Tea at Trianon: Tragedy

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

Monday, April 16, 2007

Tragedy

Please pray. My cousin's husband was among those shot at Virginia Tech. He is at the hospital; we do not know whether he is alive or dead. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Lord, have mercy. I am praying.; April 16, 2007 at 2:31:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: M-E,

Good news!

I just got off the phone with my father. Uncle Milt told him (on the phone) that Gil was hit in the scalp area, but nothing penetrated into his brain. He went into surgury to have the bullet removed, and will be in the hospital overnight.

It is good news for us. Still, there is far too much terrible news for others.

-Ian; April 16, 2007 at 3:35:00 PM EDT
Lylia M said...: Thanks be to God. I am very happy to hear this news!

May our dear Lord surround all affected by this horrendous tragedy with His light and love.; April 16, 2007 at 3:39:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Ian, so much. I just heard from uncle Milt, too. Thanks be to God.

Thanks, Juliana, for your precious prayers and to the others who wrote me privately, thank you so much.; April 16, 2007 at 3:40:00 PM EDT