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.