Send Wretched Refuse

In his portrayal of Stryver, Dickens drew on observations of the attorney Edwin John James, then at the height of his career in law and politics, but soon after (1861) disbarred and compelled to emigrate to America.*

*Richard Maxwell editor, A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens, Penguin Classics, Chapter 3, A Disappointment, endnote 4 p458.