Tea at Trianon: Remembering Tolkien

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

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Remembering Tolkien

September 2 was the anniversary of his death. Jørn K. Baltzersen has a post on the great British author, with links to some fascinating articles. Here is a thought from one article by Mr. Baltzersen:

The 6 books of the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien describe a classical good versus evil conflict. The theme is power, and the goal is to end it. The story has a happy ending; the end of tyranny and the return of the king after ages of darkness. What do these marching armies reaching as far as the eye can see remind us of? The Nazism, fascism, and communism of the twentieth century come to mind. There is little doubt that the past century gave us the most terrible acts in human history. It is commonly believed that democracy is the sound alternative to tyranny. However, it is not democracy that returns in Middle Earth. It is monarchy. Share

3 comments:

J.K. Baltzersen said...: Thank you, madam, for the links!; September 4, 2007 at 3:00:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: You are quite welcome, Mr. Baltzersen!; September 4, 2007 at 3:14:00 PM EDT
Vara said...: Democracy is not the alternative to tyranny, an annointed kngship is! Say what you will, Bourbon France and Spain, Hapsburg Austria, and Romanov Russia were not tyrannies. There were no gulags, no murder of children, or ransacking of peasants.

In fact, "democracy" can turn into the "tyranny of ther majority". What if the majority of Americans decided to impose euthanasia? If you believe in "democracy", you would have to agree to this.

The King is the icon of the Lord in Heaven, when one bows before the Earthly King, one is also apt to bow before God as well. If one believes in "democracy" (more precisely, egalitarianism), one must be very careful not to turn into an icon of the first "individualist"... Lucifer.

Food for thought.

Vara; September 4, 2007 at 5:38:00 PM EDT