The writer informs a cardinal that he has heard an Englishman named Mr Muller claimed in Rome he would bring back the Grand Inquisitor’s ears to Voltaire as a gift. The Pope, in jest, reportedly replied that the Inquisitor no longer had eyes or ears. Voltaire denies having made such a request and clarifies he bears no ill will, not even toward his critics. If the exchange did happen, he includes a light-hearted reply for the cardinal’s amusement, a witty poem addressing the Grand Inquisitor, expressing his own reflections on age and fame.