Voltaire notes that the recipient had asked him for documents concerning the Pays de Gex whilst he was at Tourney and that he is sending now all that he has been able to find. He adds that he does not believe a tax on the nobility will be levied this year, though it seems that the controleur général is committed to the operation. He ends the letter by saying that he awaits the recipient’s orders as to whether to press ahead or postpone the matter kindly entrusted to him, adding that the recipient can count on his unwavering devotion.

Voltaire encourages the recipient to read a letter from Turgot, Contrôleur général des Finances to Louis XVI concerning the 30,000 pounds that had been set as the price for the Pays de Gex’s future immunity from taxation. Voltaire notes that Turgot’s letter shows he fought bitterly for this figure to be reduced and expresses his annoyance that the recipient did not keep him informed of their own negotiations over this price, negotiations Voltaire felt had jeopardised his own attempts to reduce the sum. He then turns to salt, a commodity that had been proposed as an alternative to taxation, stating that this idea had never come to fruition.

Dickens opens the letter by discussing his payment of Income Tax before offering several pieces of news: he reports on the weather, discusses the progress of his Christmas book, outlines his plans to move to the Palazzo Peschiere in October, and details his upcoming travel plans. He notes that the box of book has now arrived in Italy, but that they are stuck at the Customs House where they are examined by priests. He writes: ‘As some Volumes of a French author, Voltaire, are among them, who always wrote against Priests, I fully expect them to be stopped. Though I am not likely to read them to the Genevese, and woo them to their damnation, I am sure.’ He concludes by mentioning the titles of further books he wishes to have sent to Italy and relays several family anecdotes. In a postscript, Dickens returns to Voltaire, writing: ‘They never pass Voltaire; but with great politeness, passed it for me.’