History too is
neglected and discouraged, for it is "the disgrace of humanity,
every page being crowded with crimes and follies." Theatres are
government institutions, and have become the public schools of civic
duties and morality. [Footnote: In 1769 Mercier began to carry out
his programme of composing and adapting plays for instruction and
edification. His theory of the true functions of the theatre he
explained in a special treatise, Du theatre ou Nouvel Essai sur
l'art dramatique (1773).]
The literary records of the past had been almost all deliberately
destroyed by fire. It was found expedient to do away with useless
and pernicious books which only obscured truth or contained
perpetual repetitions of the same thing. A small closet in the
public library sufficed to hold the ancient books which were
permitted to escape the conflagration, and the majority of these
were English. The writings of the Abbe de Saint-Pierre were placed
next those of Fenelon. "His pen was weak, but his heart was sublime.
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