Author's Note 24
"All men," said a wise and good priest, maintain that they hold and believe their religion (and all use the same jargon), not of man, nor of any creature, but of God. But to speak truly, without pretence or flattery, none of them do so; whatever they may say, religions are taught by human hands and means; take, for example, the way in which religions have been received by the world, the way in which they are still received every day by individuals; the nation, the country, the locality gives the religion; we belong to the religion of the place where we are born and brought up; we are baptized or circumcised, we are Christians, Jews, Mahommedans, before we know that we are men; we do not pick and choose our religion; for see how ill the life and conduct agree with the religion, see for what slight and human causes men go against the teaching of their religion."-CHARRON, De la Sagesse.
It seems clear that the honest creed of the holy theologian of Condon, would not have differed greatly from that of the Savoyard priest.