Tea at Trianon: The True History of Nostradamus

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

Monday, January 25, 2021

The True History of Nostradamus

From Connexion:

Michel de Nostredame, better known by his Latinised name, was born in St Rémy-de-Provence, probably in 1503 into a family that had converted from Judaism to Christianity. He attended the university of Montpellier until it was closed by a visitation of the plague. He made his living as an apothecary healer – though we do not know how successful he was – and astrologer, offering his services to the celebrities of the day.
His best-known work is Les Prophéties (the Prophecies), which was first published in 1555. It consists of 942 rhyming quatrains organised into blocks of 100 called “Centuries”. It might help to know where he got his ideas. Nostradamus studied the occult but did not claim to have any supernatural insight. He remained a devout Catholic, trusting in the will of God. It has been argued he drew heavily on existing literary sources to devise many of his predictions, rather than having any original – let alone omniscient – views. This reasoning has not stopped modern-day interpreters believing he was privy to the secrets of the future.
Some are certain he predicted major events of history, including the Great Fire of London; the French Revolution; the rise of Napoleon and Hitler; both world wars; the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the Apollo moon landings; the death of Diana; the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center... it is all there in Nostradamus’ work. Apparently. (Read more.)