Tea at Trianon: A New America

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

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

A New America

This morning I awoke to an America which, for the most part, cares nothing about extending the slaughter of the unborn. While the fact of infanticide bothers me, it obviously does not bother many other people. I am amazed at how many are not bothered by it at all, even after everything that science has shown us about life in the womb. There is no excuse for such callous disregard of unborn babies. As for our president elect, his voting record is public; it has not been hidden. He has been very open about his opinion on abortion; it is no secret. Yet it seems not to matter, not even to many Roman Catholics.

Many fellow citizens also are completely unconcerned about living under socialism. People seem to want the government to take care of them, but being taken care of often means ceding one's civil rights. It must be admitted, our country has been creeping in this direction for many, many years. What we face now did not happen over night. The groundwork has been laid by past leaders, many of whom have portrayed themselves as being conservative.

Perhaps it is human nature to look to politics for solutions to all problems. People want a political savior, someone who will make life in this world easier and more tolerable. We expect our leaders to be omnipotent, to accomplish things that are beyond the scope of one person to achieve. Of course, politics should be used as a tool for doing good, for working towards social justice. However, I have come to believe that some evils will be vanquished only when hearts are changed, when minds are enlightened to true goodness. To change minds and hearts is ultimately beyond human power; there is only one Savior. Let us trust Him, and not in human institutions and political parties.
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