Tea at Trianon: France’s Aristocrats

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, August 31, 2024

France’s Aristocrats

Yes, there still are some. From The Spectator:

There were many criticisms of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. Why has no one reported that made by the Comte de Sèze? As president of L’Association entraide de la Noblesse francaise, the count has written to President Macron. He expresses ‘a great deal of sorrow and surprise’ at a scene in the show where ‘in the windows of a blood-red Palais de la Cité, Marie-Antoinette or other noble women, decapitated, [were] singing the revolutionary tune “Ah, ça ira!”, while a ship carrying a radiant woman, raising her fist, passed on the Seine.’ In its reprise, the song uses the famous phrase ‘Aristocrats à la lanterne!’ The count wants to know ‘What would Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who initiated the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, have said about this?’ and pointedly asks: ‘In a country that does so much to promote women’s rights, is it really normal to present the beheading of a woman in such a positive light?’ Besides, the kings of Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium and the sovereigns of Luxembourg and Monaco were all guests at the opening ceremony. What must they have thought of this celebration of a queen, ‘leur lointaine parente pour la plupart’, being beheaded? Look what happened next: ‘The results were not long in coming: while our members were expressing their amazement on social networks, many users were hurling insults and death threats at them. Despicable comments and dehumanising insults demonstrated the deeply racist nature of this hatred, which must be described as aristophobic.’ The noblesse ‘represent a great cultural, heritage and economic force’, but ‘we have been treated as if we no longer existed’. The count leaves Macron with a question: ‘On 26 July 2024, our country put on a show for the whole world to show that it was proud to have murdered its aristocrats. What can we say to the French people of aristocratic origin who have placed their trust in the Republic?’ So far as I know, the President has not replied, but surely de Sèze’s Burkean words deserve an answer. ‘Aristophobia’ is all the rage, rage being the right word. (Read more.)