Tea at Trianon: The Lost Art of the Thank-You Note

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

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Lost Art of the Thank-You Note

Southern Living gives advice on how to pen a sincere and thoughtful message.

Handwrite the note. Don’t just apply these tips to your e-mail thank-yous. Although it would be easier to send an e-mail or type a letter, a handwritten thank-you note is the most sincere and appreciated form of gratitude. The extra effort goes a long way.

lara77 said...: Elena Maria, you are so on the mark with the art of the thank you letter. I recently spent a wonderful Christmas in Northern California with my beloved sister and her husband, my nephew and his beautiful wife. I had the most wonderful holiday and when I returned immediately wrote a thank you note to my sister and brother in law to thank them for the wonderful Christmas. My sister called and I could hear in her voice her emotions as she thanked me for the kindness of the note.Elena Maria, a thank you note means so very much!!! Thank you.; March 14, 2011 at 8:24:00 AM EDT