Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu/126

122 him, he will not even sigh, as he hastens with ardor to labor for his own bread.

"For a long time," he will cry, "I have wished to occupy myself with this labor, but I could not withstand my fortune; to-day I thank God for having delivered me from the burden which made me give way to sin." Turning back his sleeves and the lappets of his coat, he will take the plough in hand, which he already knows how to use, and will go singing to his work.

152. But what do we now see? When fortune proves false to a man, and he is forced to earn his bread with his hands, he becomes discouraged, and even disgraces himself, bringing misfortune on all his race. And whose is the fault? Yours, because you have hidden, and you still hide from him the divine commandment. It should not be the subjects who are condemned to enforced labor, but our rulers. And why? they ask. Because you should not have concealed the law of God. The responsibility of this crime should rest on the priests and on the Israelitish Rabbi, and not on the civil and military authorities, who are not culpable in this!

153. You see now, readers, that all your books are of no value by the side of mine. Your eloquent subterfuges are empty nonsense compared with our simple language. All your precious labors for which you pay so generously, are as nothing compared to ours. Neither can you compare with us in merit. The treasures which fill your houses have no value compared