Tea at Trianon: Restoration London

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 3, 2016

Restoration London

From English Historical Fiction Authors:

Charles II's reign is known as the Restoration in English history. This is because Charles was restored to the throne in 1660 after the Commonwealth period during which Oliver Cromwell and his more repressive Puritan views had set the moral tone. When the King came back from exile he brought with him a Court which had taken on the laxer morals of France and was determined to impose them. Charles II himself was a womaniser and reveller, and soon he gathered a coterie of wild and dangerous young men around him.They could do almost anything they wanted and get away with it, very often under the protection of the King himself, which is why their behaviour was tolerated, even if it was outrageous or repellent by usual standards. (Read more.)

Isabel Azar said...: I find the Restoration period quite fascinating, especially considering that many of the most dissipated characters died repentant. Charles II converted to Catholicism on his deathbed, John Dryden became Catholic about the time James II ascended the throne, Rochester made a full repudiation of his sinful life before dying, and Nell Gwyn made her will "in the hope of a joyful resurrection." I love that they saw the Truth in the end.; December 3, 2016 at 1:30:00 AM EST
Isabel Azar said...: Also, I had to read Wycherley's "The Country Wife" in the same class in which we read "Evelina" (we covered the last bit of the Restoration era). Apart from the wit displayed by the characters, I found it dreadful - everyone cheated on everyone else, with no consequences. Morally bankrupt.; December 3, 2016 at 1:36:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I agree! I wonder if it was Queen Catherine's prayers....; December 3, 2016 at 10:25:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, there was a great deal of wanton literature at that time.; December 3, 2016 at 10:27:00 AM EST
Isabel Azar said...: I'm sure that had something to do with it!; December 3, 2016 at 12:21:00 PM EST
Isabel Azar said...: True, though I read Congreve's comedy "The Way of the World" for amusement this past summer, and there was some sense of morality in that - the main couple in the end pledge to have a strictly monogamous relationship, regardless of what everyone else is doing.; December 3, 2016 at 10:27:00 PM EST