Voltaire opens by saying that it is with pain that he is obliged to return to Audibert a letter from a strange man who surely had not been arrested by mistake. He then asks Audibert to write to him for information before Audibert gives his money and acknowledges that Audiebert must have been caught out more than once because he has a good character. Voltaire adds that he recently read a life of the four Paris brothers that was dedicated to Audibert, noting that this life was not complete but was filled with very real and very curious things. He adds that the ‘maddness’ of the Mississippi Company was reported faithfully in the work and wishes to who the man was that dedicated this work to Audibert. He signs off by describing himself as ‘the sick old man. V’