_Disposal of the body for Dissection._

Dr. Monsey had the utmost contempt for funeral ceremonies, and exacted
a promise from his daughter, that she would not interfere with the
arrangement which he had made with Mr. Thompson Forster, the surgeon,
for the disposal of his body, conceiving that whenever it was dissected
by that gentleman, something might occur for the illustration and
advancement of anatomy. "What can it signify to me," said he, "whether
my carcass is cut up by the knife of a surgeon, or the tooth of a worm?"
He had a large box in his chambers at Chelsea, full of air-holes, for
the purpose of carrying his body to Mr. Forster, in case he should be
in a trance when supposed to be dead. It was provided with poles, like
a sedan-chair.


_Voltaire._

Mentioning Voltaire, I may as well relate in this place a circumstance
communicated to me by Monsey, upon what he deemed good authority, that
Voltaire being invited to dine with a lady of quality while he was in
London, to meet some persons of distinction, waited upon the lady an
hour or two earlier than the time appointed. The lady apologized for the
necessity of leaving him, as she had visits to pay, but begged he would
amuse himself with the books in the room, promising to return very soon.
After the party broke up, having occasion to refer to her escrutoire,
she evidently found that it had been opened in her absence, and though
nothing had been taken away, her papers were obviously not in the same
order as when she left them. She inquired anxiously who had been in the