Tea at Trianon: A Republic Requires Restraint

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

Friday, May 29, 2026

A Republic Requires Restraint

From Unlicensed Punditry:

I consider myself a traditional American. I’m neither special nor exceptional because tens (maybe even hundreds) of millions of people of my age are just as traditional as I am. It isn’t so much about us, it is about what we were taught.
Of the many things I learned as I matured, one of which was manners--but what we casually call “manners” are something much more important. They are the small acts of voluntary self-restraint that make a free society possible. Standing in line without cutting, not standing up in front of others at a concert or ballgame, cleaning up after yourself in public places, obeying rules at public gatherings, yielding space to others, lowering your voice in shared environments, and simply saying “excuse me” or “thank you” are not meaningless social rituals. They are evidence that a person understands he is not the center of the universe.
So, what are we to make of the videos of subsets of black Americans twerking at college graduations, black parents blocking the views of seated attendees at these graduations and then basically telling other people to get F’ed when asked to sit down, teens doing violent “takeovers”, violent fights breaking out between patrons and employees at restaurants?
Behavior is not racial, it is cultural—and these are cultures antithetical to the legitimate culture of America.
What we are seeing now goes well beyond simple bad manners. People blast music and videos in restaurants, airports, and public transit as though everyone else has been conscripted into their personal world. Airline passengers melt down over minor inconveniences, restaurant patrons scream at employees or assault them over trivial disputes, and “prank culture” increasingly consists of harassing strangers for internet clicks. Public spaces that once operated on a basic expectation of mutual respect are increasingly treated as stages for attention-seeking, grievance, and performative outrage. Even youth sporting events, which are supposed to teach discipline and teamwork, now sometimes devolve into adults fighting referees, coaches, and one another in front of children. (Read more.)