Tea at Trianon: An Interview with Gerard Webster

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

Monday, February 1, 2010

An Interview with Gerard Webster

Last spring while flying across the Pacific Ocean I read Gerard Webster's novel In-sight; while it was the perfect book for a long trip, I would recommend it for ordinary times as well. I was delighted when Mr. Webster sent me the link to an interview which gives more information about the subject matter of the book. Here is an excerpt of the interview:

Like the prodigal son and Nabucodonosor, Ward McNulty represents those many materialistic souls who lose sight of the eternal in pursuit of the temporal. That’s basically what sin is…choosing the creature over the Creator. Worldly accomplishments can blind us to own faults and lead to a false pride. With that kind of pride, it usually takes quite a cannonade of catastrophes to pound down the outer walls. Only then, if ever, can grace penetrate the defenses. “Recovery”—whether for an addict, an alcoholic, or a professional sinner—often begins in just such a manner. Being “humbled” is nothing more than seeing yourself for who and what you really are; honestly admitting your faults. And then seeing God for Who He is. That’s the beginning of change.