Tea at Trianon: Romance

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

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Romance

Dymphna has a great post about the do's and don't's of a romantic marriage. (For the ladies!)
Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Oh, my.. I went there thinking it would be about how what men do kills romance. That either says a lot about me, or that I still believe in the gentility of women. Or both. No doubt what she says is true, but it'd be best if I don't even start to rebut. If I did, however, I'd begin with "Cologne: Wear it, guys. We won't even see you hanging all your clothes with the laundry, magazines and loose change on the floor we can't wash or vacuum until it's cleared...by us."; August 4, 2007 at 11:47:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: I altered it a bit, JustMe, so people will know it is aimed at the ladies. Do give some advice for men, too!!; August 4, 2007 at 12:10:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: Being mildly allergic to some commercial perfumes, I would amend that to simply say "Keep yourself clean."; August 4, 2007 at 2:51:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: Good advice. Once I gave one of my daughters advice on how to be with a man and she said, "Why would I take advice from you when your relationship failed?" I said, "because there is nothing like failure to teach one what success is." From my observations of marriages men resent their wives no matter what they do. I have seen pristine homes where the husband resented her for it...I have been in slovenly homes where the husband resents his wife.; August 5, 2007 at 5:02:00 AM EDT