Tea at Trianon: The Persecution of Dr. Anthony Esolen

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, November 22, 2016

The Persecution of Dr. Anthony Esolen

From The Catholic World Report:

Anthony Esolen, professor of literature at Providence College, who is likely known to many CWR readers as his writing appears frequently on nearly every Catholic web site known to mankind, has written several columns critical of some of the decisions made by the administration of his institution.

Engaging in lively argumentation and debate is one of the longest standing traditions of the academy, from its ancient roots in Plato’s Academy, hearkening back to the practice of Plato’s greatest teacher, Socrates of Athens, to the medieval origins of the modern university at places such as Paris and Oxford, where the manner of teaching was often in the manner of the “disputed question.” In the twentieth century, professors frequently authored articles decrying the policies of their universities, whether it was involvement in Vietnam, support of the military-industrial complex, or disinvestment in South Africa because of its support of apartheid. The ability to speak openly in this way has long been considered one of the proudest traditions of American universities. “I might not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Thus when Prof. Esolen authored an article arguing, in his own inimitable style with his usual exuberant and evocative prose, that his institution had adopted a wrong-headed attitude toward “diversity,” one might have hoped that anyone who disagreed with his position would respond in a way worthy of the deepest traditions of any academic community: a thoughtful written response, laying out evidence, supplying facts, adducing arguments, contesting premises, disputing inferences, or perhaps merely appealing for a different set of perspectives. (Read more.)

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