'Her Royal Highness once read through the whole of 'Candide' to one of her ladies, who told me her opinion of it, which does her honour. She said, - "its character as a work of extreme cleverness has been so long established that to venture in the least to detract from it, is to encounter the ridicule of a multitude. I must say, however, that the persiflage which reigns throughout, and in which its whole essence consists, is not consonant to my taste or understanding. Vicious subjects ought not to be treated lightly; they merit the coarsest clothing, and ought to be arrayed in language which would create abhorrence and disgust. But the whole works [sic] seems designed to turn vice into virtue. Either it has no aim or end, or it has one which should be loathed. It must be confessed, however, that the tripping levity of its self-assurance, and the sarcastic drollery of its phrase, excite laughter; but it is a poor prerogative after all, to be the mental buffoon of ages". Though I, perhaps, have more indulgence for Voltaire, in consideration of his vast talents, than my friend, yet I admired the [italics] woman [end italics] who thought and spoke thus; and her Royal Highness is fortunate in having such a friend'.