On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (top 50 books to read TXT) 📕

nowadays were we to see this done, and the doers applauding themselves, because, instead of persecuting for religion, they had adopted so humane and Christian a mode of treating these unfortunates, not without a silent satisfaction at their having thereby obtained their deserts. ↩

The case of the Bombay Parsees is a curious instance in point. When this industrious and enterprising tribe, the descendants of the Persian fire-worshippers, flying from their native country before the Caliphs, arrived in Western India, they were admitted to toleration by the Hindu sovereigns, on condition of not eating beef. When those regions afterwards fell under the dominion of Mahomedan conquerors, the Parsees obtained from them a continuance of indulgence, on condition of refraining from pork. What was at first obedience to authority became a second nature, and the Parsees to this day abstain both from beef and pork. Though not required by their religion, the double abstinence has had time to grow into a custom of their tribe; and custom, in the East, is a religion. ↩

Colophon

On Liberty
was published in 1859 by
John Stuart Mill.

This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
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Alex Cabal,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2011 by
Curtis Weyant, Martin Pettit, and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans available at
Google Books.

The cover page is adapted from
Liberty Leading the People,
a painting completed in 1830 by
Eugène Delacroix.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
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Uncopyright

May you do good and not evil.
May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others.
May you share freely, never taking more than you give.

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