Tea at Trianon: A New Dream

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, October 11, 2014

A New Dream

From Seton Magazine:

I have always had this dream of a perfect cottage garden. The carefully bedded out plants which are planted with an eye toward harmony and blending of color, shape and size. I would also love to have a perfect French potager right outside of my kitchen.

When I dreamed of having a family I had a similar kind of vision, and when my oldest son Ryan was born I pictured a smart, athletic kid who would read books, play games, have lots of friends and someday find a nice girl (of whom I approved!) and settle down to giving me beautiful grandchildren.

The reality of that was very different. Ryan was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old. I had an eighteen-month-old and was six months pregnant. My husband and I knew this diagnosis was coming but we were still heartsick at the official-ness of calling our son ‘disabled’.

The dream died a little that day but I have to say that after the mourning period it wasn’t that hard for us to look at the situation, see what was good and adjust the dream. We revived it rather than bury it and we surrendered to the plan that God had for our family. He made this leap of faith in trusting us with this extraordinary child and we had to believe that the Almighty had a plan and that we needed His help to accomplish it. (Read more.)