Voltaire writes that he has waited in vain for the packet that Valliant said would arrive in order to reply to his letter dated 16 November, adding that he has no news of this packet so something must have gone wrong. He notes that he will write to Versailles for information even though he has renounced all the world’s courts. Voltaire thanks Valliant for the report that was in his letter and remarks that it is rather comical that Lord Ferrers said his Pater on the gallows and that a man who is going to be hanged asks for his daily bread. He quips that as he is quite old, quite infirm, and nearly blind, he is content with saying ‘Thy will be done.’