I see by to-day’s papers that the 9th of September, 1769, gave you to
the world, and that thus you have just celebrated your eightieth
birth-day. Had I been near you I would have joined your friends in
offering my good wishes; at the distance which separates us, I approach
you alone. Let me say in a few words that I render thanks to the giver
of the faculties which have rendered your name imperishable. To be born
is of little account; to make life valuable is excellent. You are
numbered among the richest, and you have made a noble use of your moral
fortune. May God preserve you in safety and in health!
Receive, my dear Baron, with the expression of a congratulation of which
you do not doubt the sincerity, that of my sentiments of devotion and
friendship, of a date as ancient as all that has a place between us!