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 memoir has b

In this set of materials, the reading passage discusses some reasons why the memoirs of the Chevalier de Seingalt were untrue. The listening passage at its part, challenges this opinion by providing three points in argument that they are true.

First, the reading passage tells us that the notice of taking some money from a Swiss commersant is not correct because the Chevalier was rich enough to not do it. The lecturer posits that the Chevalier earned money through celling some of his royalty in Switheland, and he really needed to bring a certain amount of currency to live during waiting for his salary.

Second, the author states that the dialogues with Voltaire written in the Chevalier’s memoirs are not sensible because they were written much later than they actually came about. However, the professor refutes this view by saying that according to the historical documents, the conversations between the Chevalier and Volter were written down at night just after their meetings. Moreover, the dialogues in the memoirs represent the rewritten conversations, and therefore, they are true.

Third, the article contradicts the fact that the Chevalier ran away from the Venetian prison without anybody’s help. It says that he paid to be free. The professor brings up the idea that according to the documents, he really could escape the prison when many cells had to be repaired.