Tea at Trianon: Heirlooms from the Heart

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, May 15, 2022

Heirlooms from the Heart

From Victoria:

Styling posts as missives to her children, Fatema began writing a blog, Crème au Beurre, where she shares her appreciation for traditions, flowers, and pâtisseries so synonymous with France. “I have often thought about what sort of family heirloom I would leave them with,” says Fatema, “so I decided to write stories and memoirs for them, hoping they can cherish it one day.” An accomplished photographer, she employs her unerring eye for beauty to capture scenes illustrating her interests, whether it’s a vignette featuring sprigs of lavender embroidered on a linen or her son and daughter practicing their manners at teatime, where a tiny cake and a tray of tidbits sit atop a perfectly set table in the garden. (Read more.)