Voltaire talks of ‘l’abbé Desfontaines’ whom Voltaire claims owes him everything. He notes that he saved Desfontaines’ honour and life from Bissêtre and suspended his criminal trial, and that he begged Desfonaines to make it public knowledge that Voltaire had nothing to do with a ‘miserable edition’ that had ‘disfigured’ his work. Instead, Desfontaines published his letter without permission and added to it a number of criticisms. What is crueller, Voltaire writes, is that Mr Rouillé, the owner of the bookshop, has been told that La mort de César is the work of a bad citizen, and that it was published furtively by Voltaire to defy the rules established by the Keeper of Seals. He notes that Asselin’s honesty must lead him to refute such claims, asking him to refute the claims in the newspapers and to write to Mr Rouillé and adding that René Hérault no longer interferes with the bookshop.