Tea at Trianon: Charlotte Brontë on Catholicism

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

Friday, October 5, 2007

Charlotte Brontë on Catholicism

Genevieve is reading Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of Charlotte Brontë. It sounds fascinating. (I wish I had time to read everything, but if the pile of books on the bedside table gets any higher, it will topple over.) The anti-Catholicism which is rearing its ugly head in our own times is nothing new. Even a sweet soul like Charlotte has some ugly things to say. Share

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: I grew up as a Protestant and also experienced the 'fear and loathing' of the Roman Catholic Church. It was a typical example of ignorance, prejudice, bigotry and extreme intolerance of any belief that differs from one's own. That is why 'open dialogue' between different thoughts and opinions is vital to break down intolerance.; October 5, 2007 at 10:18:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: Charlotte's anti-Catholic sentiments are in her novels. Two examples "The Professor" (her first novel published after her death) and "Vilette" are blantant with it!; October 5, 2007 at 9:16:00 PM EDT