Tea at Trianon: French courts take a stand

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

Friday, March 16, 2007

French courts take a stand

An important ruling by French courts was just passed. I hope American courts follow suit (but I'm not holding my breath.) Watch and pray. (Via the NOR) Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: This is the third hopeful article in as many days of the fighting-back against satan's skewing of human love. One came from the U.S. military, one from a diocese out west. It's good. Just yesterday I saw a bleached blond youngster of middle school age with two very bewildered friends. It would be better if those went back to riding bicycles and climbing trees rather than kissing in confusion in town. When we accept a third (4th, 5th?) sexuality for any of us, we are also and perhaps irreparably handing our kids rocks instead of bread.; March 16, 2007 at 11:39:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Lily, I could not agree with you more.; March 16, 2007 at 11:43:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: While France has civil union pacts, it doesn't carry the same weight as for married couples.; March 16, 2007 at 4:36:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Elisa. That is good to know.; March 16, 2007 at 8:53:00 PM EDT