As for the Appellations of the _Apostolic See_, _Chair_, _Throne_, &c. given by the Antients to the See of _Rome_, they import no more than that it was erected by an Apostle; for they are bestowed indiscriminately on all the Sees, in which Bishops had been placed by the Apostles; _viz._ of _Ephesus_[57], of _Smyrna_[58], of _Alexandria_[59], of _Corinth_, _Thessalonica_, _Philippi_[59], &c. The Title of _Apostolic See_, common to many, was, in Process of Time, by the Ambition of the Bishops of _Rome_, appropriated to their own. They had, as they thought, till the Year 1662. a pregnant Proof not only of St. _Peter_’s erecting their Chair, but of his sitting in it himself; for till that Year, the very Chair, on which they believed, or would make others believe, he had sat, was shewn and exposed to public Adoration on the 18th of _January_, the Festival of the said Chair. But while it was cleaning, in order to be set up in some conspicuous Place of the _Vatican_, the Twelve Labours of _Hercules_ unluckily appeared engraved on it. Our Worship however, says _Giacomo Bartolini_, who was present at this Discovery, and relates it, was not misplaced, since it was not to the Wood we paid it; but to the Prince of the Apostles St. _Peter_[60]. An Author of no mean Character, unwilling to give up the holy Chair, even after this Discovery, as having a Place and a peculiar Solemnity among the other Saints, has attempted to explain the Labours of _Hercules_ in a mystical Sense, as Emblems representing the future Exploits of the _Popes_[61]. But the ridiculous and distorted Conceits of that Writer are not worthy our Notice, tho’ by _Clement_ X. they were judged not unworthy of a Reward. [Sidenote: _St._ Peter _how, or by whom, placed in the See of_ Rome.] But to return to our Subject; it may be inquired, If St. _Peter_ was Bishop of _Rome_, who placed him in that See? Did our Lord appoint him? Did the Apostles name him? Did the People chuse him? Did he assume it himself? To these Queries no Answers have been yet given, but such as are so ridiculously weak, that it is not worth my while to relate them, nor the Reader’s to hear them. _Bellarmine_, in one Place, positively affirms, that _God commanded St_. Peter _to fix his See at_ Rome[62]; but elsewhere contents himself with saying, _It is not improbable that God commanded St._ Peter _to fix his See at_ Rome[63]. Is it is no more than not improbable, it is uncertain; it may be a mere Conjecture, a Dream. [Sidenote: _Other Bishops of_ Rome _appointed by St._ Peter.]