Tea at Trianon: A Family of Fourteen

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

Sunday, August 5, 2007

A Family of Fourteen

A beautiful story, via Pewsitter. The father of the family says:

"This culture of fear infects everything that people do, extending especially to people's approach to love, marriage and children. People are afraid to have children for a million reasons that, fundamentally, are completely out of their control.

Faith is not only the only solution to this fear, but is the only solution that can lead to a deep and abiding happiness. Without faith the result is the impossible desire to control all circumstances, a desire that is doomed to failure, and which will only lead to despair."

Anonymous said...: I read about a recent poll where couples ranked what they felt was most important in their marriage, and having children ranked #8.; August 5, 2007 at 11:32:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: +JMJ+

I agree that it's interesting, yet also saddening.

Alaughland, what made the Top 5?; August 7, 2007 at 12:26:00 AM EDT