Tea at Trianon: Hartwell

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

Friday, September 29, 2017

Hartwell

From Jewish News Online:

Hartwell House has a remarkable history: its most famous resident was Louis XVIII, exiled King of France, for five years from 1809. And once a property hosts royalty, standards are set. Hartwell House has 30 bedrooms and suites on three floors. All of the ‘boudoirs’ (Louis XVIII’s term) on the first floor, where we were accommodated, have been named after members of the Bourbon family. Many of the rooms have four-poster beds and all are decorated in a style reflecting the character of the house. We stayed in the Duchesse d’Angouleme room, named after the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who resided there with her uncle for five years. I hope she was as comfortable as we were. After settling in, the sunshine called and we set off to explore the 94 acres of parkland, landscaped by a contemporary of Capability Brown. (Read more.)