Tea at Trianon: Facebook is Fun

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

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Facebook is Fun

One of my Canadian cousins lured me onto Facebook, and now I am hooked. It is indeed a great means of keeping track of one's relatives. It is also a handy way to find old acquaintances, make new ones, and strengthen existing friendships. My husband finds it helpful for political and professional networking. Here is an article about Facebook. (It is fun to join the various groups.)

Facebook’s social networking is based on association, as identified by the member’s email address, so that there are networks for schools and companies, and also on location, so there are networks for the region, town, or neighborhood the member claims calls home. There are also affinity groups, for, well, just about... anything. For example, there is a group, admittedly small and mostly English, dedicated to “HM King Francis II — our rightful Monarch” — Franz, Duke of Bavaria, senior descendant of Charles the Martyr. Were it not for the Inglorious Revolution and the infamous Act of Succession, “HM” would be living in Buckingham rather than Nymphenburg Palace. He is no doubt happier in Munich; I know I would be. Of course but for the Inglorious and Infamous Revolution and Act, King Henry IX Benedict would have been a statesman rather than a churchman and left behind generations of royal Stuarts rather than passing his claim on first to the house of Savoy, now Wittlesbach (by way of Habsburg), and eventually Liechtenstein. A slightly larger group proclaims, “Prince Charlie Was Overrated, But I’m Still A Jacobite,” which seems fair enough. “Return the House of Stuart to the Throne!” demands another, sadly, despite the exclamation point, for, as I have noted, that House passed into history with the Cardinal Bishop of Frascati and Duke of York. The more modestly named group of mere “Jacobites” seems more reasonable.