, since the matter presents itself, that you make some
legislative dispositions on the Performance police.
The Authors of dramatic works had to, as much & more than all writers, be
free in their choice of who represent their works & in the expression of their thoughts.
The public had to have the property of these masterpieces, which, more &
better than the conquests of Louis XIV, have illuminated his reign; & each have to be
master to seize the immortal works of Molière & of Racine, to try to bring out its
beauty & to have them acknowledged.
But the despotism which tarnishes [flétrissoit] everything, which casts its eyes
on all institutions in order to control them, has invaded this communal property, & has
made it into an exclusive privilege.
That was not surprising, since a vicious administration had transformed
everything into privileges, & that its unique system seemed to be to damage the rights
of all in order to serve the interests of some individuals, since the inquisition of the
tyranny was placed right alongside talent & thinking in order to choke the one &
hamper the other.
But what must be surprising is that there was a small aggregation of men
which still considered themselves to be owners of a privilege which gave them the
exclusive property of the works of all dramatic authors
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& in presenting themselves as the private heirs of all the geniuses which have made
France famous, they wish that they would not be shown in public but through them, &
that all citizens would not have the possibility, like them, to play the dramatic works
with whom the seventeenth & eighteenth century are honoured.
The French Comedians maintain that the plays of Corneille, of Racine, of
Molière, of Voltaire & others are their property.
If one would read this sentence to a man who is elaborately educated on the
principles of government, but who knows nothing of the history of those whom we
got rid off, nor of the superb revolution which has brought us to the pure extremes of
the social order, he would regard this seemingly pretension as a delirium, & he would
not believe that it was born among men whose nature is dedicated to the study of the
masterpieces of the human spirit, but he would have made religious apostles [auroit
dû rendre apôtres religieux] of the maxim which makes of these masterpieces, a
public property, & who does not accept any exception to this general rule, & except
for the interest of the authors & and the safeguarding of the right which they have to
earn an honourable salary from their glorious work.
The French Comedians, after having had for a long time, with the help of an
exclusive privilege, subjugated the Authors of dramatic works, & through a strange
reversal in the order of things, having made them their tributaries, have become their
adversaries, when they have reclaimed the rights which a free constitution had given
them: to take this role, they have had nothing
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but a change of words, they have called their privilege a property.
In the memorial they have submitted to try to operate this useful metamorphosis,
they have fixed the discussion on four principal points, which indeed can cause to
pass [faire passer] under your eyes all the objects of the Petition of the dramatic
Authors.
The latter, after having exposed the tyrannical regime under which they have
lived, have demanded that they would be permitted to establish for all citizens a
public theatre under supervision of the municipality of the places.
That the arbitrary regulations would no longer clandestinely be made by
commissionaires unknown to the law; that these regulations would be the work of the
municipalities... That all plays of authors, deceased since five or ten years & more,
could be played in all theatres which will be established or which are established...
That the same possibility will be given to living authors to have their works played
everywhere, & that they will only be able to be played with their consent, except the
scenes which they will have managed to pass with troupes of comedians.
Hence, as the comedians established near the Luxembourg have said, it results
that the following have to be examined:
Our exclusive privilege,
The demand for the establishment of a second theatre,
The property of the works of deceased authors,
The property of the works of living authors.
One has to observe, regarding the wording of the second question, that it is
contrary to the Petition of the citizens
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who occupy themselves with the dramatic art; they do not request the establishment of
a second theatre; that would, as they have well observed, divide the privilege & not
abolish it; they demand the free option for all citizens to establish a public theatre.
Once the Authors of dramatic works would have limited themselves to demanding a
second theatre; that would have been obliged to agree with an administration which
only knew the privileges; if they had been able to talk today, they would have talked
about nothing but liberty.
The comedians did not dare to maintain the most salient part of their privilege.
They denounced being the only ones in Paris who could perform the tragedies; they
consented to the establishment of a second theatre, it is their language, & as a
consequence to the establishment of several theatres.
It is necessary to examine whether this liberty has to be accorded, whether the
principles claim it, whether the interest of the art solicits it, whether the good order
will not suffer from it.
We believe, Sirs, that this question is of the kind that, in order to receive a
solution, needs nothing more than to be exposed.
