In this letter, Voltaire playfully tells a lady that although she may not care much for metaphysics, it is amusing to ponder whether the soul exists. He jokes that, like a Swiss captain praying before battle, people hedge their bets about God and the soul. He doubts she will find his writings entertaining, as she is too learned and reflective, but sends her a few chapters anyway — entries on alchemists, the Koran, and Alexander — hoping they might amuse her briefly. Voltaire praises her grandmother as a true philosopher who prefers doing good for her people in her quiet estate of Amboise to the empty noise of courtly life. He imagines her wise, gentle, charitable, and modestly virtuous. He also mentions having sent her some of his watchmaking experiments under her protection and laments local shortages of grain. Turning to politics, he predicts that the Russians will soon conquer the Turks — an unexpected revolution, he says, to test her grandmother’s philosophy — while his own is simply to endure patiently.