Re: Monseigneur
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Thu, 15 Oct 1998 16:16:30 -0100
My dear Miss Foster,
No, I had no historical figure in mind when I wrote of Monseigneur in "A
Tale of Two Cities." I think I may have been remembering Sebastien
Mercier's "Le Tableau de Paris," which I borrowed from the London Library.
A chapter in that, on etiquette, describes the manners and bearing of great
aristocrats in France before the Revolution. If I had wanted to write about
King Louis, I would have done. There was nothing to stop me.
A Farmer-General was someone who had bought the right to collect taxes for
the government. He contracted to collect a fixed sum. Anything he
collected in addition to that he could keep. Needless to say,
Farmers-General usually contrived to collect a great deal more, and became
immensely rich, at the expense of the wretched tax payers, and of the poor
too, on to whom the tax payers passed their costs.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
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>Dear Charles Dickens,
>
>In a Tale Of Two Cities when you wrote of the Monsiegneur in the Town, did
>you have any specific historical person in mind? Literary sources I have
>read simply refer to him as a nobleman in Paris, but I wonder if the
>identity of King Louis XVI was not actually implied. Afterall, he is said
>to be swallowing up all of France and in his employ are many theologians,
>spys, military advisors, etc. Notre Dame is noted to be equidistant
>between this court & Saint Antoine. Looking at a map the palace of
>Luxemborg could fit this description at least at a slight stretch. What do
>you say? And who is the Farmer-General? Thank you in advance for your
>illuminating reply.
>
>Mary Beth Foster
>fosterm@setmms.tusd.k12.az.us
>
>
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author