The art of comedy has to be free like all other genres in the industry; this
talent, long since withered due to prejudice, has finally taken, in the name of raison &
law, the place which it has to occupy in the society: that it would be permitted to
everyone to pursue it, & that only supervision by the municipal police would prevent
the abuses which are subject, not to the pursuit of art, but to the faults of comedians.
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It is henceforth very much recognised that everyone must at one’s own discretion
pursue his industry; it is only under the reign of privileges that one puts barriers to this
possibility for men, & one looks for frivolous pretexts for this abuse of authority in
the perfection of art, in the conservation of morals [moeurs].
The perfection of art depends on competition; it incites emulation, it develops
talent, it maintains ideas of glory, it unites the interest towards the true-love, & returns
to the benefit of the public these two sentiments, which, when they are separate, are
not always strong enough with the men in order to incite them to heavy works.
The conservation of custom is guaranteed by the inspection of the municipal
police; it is necessary that the performances purify the customs, give them lessons in
civics that they are a school for patriotism, for virtue, & that all these affective
sentiments which are the link & the charm of families, & which, in order not to
compose only private virtues, are no less than the guarantee & the precursor of public
virtues.
It is to competition, to freedom that we owe this perfection of theatre, while
we would forever lose the hope to find in our amusement a great national school, if
the performance would be a privileged thing, & if the imagination of the authors
would be subjected to the despotism of privileged men; because by the force of things
they are despots.
The friends of the public order & custom, which
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is always made from principles & freedom, the amateurs of the arts only have to make
a wish; that ridiculous & unseemly farces would not dishonour our theatres & weaken
our spirits; that everywhere performances would offer something to learn, & that all
the pieces henceforth would save the fatherland, by making better citizens. Let us
hope that a wise regulation would direct this part of public education; for hence it will
be one [an education], & let us consecrate the principle; that it is open to every citizen
to establish a theatre.
You would not without any doubt let yourselves be stopped by these futile
objections which surround us.
There will be too many performances; the citizens will be turned away from
their useful occupations; the provinces will be overburdened by troupes of comedians,
if they are allowed to perform in all places having made their declaration in the
municipality.
Leave to the interest the care to only make establishments which will be
advantageous; also leave it to this very confident guide to temper the taste for
performances, & to prefer lucrative jobs above expensive amusement. For better or
for worse, when the performances will have acquired an air of freedom, when they
will be purified by its severe regime, one will frequent instructive performances.
And in Paris will there never be more than there can be? Frivolous
performances will be substituted by performances that the patriotic spirit can admit, &
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you will see fun fair farces, which equally insult the taste & the virtue, disappear.
Regarding the provinces, we who live there, we know that, less than in Paris,
the performances are dangerous, because, less than in Paris, gross or unseemly scenes
had the gift to seduce us.
We knows that a troupe established in a small town, has difficulties to find
spectators during a month; that the municipalities often looked for comedians & did
not find them; & that the ability to uplift the theatres can only be exercised in the
very-large cities, where theatres are indispensable, & where the competition had to be
encouraged by the government, if it was not authorized by the first law, that of raison.
There will no longer be any great comedians...
Eh why then! Because they will be free to go from one theatre to the other,
when they are displeased with the one they will have chosen first; because they will
better be able to make their talents known having more places where they can exercise
them; because they will finally be released from all these impediments to which the
current regime subjects them?
It is even notable that by a happy sympathy, the great talents search for each
other & rely on each other. It is above all in the art of theatre that this truth is more
practical. All these times that a performance will fire two or three celebrated
comedians, those that are just as good in other roles, will try to
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unite with them, & this theatre will hence acquire the only supremacy which would be
useful, that of talents.
There used to be two troupes of comedians in Paris: it was subject to quarrels
& rivalries; Louis XIV united them.
You talk of establishments, which, during the birth of literature, formed parties
between these persons, who, according to the fashion of the day, put themselves up as
protectors of the arts, & of whom some were dignified to improve themselves by
cultivating them. It is entirely simple that having two theatres produced the effect that
you call for; when it is despotism that, to reimburse humanity a little bit [pour
dédommager un peu l'humanité] & to occupy the spirits, takes on itself to make the
arts flourish, the competition in the performances could be a subject of quarrels rather
than a means to perfection: there is no more than protectors & protégés; & the
protégés have only talent by virtue of their protectors. Under freedom, it is merit
which prevails, the competition does nothing but stimulate it.
