four o’clock
To-day , exactly at the hour which Voltaire died , the mass for the dead will be read in the Catholic church , to free his immortal soul from purgatory . I have , indeed , no idea of an immortal soul . If there are any , and if it has to endure the threefold heat of which Father Tobias , of Silesia , related to me , I do not believe that the priests , for a few thalers , can loose the unhappy spirit from the bake-oven . But as they refuse burial to the spirit of Voltaire , in order to insult him after death , so must I avail myself of this occasion to offer a last homage to the great poet , which will take place at four o'clock . Go to the mass , Herzberg , and tell me to-morrow how it went off -- whether the priests make right pious faces and burn much incense . Adieu . Au revoir , demain . ''