emember the last opera
I saw in that merry nation was the 'Rape of Proserpine,' where Pluto,
to make the more tempting figure, puts himself in a French equipage, and
brings Ascalaphus along with him as his _valet de chambre_. This is what
we call folly and impertinence, but what the French look upon as gay and
polite."

II.

The French musical drama continued without much chance in the hands of
the Lulli school (for the musician had several skillful imitators and
successors) till the appearance of Jean Philippe Rameau, who inaugurated
a new era. This celebrated man was born in Auvergne in 1683, and was
during his earlier life the organist of the Clermont cathedral church.
Here he pursued the scientific researches in music which entitled him
in the eyes of his admirers to be called the Newton of his art. He had
reached the age of fifty without recognition as a dramatic composer,
when the production of "Hippolyte et Aricie" excited a violent feud
by creating a strong current of opposition to the music of Lulli. He
produced works in rapid succession, and finally overcame all obstacles,
and won for himself the name of being the greatest lyric composer which
France up to that time had produced. His last opera, "Les Paladins," was
given in 1760, the composer being then seventy-seven.

The bitterness of the art-feuds of that day, afterward shown in the
Gluck-Piccini contest, was foreshadowed in that waged by Rameau against
Lulli, and finally against the Italian newcomers, who sought to take
possession of the French stage. The matter became a natioual quarrel,
and it was considered an insult to France to prefer the music of an
Italian to that of a Frenchman--an insult which was often settled by the
rapier point, when tongue and pen had failed as arbitrators. The subject
was keenly debated by journalists and pamphleteers, and the press
groaned with essays to prove that Rameau was the first musician in
Europe, though his works were utterly unknown outside of France. Perhaps
no more valuable testimony to the character of these operas can be
adduced than that of Baron Grimm:

"In his operas Rameau has overpowered all his predecessors by dint of
harmony and quantity of notes. Some of his choruses are very fine.
Lulli could only sustain his vocal psalmody by a simple bass; Rameau
accompanied almost all his recitatives with the orchestra. These
accompaniments are generally in bad taste; they drown the voice rather
than support