Voltaire begins by saying that he is staying at Condrieux. He flatters Servan and asks after his health, before going on to complain about his exile from Paris. Voltaire then asks Servan for advice on which books to read to gain an understanding of the laws of modern governments such as Denmark and Sweden, rather than those of past governments such as Rome and Sparta.

The manuscript is written as if a letter replying to a request for a critique. It analyses in depth a series of points about Voltaire’s Histoire de Charles XII, roi de Suède, which the critic believes are ‘deficient, redundant, or mistaken’, and provides references to particular pages in the left-hand margins.