Tea at Trianon: Louis XVI Banned the Bomb

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 3, 2011

Louis XVI Banned the Bomb

Louis XVI banned the use of "infernal machines" as they were called.

The Italian scientist Poli invented an explosive ten times more powerful than gunpowder and he detonated it during an exhibition before Louis XVI. Pondering on the destructive power he had just seen, the king turned to Poli and said: “Your invention is most terrible and I will reward you for your studies. However, war is already too deadly and cruel so I do not want your invention to be used. I command that it remain absolutely secret.” (Read entire post.)

Hope said...: Quite interesting. What would our present day leaders do in a similar situation?; November 3, 2011 at 8:59:00 AM EDT
Julygirl said...: They would work to turn it into something more devasting that would kill more people faster....and eventually come upwith something that would annihilate the planet.; November 3, 2011 at 12:28:00 PM EDT
Gio said...: If only our politicians and leaders did the same! But I'm afraid they'd behave just like Julygirl said..; November 4, 2011 at 5:49:00 PM EDT