Tea at Trianon: The On-going Revolution

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, December 13, 2010

The On-going Revolution

I keep finding out more about the bizarre attack on Prince Charles and Camilla. Who was responsible for such a major lapse in security? The Duchess of Cornwall was poked with a stick. More HERE. The British royals are not my favorite among royals (I prefer the Habsburgs) but I hate to see things like this happen.

And the chopping down of the Glastonbury tree really makes me sick. What is wrong with people? Oliver Cromwell tried to destroy the tree, too, but it grew back. Hopefully, the tree will grow again. (More HERE.)

(Via The Western Confucian) Share

3 comments:

Christina said...: I am beyond disgusted by those pictures in the Daily Mail article - including that of the hoodlum urinating on Churchill's statue. Did he and the other heroes of WWII really save Britain for this?

It makes me sad to see what a once great nation has come to.; December 14, 2010 at 1:19:00 AM EST
lara77 said...: I also heard that when these hoodlums attacked the Rolls Royce carrying Their Royal Highnesses thay screamed "Off with their heads!" This was so revolting and disgraceful. Do these thugs think the Prince of Wales makes government policy? Do they know the millions of dollars The Prince's Trust distributes every year to charity? The chopping down of that tree in Glastonbury made me want to cry; what savages would destroy nature? A tree with such history? I will never understand people; especially those that relish destruction of property.; December 14, 2010 at 9:21:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Really. I agree with you both!; December 14, 2010 at 9:23:00 AM EST