And see how like the things which seem the most simple, despotism always
has the same working & the same influence.
One has first given twelve million francs as bonus; the comedians who have
received it, have taken the title of comedians of the King, to prepare or consolidate
their exclusive privilege. The officers of the house of the king were in charge of the
distribution of this twelve thousand livres; they usurped the police, the legislation
regulating
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the performances; they became the sovereign arbiters of authors & actors.
What has resulted therefrom? That the actors have been no more than
subordinate courtesans, & they are more concerned with obtaining the favour of the
men in place than the applause of the public; that the authors, perpetual playthings of
the intrigues in the coulisses, annoyed with the arrogance & and the smug air around
those who employed the organ, without however having been exposed to it; that their
talents has suffered from it, that they have been discouraged by the authors, impeded
by this inquisitorial censorship which spied in every verse an axiom of freedom &
raison to erase, & often to denounce it to those who lived in slavery.
Astonishing masterpieces have been formed; some pieces escaped which
presented all raison embellishing the charms of our poetry, & proud discourse of free
men. That is true, but it is because sometimes the genius breaks the dams which the
most barbaric institutions oppose to him [lui opposent]; certainly Racine, Moliere,
Corneille, Voltaire, Crébillon & many others should have existed in a free country;
but, if there had been neither privileges, nor despotism, they would have had more
disciples, & perhaps followers.
It took all the influence which Voltaire has exerted on the nation, to achieve
that one played some of these plays, where his genius traversed a century, achieved
the actual revolution, & seemed to
Chapter 1 Page 13
foretell & accelerate it: even then he was not able to maintain in the theatre some of
his masterpieces which we now replay, & often the comic arrogance has required
sacrifices form him, to which an exclusive privilege has forced him to demean
himself.
Would one want that there would subsist a place where the authors are forced
to bring [porter] & subject their productions? Would one want that he who talks with
the energy of liberty & the hatred of tyrants, would be forced to wipe out these sacred
maxims, if a privileged troupe would not say them? Would one want that the police,
the regulations of the performances would be made by the privileged men, by the
illegal commissionaires, which have no public character?
No, because for the good of the art & the conservation of our principles, there
exist no more privileges; that no one would enjoy the right to elevate the theatres, &
to take this legitimate means to exercise his industry; that the authors would be able to
address themselves to other comedians, when those to whom they have proposed their
pieces, make them experience injustices or insulting difficulties.
I want to say a word about the inclination of comedians to assume an
exclusive privilege. Totally seemingly to renounce it, they name themselves THEATRE
OF THE NATION; this title would only be ridiculous if it did not present the sign of an
exclusive privilege, even more condemnable because the nation seems to take part in
it.
Without doubt, it suffices for us to remark this impropriety, to warn the
comedians that their
Chapter 1 Page 14
theatre is not that any more of the nation, that it is not & it will not be all those in
which one will give plays which the taste, the customs & patriotism will be able to
applaud.
From all this, it results that we think that every citizen must be able to
establish a theatre; that it will not suffice to allow for two, because that will only
divide the privilege & not destroy it; that the right to form establishments of this sort
is a consequence of the natural right which belongs to every man to exercise his
industry, & as a consequence to act against all the principles on which you work since
you were assembled; finally, it is necessary that the municipality would provide the
police at the performances.
It now remains to examine the property of the plays of dead authors, &
those who are alive.
Although there would be some distinction to be made between the ones & the
others, nonetheless the two questions are linked to too many general reports in order
for us to separate them.
We have read, Sirs, the phrase which establishes the arrogance of the
comedians, to appropriate all pieces of dead authors; & to withdraw the era of their
property at their discretion, they believe that hundred years of enjoyment have not
reimbursed them, nor their predecessors, of the light honorarium which they have
offered for the masterpieces of which they wish to be exclusively the declamators.
Chapter 1 Page 15
Perhaps we should not treat this pretension seriously; it is to the gravity of the
Assembly that we pay homage by stating some principles in this regard.
The most sacred, the most legitimate, the most unassailable, & if I may say so,
the most personal of all properties, is the work, the fruit of the mind of a writer; yet it
is a property of a totally different kind than other properties.
