of men. It was a righteousness which made great pretensions to more religion than others, and which announced its claims by its outward appearance and the form of its dress for we read, of the scribes and Pharisees, that they made broad their phylacteries, and enlarged the borders of their garments. It was a righteousness which in the language of the prophet, continually said in its heart, "Stand away, and come not near, for I am holier than thou ;" and the professors of which, in the language of the gospel, "trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." It was a righteousness which made clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, while within they were full of extortion and excess. It was a righteousness which paid tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith or fidelity. It was a righteousness which, not finding the precepts of the divine Word numerous and minute enough to give sufficient opportunity for its love of display and pretence, added many others to it, about which the divine law is silent and indifferent; such as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels and tables, and of the hands before meat. In short, it was a righteousness which affected the external man, only, and did not reach within; a righteousness which delighted more in performances of its own invention, than in any that the law of God enjoined; and which, in the performance of the latter, even when it kept the moral law or that of the Ten Commandments, only kept it in external form, and merely as a civil and moral law,-thus from outward motives, such as only looked to well-being in this world, without regarding it at the same time as a spiritual law, whose precepts are to form the law of the mind as well as the law of the body.

What, then, is the righteousness which the Lord alludes to, when he declares that it is a righteousness which must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees? Does he mean that we must be still more scrupulous than they in matters purely indifferent? Does he mean that, whatever they do, we must go farther in the same line? that as they make sad their faces that they may appear unto men to fast, we must make ours sadder? that as they so arrange the form of their garments as to announce their pretensions to holiness to all beholders, we must still more distinguish ourselves by the singularity of our appearance? Nothing, surely, nothing of the kind. He does not mean that we are to exceed them in that in which they are superabundant, but in that in which they are deficient; by keeping the divine commandments in our hearts as well as in our actions; by supplying to the observance the inward principle, without which the outward form is an idle mockery, a dead letter. This is evident from

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the comment which the Divine Speaker makes upon his own The scribes and Pharisees thought that they sufficiently obeyed the commandment which says, “Thou shalt not kill," if they did not carry their enmities into the outward act of murder; the Divine Author and Expositor of the commandment declares, that he is guilty of a breach of it, and liable to divine judgment accordingly, "who is angry with his brother without cause." The scribes and Pharisees thought that they sufficiently obeyed the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," if they did not carry the concupiscence into the very act: "But I say unto you," says the Divine Author and Expositor of this commandment, "That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." * And from these two instances, the Saviour plainly intimates the extent of all the other precepts of the Decalogue, and clearly shows in which direction the righteousness of his disciples must exceed that of those who acted in that day as the teachers of righteousness. He calls not upon us to be more sanctimonious than they were, but more sincere ; not to shelter ourselves behind the mere letter of a precept, but to take in with it its whole spirit and design; and not to be content only to shun evils as they appear before the world, but so to shun them as to avoid them also in the sight of God.

This, then, is the species of righteousness which the Lord Jesus Christ prescribes to his disciples, and without which he declares that they shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven; and this, accordingly, is the life which is insisted upon in the doctrines of the New Church. The ten commandments, those doctrines affirm, understood both naturally and spiritually, are the rule of life for Christians. Let any one who wishes to see this clearly proved, consult that work of Swedenborg's, which treats expressly and solely on this subject it is called, The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, from the Commandments of the Decalogue. It consists of fourteen. chapters, in which the same number of leading propositions is stated and proved; and as they are all most profoundly important, and shew in the strongest light what our doctrines are upon this truly vital subject, I will here repeat them.

The first-the sentiment with which the work opens, and which it lays down as the fundamental of all, is one which ought to be written in letters of gold in every church and in every house, and, most indispensably, on every heart: It is, That all Religion has relation to life; and that the life of Religion is to do good. The next affirms, That no one can do good which is really good from himself. The third declares,

* Matt. v. 21-28.

That so far as man shuns evil as sins, so far he does good, not from himself, but from the Lord. The fourth states, That so far as any one shuns evils as sins, so far he loves truths. The fifth pronounces, That so far as any one shuns evils as sins, so far he has faith, and is a spiritual man. The sixth observes, That the decalogue points out what evils are sins. The se venth explains, That murders, adulteries, thefts, and false witnesses, of every kind, are the evils which are to be shunned as sins. The four next evince, That so far as any one shuns these evils as sins, he is in the opposite good; thus that so far as any one thus shuns murder of every kind, he loves his neighbour; so far as any one thus shuns adultery, he loves chastity; so far as any one thus shuns theft, he loves honesty; and so far as any one thus shuns false witness, or lying, he loves truth. The twelfth demonstrates, That no one can shun evils as sins, so as to hold them in aversion, but by combating against them. The thirteenth assures us, That man ought to shun evils as sins, and to fight against them, as if he could do it from himself (because the Lord is present with every one that strives, and gives him the power). The fourteenth discloses, That if any one shuns evils from any other motive than because they are sins, he in reality does not shun them, but only prevents them from shewing themselves before the world.-This, my Candid Readers, is our doctrine on the life that leads to heaven: I appeal to you whether any doctrine can go more completely to the root of all evil. Is it not evident, that when the doctrine affirms respecting each of the evils prohibited in the Decalogue, that every kind of such evil is to be shunned as sin, it goes to the full extent of the Lord's requirement, that the righteouness of his disciples should exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?

