Chapter XVI:
Und den Mordstahl seh' ich blinken;
Und das Mörderauge glühn!
Kassandra.
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Regarding the prison muster roll, the author gives us this footnote: Called, in the mocking jargon of the day, "The Evening Gazette."
Danton's thought that death is nothingness comes with this footnote from the author: "Ma demeure sera bientôt le néant", said Danton before his judges.
The French franc was apparently abolished in 1641 in favor of the gold louis and the silver écu, and wasn't restored to usage until 1795. Our story is set in 1794. So the author referencing the value of the diamond in francs in not actually appropriate. Now since the author is referring to francs, we have to assume he is basing it on the then current (1842) franc for the audience of his day to reference against. In 1842, a French franc would have been 290 mg of fine gold (0.01 ounces). In 1842, one ounce of fine gold was worth 4.25 pounds sterling, or 20.67 USD. 0.01 ounce obviously becomes £0.0425 or $0.2067. (Recall in 1842 the British were still using 12 pence to a shilling, and 240 pence to a pound, so we're talking 10.2 pence for a French franc of this period.)
1000 francs, therefore, becomes £42.5, or $2,067 USD in 1842 currency. 80,000 francs = £3,400 or $16,536. In today's money, that 80,000 francs from 1842 would be in the range of £340K to £4.8 million in 2022, or for USD that's $456K to $12.8 million.
Now if I've done everything correctly, given the current pound to dollar exchange rate as of the day of recording, £340K is 429K USD, so pretty close. There is a little bit of rounding I did in a few places that probably explains most of that difference, and then the present value calculation only went up to the end of 2022, so it's missing 5 months of data, which probably explains the rest.
Even at the low end, that's quite a hefty bribe for a lowly prison guard, and at the high end, that's an insanely massive bribe! But, when you expect to die in a few hours anyways, what does your own wealth matter to you any more at that point? May as well give it away to gain what favors you still want or need, eh?
In any event, while it is not stated, I would not be surprised if Mejnor saw fit to see to Viola's (and thus the baby's) financial security. It seems these mystics have insane wealth (they have, after all, had thousands of years to accumulate it...), and it would no doubt be but small change to Mejnour to set Viola up for life, thereby giving Zanoni's child a strong starting position in life.
The picture used is "Calling Out the Last Victims of the Terror at Saint Lazare Prison on the 7-9 Thermidor 1794" by Charles Louis Müller
To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2664/2664-h/2664-h.htm#link2HCH0080
