Tea at Trianon: The Polish 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

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Polish Queen

Catherine Delors has an excellent post on Queen Marie Leszczynska, long-suffering wife of Louis XV. More HERE. Share

4 comments:

Catherine Delors said...: Thank you so much, Elena! I am putting the finishing touches to my post on Queen Marie's eldest daughter, Madame Elisabeth.; November 12, 2008 at 4:15:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I'm looking forward to it!; November 12, 2008 at 4:21:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: I complimented Catherine apropos her artistic license in composing her new banner visuals - are we not all wee Adam-n-Eve-n-Abel's? Is not our sojourn a procession from childhood --the inception of the human events in Watteaus art starts with a child, whose parents are placed next in the tableau, followed by a depiction of chivalrous aid to the infirm -- traversing a lifetime of learning of virtues, from conduct modelled on the sacrifices gleaned from the fruits of the labor of our elders?

Tolkein mimicked such classical imagery in his voyage to the Gray Havens at the end of his heroic trilogy, no?

The Polish Queen may not have relished her husband's vices but she avoided resorting to her own, and thus history failed to find anything noteworthy to record! She certainly laid up her treasures in Heaven, eight bambinos is nothing to scoff at, and in learning to love them with all their failings, she couldn't fail to love the father from whom they inherited those foibles. Therein lies the enduring bond of conjugal love, containing the seeds to overcome infidelity and jealousy: the grace of family ...; November 13, 2008 at 4:41:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thought-provoking reflections, as usual, Clare. Thank you. As you put it:

"The Polish Queen may not have relished her husband's vices but she avoided resorting to her own, and thus history failed to find anything noteworthy to record! She certainly laid up her treasures in Heaven...."

Yes, so true. Queen Marie gave example of a quiet and dignified life, always deporting herself in a virtuous manner, no matter what happened. It requires a lot of strength of character to be such a person.; November 13, 2008 at 4:50:00 PM EST