Voltaire writes that he has been exploring multiple genres of literature whilst in his ‘retreat’ though he has kept this from being public knowledge because ‘I realise every day that one must live and think for oneself, and that the chimera of reputation does not console the sorrows it drags after oneself.’ He adds that he will be very grateful if the marquis could extract from the letters he told Voltaire about anything pertaining to the history of the last century, noting that he does not know if Louis XIV deserved the name of ‘great’ but that his century did and it is of its art and letters that Voltaire wishes to write. He then turns to Newton’s philosophy saying that it has gained some ground in Paris among true philosophers but that the city is dominated by ‘Molinist and Jansenist nonsense’. However, he adds that all of this is overshadowed by the crisis in which Europe finds itself, drawing classical comparisons. He ends by saying that he has always desired a climate such as that that the marquis lives in and wishes to be with him under the beautiful sun with English philosophers and Italian voices.