Ministerial letter from P. Magne to... (1858)

NRA-L-000058 / 1858

Ministerial letter from P. Magne to General de Goyon, forwarded to Imbert, September 9, 1858

The French Minister of Finances informs General de Goyon that Imbert, a primary-school teacher at Turny, is ineligible for a tax-collection position. The preserved object was subsequently addressed and posted to Imbert through Auxerre.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000058

NRA-L-000058 image 1 showing the address panel to Monsieur Imbert at Turny in Yonne, with Paris postal cancellations, folds and paper loss. — **Image 1**Address panel and postal evidence.

NRA-L-000058 image 2 showing an official French Ministry of Finance letter with handwritten annotations, a signature, a seal remnant and paper loss. — **Image 2**Official letter text, annotations and signature.

Archive Record

Identifier: NRA-L-000058
Date: 1858-09-09
Original date: Paris, le 9 Septembre 1858
Type: Official correspondence
Language: French / fr
Sender: P. Magne, Minister of Finances
Recipient: General Count de Goyon [original textual addressee]
Places: Paris, France / Turny, Yonne, France / Auxerre, Yonne, France
Extent: 2 documentary sides: Documentary page 1; Documentary page 2; 2 digital images.
Signature: P. Magne
Citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000058.

Rights & reuse

Reuse is welcome. Publicly available images may be reused for non-commercial purposes with attribution, and automated machine use is permitted with provenance. Commercial republication requires prior written permission.

Full rights & reuse terms

Publicly available images, transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions may be copied, shared, reproduced and republished, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes, provided that Neruda Archives is clearly credited and the relevant item identifier and stable URL are preserved. This permission includes non-commercial scholarly, educational, editorial, exhibition, website and social-media use. Automated machine use, including crawling, indexing, text and data mining, retrieval, embeddings and AI training by commercial and non-commercial systems, is permitted, provided provenance is retained where technically feasible and the item identifier and stable URL are preserved in source records or associated documentation. Commercial publication, commercial reproduction, resale, advertising use, paid access to a database or dataset and bulk redistribution of images require prior written permission. For the avoidance of doubt, permission is not required merely because an AI system or its operator is commercial. The images displayed and downloadable on this page are public access copies, and the permissions above apply to those files. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement. Attribution may not be removed or replaced by false or misleading attribution.

Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Address panel

Original transcript

Monsieur
Imbert, Instituteur pre
à Turny  Yonne

Notes

Postal evidence:
The letter was forwarded to Imbert after its original delivery to General de Goyon.

Address panel

English translation

Monsieur
Imbert, primary school teacher
at Turny, Yonne

Notes

Postal evidence:
The letter was forwarded to Imbert after its original delivery to General de Goyon.

Documentary page 2

Original transcript

(2)
Ministère
des Finances.

Division du Personnel
et de
l'Inspection générale.

au sujet d'une
demande de perception
formée par M. Imbert.

Paris, le 9 Septembre 1858

Général, J'ai reçu la nouvelle demande de
perception formée par M. Imbert, Instituteur primaire
à Turny (Yonne) et en marge de laquelle vous avez
consigné itérativement l'expression de votre intérêt
pour le pétitionnaire.

J'ai eu l'honneur de vous faire connaître par ma
lettre du 7 Novembre 1856 que les services rendus en
qualité d'Instituteur primaire ne sont pas de ceux
qui donnent droit à concourir pour des perceptions.
M. Imbert ne se trouve donc pas dans les conditions
voulues et je ne puis que vous témoigner de nouveau
mon vif regret de me voir dans l'impossibilité
de satisfaire à votre recommandation.

agréez, Général, l'assurance de ma
considération très distinguée.

Le Ministre des Finances,

P. Magne

[marginalia]
j'ai le regret d'avoir
à vous transmettre
une réponse qui
ne vous donne plus
aucune espérance
puisque le refus est
motivé.

Le gal Cte de Goyon
aide de camp de l'Empereur.
[/marginalia]

Monsieur le Général comte de Goyon,
aide de camp de l'Empereur.

