_Q._ Why do you suppose so? _A._ Because I have informed my pupils that I was of that order, and I fear they have denounced me; for I have perceived lately, that they speak to me with an air of mystery, and their questions lead me to believe that they think me a heretic. _Q._ Did you tell them the truth? _A._ Yes. _Q._ You are, then, a freemason? _A._ Yes. _Q._ How long have you been so? _A._ For twenty years. _Q._ Have you attended the assemblies of freemasons? _A._ Yes, at Paris. _Q._ Have you attended them in Spain? _A._ No: I do not know if there are any lodges in Spain. _Q._ If there were, would you attend them? _A._ Yes. _Q._ Are you a Christian, a Roman Catholic? _A._ Yes; I was baptized in the parish of St. Paul, at Paris. _Q._ How, as a Christian, can you dare to attend masonic assemblies, when you know, or ought to know, that they are contrary to religion? _A._ I did not know that; I am ignorant of it at present, because I never saw nor heard any thing there which was contrary to religion. _Q._ How can you say that, when you know that freemasons profess indifference in matters of religion, which is contrary to the articles of faith, which teach us that no man can be saved who does not profess the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion? _A._ The freemasons do not profess that indifference. But it is indifferent if the person received into the order be a Catholic or not. _Q._ Then the freemasons are an anti-religious body? _A._ That cannot be; for the object of the institution is not to combat or deny the necessity or utility of any religion, but for the exercise of charity towards the unfortunate of any sect, particularly if he is a member of the society. _Q._ One proof that indifference is the religious character of freemasons, is, that they do not acknowledge the Holy Trinity, since they only confess one God, whom they call the "Great Architect of the Universe," which agrees with the doctrine of the heretical philosophers, who say there is no true religion but natural religion, in which the existence of God the Creator only is allowed, and the rest considered as a human invention. And as M. Tournon has professed himself to be of the Roman Catholic religion, he is required, by the respect he owes to our Saviour Jesus Christ, true God and man, and to his blessed mother, the Virgin Mary, our Lady, to declare the truth according to his oath, because in that case he will acquit his conscience, and it will be allowable to treat him with that mercy and compassion, which the Holy Office always shows towards sinners who confess; and if, on the contrary, he conceals any thing, he will be punished with all the severity of justice, according to the holy canons, and the laws of the kingdom.