Tea at Trianon: Florence Nightingale’s Childhood Home

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

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Florence Nightingale’s Childhood Home

From Country Life:

The beautiful Lea Hurst has gorgeous views, delightful rooms and a fascinating history. Lea Hurst, in the traditional Derbyshire village of Holloway, is at first glance a classic and beautiful stone-built, Grade II-listed home overlooking the scenic Derwent Valley at the south-eastern edge of the Peak District. Look beyond that first impression, however, and you find some fascinating history: Lea Hurst was Florence Nightingale’s much-loved childhood home, and it’s now seeking a new owner. Blue Book’s Sebastian Hipwood quotes a guide price of £3.75m for what is a splendid country home set in more than 19 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and parkland on high ground overlooking the Derwent Valley. The house offers generous living space on several levels, with four principal reception rooms, including a triple-aspect formal drawing room, a large kitchen/breakfast room, 13 bedrooms and eight bathrooms. (Read more.)