Tea at Trianon: An Atmosphere of Love

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

Thursday, March 7, 2019

An Atmosphere of Love

From Orthodox Christianity:

Nowadays, more than a hundred years after the Russian Revolution, the Russian royal family is venerated all over the world. Their life and death must be the greatest mysteries of the twentieth century. Amazingly enough, Nicholas II kept diaries for almost forty years, which unveil a great deal of what seemed hidden. What an ineffable joy it is to read the entries and spend each day of the Tsar’s day-to-day life with him and his family: during his multitudinous receptions, work, and gentle strolls with friends in St. Petersburg, Tsarskoye Selo, or in Moscow.

Tsar Nicholas tended not to express his emotions or impressions. An overwhelming majority of his early notes seem quite bland—similar to a daily chronicle, save for one subject. The emperor never concealed his pure veneration and love for his wife, his dear Alix.

An eminent Father of the Church, St. John Chrysostom said, “That is the power of love: it’s cannot be suppressed by a long distance, it neither weakens with time, nor is defeated by temptations. Triumphing over all, love is above everything; it rises to an unreachable height.” Indeed, nothing could defeat the love between Tsarevich Nicholas and Alix. (Read more.)

More, HERE.
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