Tea at Trianon: The Nemours Estate

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, July 21, 2022

The Nemours Estate

From Bright:

A good place to begin exploring the area is where the story started. The Hagley Museum and Library features the restored original gunpowder mills, the Eleutherian Mills estate where five generations of du Ponts resided, historic gardens and orchard, and the hillside village where workers lived. The residence is packed with antique furnishings and valuable art. It’s also home to the second-largest museum collection of original patent models, topped only by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
In the powder yards strung out along the Brandywine River visitors can view historic mill buildings that include a working 19th-century machine shop, along with the wooden Birkenhead waterwheel and a coal-fired steam engine. They also learn about the process of manufacturing gunpowder.

Workers’ Hill provides a glimpse of the lives of original mill employees. It includes a foreman’s home, a Sunday school for children and a garden where factory families grew vegetables. The modest plots contrast with the elaborate ornamental plantings at du Pont homes.
The 77-room Nemours Estate was constructed by Alfred I. du Pont, the great-great-grandson of Pierre, for his second wife, Alicia. It was modeled after a chateau that was built during the reign of French King Louis XV and occupied by Queen Marie Antoinette. The setting is enhanced by acres of formal gardens, greenhouses and a planted maze area. (Read more.)