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Chap. III. Greateft Part 
imagine that fome of his Expreffions muft not be well 
underflood, and that inftead of faying the Collifeum as 
a Temple of the Sm^ he might fpeak of the Temple 
near the Amphitheatre. 
You tell me, you have feen a Manufcript of Polonus, 
where this Story is written in the Margin by another 
Hand ; and what can be infer’d from thence, except, 
that the Author having been mutilated by fome body 
or other, a more equitable Perfon fupplied the De- 
fe(5l, Bellarmine himfelf making not the leaft Scruple 
to confefs, that M. Polonus wrote the Hiflory of the Po-^ 
pefs ? For the reft Mr. Chevreau being not a little puz- 
zled to give the World a probable Account of the firft 
Rife of this Story, is forced to have Recourfe to Onu- 
phrius., (though he conceals his Name) who pretends, 
that Pope J^n was nick-nam*d Joan., from a favourite 
Concubine he had of that Name ; though neither of 
them can produce any other Authority for this Affertion 
than their own, or make it appear that Pope John had 
fuch a Concubine : It is true, they cite Luiiprand in 
their Behalf, but erroneoufly, the Widow’s Name he 
ipeaks of being Anne, and not Joan. And Mr. Che- 
vreau, it feems, was ignorant that Mr. du Plejfis Mornay 
had already made a Difcovery of this Forgery of Onu~ 
phrius, and that this Pope John fill’d the Chair a hun- 
dred Years after Pope Joan. 
What he affirms of the Chair not being bored, I can 
contradift as an ocular Witncfs, having feen it more 
than once ; and it is bored after the Manner of Clofe- 
ftools. There are two of them, (both of Porphyry) 
one broken and the other entire, both made after the 
fame Manner. Platina affirms pofitively, after Chal- 
condylas an Athenian, who flourifhed about the Middle 
of the fifteenth Century, and other approved Authors, 
that the new-eleded Pope was placed in the bored 
Chair, and that the youngeft Deacon ufed to thruft his 
Hand through the Hole, to feel whether he had the 
true Marks of Virility. This was, queftionlefs, the pri- 
mitive Ufe of this Chair 5 and though this Cuftom was 
laid afide by Degrees, they continued however for fome 
Time to fet the Popes on the fame Chair, to put them 
in Mind, as Mr, Chevreau affirms after Fauchet, that 
they were ftill fubjefl to the common Infirmities of 
human Nature. 
What Mr. Chevreau tells .us concerning the Deputies 
of the Council of Soijfons, fent to Pope Leo IV. who 
was deceafed before their Arrival, is of little Confe- 
quence, fince he mentions a Council of Soijfons without 
any peculiar DiftindHon, and without the leaft Proof, 
which ought to have been founded upon Manufcripts of 
tmcontroverted Antiquity and Credit, to extricate himfelf 
and his Adherents out of the Labyrinth in which they 
have entangled themfelves, by confounding the Suc- 
ceffion of the Popes that preceded and followed the 
Popefs Joan ; whence it is, that whereas Platina, Ga- 
renxa, and other unbiafs’d Hiftorians, compute twenty 
' four Popes that bore the Name of John, (the reft count 
, but twenty three) and thus introduce an irreparable 
Confufion in Hiftory. But it is Time to have done 
with Mr. Chevreau ; I will only add, that it ought not 
to feem ftrange to you, that our Popefs is fometimes 
called Anglicus, fometimes Moguntinus ; the Author of 
the Fafdculus V miporum {Werner Wolninck a Wejlphalian) 
has unfolded the Riddle in thefe Words, Joannes An- 
giicus cognomine, fed natione Moguntinus : Her Name was 
Joan Englijh, but was born at Mayence. Neither muft 
the Variations obferved in Manufcripts difturb you, who 
are not ignorant of a thoufand Inftances of what For- 
geries have been introduced by Tranfcribers, any more 
than the doubtful Expreffions you meet with in fome 
Authors that relate this Hiftory, it being to be confi- 
der’d, that as the Force of Truth prompted them to 
fpeak, fo Fear, on the other hand, was a fufficient Bridle 
to reftrain them from fpeaking. too freely of the Mat- 
ter : But as, notwithftanding all this, fome Authors 
have broken through all thefe Obftaclcs, and given us 
a pofitive and circumftantial Account of the whole Mat- 
ter, all the negative Authorities in the World cannot be 
fufficient to counterbalance the Credit of fo many authen- 
tick Witnejfes, and of a Relation fo generally and fo- 
