O'Leary, Arthur. Miscellaneous Tracts: By The Rev. Arthur O'Leary. Dublin: N.P., 1791. [10502]
Full leather, boards detached, spine chipped with loss, boards stamped "Mercantile Library Co." Lacks end papers (blanks), title page soiled and has several ink stamps. [i]-viii., [1]-424 pp., last page misnumbered as 124. Several Mercantile Library ink stamps within the text. Each tract has its own half-title page. Poor. Hardcover.
Title continues: Containing, I. A Defence of the Divinity of of [sic] Christ, and the Immorality of the Soul: in answer to the author of a work, lately published in Cork, entitled "Thoughts on Nature and Religion" revised and corrected. II. Loyalty asserted: or, a Vindication of the Oath of Allegiance; with an impartial inquiry into the Pope's TEMPORAL POWER, and the Claims of the STUARTS to the English throne: proving that both are equally groundless. III. An Address to the Common People of Ireland, on occasion of an apprehended invasion by the French and Spaniards, in July, 1779, when the united fleets of Bourbon appeared in the Channel. IV. Remarks on a letter written by Mr. Wesley, and the Defence of the Protestant Associations. V. Rejoinder to Mr. Wesley's Reply to the above Remarks. VI. Essay on Toleration: tending to prove that a man's SPECULATIVE opinions ought not to deprive him of the rights of civil society. VII. Anwser ot the Bishop of Cloyne's Pamphlet. In which are introduced, The Rev. John Wesley's Letter, and the Defence of the Protestant Associations. Likewise, the Declarations and Testimonies of Foreign Universities on the Propositions of Allegiance and Principles submitted to them by the Catholics of London. With some other pieces.
Dedication date is July 15, 1781.
Arthur O'Leary (1729-1802), b. Co. Cork Ireland; d. London, England. He was educated by the Capuchins at Saint Malo, France, and after ordination spent the next twenty-four years as a prison chaplain there. After returning to Cork he drew large audiences and his writings added to his prominence. "His Thoughts on Religion, written in answer to a free-thought publication by a Cork physician named Blair, first brought him prominently before the public outside the pae of his congregation. Several brilliant pamphlets on current topics followed, characterized by learning, religious feeling, a spirit of toleration, and steadfast allegiance to the British Crown...[He] engaged in a warm controversy with John Wesley for saying that 'no government not Roman Catholic ought to tolerate men of the Roman Catholic persuasion."...His Essay on Toleration had a large circulation both in England and Ireland." - Alfred Webb, A Compendium of Irish Biography (1878).
