Tea at Trianon: Fathers in Pain

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

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Fathers in Pain

From The Christian Post:

A social media campaign from a pro-life organization is highlighting the stories and confessions of several men this week who encouraged their partners to have an abortion, which they say has led to decades of guilt. Victoria Robinson, director of External Relations at Save the Storks, explained in a statement Tuesday that the #ChooseFatherhood campaign will be releasing one video on social media a day leading up to Father's Day on June 17. One video released on Facebook on Tuesday estimates that there are 55 million "forgotten men" in America who "bear the scars of abortion and suffer in silence." The five-minute clip features four men, who aren't named, sharing various thoughts and feelings, with some breaking down in tears. (Read more.)