Tea at Trianon: Memories of Auckland

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

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Memories of Auckland

In April 2009, I had the privilege of speaking at the Eucharistic Conference in Auckland, New Zealand. The conference organizer John Porteous recently put the videos of my talks online. The first talk, about Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, is HERE. The second talk, about their children, is HERE. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Great talk!! Just finished the first one, now moving on to the second one. I think everyone should watch these!!

You are in my daily prayers.

Love,
Gette; June 19, 2012 at 9:28:00 PM EDT
lara77 said...: Thank you for sharing the videos!! The most important topic discussed in your lecture was the meaning of faith; how faith so affected the lives of the King and Queen of France. I have learned so much from your books and the true meaning of the French Revolution. A deliberate systematic destruction of France's Catholic and monarchical past to create their republican "nirvana." NOW it will be interesting to see how the millions of Muslims will react to the French republican concepts of state and faith. One thing is for sure; it will be quite a bumpy future.; June 20, 2012 at 8:25:00 AM EDT
julygirl said...: Enjoyed your talk. You should lecture on the college level! Lots of info with a simple straigt-forward delivery.; June 20, 2012 at 10:14:00 AM EDT
May said...: So glad I get to be there, virtually :); June 21, 2012 at 11:26:00 AM EDT