TPO 08 Toward the end of his life the Chevalier de Seingalt 1725 1798 wrote a long memoir recounting his life and adventures The Chevalier was a somewhat controversial figure but since he met many famous people including kings and writers his memo

Both the reading passage and the lecture discuss whether the memoir of Chevalier de Seignalt is accurate or not. The former one presents three reasons that suggests that the memoir contains misinformation. However, the lecturer disagrees with the text and contradicts each of the points.

First of all, the author claims that while staying in Switzerland, Chevalier borrowed money from a merchant and points out that if he was wealthy, he would not have borrowed. In contrast, the recording states that borrowing money does not mean that someone is poor. She further adds that he had wealth but could not transform his wealth into money immediately when he needed it. So he borrowed when he ran out of money and paid back after selling his property.

Second of all, the reading asserts that the conversation with Voltaire which was in the memoir, written years after the conversation happened, could not possibly written accurately. In contrast, the professor counters that Chevalier used to write note each night after conversation with Voltaire. When he wrote the biography, he might have used his notes to add the actual conversation. That's how it is probably accurate.

Finally, the text argues that his escape from the prison might have had influence of powerful friends who might have bribed the jailers to free him. In other hand, the professor rebuts that other prisoners of that jail had more powerful friends but they did not escape. She also added that after his escape there was a ceiling repairment in the prison that suggest that the prison escape story is true.