Tea at Trianon: The Truth about Marie-Antoinette

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, July 13, 2010

The Truth about Marie-Antoinette

A brave defense of the Queen. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Bravo! It is so heartwarming to see your long labors in this regard coming to fruition! Praise be to God!; July 13, 2010 at 10:29:00 AM EDT
Julygirl said...: There are never any 'pat' answers, but there was more behind the French Revolution than the excesses of the French Court. In modern times France has been the fermenting area for radical revolutionary thinkers such Lenin, due to the fertile environment of extreme, drastic,uncompromising philosphies of social reform that was a legacy of the political powers behind the French Revolution.; July 13, 2010 at 6:30:00 PM EDT
lara77 said...: Well though I disagree with the writer's opinion of the President of the United States I do so agree that the victors write the history books. We learned in school the republic's version of the "truth." I guess with age does come wisdom! I have also learned that though you may disagee with others try to realize that there are good people on the other side of the argument.Thank you for sharing this Elena Maria.; July 14, 2010 at 8:35:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Gette and Julygirl. Yes, the Revolution lives on.

Yes, Lara, I have discovered the same thing. I have learned more than ever not to judge people.; July 14, 2010 at 9:08:00 AM EDT