Tea at Trianon: Government Schools

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, August 20, 2007

Government Schools

An interesting article about socialist education. I knew an old Maryland lady who used to say: "Free schools and dumb people!" Well, perhaps she was exaggerating a bit. But sometimes I wonder....At any rate, I went to public school for six years, and had some wonderful teachers. But anything I learned in school was a reinforcement of what I was learning at home, where my parents created an atmosphere conducive to reading and discussion. I do not think that anyone can totally trust anything as precious as the formation of children's minds and souls to ANY school. Every parent must be involved in their child's education. Share

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: And most schools would agree with you. They want parental participation. Very often it is parental pressure brought to bear on municiple governments that are behind raising educational standards. Many parents abdicate their authority willingly because they are too busy with their own personal concerns rather than monitoring what their children are up to. One needs to be vigilant until the so called 'age of reason' of the young person (about 25 years old nowadays)!; August 20, 2007 at 12:19:00 PM EDT