Tea at Trianon: Writings of Louis XVI

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, May 8, 2020

Writings of Louis XVI

Some writings of the young Louis as he prepared to reign. (Translated with help from Google.) From Contre-Révolution:

On piety

My devotion must be enlightened, simple, generous. Enlightened, that is to say, founded in principles; Simple, that is to say without affectation or singularity; Generous, that is to say free from human respect. I propose to engrave very deeply in my mind the precepts of my religion; and when I pray to the Lord, I will precede by the homage the feeling of my heart the acts of worship which I will render to Him externally. In all my piety exercises, I will bear the memory of a God always existing, always present, always enlightening my thoughts, always probing my heart; I will be recollected, full of faith, respect, fervor and love. (Read more.)

More beautiful thoughts from a young prince, who wanted so badly to be a good ruler, also from Contre-Révolution:

The first principle of all good government is humanity, kindness and beneficence. The first duty of humanity for a prince is to maintain the law of nations, or the law which serves as a rule for the commerce which the nations have together; the law of nations, which is really the natural law of states, and natural law itself, in so far as it is applied not only to men considered as such, but to men considered as peoples, nations and states, in the relationships they have with each other. This right of people without humanity would be nothing but vain speculation; with humanity, it becomes a sacred right, a bond of peace and harmony between all peoples. Humanity teaches us to look at other peoples as societies whose happiness interests us, and which we could not harm without injustice. It obliges us to use the same good faith towards foreign peoples as it does towards citizens; to be faithful to the treaties concluded with them; to respect their envoys, as clothed in a sacred character; not to rescue the enemies of a state with which one is at peace; not to disturb his trade, not to invade his possessions, not to ravage his provinces; and, even in the most just war, there are rules prescribed by the law of nations or the law of humanity, which is like the application or the exercise thereof. (Read more.)

May said...: I once read a collection of the King’s writings compiled by the Coursacs. It was very touching. His intelligence, nobility of spirit and determination come through clearly.

I know he prayed that his blood not be visited upon France but in many ways, it was.; May 8, 2020 at 4:13:00 PM EDT