To shew what is meant by shunning all the kinds of each general evil, I will mention how this is explained in the chapter on the precept respecting shunning adultery; and I select that subject, because it is one respecting which the most atrocious calumnies have been circulated against the doctrines of the New Church and the writings of Swedenborg: "By committing adultery is meant," says the enlightened author," in the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, in a natural sense, not only the external crime, but also all obscene practices, wanton discourse, and filthy thoughts: but, in a spiritual sense, by committing adultery is meant to adulterate the good things taught in the Word, and to falsify its truths: and in the supreme sense, by committing adultery is meant to deny the Lord's Divinity, and to profane the Word:-And they are guilty of all these kinds of adultery together, who do not, both

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in faith and life, hold adulteries to be sins." After shewing how diametrically opposite the uncleanness of adultery is to the chastity of marriage, he presently adds, "Hence it may plainly be concluded and seen, whether a man is a Christian or not,yea, whether a man has any religion or not. He who does not, both in faith and life, hold adulteries as sins, is not a Christian, and has no religion. On the other hand, he who shuns adulteries as sins; and still more, he who on that account holds them in aversion; and still more, he who on that account abominates them; has religion, and is a Christian."-Does not this come up to the full doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not his doctrine in all its integrity and purity? And as all the other evils prohibited by the Decalogue are laid open in the same searching manner,-I will not say, what a want of integrity, but what ignorance of the subject, is displayed by those, who can reproach the doctrine of the New Church for its" loose principles !" All principles that are commandments of God they enforce in all their fulness they are only indiffe rent about such matters as are Pharisaical additions to the laws of God, the mere commandments of men,-vain traditions, the tendency of which is, to withdraw attention from the commandments of God, and to make them of none effect.

We have now seen, from the most authentic source, what the Doctrine of Life promulgated by Swedenborg, and held by those who believe that a New Church is meant by the New Jerusalem, truly is; and we appeal to all the Candid to say, whether it is not, in the strictest sense of the words, a doctrine of genuine holiness?

SECTION IX.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

PART II.

Holiness, nož Laxity, encouraged by the Sentiment, That it is not so Difficult to live the Life that leads to Heaven as some suppose.

In the preceding PART of this SECTION I have offered a general vindication of the doctrines of the New Church upon the subject of the Christian Life: I will here reply to the specific charges made against us, on this head, by my usual guide.

The following is the passage in which he puts them forth in the most explicit form, and makes a shew of supporting them by Scripture; "A Swedenborgian, according to an indulgence warranted by his great leader, may go to a play,' may' sing a song,' besides some other little indulgences which it is needless here to mention. In addition to which, one of his chapters is headed in the following words: That it is not so difficult to live for Heaven as some suppose.' In the puritanical

days which obtained in this nation about one hundred and fifty years ago or thereabout, this kind of teaching would have been esteemed unorthodox; neither do I think that the last quoted sentence, which makes heaven so easy of access, will very well accord with some passages in the New Testament, as for instance, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure. If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear.' (1 Pet. iv. 18.) And mark our Lord's words, for they are awfully emphatical: Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat: because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.' (Mat. vii. 13, 14.) Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.' (Luke xiii. 24.) And likewise we have in the parable of the sower and the seed, four kinds of hearers described, and yet only one of the four kinds finally attain salvation. (Matt. xiii. 3— 9.) Now, there being naturally too much inclination in our constitution both of body and mind towards laxity and indolence in spiritual duties, there appears no necessity that we should have the sanction of a written prescription for dealing with a slack hand, and for being at ease in Zion!"* More strange mis-statement was never made than is couched in these

sentences.

The doctrines of the New Church insist, as has been just shewn, that the life which leads to heaven is of the most pure and holy nature but they certainly do not affirm, as do the doctrines generally prevailing, that man has no power, either from himself, or from the Lord, to live such a life. Far from shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men, by telling them that the life which leads to it is so difficult that no one can comply with its requisitions, they encourage us by the assurance, That it is not so difficult to live the life that leads to heaven as some suppose; and for this comforting, elevating sentiment, the design of which is solely to encourage those to set in earnest about the all-necessary work who otherwise might * Pp. 3, 4.