Tea at Trianon: De Gaullemania

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, June 21, 2010

De Gaullemania

The indomitable Charles de Gaulle.

In troubled economic times, and with politicians enjoying handsome perks at taxpayers’ expense, reaching for de Gaulle may also be a way for the French to invoke a model of integrity and modesty. Even as president, de Gaulle paid his gas and electricity bills himself. In 1958, unveiling an austerity programme, he announced: “Without an effort to regain control, without the sacrifice it requires and the hope it entails, we will remain a country that lags behind, swinging continually between drama and mediocrity.”

Julygirl said...: Yes, those wartime leaders look better by the day compared with what we have had over the past couple of decades.; June 21, 2010 at 9:16:00 AM EDT
lara77 said...: Charles de Gaulle had something that French politicians miss today; class. I can only think of Giscard d'Estaing who came pretty close in his carriage and demeanor. DeGaulle took his position as President seriously; without the tabloid stories we hear of politicians today. I also know from his writings that he was a monarchist at heart and wished France could return to its ancient heritage. I think the French disappointed him and he felt in his heart they were never worthy of France. He was always fascinating and a man who will go down in history as one of the greatest in French history.; June 22, 2010 at 8:24:00 AM EDT
May said...: I am pretty sure that De Gaulle supported Belgium's unfortunate king, Léopold III, at a time when he was shamefully wronged and defamed by other Allied leaders. A definite mark in De Gaulle's favor, in my view.; June 24, 2010 at 11:29:00 PM EDT