Tea at Trianon: Resolutions

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

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Resolutions

Resolutions are part of the spiritual journey. No matter how often we slip backwards, as long as we resolve to keep striving for holiness, then progress will be made, with God's help. Resolutions should be part of anyone's on-going conversion; they are certainly part of mine. However, I have had trouble in the past with New Year's resolutions, possibly because I tended to take on too many things. It is better to make one simple resolution, one that you know you will be able to keep, rather than making a dozen lofty and impossible ones. Share

2 comments:

julygirl said...: This year I resolved to NOT make any resolutions!; January 2, 2012 at 12:02:00 AM EST
Gio said...: I agree with you. I always ended up breaking my resolutions in the past and I think that's because they were too general and unattainable. I think I will make a simple one this year. :); January 2, 2012 at 2:31:00 PM EST