Tea at Trianon: Christmas Returns to the White House

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

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Christmas Returns to the White House

From the Daily Mail:

First lady Melania Trump hosted children to the White House Monday as she walked through a fully-decorated executive mansion, unveiling her vision of a Trump Christmas – simple, yet elegant, with elements of Americana and nature. 'She's beautiful, like an angel!' one young boy remarked, as the first lady – whose cream-colored belted dress with bell sleeves could have been worn by a tree topper – walked into the East Room to help a group of kids make garland. 'Are you the first lady?' another youngster asked. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made sure to note that Melania Trump 'personally selected and was involved in every detail' of the decorations unveiled today. Melania Trump entered the holiday festivities by taking the grand staircase, into the foyer, as three ballerinas danced to 'The Nutcracker Suite,' in a room filled with faux fur trees glistening with snow. (Read more.)

julygirl said...: A most beautiful and gracious First Lady the likes have not been seen since Jacquelyn Kennedy!; December 6, 2017 at 5:52:00 PM EST