Tea at Trianon: Pass and Pay

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

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Pass and Pay

Madame Delors describes a magnificent work of art which shows how people crossed the muddy streets on rainy days. Share

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: Battles have been lost because of mud. Our distaste for it is such that we have practically paved over the whole world. When the wheel was invented no one knew that its nemesis would be mud.; January 14, 2010 at 6:45:00 AM EST
Svea Love said...: Interesting post. What a sight people must have been! Thanks for the link :); January 14, 2010 at 10:10:00 AM EST
Enbrethiliel said...: +JMJ+

"Pass and pay" is still a quick way to earn some money in many parts of the Philippines!; January 18, 2010 at 8:24:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Really? That is good to know. I'll have lots of questions for you about things like that when I write my novel about my grandmother's life in the Philippines.; January 18, 2010 at 12:58:00 PM EST
andrew1860 said...: Louis-Leopold Boilly is one of my favorite artist. You can read so much into his paintings. They take you to late 18th century early 19th century France; December 27, 2010 at 10:30:00 PM EST