Tea at Trianon: Empress Alexandra

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, June 12, 2011

Empress Alexandra

A study in pictures, by Madame Guillotine.

lara77 said...: What beautiful photos; Her Majesty always had a sad and far away look in her eyes. I shudder to think how her life ended. I must say the photos that were posted by Madame Guillotine were beautiful; I find her name to be disconcerting at the least!; June 13, 2011 at 11:19:00 AM EDT
Alice Seidel said...: I am always drawn to pictures such as these. The beautiful gowns and the equally beautiful jewelry; it is all passing, isn't it? Because she is long dead, and only pictures remain.
Such is this life!; June 13, 2011 at 12:30:00 PM EDT
Julygirl said...: Having worked with parents who have a child suffering from some sort of 'disability', I have experienced the sorrow deep in their eyes. 9She was also sad for the plight of her adopted Country.); June 14, 2011 at 11:36:00 AM EDT