31. rue d'astorg.

Documentary page 2

English translation

(2)
Ministry
of Finances.

Division of Personnel
and of
General Inspection.

concerning a
request for a tax collection position
made by Mr. Imbert.

Paris, September 9, 1858

General, I have received the new request for a
tax collection position made by Mr. Imbert, primary school teacher
in Turny (Yonne), in the margin of which you have
repeatedly recorded the expression of your interest
in the petitioner.

I had the honor of informing you in my
letter of November 7, 1856 that services rendered in
the capacity of primary school teacher are not among those
which confer eligibility to compete for tax collection positions.
Mr. Imbert therefore does not meet the required conditions,
and I can only express to you once again
my deep regret at finding myself unable
to satisfy your recommendation.

Accept, General, the assurance of my
very distinguished consideration.

The Minister of Finances,

P. Magne

[marginalia]
I regret having
to forward to you
a reply that
leaves you no further
hope,
since reasons have been
given for the refusal.

General Count de Goyon
aide-de-camp to the Emperor.
[/marginalia]

Monsieur General Count de Goyon,
aide-de-camp to the Emperor.

31 rue d'Astorg.

Discovery Terms

Employment
Patronage
Public administration
Primary education
Turny

Transcriptions and English translations are provided as working scholarly aids, not as replacements for the images of the original documents. Some readings may remain uncertain, especially where handwriting, spelling, damage, abbreviations, names or places are difficult.

Some transcriptions and translations may be prepared with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by Neruda Archives before publication. Better readings, corrections and alternative translations are welcome when they are supported by the manuscript image, context or reliable sources.

When suggesting a correction, please include the item ID, the relevant line or image area, the proposed reading or translation, and the evidence for it.

Suggest a better reading or correction

Relevant line or image area Proposed reading or translation Evidence or reason

Your name Your email

Your name and email are optional. Personal data is used only to assess, document and, where possible, respond to this correction. See the Privacy Notice.

Historical context A recommendation that could not overcome the rules 3 sources

A repeated request

The Minister of Finances, Pierre Magne, was answering a renewed request on behalf of Monsieur Imbert, a primary school teacher at Turny in the Yonne. General Count de Goyon had again recorded his interest in the petitioner. Magne referred back to his own reply of 7 November 1856 and stated that service as a primary school teacher did not qualify a candidate to compete for a tax collection post.^{[1, 2, 3]}

Office and influence

Pierre Magne was Minister of Finances during the Second Empire from 1855 to 1860. Charles-Marie-Augustin, Count de Goyon, was a general of division and had served as aide-de-camp to Napoleon III from 1853. The letter thus shows a recommendation reaching the minister through a figure close to the emperor, but still meeting an administrative refusal framed in terms of eligibility.^{[1, 2, 3]}

The refusal passed on

A handwritten note on the document says that the answer leaves Imbert no further hope because reasons have been given for the refusal. The folded address side and its postal marks show the official reply continuing onward to Imbert at Turny. The document therefore preserves both the ministry's formal decision and the brief personal language in which its consequence was communicated.^[1]

Evidence and limits

The context reports the eligibility rule exactly as Magne states it in this case. It does not establish that wording as a complete general account of every contemporary route into tax collection service, and no independent biographical identification of Imbert has yet been confirmed.^{[1, 2]}

Sources & evidence (3)

Primary source · official letter Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000058, Ministry of Finances letter signed P. Magne, 9 September 1858, with marginal note and postal address to Imbert. View the archive record Supports the renewed recommendation, stated eligibility reason, marginal refusal note and forwarding to Imbert.
Parliamentary biographical record French Senate, “Magne, Pierre,” former senator of the Second Empire. View the Senate record Confirms Magne's identity and his service as Minister of Finances from 1855 to 1860.
Parliamentary biographical record French Senate, “Goyon, Charles-Marie-Augustin,” former senator of the Second Empire. View the Senate record Confirms Goyon's identity, rank and appointment as aide-de-camp to Napoleon III.

Reviewed 2026-07-30 · Context version 1.0

Suggest a context or source correction