Tea at Trianon: Music for the Queen

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, June 17, 2008

Music for the Queen

Marie-Antoinette still inspires after so many years.

Also from Catherine Delors, a revolutionary portrait. Share

4 comments:

Terry Nelson said...: Last night I watch a PBS documentary on her life - I wonder if you ever saw it. The said much of the bad things said about her life were false, but a couple of the people interviewed seemed to not admire her. One woman kept pointing out she committed treason, which definitely revealed her perspective on the monarchy.

They did describe the horrors of the revolution quite well however. To think we are still reaping that legacy! Although, considering the duration of human history, the revolution is only a few decades old.; June 17, 2008 at 10:43:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: I have seen it. It was alright, but not great. There was an A&E Biography that came out about 15 years ago that was much, much better. From the point of view of Marie-Antoinette, the traitors were those who had taken over the government and plunged France into chaos.; June 17, 2008 at 10:52:00 AM EDT
Terry Nelson said...: That was definitely my conclusion as well - the traitors were the revolutionaries - the Queen was the patriot. Everything has been upside down since.; June 17, 2008 at 6:36:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Yes. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette did what they thought was best for the France at the time.; June 17, 2008 at 7:31:00 PM EDT