Tea at Trianon: I Never Knew

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, September 26, 2008

I Never Knew

It has recently been revealed that Canadian author Lucy Maude Montgomery took her own life. I am so sad for her. Her books have brought so much joy. (Via Feminine Genius)

More HERE and HERE. Share

6 comments:

Enbrethiliel said...: +JMJ+

I never would have guessed! =O

I'm reading Anne of Green Gables right now. It's only my second time in about fifteen years, and it's just so lovely and bursting with joy. How sad that Montgomery knew such depression and suffering. =(; September 26, 2008 at 7:48:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: I never knew, either.
:<; September 26, 2008 at 8:41:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Poor soul, how she must have suffered to do such a thing.; September 26, 2008 at 8:43:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: oh my!! I never would have guessed either! _Anne of Green Gables_ is filled with such a clever view of looking at life, always with a keen sense of humor! I know Ms Montgomery must have been terribly distraught and ill to have been driven to do such a thing. I pray for her soul to rest in the eternal peace of Our Merciful and All-Understanding, All-Seeing Lord.

~Georgette; September 26, 2008 at 1:57:00 PM EDT
EC Gefroh said...: Oh my goodness! This secret was well kept. How very sad.; September 27, 2008 at 1:28:00 AM EDT
Unknown said...: I never knew this. I knew her married life was fraught with some difficulties, but this is sad news. She must have written of her dreams.; September 27, 2008 at 11:44:00 PM EDT