Neapolitan princess, had applauded the Naples Revolution put
into music.

The government of Charles X. protected Meyerbeer as well as Rossini.
Robert le Diable was only played under the reign of Louis Philippe, but
the work had already been received under the Restoration.

During the reign of Charles X. the fine royal theatres reached the
height of their splendor: the Francais and the Odeon were installed in
their present quarters; the Opera in the hall of the Rue La Peletier,
excellent as to acoustics and proportions; the Italiens in the Salle
Favart (where they remained from 1825 to 1838); the Opera Comique in
the Salle Feydeau, until the month of April, 1829, when it inaugurated
the Salle Ventadour. Talma, Mademoiselle Duchesnoir, Mademoiselle Mars,
triumphed at the Francais; Mademoiselle Georges, at the Odeon; Nourrit,
Levasseur, Madame Damoreau, Taglioni, at the Opera; Sontag, Pasta,
Malibran, and Rubini at the Italiens.

The Viscount de la Rochefoucauld wished in every way to raise the moral
level of the theatre. He forbade subscribers, even the most
influential, the entree behind the scenes of the Opera, because these
persons had not always preserved there the desirable decorum. Thence
arose rancor and spite, against which he had to contend during his
entire administration. He wrote to the King, July 29, 1828:--

"A cabal is formed to deprive me of the direction of the theatres; and
by whom and for what? It is a struggle, Sire, between good and evil. It
is sought to maintain, at any cost, the abuses I have dared to reform.
They throw a thousand unjust obstacles in my way. Gamblers are mixed up
in it too; they wish to join this ignoble industry and the theatres. It
is a monstrous infamy. The opera must be reached at all hazards, the
coulisses must be entered; these are the abuses that must be revived.
How can it be done? By removing the theatres from troublesome authority
... Sire, Your Majesty shall decide, and must defend me with a firm
will in the interest, I venture to declare, of order; you must defend
yourself also in the interest of morals and of art, and of a great
influence of which it is sought to deprive you."

M. de La Rochefoucauld had the last word, and remained at the head of
the direction of the Fine Arts until the close of the Restoration. To
the credit of his administration there must still be added the creation
of the school of religious music, directed by Choron, and the
foundation of the