but he never criticized the Church itself. Eugenio Espejo had a restless desire for knowledge and was anxious to reform by his works a state that seemed to him, influenced as he was by the Enlightenment, to be barbarian in every way. Thought Views on education The goal of Espejo's first three works was the intellectual improvement of Quito. El Nuevo Luciano de Quito ridiculed the outdated educational system maintained by the clergy. Espejo argued that the people of Quito were accustomed to adulation and that they admired any preacher who could quote the Bible in a pompous and insubstantial way. Marco Porcio Catón exposed the ignorance of the pseudointellectuals of Quito. La ciencia blancardina, in which Espejo claimed to be the author of the previous two works, condemned the results of the clergy's educational system: ignorance and affectation. All three works caused polemic. Through these three books, Espejo advanced the ideas of European and American scholars such as Feijoo and the Jesuits Verney and Guevara, among others. As a result, many religious orders modified their educational programs. Espejo resented the pseudointellectuals who misled the thought of the city of Quito, disregarding people who were actually knowledgeable. Espejo particularly criticized the Jesuits for, among other things, teaching ethics not as a science but as a guide to good manners and for their adoption of Probabilism as a moral guide. He complained about the lax system for educating priests in Quito and said it instilled slothful habits in students. As a result, the priests had no real idea of their duties towards society and God and had little inclination to study. In El Nuevo Luciano de Quito, he lamented the large number of quacks who pretended to be doctors. In La ciencia blancardina he continued his attack on these quacks while attacking clerics who worked as physicians without adequate medical education. Views on theology In 1780, in his first discussion of purely religious matters, Espejo wrote a theological letter, Carta al Padre la Graña sobre indulgencias (Letter to Father la Graña about indulgences). In this work, he looked at indulgences in the Catholic Church. The letter showed a profound knowledge of theology and dogma. It analyzed the historical beginnings of indulgences and their development and cited decrees and bulls written about abuses of indulgences. In this work, Espejo staunchly supported the authority of the Pope. On July 19, 1792, Espejo wrote