921.73 W589w.pdf - Mesa FamilySearch Library

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188 Memoir of
whenever they interfered with the discipline of
his church. In those troublous days, when so
many elements of social and religious discord
were in vigorous action ; when great and zealous
men, while struggling against each other,
were yet laying the foundations of a new government;
when bloody persecution had become
the familiar weapon which our pious forefathers
used to defend what they believed to be the
truth, -,- if the best and wisest of them all de-
served the veneration of mankind, that honor
is due to those large-minded men, who, like
Samuel Whiting, comprehended the great
problems of the times in which they lived,
who were liberal and tolerant in an age
of bigotry, and who conceded to others that
freedom which they demanded for themselves.
If the views wlhich he opposed with so much
l:ower and eloquence had finally found acceptance
with the people, wha[ would have been
the present condition of their descendants?
If magistrates could be appointed for life; if
citizens could be fined, imprisoned, or banished,
because they entertained opinions on matters