When an author has delivered his work to the public, when this work is in the
hands of everyone, that all educated men know it, that they have seized all beauties it
contains, that they have entrusted the happiest lines to their memory; it seems that
from this moment, the writer has associated the public with his property, or rather he
has transferred it entirely to it; however, as it is highly fair that the men who cultivate
the domain of the mind, retrieve some fruits from their work, it is necessary that
during their lives & some years after their deaths, no one can, without their consent,
use the product of their genius. But also, after the fixed delay, the property of the
public commences, & everyone has to be able to print, publish the works which have
contributed to enlighten the human spirit.
Hence how it is done in England for the authors & the public, by acts which
one calls protective [tutélaires], which used to be done in France by the privileges
which the King granted, & which will be henceforth fixed by a law; a much more sage
means, & the only one which is suitable to be employed.
Chapter 1 Page 16
The dramatic Authors of dramatic works demand to be, the first, the object if
this law.
It seems to us that this demand is founded on the clearest maxims of justice;
the comedians are for the Authors of dramatic works, what the printers & book sellers
are for the writers; the ones & the others transmit to the public the thoughts of the men
of the mind, with this difference that the comedians are confined within the walls of
the theatre in which they perform, & that the others have no limits except the earth [ils
ont que le monde pour limites].
Regarding the living authors, their property has to be considered in different
aspects; the ones have been able to pass acts encompassing their entire property, in a
way that their works have become those of the comedians to whom they have been
ceded.
The others have only sold the possibility to perform their plays, & are free to
deal with the same ability with all other troupes of comedians which will establish
themselves are which will be established.
It is for the tribunals to judge the value of the acts which have been passed.
But there is another class of authors: that is those who under the empire due to
an exclusive privilege, & an unjust regulation, have seen the French comedians
conquer their property, & become anticipated heirs thereof.
You know, Sirs, that four officers of the King had assumed possession over
theatre legislation, & had subjected the Authors of dramatic works to a regulation
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to which the latter had been forced to consent, because they did not have a single way
to pursue a better fate.
This regulation grafted upon another regulation, stipulated that every piece
which did not produce 1500 livres in takings in winter, & 1000 livres in summer,
belonged to the comedians.
Some authors of dramatic works have not been the victim of such a bizarre
law; & when the exclusive privilege will have perished like all other abuses, they will
be able to freely bring the fruit of their sleepless nights [leurs veilles] to all theatres.
But others, in great numbers, have seen their property leave their hands, & due
to a piece of right of conquest pass into those of comedians: the law granted them
what one was not able to abduct, which is a true robbery which nothing can
legitimize.
Certainly, there is no justice in this regulatory disposition: because it is to
make dependent a sacred thing, the property, of the fantasy, of the negligence, of the
maneuvers of those who have an interest in overpowering it. One knows very well
that there are multiple ways to arouse, to save the curiosity of the public, & to
maintain or to make tumble a piece which the comedians, always enjoying palliative
expressions, invoke in the rules.
It would already be a lot if this regulation would determine the quota which an
author would have in the takings produced by his play; because it would make for him
a contract
Chapter 1 Page 18
under which only he has the right to deal with the comedians, & his miserable part
would be the seventh.
But it is the climax of injustice to tell him; if the comedians loosely play your
piece; if they place it on a day at which the public is occupied with other amusements;
it they attach it to a piece which alienates the spectators; finally, all these “ifs” which
the ill will or the interest rends not only very probable, but very frequent, mean the
end of your property [c'en est fait de votre propriété]. There has never existed a
similar law, it can not be recognised, it can not have any effects; it is way too much
what the comedians have enjoyed thereof, it can no longer serve them as title. The
author has not lost his property due to such an unjust regulation. He has the right to
reclaim his play, & to impede that one performs it without his consent.
There is more; however favourable this regulation was for them, the
comedians have violated it. They have deviated from it in the most blatant manner, &
by that they have rendered the effects of the best established law void.
The receipts had to be less than 1500 livres in winter, 1 of 1000 livres in
summer; it was necessary, in order to calculate the receipts, to add the loges of the
year to the products of the distribution of the tickets: one has put these apart in order
to only count the receipts of the others; thus one has breached the regulation in order
to strip the authors more certainly.