of I t A h Y. 5 7 1 
lidly attefted. To bring up the Rear of your ArgiJ« 
merits, you have called to your Aid fome of the P'ro^ 
t'ejlant D odors', who deny the Story of Pope Joan, and, 
among the reft the famous David Blondel, a Man of 
Learning and Wit: Buty to deal frankly with ybu, a4 
the Author’s Name is the ftrongeft Argument in his 
Book ; fo it is an unaccountable Piece of Prejudice to 
build blindly upon the Opinion of any Man not di- 
vinely infpired, let his Name be ever lo great in the 
World, for I.earning and Knowledge. ^ 
For my Part, I cannot reconcile hi^ Argurriefit tvHeii 
he confeffes, that the Hijlory of the Female Pope is con- 
taindd in the Augsburgh Copies of Anaftafius, but in Op- 
pofirion to thefe pretends to cite (and that withbut quo- 
ting any entire Paffage) a certain private Copy of Anaf- 
tafius, to be met with (which we muft take upon his 
Credit) at Paris, the Certainty whereof he feems to 
queftion himfelf, when he tells us, that it hat often been 
miiiaken for Platina j fo that in the Main this Book 
may, without much Difficulty, be refuted by itfelf, the 
reft being a confufed Medley of Chronological Cavils, 
and an Heap of needlefs Quotations, ferving more fof 
Oftentation and to confound than demonftrate the 
Matter he has taken in Hand, to ftand either one V/ay 
or other. To conclude the Whole, and to tell you my 
Thoughts with all imaginable Freedom, I have a great 
deal of Reafon to believe, that it was rather In tereft 
and Oftentation than the Love of Truth that engaged 
our Author in this Defign ; for I was affured by a Per- 
fon of Honour at Paris, who knew the Author very 
well, that he had it from the firft Hand, that he was 
hired to write a Treatife againft the Hidory of Pope 
Joan. And as my Author is a Perfon of unqueftion- 
able Reputation, fo the only Thing that can be faid 
upon this Head is, that Mr. Blondel is not the firft Maii 
that has been overcome by the Force of Gold, 
All that I am able to anfwer to your Queftibns con- 
cerning the Armetiians and Greeks is, That as they have 
each their peculiar Ceremonies, fo they officiate accord- 
ing to their own Rites ; but before they can fettle at 
Rome, are obliged to acknowledge the Pope’s Supre- 
macy. Some Antiquaries fay, the little Armenian 
Church was formerly one of the Temples of the Sun 
and Jupiter. Before the Pontificate of Paul IV. the 
Jews lived pretty eafy in any Part of Rome, but this 
Pope confined them to a certain Quarter of the City, 
whither they were to retire at Sun-fet, forced them to 
fell their Pofieffions, and allow’d them to deal Only iri 
old Clothes, and for Diftindion Sake to wear yellow 
Hats, Gregory Xin. obliged a certain Number of theni 
to hear a Chrijlian Sermon every Saturday in the After® 
noon ; but I had no Opportunity to fee this Affembly. 
The Italian Jews, and efpecially thofe of Rome, reli- 
gioufly obferve that Cuftom of marrying before the 
twentieth Year of Age : Their Number may amount iti 
Rome, to about fix or feven thoufand j but they are 
generally poor and deipifed. 
If any Jew or other Infidel has a Mind to be bap-^' 
tized, the Ceremony is generally put off to Saturday in 
the Holy Week, and is then perform’d in the Church of 
St. John Lateran, becaufe they believe Confiantine the 
Great was baptized here. We faw fix Lurks baptized § 
they wore white Damask Cloaks, and a large Band^ 
with a Silver Crofs hanging at their Necks | the Car- 
dinal that was to officiate, attended by the Canons of 
the Church, began the Ceremony with bleffing the Wa- 
ter ; then the new Converts being prefented by their 
refpedive God-fathers, advanced one after another, and 
having declared their Willingnefs to receive Baptifm^ 
they lean’d over the Font, and the Cardinal baptized 
them by pouring Water upon their Heads with a large 
Silver Spoon ; and having given each his NamCj they 
were, with AVax Tapers in their Hands, condudfed tci 
the Chapel of the Baptiftery, to be confirm’d, and front 
thence went to hear Mafs in the fame Church, 
The Phurfiay before we were prefent at the Cere- 
mony of waftiing the Feet of thirteen Pilgrims in one 
of the Chapels of the Vatican i They appear’d all iri 
white, with a Kind of Hood and fquare Cap, feated in 4 
Row upon a Bench, After they had pull’d off their Shoes 
