Frederick remarks upon how busy he is, claiming that many matters require his attention at present. He goes on to note that he will no longer be shocked after what he has witnessed during this monstrous century, writing that his books from Berlin are his only consolation. Frederick then mentions the works he has been reading, notably Charles Batteux’s Les Beaux-arts réduites à un même principe (1746), before discussing a series of literary figures including Nicolas Boileau, Virgil, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Racine, Homer, Pierre Corneille, Joseph de La Grange Chancel, Claude-Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, and Voltaire.