its precepts
were guarded against any possible infringement." And they contrived, by an
artful and technical interpretation, to find statutes which favored their
ends. They wrought out asceticism into a system, and observed the most
painful ceremonials--the ancestors of rigid monks; and they united a
specious casuistry, not unlike the Jesuits, to excuse the violation of the
_spirit_ of the law. They were a hierarchical caste, whose ambition was to
govern, and to govern by legal technicalities. They were utterly deficient
in the virtues of humility and toleration, and as such, peculiarly
offensive to the Great Teacher when he propounded the higher code of love
and forgiveness. Outwardly, however, they were the most respectable as
well as honorable men of the nation--dignified, decorous, and studious of
appearances.

(M265) The next great party was that of the Sadducees, who aimed to
restore the original Mosaic religion in its purity, and expunge every
thing which had been added by tradition. But they were deficient in a
profound sense of religion, denied the doctrine of immortality, and hence
all punishment in a future life. They made up for their denial of the
future by a rigid punishment of all crimes. They inculcated a belief of
Divine Providence by whom all crime was supposed to be avenged in this
world. The party was not so popular as that of their rivals, but embraced
men of high rank. In common with the Pharisees, they maintained the
strictness of the Jewish code, and professed great uprightness of morals.
They had, however, no true, deep religious life, and were cold and
heartless in their dispositions. They were mostly men of ease and wealth,
and satisfied with earthly enjoyments, and inclined to the epicureanism
which marked many of the Greek philosophers. Nor did they escape the
hypocrisy which disgraced the Pharisees, and their bitter opposition to
the truths of Christianity.

(M266) In addition to these two great parties which controlled the people,
were the Essenes. But they lived apart from men, in the deserts round the
Dead Sea, and dreaded cities as nurseries of vice. They allowed no women
to come within their settlements. They were recruited by strangers and
proselytes, who thought all pleasure to be a sin. They established a
community of goods, and prosecuted the desire of riches. They were clothed
in white garments which they never changed, and regulated their lives by
the severest forms. They abstai