KING BOMB A' S PHILOSOPHICAL CATECHISM. 621 





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D. Who are those who teach a false and perverse philosophy ? 

 M. They are the liberal philosophers. 



" D. Would it not be well to massacre all these corrupters and 

 deceivers of the human race ? 



" M. No, my son ; we should detest their errors, but should 

 regard their persons with the eye of charity, pray God to convert 

 them, pardon the offenses which they commit, do good to them, 

 and succor them in their necessities. These are the doctrines of 

 Christianity, and we should show what a difference there is be- 

 tween the followers of the liberal philosophy and the followers of 

 the gospel. 



" Z>. What are the effects of the doctrines taught by the liberal 

 philosophers ? 



" M. They cause the decay of religion, bring disaster upon the 

 state, produce the slaughter of war, the weeping of mothers, and 

 the general misery of the people, as may be seen in all those coun- 

 tries whose inhabitants have let themselves be led astray by these 

 fatal and foolish notions. And, above all, they cause the eternal 

 damnation of souls, because he who lives contrary to the law of 

 God on earth can not expect anything but hell in the next world. 

 D. Are all liberals wicked in the same degree ? 

 M. Not all, my son, because some are willful deceivers, and 

 others are wretchedly deceived ; nevertheless, they all go the 

 same way, and, if they do not turn from this path, will all reach 

 the same goal. 



D. How are liberal philosophers to be recognized ? 

 M. When you see any one who keeps away from the sacra- 

 ments and the religious services, who does not go to church, or, if 

 he sometimes goes there, acts irreverently and disrespectfully, 

 who ostentatiously neglects to take off his hat before the images 

 of Jesus Christ and the saints, and is ashamed to be seen making 

 the sign of the cross ; when you hear any one joking about heaven 

 and hell, speaking evil of the prince or of the government, derid- 

 ing priests and friars and ecclesiastical persons ; when, finally, 

 you perceive any one who is glad to learn of the progress of rebell- 

 ions and the success of rebels, and who disapproves of the vigor- 

 ous acts of the legitimate authorities, and receives with signs of 

 sorrow news favorable to the preservation of religion, of the sov- 

 ereign power, and of public tranquillity — then you can say for 

 certain that all these are liberal philosophers. 



" D. Are all those who wear whiskers and full beards liberal 

 philosophers ? 



" M. Not all, because many people merely follow the fashion 

 in wearing the beard. 



" D. Are not young men, then, permitted to follow the fashion ? 



" M. When the fashions are neither obscene nor ridiculous, 





