Tea at Trianon: A Gathering Place

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

Saturday, July 10, 2021

A Gathering Place

From Victoria:

As the heat of the sunny day fades to the cool of the evening, homeowner Anne Monfore offers cocktails to longtime neighbors whose children and grandchildren have grown up together, enjoying all the fun found in this close-knit community. She looks forward to these “porch parties” held during the summer season at her home, appropriately christened Mint Julep, as well as to the myriad activities offered here, from art classes and lectures to walks on nature trails. The cottage, built in 2004, mirrors the original Victorian dwelling, once known as Seldom Inn, which was destroyed by fire. “We used the same plan and footprint in rebuilding,” explains Anne, who has owned the property for thirty-five years. “All of the trim and fretwork was designed to replicate the original, and old materials of the era were used whenever possible.” (Read more.)