Tea at Trianon: La Rochejaquelein

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 4, 2009

La Rochejaquelein

One of the greatest heroes of the Vendée.

His handsome youth and great courage made him a natural leader that his troops would follow anywhere. He once gave an order which has become one of the most famous phrases of the counterrevolutionary forces, "Mes amis, si j'avance, suivez-moi! Si je recule, tuez-moi! Si je meurs, vengez-moi!" - "Friends, if I advance, follow me! If I retreat, kill me! If I die, avenge me!"

Stephanie A. Mann said...: Thanks for posting his profile. I have read some notes about how little this particular episode of the French Revolution is covered in schools in France. There have also been some efforts to have the atrocities of the Vendee massacres declared an act of genocide by the French Government and the United Nations. I recommend Michael Davies' book, "For Altar and Throne" as a good introduction.; November 4, 2009 at 8:33:00 AM EST
Enbrethiliel said...: +JMJ+

So that is where the quote comes from! =) It's good to know. Thanks, Elena.; November 4, 2009 at 8:53:00 AM EST
Julygirl said...: I am glad to hear that those kinds of acts as the Vendee Massacre are being recognized in this day and age as atrocities and unacceptable actions. In American, schools when I was growing up, the French Revolution was viewed as some sort of glorious example to peoples of the world.; November 4, 2009 at 2:05:00 PM EST
lara77 said...: One of the greatest heroes of the Vendee; there is a famous painting of him with the white and gold flag of Royal France unfurled behind him with the words inscribed "For God and King". The day France acknowledges the genocide of the Vendee will be the day France realizes her revolution was not all glory and light!; November 5, 2009 at 8:05:00 AM EST
Stephanie A. Mann said...: Julygirl, my experience in school was like yours. I went to Catholic grade and high school and I never heard that Catholic priests and nuns were persecuted and executed or that Catholic churches were desecrated and destroyed! The French Revolution was just part of the inevitable progress of democracy and freedom, as I was taught. I had to discover the truth on my own.; November 5, 2009 at 8:44:00 AM EST