Tea at Trianon: Happy Thanksgiving!

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

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

From Under the Gables:

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Adrienne said...: Have a wonderful day, Elena. God bless you and your family...; November 24, 2011 at 9:42:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you, Adrienne, the same to you, dear!; November 24, 2011 at 10:05:00 AM EST
tubbs said...: BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOURS, and thanks for posting a painting of a Pennsylvania farm. (Sweet memories of my grandparents); November 24, 2011 at 10:34:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: It's a Pennsylvania farm? I had no idea!; November 24, 2011 at 10:37:00 AM EST
tubbs said...: It has all the look and feel of that New Hope-Lambertville school from the first half of the 20th century. I could be wrong.; November 24, 2011 at 11:40:00 AM EST
May said...: That is such a beautiful painting! Have a blessed day, everyone!; November 24, 2011 at 12:34:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I'm too pooped out to do the early morning "black friday" shopping. How about you?; November 25, 2011 at 2:03:00 AM EST