—He was a bachelor of the university of Rome, who wrote that which he thought, like Julius Cæsar, Marcus Aurelius, Titus Lucretius Carus, Plinius, Seneca, and other sages.
MEDROSO.
—I know none of them; but I am told that the Catholic religion, Biscayan and Roman, is lost if we begin to think.
BOLDMIND.
—It is not for you to believe it; for you are sure that your religion is divine, and that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. If that is the case, nothing will ever destroy it.
MEDROSO.
—No; but it may be reduced to very little; and it is through having thought, that Sweden, Denmark, all your island, and the half of Germany groan under the frightful misfortune of not being subjects of the pope. It is even said that, if men continue to follow their false lights, they will soon have merely the simple adoration of God and of virtue. If the gates of hell ever prevail so far, what will become of the holy office?
BOLDMIND.
—If the first Christians had not the liberty of thought, does it not follow that there would have been no Christianity?
MEDROSO.