his was precisely what Prophetism did.
Therefore, he would be greatly mistaken, who would suppose, in the
expressions used by the Prophets, any intention of slight towards the
ceremonial laws, and those biblical prescriptions, which are specially
intended for the chosen people. True, these are to be regarded as means
calculated to a superior end; but they remain in full force and validity
until that end (which is in store in the Eternal Mind) shall have been
fully and finally attained. The Prophets eliminated nothing from, and
added nothing to, the law; they sought to revive the religious idea,
which is the foundation and aim of the law; they brought it into
prominence, to impress it more forcibly on the minds of a people who had
nearly lost it. But they did more; they bounded over the confines of the
present, transferred themselves through the imagination to a future
final re-arrangement of the human conditions; and, giving to the
religious idea its greatest possible latitude, depicted a future state
of ideal perfection, which, while it offered a vivid contrast with
contemporary corruption, left to posterity an imperishable monument of
their inspired eloquence and exquisite foresight.[7]

[Note 7: The original has here several succeeding paragraphs devoted
to a historical review of various phases of Judaism, which it describes
under the names of Talmudism, Rabbinism, Caraism, and Cabalism.
Believing this digression, or appendix, to be unnecessary to the general
purposes of the present book, I have omitted it in the translation,
_with the sanction of the distinguished Author himself._--THE
TRANSLATOR.]

CHAPTER XVI.

XCVII. JUDAISM is now clearly delineated before us. From the outline
that we have endeavoured to sketch, it is evident that the religion of
the Jew imposes upon him solemn duties towards God, towards his
fellow-men, and towards himself. A sincere, pure, undivided, active,
loving worship of his heavenly Father, and a constant practice of
justice, benevolence, and charity, in their widest sense, will lead to
his self-sanctification, which is the aim intended for him. These are
his fundamental duties, as far as regards actions. Many of the
observances prescribed by Holy Writ teach the modes and means of
carrying out such duties. All such prescriptions as are strictly
connected with the existence of the temple, and the sojourn in Palestine
are dispensed with, since the destruction of the former, and