Now […] have we many chimnies, and yet our tenderlings complain of rheums, catarrhs, and poses.

By then too Mozart's opera, from Da Ponte's libretto, had made Figaro a stock character in the European imaginary and set the whole Continent whistling Mozartian airs and chuckling at Figaresque humour.

Close the window or you'll catch a chill.

Your dear friend ought to take heart. From what you have told me, it is quite likely that they are going through a dark night of the soul.