Voltaire begins by stating that the recipients must have received his refutation of the ‘calumnies’ which Rousseau had provided to be inserted in their journal. He states that he expects justice in the form of the publication of his refutation, but asks that the article concerning Mr. Saurin is cut as he was already pitied enough. Voltaire concludes by saying that he is to be pitied for having to sustain such a humiliating combat, but that to leave the calumnies unanswered would be even more humiliating. He scoffs that he has been accused of irreligion and satire by Rousseau and quips that it is like being accused of theft by Cartouche [the highwayman Louis Dominique Bourguignon].