O'leary And The Quakers


In his Plea for Liberty of Conscience, Father O'Leary pays the

following high tribute to that sect:--



The Quakers, said he, to their eternal credit, and to the honor of

humanity, are the only persons who have exhibited a meekness and

forbearance, worthy the imitation of those who have entered into a

covenant of mercy by their baptism. William Penn, the great Legislator

of that people, had the success of a
conqueror in establishing and

defending his colony amongst savage tribes, without ever drawing the

sword; the goodness of the most benevolent rulers in treating his

subjects as his own children; and the tenderness of a universal father,

who opened his arms to all mankind without distinction of sect or party.

In his republic, it was not the religious creed but personal merit, that

entitled every member of society to the protection and emoluments of the

State. Rise from your grave, great man! and teach those sovereigns who

make their subjects miserable on account of their catechisms, the method

of making them happy. They! whose dominions resemble enormous prisons,

where one part of the creation are distressed captives, and the other

their unpitying keepers.



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