the intention of our Saviour upon this occasion.

In his sermon on the Mount, of which these words on the subject of oaths
are a part, he inculcated into his disciples a system of morality, far
exceeding that of the Jews, and therefore in the verses which precede
those upon this subject, he tells them, that whereas it was said of old,
"thou shall not kill," he expected of them, that they should not even
entertain the passion of revenge. And whereas it was said of old, "thou
shalt not commit adultery," he expected, that they should not even lust
after others, if they were married, or after those in a married state.
Thus he brings both murder and adultery from act to thought. He attaches
a criminality to unlawful feelings if not suppressed, or aims at the
subjugation of the passions, as the springs of the evil actions of men.
Going on to shew the farther superiority of his system of morality over
that of the Jews, he says again, whereas it was said of old, "thou
shall not forswear thyself," he expects that they should not swear at
all, not even by the name of God, which had been formerly allowed, for
that he came to abrogate the ancient law, and perjury with it. It was
his object to make the word of his true disciples equal to the ancient
oath. Thus he substituted truth for oaths. And he made this essential
difference between a Jew and a Christian, that, whereas the one swore in
order that he might be believed; the other was to speak truth in order
that he might not swear. Such was the intended advance from Jew to
Christian, or from Moses to Christ.

The Quakers are farther confirmed in their ideas upon this subject, by
believing, that Christianity would not have been as perfect as they
apprehend it to have been intended to be, without this restriction upon
oaths. Is it possible, they say, that Jesus Christ would have left it to
Christians to imagine, that their words were to be doubted on any