Tea at Trianon: Lost Dynasty

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, May 3, 2010

Lost Dynasty

Vietnamese royalty. Share

3 comments:

MadMonarchist said...: The Emperor's first wife was a very devout Catholic (there was alot of trouble with the marriage over religion) and she was quite outraged at his behavior during their marriage (they later seperated and she died fairly early in life). I'd also point out that the founder of the Nguyen dynasty had his eldest son educated in France and he became a Catholic and Emperor Bao Dai's father, Emperor Khai Dinh, though a staunch Buddhist, was healed after asking one of his Catholic courtiers to pray for him at the shrine of Our Lady of Lavang. Lots of very moving and interesting history there.; May 3, 2010 at 1:50:00 AM EDT
Julygirl said...: Interesting. I did not know about them.; May 3, 2010 at 7:38:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Very interesting! Thank you, MM!

I did not know much about them, either, Julygirl!; May 3, 2010 at 9:20:00 AM EDT