Royal Edinburgh Light Dragoons

During the French Revolution, England expected an invasion from a France ruled by revolutionary tyrants.  To supplement her army, the militia was called up and volunteer corps were raised.  One was the Royal Edinburgh Volunteer Dragoons.  Walter Scott was Quartermaster and also wrote their war song.

"The following War-Song was written during the apprehension of an invasion.  the corps of volunteers to which it was addressed, was raised in 1797, consisting of gentlemen, mounted and armed at their own expense.  It still subsists, as the Right Troop of the Royal Mid-Lothian Light Cavalry, commanded by the Honourable Lieutenant Colonel Dundas.  The noble and constitutional measure of arming freemen in defence of their own rights, was nowhere more successful than in Edinburgh, which furnished a force of 3,000 armed and disciplined volunteers, including a regiment of cavalry, from the city and county, and two corps of artillery, each capable of serving twelve guns.  To such a force, above all others, might, in similar circumstances, be applied the exhortation of our ancient Galgacus: "Proinde ituri in aciem, et majores vestros et posteros cogitate.""--pg. 147, Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott

Democracy Unveiled, Or, Tyranny Stripped of the Garb of Patriotism

'Twas thence concluded, by Rousseau,
That all refinement did but go
To alter nature's simple plan,
And scoundrelize the creature man.--

From whence he madly theoriz'd
That man were best unciviliz'd
Like those philosophers, who prate
Of Innocence in savage state.

E'en took in in his crazy noddle,
A savage was perfection's model;
And nature without cultivation,
The ne plus ultra of creation.

Anticipated, happy dealing,
When mankind, rul'd by social feelings,
Would be perfected, sans a flaw,
Without the Tyranny of Law.

From such sagacious theorizing,
Was formed a plan of his devising,
By which, society destroy'd
Perfection might be unalloy'd....

With other things, which mark the fiend,
That means are sanction'd by the end;
And if some good end we would further,
No matter if the means are murther!

That in this philosophic era,
A God is found a mere chimera,
By priests created, but for wildering
Fools, ignoramuses and children.

The would of mind may be explor'd
By lights, which matter can afford,
And Power Omnipotent must bend,
To what a worm can comprehend;

That by some accidental clatter,
Of pristine, crude, chaotic matter,
(But how, an Atheist only knows)
This beauteous universe arose.

That there is nothing like reality
In future life and immortality;
When death our thread of life shall sever,
We go to rest, and sleep forever.

No, this poem is not written about the 21st Century.  It comes from a book called "Democracy Unveiled", written in 1805 against the American Democrats and the French Revolutionaries.  But the similarities to what we experience today are uncanny.

Adrienne de la Fayette

She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life--Proverbs 31:12

He married, at the age of sixteen, the daughter of the Duke d'Ayen, of the family of Noailles--somewhat younger than himself;--and at all times the noble encourager of his virtues--the heroic partner of his sufferings--the worthy sharer of his great name and of his honorable grave. ...This admirable lady, who, in the morning of life, had sent her youthful hero from her side, to fight the battles of constitutional freedom, beneath the guidance of Washington, now goes to immure herself with him in the gloomy cells of Olmutz.--Edmund Everett, orator

Adrienne de la Fayette was born on November 2, 1759. At the age of fourteen, she married Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roche-Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de la Fayette. Lafayette sailed for America to assist the colonies in the American War for Independence and became not only a major-general in the Continental Army, but also one of Washington's closest friends.

He returned to France after the war was over and enjoyed life with his family, until the French Revolution broke out. Lafayette supported it, but only in moderation. He believed in a constitutional monarchy, not anarchy or tyranny. But the Revolution became more and more bloody, until Lafayette fled to Holland. The Austrians were at war with France and arrested Lafayette. After moving him a few times, they finally locked him up in Olmutz prison.

Adrienne had been imprisoned by the Revolutionaries and was in ever-present danger of being executed. However, the Americans were able to protect them and eventually Madame de la Fayette was released. She and her two daughters (her son Georges-Washington had been sent to America) immediately travelled to Olmutz, where they rejoined Lafayette. After a new general named Napoleon had humbled the Austrians, a peace treaty was signed and Lafayette was free.

Adrienne had sacrificed much for her husband, even (many historians believe) her health. On Christmas Eve, 1807, she died, much to the grief of Lafayette, who never remarried. Her last words were, "I am all yours".

"She is a good and amiable lady, exceedingly fond of her children...passionately attached to her husband!!! A French lady and fond of her husband!!!"--Abigail Adams

Let Them Eat Cake...or not

Marie-Antoinette is accused of being uncaring towards the peasants of France. When someone told her about the shortage of bread across France, she allegedly responded, "Let them eat cake (brioche)!" However, problems abound with attributing this saying to Marie-Antoinette.

Firstly, the only period source for the quote is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions. Rousseau says, "Finally I recalled the stopgap solution of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread, and who responded: 'Let them eat brioche.'"

Rousseau does not even cite the name of the "great princess".

Secondly, Rousseau wrote his Confessions in 1765, and they were published in 1782. In 1765, when he wrote the statement, Marie-Antoinette was nine and not even French! She was born in Austria in 1754, and married the future Louis XVI in 1770. Until 1770, the French population knew her only as the daughter of Austrian Empress Maria-Theresa. It is absurd to say that an Austrian archduchess of nine years should make a comment on the starving people of France!

Finally, a letter from Marie-Antoinette to her family in Austria,

"It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness. The King seems to understand this truth."

Quite a different mindset on the peasants and their well-being than is traditionally ascribed to the last Queen of France!

Marie-Antoinette

For lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.--Psalm 59:3

"The winners get to write history"--attributed to Napoleon

Marie-Antoinette (1753-1793) is possibly the most controversial woman on this calendar. She is frequently denounced as spending millions of the French treasury on fountains or candles, thus bankrupting the French crown, being uncaring about the peasants (e.g. "Let them eat cake"), and ultimately causing the French Revolution which guillotined her. However, I believe this portrait is too harsh. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were the best monarchs that France had had for over one hundred years. Marie-Antoinette gave to the poor "bountifully" as M. Guizot says in his History of France. In gratitude they erected a monument of snow which said, "Fair queen, whose goodness is thy chiefest grace/With our good king here occupy thy place/Though this frail monument be ice or snow/Our warm hearts are not so." The problems with the Treasury began after the disaster of the Seven Years' War, and were only made worse by a spendthrift Minister of Finance. Marie-Antoinette had very little to do with the bankruptcy of the Crown. In fact, she rejected a diamond necklace after being informed that it cost the equivalent of two frigates (fast ships of 40-60 cannons). The French Revolution was caused more by Louis XV than by Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.