… English Channel, once it had arrived on our side, it took on an air of rebellious independence which was quite to the liking of our illustrious philosophers.’ 2 Those of a more philosophical bent did indeed highly value the theatre for its … (Soulatges 50), they initially aroused the admiration of Voltaire, whose tragedies bear the mark of a spectacular, striking dramaturgy, which ignored the ideal of the three unities, and classical moral codes and good taste. The ‘English … timid national taste, cleverly designed to ignite the zeal of reformers.’ One of Patu’s selections, Robert Dodsley’s The King and the Miller of Mansfield (1736), would inspire Sedaine and Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny ( Le Roi et le Fermier , …