A place for friends to meet... with reflections on politics, history, art, music, books, morals, manners, and matters of faith.
A blog by Elena Maria Vidal.
"She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr."
"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."
"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
A Note on Reviews
Unless otherwise noted, any books I review on this blog I have either purchased or borrowed from the library, and I do not receive any compensation (monetary or in-kind) for the reviews.
I served in the Marines from Jan 73 to Sept 95. Why the Government put women into the Specialities that they did were and remain a mystery to me.
Here is how it affected the moral. Women could not serve aboard ships. My 30 or so Marines would have to go on 6 month deployments. I could only send males therefore if I had 15 man and 15 women, 5 men were at sea, 5 men were getting ready to out to sea and 5 just got back. The women would be in garrison. They were given "meritorious" promotions that the men weren't around to compete for and the wives of those who had to go... well it wasn't good for the marriage.
Now there were some who said that if the Marine Corps didn't issue you a wife you don't need one. From time to time I had to use the same logic. But it was not fair. Now we have women at sea deployed with men who are not in the Corps and who have to stay at home with the kids. It is a receipe for infidelity. Possibly that is the the whole idea.
One last thing... During the Gulf war both my wife and I were deployed, she a Navy Corpsman and I on the USS Iwo Jima. My youngest was 4 at the time, will be graduating from College next week, and marrying 3 weeks hence. If the enemy knew more about their business, she could have grown up minus one or both of us. I pause to wonder how she and her siblings would have turned out. Jhesu+Marie
Yes, these practices defeat logic, reason and destroy the morale soldiers so desperately need to do their job. Thank you for commenting. Thanks be to God that both you and your wife returned home safely.
Marie-Antoinette "en gaulle" by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
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Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars: Her Life, Her Times, Her Legacy
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Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars: Her Life, Her Times, Her Legacy
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Trianon: A Novel of Royal France
My Queen, My Love: A Novel of Henrietta Maria
Available from Amazon
The Saga of Marie-Antoinette's daughter, Marie-Thérèse of France
A Novel of the Restoration
In Kirkus Top 20 for 2014! And #1 in Kindle Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction
"In every Eden, there dwells a serpent . . . ."
#1 in Kindle History of France!
The Night's Dark Shade: A Novel of the Cathars
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3 comments:
Back after a long time...
I served in the Marines from Jan 73 to Sept 95. Why the Government put women into the Specialities that they did were and remain a mystery to me.
Here is how it affected the moral. Women could not serve aboard ships. My 30 or so Marines would have to go on 6 month deployments. I could only send males therefore if I had 15 man and 15 women, 5 men were at sea, 5 men were getting ready to out to sea and 5 just got back. The women would be in garrison. They were given "meritorious" promotions that the men weren't around to compete for and the wives of those who had to go... well it wasn't good for the marriage.
Now there were some who said that if the Marine Corps didn't issue you a wife you don't need one. From time to time I had to use the same logic. But it was not fair. Now we have women at sea deployed with men who are not in the Corps and who have to stay at home with the kids. It is a receipe for infidelity. Possibly that is the
the whole idea.
de Brantigny
One last thing...
During the Gulf war both my wife and I were deployed, she a Navy Corpsman and I on the USS Iwo Jima. My youngest was 4 at the time, will be graduating from College next week, and marrying 3 weeks hence. If the enemy knew more about their business, she could have grown up minus one or both of us. I pause to wonder how she and her siblings would have turned out.
Jhesu+Marie
Welcome back, M.de Brantigny! I have missed you.
Yes, these practices defeat logic, reason and destroy the morale soldiers so desperately need to do their job. Thank you for commenting. Thanks be to God that both you and your wife returned home safely.
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