These are, Sirs, the raisons which we conclude regarding the Petition of the
Authors of dramatic works.
The interest of the comedians should have been to consent herein,
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& to join the authors of this Petition in order to solicit your Decree. Their existence,
their talents, the habit of the public answer them with some effort, they will have a
decided advantage over their competitors. They will be at the place where they have
to be, encouraging the literary productions with the charms by which they foster them,
playing out their talents which the inferiority of their competitors [émulés] will bring
out more, forming free contracts with the authors, & stopping to start by being the
lucky usurpators in order to become the legitimate owners, at last released from this
degrading serfdom for the arts, & only being under the wise inspection of the
magistrates of the people.
I do not know, Sirs, whether I have to entertain you with an accessory claim
made to maintain the pretensions of the comedians, & which seems to me nothing but
offensive for them; that is the claim by persons who call themselves creditors of the
French theatre.
One barely comprehends what one can do with a question of this nature, the
intervention of the creditors. If the destruction of the privileges, if the overthrow of all
the abuses would have lead to the unrest of the creditors of those who lived of the
privileges & the abuses, few reforms would have been carried out.
The comedians have commitments, they will satisfy them; their state, far from
diminished by the competition & freedom, has to augment by the emulation & the
perfection of talents; why do their creditors have doubts – efforts which they will
make &
Chapter 1 Page 20
means which they will have to lure the public to their beautiful performance?
For a very long time though, or to say it better, always, comedians which have
an entirely formed establishment, which have distinguished talents, which have
shown their zeal to which we enjoyed to do justice, will have large advantages
over their competitors; & if the creditors were not able to reasonably count
on the fidelity & the talents of their debtors, ten they have lost nothing of
the securities on which have speculated.
I have nothing more to say to you but for a disposition of the police
which you will find in the draft Decree which I am presenting.
Without doubt you have often been scandalized by these armed vassals
[satellites] that are inside the performance rooms, & which put signs of
enslavement & pressure next to the peaceful pleasures of citizens.
It is definitely necessary that good order & tranquility rule in these
places where many men assemble; it may be sometimes necessary to employ public
force to calm the people who are looking to cause trouble & to make them
observe the regulations; but, for that, it is not necessary that bayonets
surround the spectators, & that all eyes meet the signs of the suspicion of
the armed authority. Civil officers inside the room, & a guard outside which
can be called by them when needed, these are all the precautions which the
public order requires, that reason authorizes, & that the regime of freedom
can permit.
Chapter 1 Page 21
DECREE SUBMITTED
On the Petition of the dramatic Authors,
13 January 1791.
__________________________
Every citizen will be able to establish a public theatre & to have
performed there pieces of all genres, while making, prior to the establishment,
his declaration to the Municipality.
The Works of Authors deceased since five years & more, are public property,
& can, in spite of all ancient privileges, which are abolished, be performed
in all theatres indistinctly.
The works of living authors cannot be performed in any public theatre, in
all of the entire territory [l'étendue] of France, without the formal consent &
in writing by the authors, on the penalty of the confiscation of the total product
of the performance to profit the author.
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The disposition of article III applies to works already performed, be it under
the old regulations; nevertheless the acts which will have been agreed upon between
the comedians & living authors or the Authors deceased since less than five years,
will be executed.
The heirs or cessionaries of the authors, will be owners of their works during
five years after the death of the Authors.
The entrepreneurs or the members of the different theatres will be, for reason
of their status, under the inspection of the municipalities; they will only receive orders
form municipal officers, which will not be able to stop not to defend the performance
of a piece, solely the responsibility of the authors & the comedians, & which will not
be able to order anything except according to the law & to the police regulations,
regulations for which the Constitutional Committee will shortly draft a project of
instruction; provisionally the ancient police regulations will be executed.
Chapter 1 Page 23
VII.
There will only be one external guard at the performance, of which the troops
will not be called upon [ne seront point chargées], if it is not a case in which the
municipal officers have formally demanded them to do so.
There will always be one or more civil officers inside the rooms, & the guard
will only enter those if the public safety would be compromised, & on the formal
demand of the officer of police, which will be according to the laws & the regulations
of the police.
Every citizen will be held to provisionally obey the civil officer.
_________________
Translation by: Freya Baetens