ed by Piccini had no dramatic unity, no great ensembles,
nothing but short airs, detached, without connection--no substance,
but mere ornamentation. Gluck proved, also, that tragedy could be
introduced in opera, while Piccini maintained that opera could embrace
only the fable--the marvellous and fairylike. This musical quarrel
became a veritable national issue, every salon, the Academy, and all
clubs being partisans of one or the other theory; it did much to mould
the later French and German music, and much credit is due the queen
for the support given and the intelligence displayed in so important
an issue.

All singers, actors, writers, geniuses in all things, were sure of
welcome and protection from Marie Antoinette; but she permitted
her passion for the theatre to carry her to extremes unbecoming her
position, for she consorted with comedians, played their parts, and
associated with them as though they were her equals. Such conduct
as this, and her exclusiveness in court circles, encouraged calumny.
Versailles was deserted by the best families, and all the pomp
and traditions of the French monarchs were abandoned. The king, in
sanctioning these amusements at the "Little Trianon," lost the respect
and esteem of the nobility, but the queen was held responsible for all
evil,--for the deficit in the treasury, and the increase in taxes;
to such an extent was she blamed, that the tide of public popularity
turned and she was regarded with suspicion, envy, and even hatred.

In the spring of 1777 the queen's brother, the Emperor Joseph II. of
Austria, arrived in Paris for a visit to his sister and the court of
France. The relations between him and Marie Antoinette became quite
intimate; the emperor, always disposed to be critical, did not
hesitate to warn his sister of the dangers of her situation, pointing
out to her her weakness in thus being led on by her love of pleasure,
and the deplorable consequences which this weakness would infallibly
entail in the future. The queen acknowledged the justness of the
emperor's reasoning, and, though often deeply offended by his
frankness and severity, she determined upon reform. This resolution
was, to some extent, influenced by the hope of pregnancy; so, when
her expectations in that direction proved to be without foundation, so
keen was the disappointment thus occasioned, that, in order to forget
it, she plunged into dissipation to such an extent that it soon
developed into a veri