Tea at Trianon: Forms of address

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Forms of address

Here is a brief guide from Emily Post on the proper forms of address. I must admit that I have never warmed up to the term "Ms." It did not develop organically like "Mr." and "Mrs." but was a politically correct imposition of the feminist movement. Being a history major, "Ms." always reminded me of "MS" or "manuscript." I did not get married until age 34 but being addressed as "Miss" never bothered me. All the children I taught or took care of always called me "Miss Mary" or "Aunt Mary." (They still do.)

Also, the guide says that a couple living together without being married are to receive a joint invitation as if they were spouses. I disagree, and abide by the old rule which recommends that persons of the same household, over eighteen, who are not married to each other, receive separate invitations. (If people want to enjoy the privileges of married life then they need to take the plunge and GET MARRIED.) Share