Tea at Trianon: Christmas Card from the Knights of Columbus

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

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Christmas Card from the Knights of Columbus

Terry Nelson said...: That is so beautiful.; December 8, 2012 at 11:20:00 AM EST
julygirl said...: The current trend of everyone and anyone touching and stroking an expectant mother's belly, walking around with tops so tight one can see the protruding navel, and even to the extent of posing nude, is beyond bad taste in my opinion. So I will hold off on comments pro or con regarding this Christmas Card.; December 8, 2012 at 11:43:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: oh how beautiful!! You know this HAS TO BE a reference to the recent occurance of the miraculous glow on the image of OL Guadalupe in the basilica in Mexico, during a mass at which many American priests and bishops and others were in attendance. The glow came from the abdomen area, and was in the shape of a fetus. YOu can see pictures of it on youtube and other places online.

~Gette; December 9, 2012 at 11:37:00 AM EST
Dymphna said...: I don't care for the artistry but it's far from being in bad taste.; December 10, 2012 at 5:10:00 PM EST
Dymphna said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; December 10, 2012 at 9:37:00 PM EST