Tea at Trianon: Whatever Happened to Modesty?

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

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Whatever Happened to Modesty?

Some thoughts from Michael Hyatt. Share

2 comments:

Julygirl said...: Why are almost all wedding gowns these days strapless, even those worn within a church? When I visited 'The Holy Land" many years ago we were asked by the tour guide to dress modestly when we visited the holy sites. By the way, our tour guide was not a Christian and I was not on a Christian sponsored tour, but respect for these sites was expected. So why is it OK to wear sexually suggestive garments inside a church?; March 16, 2010 at 10:42:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: @Julygirl - Exactly! Why would you want to look sexy at your wedding? The reason you're there in the first place is because at least one man already thinks you are ;-) So, no need to prove anything...; March 17, 2010 at 4:15:00 AM EDT