On one occasion when Marie Antoinette went to the opera, a striking proof was given by the audience of their extraordinary and marked affection for her. The opera of “Iphigenia” by Glück was being performed, in the second act of which there is a chorus, in which Achilles sings the first verse, turning to his followers and saying-- “Chantons, célébrez votre reine!” Instead of that the actor gave these words-- “Chantons, célébrons notre reine, L’hymen, qui sous ses lois l’enchaîne, Va nous rendre à jamais heureux.” The audience took this up with enthusiastic ardour. “All was shouting and clapping of hands, and--what never happened at the opera before--the chorus was encored, and there were cries of ‘Long live the Queen,’” at which expression of feeling the Queen was so affected that she shed tears. A similar demonstration occurred the last time the Queen was ever in a playhouse, the play on this occasion being Grétry’s “Les Evenements Imprévus.” By mistaken kindness, one of the leading ladies bowed to the Queen as she sang the words, “Ah, how I love my mistress!” in a duet. Instantly twenty voices shouted from the pit, “No mistress, no master! liberty!” A few counter voices cried, “Vive le Roi! Vive le Reine!” but the pit drowned them, “No master, no Queen!” A quarrel ensued, but the Queen as composed as before was loudly cheered as she quitted the theatre--never to be seen again at a dramatic performance. In Maria Theresa, who became Empress of Germany in 1745, the drama had a strong supporter, a taste which had always been wisely encouraged. The story goes that her father composed an opera at a time when war was raging, his country falling into ruins, and his Court receiving the bribes of his enemies.